CrossBow

I'm confused...which cable did get exactly from Retro Gaming Cables? Because I've ordered a bunch of their stuff and never had an issue? Also I would have reached out to them as they are very standup types and would likely fix you up on that cable. NM I clicked on the links to see. No idea why that combo wouldn't have worked for you? I do know that SCART setups in JPN were different from the EU, but everything from Retrogaming cables would be based on the EU standards and if they were using the JPN format it would specify as such. So again, very strange to see you have such bad luck with their stuff as again, they are pretty much the ONLY ones I advise getting RGB cables from.

Last night I did the same thing to my daily driver 7800. As I have the RF modulator removed from that 7800 completely, I used one of my studio grade quality 3.5mm jacks for this and epoxied it to the 7800 main board in place of where the RF was since that was empty and the hole was already there in the case shell.

I also just remembered that my Vectrex Audio Tap or V.A.T. for short I have installed in my Vectrex, actually has a 3.5mm jack on it for audio input for use with the Avox+ in Veccy mode! So really this has been done in this fashion several different ways in the past. I wish I had thought of this before working on all of Al's consoles last year as I'm sure this would make his PRGE setups much easier. He actually uses a separate small audio mixer for each of the consoles to mix the Avox speed with the console audio through a new audio output from the mixer box that he then plugs into his commodore monitors.

That would work quite well provided it is loud enough and or close enough to the player to be heard clearly over the rest of the audio. Likely pretty simple to do and there might even be one of those premade project boxes that could be used for that. I've not tested this yet, but I don't see why it couldn't be done... but... I should plug my Sony digital walkman into it LOL! I mean, I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work provided I adjust the volume?

Bob printed that case for me as a thank you for services I've provided to him a few years back. He has one he made for himself of course and also made a custom case shell for Albert for use with one of his 7800s during PRGE and other convention events. Bob released the STLs for this case I believe yesterday for those that might want to do check it out. There are a few caveats on getting everything to fit and I don't know if his STL includes the holes already done for the RCA and s-video jacks as he did when he printed mine.

The 'Tower' was without power most of last week due to powerful storms on Father's day. As a result it put me behind a bit on console services and projects. Well last night as I've been working kinda constantly on console stuff to try and get caught up, I took a break and decided to do something I'd been meaning to try and implement for a while now. I'm sure many of you here are aware of the Atari Vox? In summary it is a small device that plugs into controller port 2 on the 2600 or 7800 systems to allow you to save game scores and can also provide a means for speech to be played back in games that support it. Very cool device but it has one annoying thing about it. That is the fact that the audio from the Avox is separate from the rest of the system so you either have to plug in a set of external speakers or as I had been doing, I would use a 1/8" to RCA cable and plug one of the RCA jacks into one channel (usually the right) on my AV receiver audio input and the 7800 audio out in the other channel. Or, you have to use an external audio mixer to combine the two into one. None of that is really elegant so I thought of a simpler way to go about it. I'm sure you can see where this might be going? So the 7800 especially is a little unique in that it was designed to make sure of an external audio input from the cartridge port. Typically POKEY enhanced games use this for audio. The basic mixing for this in the console is to tie the TIA audio coming in internally from the console's TIA chip and the POKEY audio from the external cartridge audio input line with different resistors for each to balance their signal so that one doesn't overpower the other. Well, why not simply add in a third audio line into that mix with a resistor to also bring it down in level? That is exactly what I did as is demonstrated in this video... I have some pics I can provide for those interested but in a nutshell I installed a separate 3.5mm audio jack along the back of this test 7800 I have in the ITC lab and instead of if providing audio output, it is used as an audio input and is part of the mix along with the external audio and internal TIA audio. This allows for all three to be used at once and have all the audio could out through my normal audio output RCAs I have installed on the console. No separate speakers...not Atari audio from just the Left with the AVox speed only on the right. It is all properly mixed together in dual mono as I would prefer. I will next do the same on my actual daily driver 7800 where this would be used most, but I'm glad to have it on my lab 7800 as well. The way this was done, should also be possible on a 2600 and I might very well explore that on a 2600jr I also have in the lab. I know this isn't the first time something like this has been done as I've seen other projects where owners have embedded the AVox completely into their consoles and then with a lot of wiring, use a switch to enable/disable the Avox as needed. But I was looking for a more simpler solution that would still allow the AVox to be used with multiple consoles and not be gutted and dedicated inside a single system and yet still easy to use without a lot of extra wire and mess. One small headphone to headphone patch cable is all that is needed now for this when I want to use my Avox. For those that might want to try this on their own, know that a limiting resistor is needed as running the audio output straight in from the AVox is likely to sound messed up/distorted and would cause audio cut off on other audio sources trying to play at the same time. I used an 8k resistor in my test here but I think anything between 6.8k - 10k would suffice. I would also start with your volume pot on the AVox set to about the 1/3 volume level and then play a game that uses both speech and other audio at once to dial in the volume on the Avox until you are happy with it all.

