Best Arcade Ports to VCS

[NE146]

I still don't think Space Invaders is a good arcade translation. It may be a good port in it's own right and stands alone... but it's pretty far from an accurate translation in several aspects aside from the obvious graphic differences (i.e. no counting, no wall of death, etc.).

 

I mean if anyone is going to call 2600 Space Invaders an accurate arcade port of Space Invaders, then you might as well call Space Armada on the Intellivision a good one too

 

[rasty]

It's easier to pick out the worst conversions:

 

3. Reactor

843822[/snapback]

I tought Reactor was a good conversion...

 

Regards!

Rasty.-

[keilbaca]

Reactor is a VERY good conversion. You just have to get a trackball to appreciate the full effect of it. Its more different than you think, its much easier to control than with a joystick.

[Gregory DG]

Updated the list. I looked at that link to arcade-to-2600 conversions and added the ones I was missing. I think the only screens I still need are Steeplechase and Stunt Cycle.

 

Anyway, as for the question: Commando, Crossbow, Crystal Castles, Joust, Jr. Pac-Man, Kangaroo, Phoenix, Road Runner, Star Trek, Stargate, Tapper, Track & Field, and Xenophobe are my favorites.

 

The two games that are the absolute best arcade conversions are Frogger (SuperCharger) and Warlords! Frogger is a dead-on graphical, sound, and gameplay conversion. I play it all the time! Love it! Warlords is awesome, and I'd play it all the time too if I didn't have to dig out my paddles! No question, the BEST multi-player game EVER!

[+Random Terrain]

After looking at those pages, here is my list:

• Solar Fox (I like it better than the arcade version in looks and gameplay)
  
• Star Trek (although the arcade game has a better look, I like this better than the arcade version)
  
• Frogger for the Supercharger
  
• Stargate/Defender II
  
• Lock 'n' Chase (more fun than the arcade version)
  
• Berzerk
  
• Carnival
  
• Mouse Trap (pretty darn good and easier to play than the arcade game)
  
• Jungle Hunt
  
• Circus Atari
  
• Warlords (not as ugly as the arcade game)
  
• Breakout and Super Breakout (both look better to me than the arcade versions)
  

[Laner]

I'm really surprised to see Crystal Castles mentioned... it's one of the *worst* arcade translations, IMO. I guess I was spoiled by the Thundervision port on the Commodore 64, which *was* quite arcade-accurate.

Edited April 26, 2005 by Laner

[Lord Helmet]

Solar fox gets mentioned alot. I guess I should play it some more. So many games...so little time!

[HawgWyld]

It's easier to pick out the worst conversions:

 

3. Reactor

843822[/snapback]

I tought Reactor was a good conversion...

 

Regards!

Rasty.-

843830[/snapback]

 

I've never figured out why people like Reactor so much. Perhaps I played it too much in the arcades as a kid.

 

The 2600 port just doesn't come close to the arcade version in terms of sound, visuals or anything else.

 

Still, it seems to have its fans.

[Lord Thag]

In my opinion:

 

Stargate/Defender II: I mean, c'mon. Holy crap this game is insane on the 2600!

 

Jr Pac Man: Best Pac gameplay on the system.

 

Phoenix: I actually like this BETTER than the arcade

 

Star Fire: Awesome homebrew. Has more stuff than the arcade even!

 

Crystal Castles: Funky but fun. Tons of levels and great gameplay.

[+FujiSkunk]

I'm really surprised to see Crystal Castles mentioned... it's one of the *worst* arcade translations, IMO.  I guess I was spoiled by the Thundervision port on the Commodore 64, which *was* quite arcade-accurate.

844159[/snapback]

 

Except for the different castles and the fact that the 2600 version wasn't really 3-D, I thought this one was spot-on. All the characters and their personalities were captured perfectly. Besides being a great game and a surprisingly faithful translation Crystal Castles is one of tne of the best examples of AI programming on the 2600, in my humble opinion.

[ntavio]

Defintely Road Runner, Berzerk, Stargate, and Track & Field (with the Track & Field controller)

[+Nathan Strum]

Updated the list. I looked at that link to arcade-to-2600 conversions and added the ones I was missing. I think the only screens I still need are Steeplechase and Stunt Cycle.

 

Nice!

 

I have a couple of screenshot suggestions though.

 

For the arcade ones, I'd suggest leaving off the marquee artwork, and just sticking with the game graphics.

