83 replies to this topic

[zylon]

I haven't had one of these since late 90's and didn't really do much with it. We also had one new in late '91, but had only 2 games. I recently got one for nearly nothing and figure I'll give it one more go since I like the controllers anyway.
What are some cheap titles that don't suck?

[AtariLeaf]

all the arcade ports are cheap and really good - Donkey Kong, Centipede, Robotron, Galaga, Joust, Dig Dug, Asteroids, Food Fight, Ms Pacman.

[bennybingo]

Robotron is my favorite!!! Joust is awesome as well. The 7800 has a ton of really good games that are cheap. Only a handful of the titles are expensive, but none of the commercial releases exceed $100, so it is definitely possible to collect a complete collection. Have fun!

[DracIsBack]

With all the cool homebrews that have come out for it, it's the right time to give it another whirl!

[jetset]

Mostly the arcade ports are the ones to get. Galaga, Asteroids, Ms PacMan, Joust, Centipede, Food fight...The non arcade and sports games are not very fun and really are an acquired taste. In fact off the top of my head Ballblazer is the only original-ish game that's pretty good. Everyone touts Midnight Mutants and Scrapyard Dog but those while pretty to look at are too hard to be any fun.

[DracIsBack]

jetset, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:43 PM, said:

. Everyone touts Midnight Mutants and Scrapyard Dog but those while pretty to look at are too hard to be any fun.

Midnight Mutants is really hard? Didnt find that.

Scrapyard Dog has some nasty hard spots for sure

[tz101]

To me, 7800 is a meh system, take it or leave it. I have one with with twenty-some games but it has nowhere the draw of 5200 and Intellivision IMO.

[zylon]

I've been looking at screenshots and 10 look promising: Pole Position 2, Dig Dug, Robotron, Joust, Galaga, Xevious, Food Fight, Ms Pacman, Asteroids, Dark Chambers.
Looks like there's a lot of bad computer sims on this. I'll have to keep an eye on the homebrew/hack scene.
I'll pass on the DK's and maybe Centipede. So far, the only Centipede I like is the Inty version. I've only got Dark Chambers so far and it is cool.

[jetset]

DracIsBack, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:26 PM, said:

jetset, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:43 PM, said:

. Everyone touts Midnight Mutants and Scrapyard Dog but those while pretty to look at are too hard to be any fun.

Midnight Mutants is really hard? Didnt find that.

Well, tbh, I bored of it quickly and I attributed that to not making much progress. Maybe it's not hard and I just don't find it appealing.

[Austin]

zylon, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

I've been looking at screenshots and 10 look promising: Pole Position 2, Dig Dug, Robotron, Joust, Galaga, Xevious, Food Fight, Ms Pacman, Asteroids, Dark Chambers.

These are just my humble opinions, all of which may have no bearing whatsoever.

Pole Position is good for the time ('84), but admittedly it gets old fast. It's still fun for the quarter you will have to pay for it though!

Dig Dug, Robotron, Joust, Xevious, Food Fight, Ms. Pac-Man, all great ports. Asides from Food Fight I don't personally play the 7800 versions much as I prefer the truer-to-arcade, emulated versions available on later-day platforms.

Galaga feels completely different than the arcade game but can be fun depending on your tastes. Seems to be a love-hate kind of game with fans of the platform. Asteroids is nice, as it has updated visuals, and a two-player mode. I personally found Dark Chambers to be very monotonous after the initial few minutes of play, and the hardest mode seems to be near-impossible.

zylon, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

Looks like there's a lot of bad computer sims on this.

There are a few, but just a few. They make up a very small portion of the system's library..

zylon, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

I'll have to keep an eye on the homebrew/hack scene.

The homebrew scene is the most-interesting aspect of the console these days, IMO.

zylon, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

I'll pass on the DK's and maybe Centipede. So far, the only Centipede I like is the Inty version. I've only got Dark Chambers so far and it is cool.

If you like DK, both versions on the 7800 are pretty good. Likewise with Centipede, it's a good port. There's a hack of it floating around out there as well that lets you use a trakball.

[GroovyBee]

The only back catalogue games I play are Food Fight, Dark Chambers, Centipede and Robotron. Its much more fun for me to program the games I want to see on the console than it is to play the ones originally produced for the machine. With the 7800 XM imminent the console will get pushed into new areas .

