Doctor Octagon

Welcome to what I hope is the first of many entries in The Game Cave. In this blog, I will share my thoughts and impressions on various games. The point of this exercise is to reacquaint myself with some of the lesser played titles in my collection.
 
The main focus of this blog will be Jaguar gaming. I have been playing Jaguar since late 1994 and have a complete retail collection, the majority of post-JTS releases and many homebrews. At last count, this equates to 82 Jaguar games! That said, from time to time I might throw in a non-Jaguar title.
 
A few notes:
 
1) I will not be playing the games in chronological order. Instead, games will be selected randomly using Excel.
 
2) I will play each game featured for at least two hours. I feel that this is sufficient to get a good impression of the game. I have no doubt that I'll play some of these for much longer.
 
3) I don't intend to get into the minutiae of a game's history, development and contemporary reviews. Other platforms do a fantastic job at that. This is just my personal take on these games from a player's perspective.
 
4) Feel free to comment and share your own gameplay impressions. I only ask that you've actually played the game on real hardware.
 
That's all for now. I hope that you check in from time to time!
 
The first game to be featured will be: Bubsy In Fractured Furry Tales
 

This is just this year and just for the Atari VCS/2600.............
2016
Homebrews released
Jan 10, 2016 - Upp! (Jason Santuci "theloon") - self published {sold thru Etsy} SOLD OUT
Jan 28, 2016 - Pigs in the Castle (Rudy J. Ferretti) - self published
Jan 28, 2016 - Checked Inn (Rudy J. Ferretti) - self published
Jan 31, 2016 - Coke Zero <NTSC version> (Thomas Jentzsch) - AtariAge blog
Feb 15, 2016 - Upp!+ - Jason Santuci/self published (contains small feature changes and improvements){sold thru Etsy} SOLD OUT
Apr 2, 2016 (@ 2016 Cowlitz Gamers Show) - ature (2016 re-release) ("Beoran") SOLD OUT
May 22, 2016 - Starfleet Simulation (Mr SQL) {Supercharger cassette} - self published
June 1-30, 2016 (on KS) - Conjoined - Jason Santuci/Joe Grisaffi - based from the movie "Conjoined"/AtariAge - Kickstarter
June 22, 2016 - A New Marauder (Darcio Prestes & Leandro Camara) - MoreWork.com.br
July 23, 2016 - Anguna (Nathan Tolbert/Bite the Chili games) AtariAge forum
Aug 8, 2016 - Space Warfare (AskewTV) AtariAge forum
Aug 23, 2016 - Bigfoot: Family Search (Bobby Alexander/Jason Santuci) Kickstarter
Sept 17, 2016 - Super Trash Truck - Sadai Games Corp./Collectorvision
Oct 9, 2016 - Polybius - Lost Classics (2nd issue) pre-orders started
Oct 10, 2016 - Boss - (Dave Vogt & Jason Santuci w/Gemintronic) - Indiegogo
Oct 15, 2016 - Alien Ooze - (Scott Dayton w/NEO Games) - "Atari 2600 Homebrew" Facebook group
Auctioned off at 2016 Portland Retro Gaming Expo - The End - Lost Classics
At 2016 Free Play Florida Expo - E.T. After Dark, Shoot Shit, Space Invaders Free Play Florida, Godzilla - NEO Games
Dec 18, 2016 - Naughty List (mini game from the 2014 The Byte Before Christmas multicart) - AtariAge forums
 
Hacks released
Apr 1, 2016 - Fixing the Tempest proto (hack of the Atari prototype Tempest)
Apr 14, 2016 - Trump Invaders (hack of Space Invaders)
Apr 15, 2016 - Hillary Invaders (hack of Space Invaders)
May 10, 2016 - Dragster: The Duel {hack} - Scott Dayton - limited to 20 copies
May 22, 2016 - Ms. Pac-Man Improvements
June 5, 2016 - Plaque Attack TB (trak-ball compatible version of Plaque Attack)
July 2, 2016 - Star Tunnel - Scott Dayton (30 copies only - 15 of each Life/Death label) $30 - thru Facebook
Aug 9, 2016 - Pac Rock - AskenTV (AtariAge forum)
Aug 10, 2016 - Night Grand Prix - Atarius Maximus (AtariAge forum)
Dec 8, 2016 - Budweiser Tapper - alex_79 (AtariAge forum)
Dec. 11, 2016 - Santa's Helper 2016 (Kaboom! hack) - Scott Dayton [exclusive thru "Atari 2600 Homebrew" FB group]
Dec 17, 2016 - Donkey Kong Christmas - neotokeo2001 (AtariAge forum)
Dec 18, 2016 - Santa Falls - neotokeo2001 (AtariAge forum)
Dec 18, 2016 - Bad Elf 2016 - neotokeo2001 (AtariAge forum)
Dec 22, 2016 - Atlantis Man - Out_of_Gas (AtariAge forums)
 