And you have an older version of the RGB board installed. It does work with the OSSC but only in a few modes reliably. The ones I install now are pretty much compatible with all known scalers and will even work with those cheap Genesis 2 to HDMI cable sets like the one from Hyperkin as an example. But yes, RGB output is quite amazing when you have the setup for it. There are still some instances where I prefer to use the s-video from a console over the RGB due to slight stability and softness issues I have with RGB output in general. The Jaguar is one of those consoles. I have the RGB cable for it and it does work, but it isn't very stable through my OSSC and I find I have to change the scaling mode between games to get a stable picture and even then... it might still blank out on me ever few min for a sec or two. So I'm quite likely switch back to s-video on my Jag. My SNESjr through restored RGB wasn't stable either and I had to purchase and install an additional dejitter board to it before it was stable. The genesis will depend on which model you are using to connect to it. The RGB on earlier model 1 units is riddled with issues due to PCB design with other signals inteferring with the RGB output. As a result there are a few mods that can be done to correct for the horrid jail bars that RGB output on those earlier Genesis console will produce. I took the cheap method and removed the color subcarrier trace completely off the board that is the main cause. But as I might still want composite and s-video to work, I wired in a switch on the back to enable and disable the subcarrier signal through a new set of wires that run away from the RGB lines. More expensive is to have a triple bypass RGB board installed. But that will disable the composite completely and remove the RF modulator in favor of a new Genesis 2 AV jack to be installed to supercede the original larger DIN jack that is on the model 1 units. The method I went with removed over 90% of the jail bars and was enough for me to be very happy with the output and I'm pretty OCD about it. I will also state that I can't really tell much of a difference between component and RGB on my AV setup. So I can go either way when offered on which to use. But... actual true digital output like those you can get for the OG xbox and Dreamcast are amazing!

@Funkmaster V did you notice that several of the rooms in the game might have familiar names besides "Funk's Burrow"? hehe... And Muddy may...or may not already be in the design phase for additional games related to this one...

For me the 7800 is really where it has been at lately. Course I might be biased... 😉 I do own a TurboDUO with a v2 TurboED cart. But... I still play on my 5200 more than I do my TurboDUO. It has some great games to be sure, but it just doesn't seem to have quite the same magic for me that Atari and Sega systems do. One note on the 5200 and the VCS adapter. As @- Ω -'s 5200 has a UAV installed and I believe the RF was left intact, he would only be able to use the RF output for the VCS adapter.

I forgot to update this I guess? These UAV 7800 mount boards can now be purchased from the The Brewing Academy directly as they have the plans and everything to take over making them. I've created an updated install guide specifically using the mount board that is attached to this post, and created a new install video highlighting the use of the mount board. UAV_Install_A7800_Mnt_Brd.pdf

They will be available through Stone Age Gamer as Trek linked above, but they will also be in the AA store as well in time. I suspect they might be cheaper in the AA store for those willing to wait. I've added my email of course but not sure if I will be able to get in on the initial batch of them once they get released to the masses.