[DracIsBack]

tz101, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:52 PM, said:

To me, 7800 is a meh system, take it or leave it. I have one with with twenty-some games but it has nowhere the draw of 5200 and Intellivision IMO.

Then why waste your time in a 7800 forum?

[GroovyBee]

DracIsBack, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 7:40 AM, said:

tz101, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:52 PM, said:

To me, 7800 is a meh system, take it or leave it. I have one with with twenty-some games but it has nowhere the draw of 5200 and Intellivision IMO.

Then why waste your time in a 7800 forum?

I'm sure if Make Trax appeared on it they'd be happy with the system .

[legeek]

Joust is great, near arcade graphics without the brutal arcade difficulty. The Space Invaders homebrew is pretty sweet as well, better than arcade graphics with nearly all the variations of the VCS version.

[Rex Dart]

Austin, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:40 PM, said:

zylon, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

Looks like there's a lot of bad computer sims on this.

There are a few, but just a few. They make up a very small portion of the system's library..

Hey, what DOESN'T make up a small portion of the 7800's library? ZING!

[AtariLeaf]

I really like 7800 "Rampage" which I call "Muppet Babies Rampage". If you saw the game in action you'd know what I mean. I keep meaning to do a youtube review of this game. I should get on it. Its actually a pretty good port.

[zylon]

The store is offline. What should I look into HB/hack wise? I had a tough time finding 10 I might want from the original catalogue. I just ordered Xevious and Robotron today. I love the 5200/A8 versions. How do these compare in play?

[CV Gus]

Some reasons to own a 7800:

Dig Dug

Robotron: 2084, although I somewhat prefer the 5200 version.

Xevious

Pole Position

JOUST!

Food Fight. Sure, it looks much like a 2600 Activision game, but it's really fun.

Asteroids

Ms. Pac-Man. Although the 5200 version is close and the CV version better, the 7800 version is good.

[jetset]

GroovyBee, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 7:45 AM, said:

DracIsBack, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 7:40 AM, said:

tz101, on Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:52 PM, said:

To me, 7800 is a meh system, take it or leave it. I have one with with twenty-some games but it has nowhere the draw of 5200 and Intellivision IMO.

Then why waste your time in a 7800 forum?

I'm sure if Make Trax appeared on it they'd be happy with the system .

That would be incorrect.

[Austin]

Rex Dart, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 8:26 AM, said:

Hey, what DOESN'T make up a small portion of the 7800's library? ZING!

[8th lutz]

zylon, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 11:26 AM, said:

The store is offline. What should I look into HB/hack wise?

The Atariage store is outdated in terms of 7800 homebrew/hack games that are completed. Super Circus Atariage, Pac-man in 320 mode, and Meteor Shower(7800 verion of Astroblast/Astrosmash).

Based on what is in the Atariage store, I have say Beef Drop(7800 version of Burgertime), B*nq (7800 version of Q*bert), Space Duel, Asteroids Deluxe, Jr. Pac-man, Super Pac-man,and Failsafe(sequel to Countermeasure). I can't comment on Worm! since I haven't played it. Wasp! is a good homebrew game to me, but it really depends on who you talk to

The Atariage version Pac-man Collection is very good, but that version is now outdated for the Atari 7800 since there is a newer version of Pac-man that was completed last year or earlier this year if I recalled correctly that uses Atari 7800 XM features in terms of sound. The newer version of Pac-man Collection also has different mazes than the original Atari 7800 version of Pac-man Collection has.

[zylon]

Hmmm. I will have to look into Meteor Shower.

[zylon]

I've since ordered a bunch of cheap games that had potential, hopefully they'll all work. 4 more I'm still going to seek out, but not real soon: Joust, Galaga, Mario Bros, Xenophobe.

[zylon]

I'm playing around with Xevious and Robotron now since they arrived first. Robotron is good , Xevious get a pass .

[tz101]

GroovyBee, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 7:45 AM, said:

I'm sure if Make Trax appeared on it they'd be happy with the system .

I'm not "unhappy" with 7800, but yes, Make Trax would make me love the system.