Today when I checked the mail there was a package in there containing a game I have not seen since the Y2K debate. This is one PlayStation game I bought as soon as it hit store shelves along with a guide book. Being a huge fan of the first Gran Turismo this was one game I was highly excited about. So getting it in the mail was an exciting moment for me. A game that has eluded me many times was now in my hands, complete and ready...no...begging to be played.
I spent many months on this g
I want to start off by saying I love GOSUB on the 7800! It was a fantastic experience, simple to pick up and a lot of fun to learn. It's a solid play for an evening or afternoon, and it's a bit cheaper than other games I've purchased off of other websites. I got it from 2600connection, but I couldn't find it listed anywhere on his Facebook or Website. I had to send him an email and ask him if he had any left, PayPal him the money, and it came pretty quick. It's hard to track down unless you
When it came to reviewing Double Dragon for the 7800, I had to make a serious decision of what I'm doing here. Am I relaying my experience with a game and giving a grade based on that, or am I recommending games to my audience of probably 4 guys who already play and own the games I'm talking about. Okay well I guess I'm assuming these will each an audience of literally dozens one day. Think big, why not. Anyway, am I recommending games for you or relaying my personal experience? Because my grade
When I first got into emulators I, like many others, discovered computers could play NES games. I also discovered that some of the game ROMs I was looking at I never heard of before. When did the NES get Gradius II, what was Parodius? And what was Salamander? I ended up getting what I thought were NES games I had never heard of. In hindsight, and unbeknown to my mind, I was getting Famicom games. When I fired up Salamander I had no idea that I had unintentionally grabbed what we got (us USA g
I want to take an opportunity to add some basic information to my blog about how I grade games. I've been using a 10 point scale, but I feel that explaining the scale helps people understand my thoughts better. Other websites or reviewers might use a similar numeric grade but it means something different to them. So here's the scores and what they mean:
10 Perfection! If a game or an element of a game gets this, than I found absolutely nothing to complain about. It's top tier for the 7800!
Before I begin the review I will note that I posted this to the Atari IO 7800 forum first. I've essentially copied and paste it here so it doesn't follow the same formatting exactly as my other reviews. But I feel that it reflects my thoughts well and I don't want to rewrite it to say the same things.
Also, I'm attempting to take my own screenshots instead of using Google image search. I plan on going back and replacing all the other screenshots eventually. But since I play on real hardwar
In between my reviews I want to do something a little different. When it comes to retro gaming today, we have more options than ever to play our favorite old school games. The ever present Raspberry Pi. The "mini" consoles that was all the rage a few years back. Emulators and roms on our computers or modded consoles. But there's one way to play retro games that may be more convenient to most people than any of the prior mentions: Handhelds!
With a handheld you aren't tethered to a televi
Scrapyard Dog for the Atari 7800 Prosystem Review!
I've heard a lot of people complain about the momentum in Scrapyard Dog. They say that the character gains too much speed and runs head first into obstacles with little reaction time for the player. And while this is true, I really think these people don't give Scrapyard Dog a fair chance. It's a flawed game, but one that I really ended up enjoying! It could've never competed with the likes of Super Mario or even Sonic the Hedgehog when he
There was a time when buying a new game required using the packaging material to grab the consumer's attention. There usually was no limit to how far a software company would go to deliver a package that created an impulse buy. And by that I mean there was no other way around it...you simply had to have that game no matter what based on what the package looked like and how it presented the software inside the box.
Silent Service for the Atari 8-bit computer consoles was developed by
Crystal Quest Featuring Bentley Bear is a platforming game similar in feel and style to Adventure Island or Wonder Boy. The Atari 7800 has desperately needed platformers in the vein of Super Mario Bros since 1986, and even with this glaring hole in the library, homebrew developers have been slow to fill it. I don't blame anybody but Atari for the under representation of this genre, but it does feel a little odd that nothing was really released until 2014 to fill the gap. So, does Crystal Ques
It's been a year now since I bought my Famicom, Famicom Disk System, and a few games. I just double checked my purchase history and I bought my Famicom, as JUNK, February 14th, 2021. It took a week to get here which was impressive. And I'm probably not going to say anything about it people already know but I've got to speak my mind about it.