Pretty much just the power, CPU, controller logic functions of the console. The video output is simulated based on the cartridge data being executed. It works similar to how Krikzz Famicom RGB blaster cartridge works providing RGB from a Famicom without console modification. That is also how all of the audio options are able to work as well. It will be a very impressive device once released and that release time is near. One word to mention is that the RGB output is just that RGB output only. Even though there is a Sega 9-pin mini din being used, it doesn't provide composite output and instead has c-sync on that pin so that other cables can be used that need it. Like HDRetrovision cables and the Rad2X for instance.

Thought you guys might like an update. I was able to clean up the crud a bit and get it looking a little better. Good thing I did as 2 solder joints weren't that great and came loose that I then removed the cap, cleaned up the pads a little better and then soldered back into place. So here is what that looks like now... New LCD is working and looking pretty snazzy as well!

The client does understand. The honest thing here is that the original quote for service of work would double if I end up recapping it and the client would rather push through. My other concern is that just undoing what has been done, could reveal loose or burnt off pads that would then require more additional work. There is a reason many of us usually charge extra compared to our normal fees when we have to go back over and redo someone elses work. It is because in many instances, it ends up taking more time to do than it would have originally before it was even touched. Like all systems I service, it will receive the standard 2+ hour burn in time before I box it back up and send it on its way. That is really the only thing I can do to verify functionality before it leaves my hands. This is how I've found issues with both a Sophia and an F18A boards I recently installed. They initially were working fine. But then 10 min later odd thins would start to occur. The F18A ended up needing to be sent back and had to be reflowed as apparently some of the SMD ICs had loose connections. The Sophia was working for a few days and survived for a half day burn in test. Then a Month later when I got back to that console, no output from the DVI at all but analog outputs were working. So that too has been sent back and a replacement on the way. No Idea why that Sophia suddenly stopped working a month later, but I'm glad I tested it again before calling it good.

That has been the general concensus from others I've shown this too as well. The problem is that recapping a GG is pretty time consuming. The parts is only like a $10 kit which comes to less than $1 per cap, but the time to remove the old, clean up the board well, and especially reinstall with careful forming of the leads so it all fits nice, is time consuming. There is a quote already paid for that was only for the LCD installation, Wasn't planning to charge for the audio board as I had those as spares on hand that would work, but for a full recap and redoing what someone else already did, that will cost them extra. They would rather I just clean up the board and inspect the work for any loose joints and go from there. I mean, even if a few years down the line it starts to have issues, it can be recapped then in a more proper manner since at least the originals are gone and aren't going to cause problems now. It could be argued the owner would save money spending the extra to have me do it again and not worry about it. But then none of us can really offer any warranties anyway since we are dealing with 30+ year old stuff here and what works great today, could develop an all new unrelated issue tomorrow that couldn't be forseen. And while these caps are generic and not of a brand I know of, they could still do the business just fine for many years to come... I have sent these pics and expressed my concerns to the owner before posting any of this online. Again, the current decision is to clean it up, and continue on.

