15 replies to this topic

[Mister VCS]

Is there anyone who likes 2600-Zaxxon?

[Inky]

I actually thinks its a halfway decent game in its own right, but it is a travesty to call it Zaxxon because it is not..

BTW, the ADAM version of Zaxxon rocks!

[Cafeman]

I always thought it sucked. I mean, it was indeed a travesty to call that game Zaxxon.

But I recently downloaded the ROM, and now I think its decent game on its own, especially given the system's weakness compared to Sega's arcade hardware. Heck, even the 5200 and 8bit Zaxxon versions were far from arcade perfect (although better than this particular version, snicker!)

[liquid_sky]

2600 Zaxxon is sort of like 2600 Pacman; Halfway playable, but a shame to their respective names. I vote we rename 2600 Pacman to Flickerman and 2600 Zaxxon to well, for lack of a better term, shit

[mos6507]

The reason I think the Activision catalog was the best for the 2600 was that they didn't try to just port arcade games (although several of their games are veiled ports of obscure coin-op titles from the mid 70s).

They approached the 2600 on its own terms and tailored the games around the 2600 hardware.

But overall, too many 2600 games were ordered by management types without regard for how good the end product could possibly be.

DIAGONAL scrolling is something the 2600 really can't do. I can't think of a single game that does it.

But since the Zaxxon arcade game did it, the 2600 port was going to either have to make it happen by some miracle, or just go with vertical scrolling, which is why they went with the latter.

If they had just decided NOT to port the game, it would have been a better idea, but since the game had instant name recognition, they knew they could at least sell some carts regardless of how bad the game was. Sound familiar? This typifies modern Hollywood franchise thinking.

[Ze_ro]

Ugh... I still remember the shock I got after playing this game for the first time. I had no idea what to expect, and I kind of assumed it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the arcade version, or even the ColecoVision or C64 version. But man, I was still surprised how bad it was. I really think this is one game that they probably shouldn't have even bothered trying to do on the VCS.

On the other side though, at least it's another game to add to the list of arcade ports... the VCS seems to have so many of 'em

--Zero

(PS: In case it makes anyone feel better about their VCS, the Intellivision version is JUST as bad!)

[Scott Stilphen]

> DIAGONAL scrolling is something the 2600 really can't do. I can't think of a single game that does it.

Desert Falcon

[mos6507]

>>
Desert Falcon
<<

Yeah, but if you notice, it is a solid background and all the bg elements are generated via sprites. The playfield isn't even being used.

This works because Desert Falcon is set on a flat plane.

This wouldn't work for Zaxxon which has large geometric wall shapes.

[Tempest]

I don't know about a good example, but if you want to see a bad example look at Up N Down. It's amazing what they crammed into that game but the diagonals just killed it.

Tempest

[Raccoon Lad]

WOOOOOO! Someone mentioned Up'N Down! I own the arcade machine. AWESOME game!, So what if my post is off topic.

A Side scrolling zaxxon could be done, but it would be even harder to judge your height, but it be more true to the arcade.

[Tempest]

Up n Down rocks, even the 2600 version is pretty good. But if you want to play a good version try the Atari 400/800 version (I own a proto of that). The game is still damn hard though.

Tempest

[utamav91]

Zaxxon for the 2600 soooooooo rocked. The actual robot at the end is a little too easy to beat, but very detailed. And tell me you don't get a little nervous trying to navigate the electrical fields on the walls on the higher levels. The playfield is really flying at that point. It's not Coleco Zaxxon, but it's pretty amazing all things considering.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

I tend to agree with Utamav's post there.

True the 2600 version is incredibly limited and perhaps shows why some games weren't ported. But then again, I do at least feel like I am playing Zaxxon when I play it. The sounds are pretty good and I do like that Robot thing on the end of the levels.

I would rather play Zaxxon than say...Pac-Man anyday.

[Scott Stilphen]

> Yeah, but if you notice, it is a solid background and all the bg elements are generated via sprites. The playfield isn't even being used.

Although the hardware may be incapable of doing *background* diagonal scrolling, it certainly gives the illusion of it. What about games like Skiing or Laser Blast? Skiing is widely regarded as being a "scroller" but Laser Blast is not.

[NE146]

I waited something like 4 months for my 2600 Zaxxon to be delivered (apparently via boat) and didn't know what to expect as well.

When I popped it in yes I was dissapointed naturally, but upon forcing myself to play the game (heck I had waited for it for so long), I discovered it wasn't *so* bad after a couple of days. Bottom line, it isn't so bad and is actually pretty fun. I played that game a lot after all...

But it aint no Zaxxon

[Marc Oberhäuser]

I think it is a decent game which should have been published with another name, because people expected a completly different game.

MaO