 

For the 2600 shots, there are sprites missing due to flicker. To get around this, you can take two screenshots and combine them into a composite shot (the trick, of course, is to get different sprites on each screenshot).

 

It would be nice if the emulators had a feature where they could take composite screenshots like that automatically...

Edited April 27, 2005 by Nathan Strum

[Feralstorm]

There seems to be a few examples of games that are strongly different from their arcade counterparts, in looks and/or gameplay, on purpose to make the out of being a 2600 game, and a good game as a result, if not an arcade-accurate one.

 

Battlezone (no obstacles, multiple tanks, really colorful)

Crystal Castles (more 'open' and less 3D maze designs.)

Warlords (different play mechanics geard toward multiplayer, lots of arcade elements thrown out)

Jr. Pac Man (vertical scrolling maze is easier/better on 2600 than horizontal one)

[Eckhard Stolberg]

It would be nice if the emulators had a feature where they could take composite screenshots like that automatically...

z26 can do that, if you use the phosphor effect and BMP screenshots. Also the emulator has to run in a high colour video mode. High colour video modes are -v10 to -v18 for windowed mode and -v20 to -v28 for fullscreen. These modes will use the colour resolution of your desktop. To set the phosphor effect to a maximum you need to use the -f99 command line switch. This will combine the two last frames into one. Also you need to use -B to enable BMP screenshots, because PCX screenshots can't handle the colour resolution nessessary for the phosphor effect. So a command line like

 

z26 -v20 -f99 -B gamename.bin

 

should allow you to generate nice screenshots of games flickering with 30Hz.

 

 

Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg

[Tempest]

It's easier to pick out the worst conversions:

 

3. Reactor

 

No way! Reactor rocked! I love the 2600 version!

 

Tempest

[Gregory DG]

z26 -v20 -f99 -B gamename.bin

 

should allow you to generate nice screenshots of games flickering with 30Hz.

844883[/snapback]

Thanks for the info. I usually just associate the .bin files with Z26 and open them that way. I need to use the X26 shell more often!

[Tempest]

I've never figured out why people like Reactor so much. Perhaps I played it too much in the arcades as a kid.

 

The 2600 port just doesn't come close to the arcade version in terms of sound, visuals or anything else.

 

Still, it seems to have its fans.

 

I guess I never played it in the arcades (only once at CGE actually), so I can't judge it on it's arcade-likeness. However Reactor is a very good 2600 game, and not having grown up with the arcade version I guess I wasn't disappointed with the missing elements. Same deal with Tutankham, the arcade version is VERY different than the 2600 version, but I like the 2600 much better since it was the first verison I played.

 

Tempest

[vdub_bobby]

Updated the list. I looked at that link to arcade-to-2600 conversions and added the ones I was missing. I think the only screens I still need are Steeplechase and Stunt Cycle.

 

Same deal with Tutankham, the arcade version is VERY different than the 2600 version, but I like the 2600 much better since it was the first verison I played.

 

Speaking of Tutankham, I don't think that's on your list at AtariTimes.

 

And how are the 2600 and arcade versions very different? They seem about the same to me, with a few concessions made to the 2600 hardware (i.e., scrolling is only vertical).

[Tickled_Pink]

Pole Position would have to be my favorite hands down

 

Top 5

1. Galaxian

2. Berzerk

3. Frogger

4. Stargate

5. Q*Bert

[Gregory DG]

Speaking of Tutankham, I don't think that's on your list at AtariTimes.

Thanks. Hopefully, that's the last one!

[HawgWyld]

I guess I never played it in the arcades (only once at CGE actually), so I can't judge it on it's arcade-likeness.  However Reactor is a very good 2600 game, and not having grown up with the arcade version I guess I wasn't disappointed with the missing elements.  Same deal with Tutankham, the arcade version is VERY different than the 2600 version, but I like the 2600 much better since it was the first verison I played.

 

Tempest

845017[/snapback]

 

That brings up an interesting point, doesn't it? Take a look at "Pac-Man," for example. I've always thought what made "Pac-Man" so rotten was the fact it was just so far removed from the arcade game that inspired it. Standing on its own, it would probably be regarded as merely a fair-to-middling game that might have a fan or two.

 

In the case of "Reactor," however, how many people are familiar enough with the arcade game to compare it to the 2600 port? Everyone is familiar with the arcade version of "Pac-Man," but I suspect the same is not true of "Reactor."