I've got a Game Gear that was sent to me to get a new LCD upgrade installed. Normally as part of something like this and especially with Game Gears, I require that the console get new capacitors to be sure everything in regards to power where needed is clean and all worn out leaking caps are replaced. In the case of the Game Gear, it isn't an option really as they all need their caps replaced due to the poor quality of the capacitors made in the 90s. So due to circumstances, the owner of this GG was having issues getting the screws removed from the console. They were required to open it to be sure which model main board they have so the correct LCD kit could be ordered. Well, they sent it to a 'tech' that offers Game Gear services on ebay and they were able to remove the stuck screws and also provided a recap of the console as well. For some reason, they weren't willing to install the upgraded LCD for the owner. The owner contacts me to ask if I'm willing to install the upgraded screen for them as the system has just been recapped and is working fully in stock condition at this time. I agreed to handle the request. I receive the GG and then proceed to test it before doing anything to be sure everything appears to be working correctly. It was...mostly. I noticed that audio would sometimes seem to cut out and sounded more distorted than usual at louder volumes with this GG. So I opened it up and was not exactly prepared for what I found inside.... That is the audio board. I won't go into too much detail on this as I think the picture will say most of what needs to be said. But the main issues are two things here: 1st, they use cheap no brand capacitors that in all fairness likely work just fine but for how long or how well I can't say. 2nd and worst issue is that no attempt was made to clean up the original pads and leaking electrolyte from the original capacitors or the flux that was used. You can see this with all the dark yellow to brown spots on the board. The fact that the caps are radial vs the SMD that was originally used isn't a huge deal but they could have tried to use smaller sized caps vs this mess. This required them to bend part of the metal shield for the cartridge port section for this to fit. I wish it ended there... but here is a pic of the left side of the main GG system board. Now to be honest, the soldering here is likely fine and again the caps are doing the job as the system is working. But the lack of any attempt to clean this up around the solder work is really lazy and will cause problems further down the line as even flux can be corrosive over time. Last is that it doesn't appear that the actual power board for the console was even touched. I state this because the small plastic cover for the battery terminals for it was stuck fast and hadn't appeared to be have been removed before. Also, the solder joints and bottom portion of the PCB appears aged. Given the lack of cleaning on the spots they did work on, I would have expected some brown flux residue but nothing like that on the power board. Also, the caps on this board I'm pretty sure are factory and were a brand that Sega was using in the GGs back then. I will likely redo that cap located at C1 on the bottom of the PCB because it is a bit off kilter. But again, that is factory work. Well, in an attempt to make a point and see if I could correct the audio issues, I went ahead and redid the audio board with SMD caps of more exact spec that was used and it did correct the audio dropouts and distortion I was getting. Here is what the audio board looks like now cleaned up as best as I could... So now the question is... should I just redo the capacitor work on this entire GG? It is working so I do plan to at least try and clean up the board more. That will also give me a better look on the solder joints that were done to see if anything looks weak or suspect. But I also feel bad for the owner as I don't know what they paid for this service and I don't need to know nor did I ask who did this. Remember, you should always ask for references and pictures of work done in the past by any person you are reaching out to for services. If they aren't able to provide or offer, then you might want to look elsewhere so you can have a better idea on what you are paying for.

I've been told this is likely just an issue for ABS plastics that of course all of our stuff was made back then. Apparently PLA used with 3D printing isn't affected as much? But I don't have the means to test that myself. But yeah... kinda disappointed too since I had really thought this was the fix I'd been looking for to keep the AV jacks I install nice and tight, but ehh. It isn't.

