Gangster Alley

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

This may be a silly question but I was just attempting to play Gangster Alley and while on the title screen it has "WANTED" written at the top, on the gameplay screen the same word is all distorted and it is a little choppy in the upper left corner. Also, the whole screen shakes which may be part of the gameplay. Is this all normal?

 

Also, I am playing on a 7800 if that make a difference.

[FireTiger]

Never tried on a 7800 before, always in my 2600...in 2600 no such problems.

 

IT dosent play right on the 7800, no sound also you cant see your number of shots (ammo) and flack jackets left (lives)

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

I just thought of checking something....

http://www.atariage.com/screenshot_page.ht...wareLabelID=204

 

The gameplay screen shots are exactly how mine look. They not only have the distorted words but even the glitch in the upper left corner. That is weird.

 

What about the shaky screen, is is suppose to do that?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Finally someone else finds this..

 

It has to do with shooting in a particular location. Specifically, you can still shoot anything while the dame is in color cycle mode, attract mode, demo mode...whatever you want to call it.

 

Shooting the good people during this part of the color cycle will cause the "wanted" to get all hosed up looking, and the other effects you described. The more you shoot the good guys causing this glitch, the worse it will get. I have actually managed to completely hose up the game in that it eventually went to either a black screen, or I got the colored bars bit like you had a dirty cart. This was usually complete with a stuck sound of some sort to go along with it.

 

I actually have had 2 copies of the game in the past, and they both did this. I never had the game when I was younger and just had my 2600 only. But on my 7800 it does do this. Just don't shoot anything until you actually start the game and this shouldn't happen. As I never experienced it during the actual gameplay. However, if you shoot good guys and corrupt the graphics a bit and then start a game, they will sometimes still be hosed up...Easter Egg? Mindless Fun? Total Glitch? You decide...hehe

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Edit was such a nice feature...

 

Anyway, I just checked it out again.

 

Have you even tried to hit the reset switch when playing this game yet? Because surprise! When you first turn it on..your in Demo mode. And yes, if you shoot good guys while in demo mode, you will get the screen corruption. It happens in Z26 as well so it isn't a 7800 issue.

 

Now when you hit reset, you will see a new display at the bottom with a bullets graphic indicating your supply, and like 3 BulletProof Vests which are your lives indicator.

 

It is easy to tell the bad guys from the good. Good guys are always smiling..and I think there are only 2 different ones. Bad guys are weird colors and do not smile...

 

So this would appear to just be a glitch that perhaps hasn't been reported before. And the screenshots on the AA site here, are not of the gameplay...but of the demo mode...hehe. Must hit reset for a real game and a real score counter.

 

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

So, does this mean the AA screenshot for this game was taken from it being played on a 7800?

 

Thanks for explaing Crossbow, I'm going to dig out my 2600 and hook it up now to give it a try on there.

[FireTiger]

oh...*embarrassed*...I automaticly reset on a 2600...everything works fine now.

[FireTiger]

I ment on the 7800...if you reset, and theres sound...my graphics didn't do cuz I don't shoot good guys.

 

*wonders if Tack Force does the same thing*

[+-^CrossBow^-]

No Spend you got it wrong. The screenshots here on AA are most likely from Z26...which is a 2600 only emu. So the problem with the glitching would happen on a 2600 also... The 7800 has nothing to do with this. And yes, you only get sound, once you actually start a game.

 

What I was saying is that the screengrabs here on AA were done with the game in the default demo mode and aren't the graphics of the actual gameplay. The Wanted is replaced with a score counter on the actual game. Plus the other items I mentioned also showing up. The Vests life counter, and bullets will appear at the bottom. Shooting good guys in the actual game I think just costs you lots of bullets and freezes you for a bit putting you at risk of running out of ammo before completing the level.

 

The actual game is really quite good considering Spetravision. Because you only have so many bullets on each level. And to clear a level you have to hit so many bad guys. Because of this, you don't have a lot of room to miss your shots once your past the beginning levels of the game. And that stupid grenade tossing crook at the top has to be stopped before he tosses the grenade or your toast and loose a vest. But in the later levels he will throw that grenade a lot! And you tend to waste bullets trying to get him so he doesn't nuke you, thus you can run out of the bullets really quickly if your not careful.

 

yeah...I have probably played this game too much in the past...but I have been always been fairly impressed with it. The inivisble levels are fun!!!

[SteveW]

Looks like the screenshots of Froggo's blatant pirate version, called Task Force, has the same word corruption. Screenshots here.