My Famicom discovery really started when I discovered emulators a few decades ago. I found a NES emulator and a ton of games. What I didn't realize
I remember answering a question asking that if I was stranded on an island what game system would I wish was with me. Or something like that. I had some figuring to do as to what systems were my favorites and also had games I could play that I wouldn't get bored with or spend too much time on if power was limited. I had a few other factors to consider as well such as power requirements and how it connected to a screen. All of that played an important role to my final decision.
The overal
This story starts a few years ago when I powered on my model 1 Sega Saturn and played a game for a bit and then powered the console off and back on to switch to a different game. But to my horror I discovered some strange horizontal white lines scrolling upwards on the screen? I powered the console off/on again and the lines were still there only now there were a lot more of them and they were scrolling much faster. Additional power off/on cycles would only cause the lines to change thickness an
Mac Tonight was a smash success, but quickly faded from the scene, only to be revived by Mcdonald's sporadically. On this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I look at the history of this famed spokesmoon.View the full article on the Retroist
Martin Goldberg is a veteran game industry developer, writer, archiver, and historian who is well known and respected in the Atari community. Marty’s articles can be found in many gaming publications, and he co-authored Atari Inc. Business is Fun, A Complete History of Atar Inc. in collaboration with Curt Vendel as part of their effort to preserve Atari history with their Atari Museum archive.
The period during which Aquaventure is thought to have been under development was one o
Matt Reichert is the expert on Atari prototypes, and he maintains atariprotos.com, a website dedicated to documenting these unfinished and unreleased games. His thorough research and detailed game reviews are important to the Atari community, and impressive.
I’ve explored several different possibilities on the identity of the programmer(s) of Aquaventure. Interviews with Gary Shannon and Tod Frye made it clear that they were both involved, while an analysis of the code indicated that Nic
Matt Reichert is the expert on Atari prototypes, and he maintains atariprotos.com, a website dedicated to documenting these unfinished and unreleased games. His thorough research and detailed game reviews are important to the Atari community, and impressive. Matt took the time to share his research on the origins of Aquavanture, one of the three prototypes Atari XP is launching on cartridge.
We know that Gary Shannon and Tod Frye each played a part in programming Aquaventure. There may h
In Aquaventure you play as a deep sea treasure hunter, desperate for one big score to make your name, and your fortune. Your crew believes it has discovered the shipwreck of the notorious pirate Calico Blue, and his lost treasure.
We couldn’t find any reference to a real life Calico Blue, but there was a Calico Jack. Calico Jack was an English pirate captain named Jack Rackham who sailed in the Bahamas in the early 1700s. His nickname was apparently derived from the clothing he wore. Calico
Matt Reichert is the expert on Atari prototypes, and he maintains atariprotos.com, a website dedicated to documenting these unfinished and unreleased games. His thorough research and detailed game reviews are important to the Atari community, and impressive.
Gamers today are accustomed to long elaborate credit sequences, but what they may not know is that sharing the names of the individuals who created games was not the norm. Until the mid 1980s, most games were only credited to the c
Matt Reichert is the expert on Atari prototypes, and he maintains atariprotos.com, a website dedicated to documenting these unfinished and unreleased games. His thorough research and detailed game reviews are important to the Atari community, and impressive.
The origins of the original Aquaventure prototype are a bit hazy. It is thought to have been discovered by a collector at a flea market in central Florida in the mid 1990s. Eventually, this collector brought the prototype to a gami
This one was quite tricky and I'm still not 100% convinced this was the full cause. However, grab a snack and a drink cause here we go...
An older 2600 heavy sixer was sent for just a refurbishment and no upgrades. Basically just replacing out the components that come in a standard console5 refurb kit. But I immediately knew someone was off about this console before I even opened it up due the bulging I could see in the front facia switch section near the left side of the cartridge port?
Q: What is the most popular tourist attraction in the entire state of Oregon?
A: Amongst many natural wonders in the state, Multnomah Falls is the winner
My wife and I left our home early this morning to beat the crowds and visit the falls. It's about 50 miles east of Portland...about an hour away down the scenic Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge was created in one of the last ice ages 10,000 years ago by the tremendous water flows of the Missoula floods. The falls are 620 feet tall wi
In 1989, the film classic, The Wizard, was released. While not a smash hit at the time, it has grown into a cult classic. In this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I discuss this film that is a lot more than just a feature-length commercial for Nintendo.View the full article on the Retroist