So over the past few months, I've been trying to find ways of making the RCA jacks that I install into consoles more secure so they don't free spin over time. What I've been doing in the past that actually works 90% of the time far as I know...is that instead of using the small lock ring washer that typically comes with RCA jacks, I use inner star washers of the right diameter to do the same thing, but with more points of contact to lock into the plastic. It also has the advantage of holding the securing nut in place tighter as well since the inner teeth of the washers are present on both sides of the washer. From there, I've used light amounts of epoxy to help hold the securing nuts fast in place as well. This has worked well for years but recently I did have some consoles start to come back where one or more of the RCAs had still somehow managed to work loose over time. So this got me to wondering if there were other methods I could employ. Enter the idea to use Loctite or something similar... Hang tight...there is some history I have to talk about first and a lot of details to follow. Grab a snack and drink and settle in... Now there are two types of loctite that you can get for threading applications. One is the red colored stuff and is essentially permanent in that it is very very difficult to remove nuts off their threads if that stuff is used. The other is the blue kind that still allows the parts to be separated (Although not nearly as easily as without...). So I decided to try the blue stuff. Now I will say that sure enough the blue loctite holds really well. It basically is a liquid that once exposed to air begins to congeal and turn into a rubber like substance. As a result, it acts as filler between the threads of the nut and the jacks you are securing together. It does still come undone but requires a lot more force to do so and actually squeaks while you remove the parts after it has cured. So it does its job... but... there is also a warning on the package that I did read but didn't think would be an issue in this case. The warning says not to use with plastic threaded parts. So I assume this meant not to use it with plastic bolt/nuts sets commonly made of Teflon and the like. Well... I'm here to tell you that isn't the only issue. Over a month ago, I installed a UAV into an 800xl. The owner requested I install a separate standard 4pin s-video jack in the opening that the RF modulator used to occupy as the opening is nearly the exact size needed for one style of s-video jacks I have on hand. But they also wanted a pair of RCAs for audio to be installed. They didn't want to purchase an Atari monitor cable specific for this hence the request for separate jacks. So I drilled in the needed holes and got the jacks line up great! To install them, I used a bit of the loctite on the threads of the RCA jacks and proceeded to tighten everything up as normal. I then set the case shell down for about an hour while I recapped the main board and did other things. When I picked up the bottom shell housing I was horrified to see that a long crack had formed between the two RCAs that ran beyond top to bottom of the shell?! I removed the RCAs and discovered that around the holes where the jacks had been installed, there were small spider cracks around the openings and the plastic appeared to be much more brittle than I remembered? So I cleaned everything up and applied some epoxy across the cracks on the inside of the case shell to restrengthen the area and prevent any further cracks from occuring. I let it cure for about 2 days before reinstalling the RCA jacks. This time as they already had the loctite on them, I didn't apply anymore and just had to crank down a bit more to tighten them back up. This time I left them a little more loose than normal and then applied more expoxy over everything to make sure it all held tight. And this worked fine as expected. My thinking at that time was that I had simply tightened the nuts on the RCA jacks too much and it caused stress fracturing in the plastic that spread out. Didn't think much of it beyond that. Last night while working on a 5200 (A console I've done this work on a LOT of times), I drilled in the holes on the expansion plate as normal using a template I've had for years now. Installed the RCAs and again used some loctite on the threads to secure them nicely in place and then set it aside for about 30min while doing other things. I picked it back up to solder the wiring to it and again was horrified to see a crack had formed vertically between two of the RCA jacks?! I was like, what the heck?! I've done a lot of these 5200s and the expansion plate has never done this before? When I started to remove the RCAs to inspect, the entire thing just started to crumble in my hands like dirt. Sure enough the entire plate had become super brittle and was falling apart in my hands?! At this point I was pretty sure I knew what was happening and decided to test on another piece of similar plastic. Scratched it to expose the inner plastic and applied a little loctite. Yeap... that little piece of plastic became a brittle mess within about 15min of application. So.. the lesson here is that Loctite chemically reacts with ABS plastics and causes the ABS to breakdown at a molecular level in a very similar fashion to that of gallium when put in contact with scratched aluminum. Going forward, I'm just going to have to stick with my star lock washers and epoxy it seems...

Biggest issue with the sockets they used was that most of them were single wipe and so over time they have worn a bit loose and corrosion can start to cause the chip and socket to want to become 'one'.

Depends on when it was made. I think all the JRs for instance those chips are soldered in. But on all of the sixers and many of the 4port models, they still used sockets for them.

Not a ton of pickups recently, but I did get two of these games as part of a trade towards console services I provided to a friend of mine who is also a retro gaming enthusiast. The two games being 7800 Midnight Mutants and 5200 Dreadnaught Factor. Midnight Mutants isn't sealed but is complete and in really nice condition overall. This means I might have a spare loose cart and possibly manual I can trade out soon. But the Dreadnaught Factor is sealed and unopened with the original retail stickers on it from back in the early 80s. onEscape is cool new point n click type adventure game for the Atari 8-bit computers. It has a wonderful pokey soundtrack that you can only fully take advantage of with a stereo pokey setup in the console. It also features some really nice pixel art in quite a few places with an intro cutscenes. Its only drawback if you want to consider it that, is there isn't a save option so it does require playing through it in one sitting. However, it is quite short so once you know what to do, you can get through the game in a matter of less than 10min at that point. Still always happy to support the community making these awesome brews for our old systems and the soundtrack really is kinda worth the price of admission in this case. The Genesis cartridge you see titled 'Decoder' is another music album put on cart from a pretty well known chiptune artist by the name of Remute. This cartridge instead of being a jukebox style album, actually has graphic novel you read through that has the music playing between each portion you read. There is even some short FMV sequences it plays while reading through the story and the still pics are quite colorful and detailed making excellent use of the Genesis palette restrictions. There is a standard jukebox mode as well but it isn't very interactive in that you just choose that mode and it just plays through each song in full one by one, so the real star of that cart is the graphic novel you read through.

