Thanks! That's awesome news! I'm gonna have to dig that one up. And on topic: Enjoying what I've had a chance to play so far. Only been able to get in a couple of rounds of Asteroids (arcade version), and Haunted House. Was struggling with the 2600 controls, but didn't actually find them "bad", I'll just have to get used to them. Same thing with the controls for Asteroids. I'd prefer to have actual "rotate left/rotate right" buttons like the arcade. The wheel seems to do the job though. I'll have to spend some more time with it. In terms of the emulation, I've played a hell of a lot of those two games, and graphics/sound/speed seemed pretty spot on to me. Impressed so far. And still have 98 games or whatever to check out. Side note: The fact that they included manual scans of the 2600 titles just absolutely rocks hard. I probably would have paid half the asking price just for the manual scans alone. I honestly really enjoy reading them, as they often had to come up with pretty intense descriptions to make up for the graphical limitations at the time.
I agree about all the manual scans, cabinet photos, and miscellaneous other things they've added in. I just wish they had larger box art images in the galleries as well. Some of those old box artists could really elaborate!
Just spent 40 min playing the 2600 Bowling of all things. Works great with the controls ('steerable' is a blast) and the game supports 2- player pass and play. Unexpected fun
I just looked through the Atari compilation, Off The Wall is a totally different game than the 1991 game Off The Wall I was thinking of, so your post stands absolutely correct. With both games made by Atari, that sent me for a loop. I agree, one of the very excellent things about this compilation is the efforts put forth locating, scanning and including the manuals, arcade cabinets, etc.
Yeah, the trail of split companies and buyouts can be confusing. The important (and unfortunate) thing to remember is that all VCS titles from any year are still under Atari's (Infogrames') purview, while any arcade game from 1984 and beyond from Atari Games (Warner/Midway) aren't. Likewise, licensed titles (E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, et al) would have to be re-licensed by Atari, which presents its own problem -- it isn't impossible, but it would drive the cost of these titles up, which means they'd probably have to be sold individually for as much as or more than their multi-packs cost. What I'm hoping for is for this to sell really well and give Activision a reason to release their (and Imagic's, who they bought post-crash) 2600 classics. Back to the topic of controls, I found Night Driver plays terribly on the iPhone; the slider is directly beneath the fire button (acceleration) so it's incredibly awkward to push the fire button and slide all the way over to the right.
As mentioned above, they were in Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. I did manage to unlock them (truthfully, I had to do whatever it took to unlock them, as they were the sole reason I purchased the game). They are full emulations (not ports) of the two machines, so the graphics look perfect, but you don't have access to the dip switch settings. The emulated machines start you off with maximum shields (9 iirc) rather than the six or so that was typical for a machine in an arcade or store. It may be set to free play (rather than having a coin input button), but I don't remember with absolute certainty on that one point. I remember it being fairly difficult to control using a gc controller (or wavebird), but not so difficult as to be impossible; you'll get used to it. Needless to say, it does work on a Wii console as well as the 'cube.
Agreed. Or ideally, a second set of downloads for the Atari app, with Activision getting a cut. I'd love to have Cosmic Ark, Star Voyage, Pitfall, River Raid, Megamania et al on my iPod. I'd think the entire Activision/Imagic back catalogue would be worth a second 15$ IAP, at least to me.
I've found them to be very difficult in a few games, like Gravitar 2600 (honestly my jaw dropped when I saw "downloding Gravitar" last night - somehow I missed that it (arcade & 2600) was included in this set! I think it has to do with the fact that you do a lot of left/right and rolling up to thrust (2600 version) the new control type makes the arcade game play differently as well - seems a good match for the touchscreen, but part of me yearns for the discrete buttons like the original. This would be very doable on the iPad in portrait mode. I balked at the inclusion of the Swordquest games (not a whole lot of point to play them IMHO) but the comics are worth that bundle's dollar (or portion thereof!) Easily!
I really wish they would have included the Atari Force ones, although apart from Star Raiders they were all included with licensed games. Perhaps the whole set of five could have been affixed to Star Raiders or the Liberator gallery though. And while I'm being greedy, Centipede's comic could have been included too.
Seeing the picture of the Gravitar board made me realize the one bit of aesthetic that I couldn't put my finger on. There's something that seemed to be missing from the game menus... Why not incorporate the little red select player buttons? I love those LEDs.
Oh, you bet your ass I'd do another $15 for those. The catalogue wouldn't be quite as large but it's still an easy sell for that; Activision made some of my favourites, not to mention some of the Imagic classics. (Yes, I even liked Riddle of the Sphinx, despite its glacial pace. I don't actually know why, either. But then I didn't completely hate the Mythicon games either, so take that as you will.) All of Atari's comics were done by DC under license, so that was probably why they weren't included. I'd pay a buck for a pack of them though if Atari licensed them.
So I took my iPad around the office today and showed this game to several work friends and noticed something funny. Keep in mind I'm only talking about the arcade games not the vcs ones... People who are old enough to have played them in the arcades loved it and thought the controls were great! People who were younger and grew up post crash kinda liked the games but didn't like or understand the controls. So to the younger folk remember this day when you go to those who are younger than you and you try to show them how cool the N64 is and they give you blank stares and complain about how ugly it is and how weird the controllers are. That will be the day I lol from the grave
There's a reason Jeff Minter counts Dave Theurer among his biggest influences. (Theurer also did Missile Command and I, Robot -- speaking of which, there's a pre-split Atari game that wasn't included with this pack that I wish was.)
Assuming they coded the emulators from scratch, perhaps they ran into the same hurdles the MAMEDev team did a few years ago. I, Robot was probably the last classic era Atari machine added to MAME.
I showed Asteroids to my dad and he could never have been happier. By the way, in Combat and Combat Two, I control both tanks with the same joystick. Is that supposed to happen? Or can I turn it off?
You saved yourself some quarters, though. Tempest had a steep learning curve, which was usually followed by a "just one more game!" compulsion.