Releasing Soon (actual software)
Demo'd At 2016 PRGE/releasing soon - Scramble, The Stacks, Anguna 2600, Drive!, Assembloids 2600,
L.E.M., Golden Legends (Gauntlet 2600), The Gizzle Wap and The Strange Red Tree - AtariAge
Soon - Dark Cavern (hack) - Scott Dayton
Soon - Fire Ants - ComiSoft Inc.
Soon - Twist'r-Shark (was "Sharknado") - NeoGames
Soon - Balloon Girl - Jason Santuci
Soon - Legends - Scott Dayton
??? - Alien Greed: Return of Charles - NeoGames
??? - RAM-Pong - Packrat Games
??? (carts signed Feb 2015) - Demons (based on the 1985 movie) - NeoGames
On Hold - Tunnels & Trolls - Jason Santuci
??? - Zombie Road Kill - Scott Dayton
??? - Aaron the Aant - Chris Read/2600Connection
previewed at 2015 Portland Retro Gaming Expo - The Stacks, Panky the Panda - AtariAge
WIP - Laughing Boy - Jason Santuci/AtariAge
WIP - D.K. VCS, DK Arcade 2600, Pac Man 8k, Wizard of Wor 2: The Arena - AtariAge
Future project - Colony 7 TB (Trak-Ball version) - Thomas Jentzsch
 
WIP (work in progress during 2016)
May 31 2015 - Shadow of the Colossus VCS - back working on it
Jul 6 2015 - Street Fight World - back working on it
Nov 13 2015 - Scramble 2600 (port) - releasing Oct 2016
Dec 3 2015 - Project Eden (2nd attempt)- back working on it
Dec 15 2015 - ChaoticGrill (port of Burgertime)
Dec 18 2015 - Jet!
Dec 21 2015 - Scrollanoid
Dec 27 2015 - Save Earth Complete
Jan 5 2016 - Super Mario 64 2600 (port) - back working on it
Jan 8 2016 - Anguna - completed 7/23/16
Jan 19 2016 - Dragster EX Pro (hack)
Jan 28 2016 - Wal-Rush!
Jan 29 2016 - StarBlitz
Jan 30 2016 - Bird Poop!
Feb 18 2016 - Adventures of the 50 Foot Tall Stalk of Celery - back working on it
Feb 20 2016 - Taxi Panic!
Mar 8 2016 - Drive! - release soon/label design done
Mar 10 2016 - Breakout Clone
Mar 15 2016 - Cat and Mouse
Mar 18 2016 - Ohio Jay and the Last Supper Goblet
Mar 19 2016 - Xybots 2600 remake
Apr 1 2016 - Protocol
Apr 20 2016 - Muppy The Bunny: Light V.S Dark
Apr 25 2016 - JumpBall
Apr 26 2016 - Railslider
May 15 2016 - Star Tunnel - released
May 27 2016 - Gyvolver - back working on it from 2012
May 28 2016 - Bananas Are Good (2K) - finished 6/2/16
June 2 2016 - Bananas Are Good 4K (2 player version)
June 9 2016 - Raindrop
June 11 2016 - Hello World! (demo)
June 16 2016 - Dodgeball
July 9 2016 - The Celery Game
July 10 2016 - Grand Strategy
July 11 2016 - Plasma (demo)
July 13 2016 - Canflag (demo)
July 23 2016 - Color Gotcha 2600
July 25 2016 - King of Mersia
July 27 2016 - Donkey Kong 2: Pauline's Revenge
July 29 2016 - Alien Jail
Aug 2 2016 - Haunted House III: Slashers
Aug 13 2016 - Battle Pong
Aug 16 2016 - Nuka Break
Aug 19 2016 - KickMan (Unicycle Balloon Kicker)
Aug 22 2016 - Spazer
Aug 27 2016 - Spaceman Splorf
Sept 8 2016 - Tie Fighter
Sept 14 2016 - denial '77
Sept 19 2016 - Rock Concert
Sept 22 2016 - Pac_Man Eat n Run
Sept 27 2016 - Neon Run
Oct 3 2016 - "I Hate Vegetables!"
Oct 7 2016 - Hugohunt
Oct 16 2016 - Ms. Galactopus
Oct 25 2016 - Asteroid Escape
Oct 26 2016 - T-Rex
Oct 27 2016 - Berzerk 3D
Nov 10 2016 - Space Car '78
Nov 17 2016 - Bubble Burst
Nov 19 2016 - Polarium - back working on it from 2010
Nov 30 2016 - Moon Master
Dec 1 2016 - The Gizzle Wap and the great Blizzard
Dec 4 2016 - Aardvark
Dec 7 2016 - Golf 2600
Dec 7 2016 - Mine Dig
Dec 12 2016 - Silver Bells (DPC+ demo music)
Dec 18 2016 - City Bomber
Dec 25 2016 - Sunset Forest Rider
Dec 30 2016 - Kuru Kuru Tsuchinoko
Dec 31 2016 - Dominant Amber (2600)