Seems to be lately that I'm getting in more and more Intellivision consoles that all arrive with the same similar condition. Basically what most might call a black screen when powering on the console but it is more like a dark grey screen with a few lines along the bottom of the screen of even lighter grey. Pressing the reset button does produce a full black screen that will flicker and come back to the same dark grey screen or sometimes it might do something different like an all fuscia colored screen or yellow for instance. In all cases, it basically means that some IC chip or component in the chain of the IC logic has failed and the Intellivision isn't able to boot up properly as a result. You can pretty accurately simulate the effect by simply powering on the console with out a cartridge. Same thing will happen when you pull one of the main ICs out of the console. But how to troubleshoot it and fix it? Well, honestly the service manual for the model II actually has a decent flowchart but even that still doesn't quite cover everything. So I wanted to share my experience on what I now basically do whenever I encounter this condition: - First is to absolutely verify that all the voltages are present to the main logic board. The service manual will have you test the voltages on the power supply board internally sure, but you can have a bad connection on the ribbon cable to the main board causing voltage to not make it to the main board properly. - If the voltages check out, then the first actual component to swap out is usually the STIC IC chip (Standard Television Interface Chip). It is one of the several large 40pin ICs that exists in both model 1 and model 2 consoles. Near as I can tell their aren't any differences between the ICs of those two models with the exception that the STIC on the model 1 has a heatsink attached and the model 2s don't. But they can be swapped interchangeably. Although the heatsink on the model 1 STIC will prevent the top case from closing properly on the model 2 console. So you have to be sure the chip is bad as you have to solder it directly to the board for it to all fit. - If that fails, then I usually will try and swap out the CPU IC next. Although honestly the CPU seems to be a tank in the Intellivision. - Next up on the model 1 consoles is to look at replacing the pair of 3906 transistors that stand up off the board in the area just above where the CPU sits. Can't really miss it as they get so hot that the board is usually discolored around their solder points. But again, as they get really hot, they do burn out. - From here I then grab my frequency counter and verify that I have a proper master clock signal all the way to the cartridge port using Pin 10 to test that signal. Though rare, I have had a crystal that was bad in one and a bad variable capacitor C2 in another that I found by checking the master clock frequency. - From here it gets much less straight forward and will require having to break out an O'scope to start looking for various signal waveforms as per the service manual to try and help isolate which component might be at fault. Now in not so common fixes I've done to correct for this same issue.. or corrupted graphics. The cartridge port...yeap. The games themselves complete some of the signals in the logic so if a game isn't present or the port has bad connections and isn't making good contact with the game cartridge, you will get the same black screen (dark grey) screen condition And I've also had the Hi and Lo graphics rams cause a similar issue although in the cases of those chips going bad, the games will usually load up but look like they are missing sprite data in a way that looks like how NES games look with a bad 72-pin connector where the you have lines of missing graphics or corruption on the screen. Depending on the when the Intellivison was made, it might have a pair of 3539 ICs located in the upper left of the main board with the orientation of the cartridge slot on the center right. They are labeled U7 and U8 on both model 1 and model 2 consoles. At some point a main board design was made and they might have a pair of 2114 ICs there instead. All of the model 2 units have 2114s for the Hi and Lo video RAM and it is located in the lower left portion of the main board on the model 2. So... there you go. A few things to check out in the case of a black screen non-working Intellivision console. I will say that while more complex in components and IC chips, the model 1 units seem to be a bit more robust in regards to operational use vs the model 2. However, the model 2 cleaned up the power delivery quite a bit and tend to usually have a better RF output while being a little simpler on the inside component wise.

Choplifter also exists on the 5200 and 8-bit line. But is uses artifacting so you really need to play if via RF or composite output to see any colors from it. And yeah, Xenophobe is on the 7800. I think it plays better than the NES version and looks more colorful, but you only have one character to play as and it does get quite repetitive. Rampage on the 7800 is also a lot of fun and I played it a ton back in the day. But it is the definition of repetitive and so I find myself tiring of it quickly these days when I try and play it now.

