9 replies to this topic

[Mister VCS]

I have 3 Epyx games (Pitstop, Jumpman Jr. and Gateway to..). I was
surprised that they are so poorly programmed. Ugly colors, graphics make
you think that you think in front of an Atari 2600. Why are the Epyx games
so poor for this system?

[icbrkr]

Mister VCS said:

I have 3 Epyx games (Pitstop, Jumpman Jr. and Gateway to..). I was  
surprised that they are so poorly programmed. Ugly colors, graphics make
you think that you think in front of an Atari 2600. Why are the Epyx games
so poor for this system?

Jumpman Jr.... poor?

Bah! Blasphemy! Jumpman is a classic and looks/plays about the same on the Colecovision as it does on every computer. You have to remember, these are computer ports, not original works. It has a permanent spot in the cartridge port of my Colecovision.

[cimerians]

The Epyx games were my favorite back in the day! You have to be living back then and appreciate the depth these games had as compared to other Coleco games.

Jumpman Jr is pretty much perfect as compared to its computer (Apple) version back then.

[NovaXpress]

Yes, the Epyx games were actually excellent for their time. All three titles that you mentioned were accurate conversions of the computer hits.

Jumpman may not look so impressive now, but at the time it was a monster smash because of the gameplay. The graphics sure weren't pretty. I'm not a fan of the game cause I dont like most jumpers, but it does recreate the original very well.

Gateway to Apshai doesnt look so hot after a few years of Diablo II, but in 1983 you couldn't find a better D&D experience on a home console (400/800 owners cut their teeth on the classic Temple of Apshai).

I never liked Pitstop, but the Coleco translation was on the money.

[Zaxxon]

I think Epyx must've been cheapskates because they could've enhanced the graphics for the CV. They could've made their games up to 32k in size but their CV games only use about 12k.

[goatdan]

Just out of curiousity, for those of you (us ) that loved Jumpman Jr, did you also really enjoy the NES Back to the Future II & III? The game interspersed Jumpman Jr mini-games into a HUGE adventure. I used to spend hours playing it (including leaving it on pause overnight for a week or so) and never made it past about halfway. Great game, but it is super hard.

[Ze_ro]

Zaxxon said:

I think Epyx must've been cheapskates because they could've enhanced the graphics for the CV. They could've made their games up to 32k in size but their CV games only use about 12k.

I'm glad they kept things simple really. I fell in love with Apshai and Jumpman on the C64, and I'd rather they stayed that way. It's the gameplay that matters, and they did their job well in that department.

--Zero

[Vic George 2K3]

goatdan said:

Just out of curiousity, for those of you (us   ) that loved Jumpman Jr, did you also really enjoy the NES Back to the Future II & III?  The game interspersed Jumpman Jr mini-games into a HUGE adventure.  I used to spend hours playing it (including leaving it on pause overnight for a week or so) and never made it past about halfway.  Great game, but it is super hard.

I would have liked Back To The Future II & III if it only had a game save feature, which it didn't, because the game was so darn convoluted you'd have to leave your system on all day in order to complete it. Fortunately, I ended up getting and using the Game Action Replay cartridge adapter on that game, which allowed me to game save my way to completing the first half of the game; the second half was beyond my ability to complete.

[tyranthraxus]

I think the games play well but yes graphically they don't represent what
the CV can really do. But I believe all those games were originally made
for the Apple II which is one of the post graphically challenged computers
of all time! Those early games of theirs looked like crap but the later
ones Pitstop II, ____ Games and Impossible Mission are better.

Its a shame Pitstop II never made it to a console.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

tyranthraxus said:

But I believe all those games were originally made
for the Apple II which is one of the post graphically challenged computers
of all time!

None of the three where made for the Apple II. Epyx did the Atari Originals and the C64 ports. The Coleco ports had been contracted outside.

The C64 versions are almost 1:1 translations based on the original Atari source code, while the Coleco versions had to be rewritten/redesigned for both the Z80 CPU and a different horizontal resolution.

As for the colors - one can't blame the programmers for the systems palettes I think...

Also all three carts on on each of the three systems were 16K, so regarding that they had equal chances

I think they did a good job on Jumpman Jr. and especially Gateway to Apshai, but Pitstop really pales in direct comparission.

Greetings,
Manuel