This may seem like a strange topic to start off a blog that focuses on my appreciation for my childhood but it's a subject that I tend to dwell on a lot. The year I foolishly gave away my entire toy collection.
 
First, a little background.
 
I was born in 1973. My parents divorced when I was six. I stayed with my Mom during the school year and visited my Dad every other weekend and school vacations, including the summer.
 
I REALLY enjoyed visiting my Dad. Yes, he spoiled me (I'm still spoiled to this day) but it was more than that. I think the infrequency of the visits made me appreciate my time there more and where he lived was just so cool. He lived in a condominium complex that had a playground, a basketball court, tennis court, pool but most importantly, lots of other kids.
 
On the Friday's or Saturday's that my Dad would pick me up, he'd usually have a gift for me. Nothing extravagant, but nevertheless awesome. A 2600 game, a Star Wars figure, a Matchbox car.
 
Over time and with a few Christmases thrown in, I amassed quite a collection of toys and games.
 
I obviously had an Atari 2600. Looking back, I didn't have a lot of games, but living in the moment, it felt like I did. We probably had 25-30 games. (I can't say for certain because the lines between "owned" & "borrowed from a friend" have become blurred over the years.)
 
I was (& am) a huge Star Wars fan. My collection began before my parents divorced and only grew in the ensuing years. I had a cardboard box that was about 3 feet high & 3 feet across FILLED with vehicles, playsets and action figures. I can absolutely nail down exactly what was in my collection and what wasn't to this day.
 
In 1983, GI Joe entered my life. Over the next two years, I built up a pretty decent collection. Not as large as my Star Wars collection but still significant.
 
In addition to all that, I collected baseball cards (along with some other sports cards), Matchbox cars, some He-Man & Transformers figures and many, many board games. I had A LOT of stuff.
 
In the summer of 1985, my main focus was becoming baseball cards. I had bought enough packs of Topps cards that I was able to send away for a complete factory set. Once I received that, I figured, why do I need to keep all my doubles for? So I gave those away. Of course, in subsequent years, some of those cards (Mark McGwire & Roger Clemens rookie cards) went for hundreds of dollars. (Thankfully, the value has since decreased drastically, easing the pain a bit.)
 

It didn't end there though. In 1986 & '87, I had purchased a lot of Fleer basketball cards & Topps hockey and football cards. As my baseball card collecting passion grew and non-baseball cards didn't have a lot of value at the time, I gave those away too. Those prices haven't dropped. (The Michael Jordan 1987-88 card sells anywhere from $75 on up and I had a lot of those.)
 
However, the decision to give away other things hurts worse.
 
I forget the year exactly, but I would guess the summer of 1987. I was 14. I had an NES. I had an interest in girls. We were four years removed from Return of the Jedi. Once again, I foolishly thought "Why do I need all this stuff? I never play with them anymore."
 
Two young boys lived four condos down from me. I gave them my entire 2600 collection. My father was good friends with another neighbor who had a 7-year-old son. I figured Derek would enjoy all my Star Wars stuff and other action figures. So I gave them to him. Plus my Matchbox cars. (I'm guessing I had close to 100 of those.)
 
As for my other items, such as board games and other toys, they all disappeared, I'm assuming when my father remarried and we moved out of the condo in 1989.
 
Sigh. It pains me to even write those words. I would do anything to have them back. Looking back, I suppose it was a nice gesture for 14-year-old me to give that stuff away but what a stupid decision.
 
I have no idea who the kids are who received my Atari. Thankfully, I was able to reacquire nearly my entire collection I had during the mid-90's fairly inexpensively.
 
I'm still in contact with the family I gave my Star Wars stuff to. They moved twice and no longer have anything. Before the prequels hit, I was able to pick up a few figures I had but nowhere near what I used to have.
 
It does make me happy to see that Derek's children are now Star Wars fans and I like to think I played a part in that.
 
So, if anyone comes across a Bespin Luke figure with his right hand missing (I rubbed it along the pavement to make it more screen-accurate) at a yard sale, pick it up for me.