The 7800 is my favorite Atari console but my list of games would be a bit different as I found myself more interested in the games that weren't repeats from the previous generations at the time. F-18: Hornet - This is not one that I play that often these days, but when I first had the system I played it all the time and once I learned exactly how the game works, similar to 2600 Adventure, I would find ways to do stuff you weren't supposed to do like flying in the other direction and stuff like that. But at the time I was pretty impressed with everything you could do in the game with the different missions. Crossbow - shouldn't be a surprise for anyone this is on my list heh. But I've always enjoyed this game on the 7800 and prefer to play it with a controller vs light gun as it is easier to setup your cursor on the screen in known locations and just move left/right as needed to take out a good chunk of the enemies on each scene that plays out. I also thought the graphics for this game were pretty stellar back then on the 7800. Food Fight - I had never heard or nor seen the actual arcade cabinet back in the day, but the game looked like fun when I read the box and I'm very glad I decided to pick it up back then. I play this one still from time to time as it is just so well done on the 7800. Double Dragon - I know...kinda surprising but to me I thought this version was closer to the arcade than the NES in respect to the level designs etc. I did play the NES version as well, but always liked the 7800 version more and got to be really good at it back in the day. Xenophobe - This is one of the games I wanted the 7800 for as the arcade cabinet was so unique in the day and I had a lot of fun playing it so when I saw it was coming for the 7800, it was pretty much the game release that made the 7800 a console I wanted in the late 80s. The irony to this is that I ended up never owning Xenophobe until much...MUCH later in life. But aside from the arcade and Lynx versions, the 7800 version is my favorite home console port of the game by far. Galaga - was also one I picked up originally back in the day and like @Atari 5200 Guy I thought it was pretty awesome back then. Yes the NES version looks closer to the arcade but something about the 7800 version to me was just more fun to play for some reason? Choplifter - Is another arcade game that I had only seen in the arcade a few times and I didn't know of the releases on the 5200 and 8-bit consoles back then. So it was new to me and I played it all the time until I had method down for getting a perfect game. I still like to pop it in once in a while to see how many POWs I can save. This is another decent looking game on the 7800 as well even thought the SMS version just trounces it. (Again, I didn't know about the SMS release of the game either back then). Joust - This was one of the few games that I already had on my 2600 and played all the time. But when I saw how much closer to the arcade look and feel the 7800 version was, I was totally on board with this one. It was also one of my mothers favorites, but oddly she still seemed to prefer to play the 2600 version more back then? And that is my short faves list of the original released games I owned back then minus Xenophobe as mentioned before. With the home brew scene what it is on the 7800, there is just some amazing talent that has really shown just what the 7800 was able to do and with the proper resources being given, it could have done even back in the day.

Sooo... funny thing happened last night. I was thinking about this thread and decided on a whim to fire up torchlight last night. Turns out I was like on floor 31 of the dungeon on my way to the final boss encounter apparently? I say this because at first I went in the wrong direction and was on floor 28 before realizing I needed to go down further. So I did, and had an encounter with some dark wizard dude. Well, due to the weapons I have equipped and abilities, my character was actually pretty OP at this point. As most of the dragonkin would die in like 3 shots of my lightning blast that I had equipped. So pretty much I was apparently able to run around Palpatine style to take out enemies. Well I go back to town and finally knock out a few more quests I had laying around and went back to the waypoint portal. Made it one more floor and fought the big back dude. Now, he was absolutely taking me out in no time because of the vast amount of enemies he would rush at me. Especially those crazy elemental skeletons! Well, I happen to figure out that if I stood back behind the portal at the end of the floor, that the big boss's melee attacks seem to mostly miss me and due to how close he was to me, he wasn't launching other enemies at me. Once I found this happy bug, I was able to take him out with a combo of my melee strikes (That would register), and my lightning blast against him. Beat him, and the game apparently. Now there are a few more corrupted enemies and additional floors to explore that are much more buff than those I was encountering before. But yeah, fun Diablo style game and it actually has me looking forward to Diablo IV once that is released.