Sabertooth

576,400 @ Level 37

Crazy good score @RadioPoultry!

Glad they went to a good home @RickR! Enjoy!

Sorry, didn't see this. Sent them to @RickR

392,200 at level 24.

351,800 at Level 24. Played on a 7800 with the @RetroGameBoyz Robotron 2084 pad. @Justin this is a great choice! Glad that I made it to the forum this round!

So, a lot has changed with dating since I was last in the market (c.2003). This means dating apps, most of which I find abborrhent. I've decided that it's important to be honest about my nerdiness - may as well know what you're getting into, right? One app actually asked me to respond the prompt: "The retro game that defines me as a person is..." I think this question is hilarious. It is also an unusually challenging and thought provoking question to answer. Even in a non-dating app context... So I put it to you all: What retro game defines you as a person and why?

Happy Atari Day! Playing some Jaguar exclusives in between icing my face. If you're going to have oral surgery, Atari Day is a good time to do it! 😂😂😂

You're welcome @Atari Creep. I'm glad that I could contribute. As I already have the awesome Robotron 2084 controller, I'm good to pass on the giveaway. I already know how awesome the RetroGameBoyz controllers are and want someone else to win!

The house closed on 7/31. We got 9 offers in a weekend and ended up selling to a friend. She wasn't the highest, but she was ballpark and considering this is a divorce sale, we both wanted the house to go to someone we care about. It was super stressful prepping everything and my ex-wife's move was way more chaotic than it needed to be. But we made it! The house was the last big thing between my ex-wife and I to put a period on the divorce. We'll always have our daughter but she's (fortunately) grown so with the exception of college graduations, weddings and funerals, I imagine contact will be fairly limited. 15 years is a long time and its amazing to me how much time and energy it takes to unwind the legal entanglement that is marriage. Its been over a year since everything started unraveling. It will definitely be a consideration for relationships moving forward. I've spent the last year largely on self improvement and work. I've dropped 50lbs and I'm back to what I call my rock n' roll weight - a number that hasn't been seen since 2004! I've started exercising regularly, cook almost everything, cut back on drinking and limited eating out. I've also simplified my life and got rid of a lot of "stuff." I've been playing music with friends again and we rent a "lock-out" studio in an industrial space to practice. Maybe we'll actually get to a point where we want to gig... Anyway, this will probably wrap this whole thread. I appreciate all of the support from my fellow atari.io forum folks. This stuff is tough and sharing it has really helped! Thanks to all who commented or sent messages of support. To infinity and beyond! By Grapthar's Hammar... Live long and prosper.

@Atari Creep - Just donated to your walk to end Alzheimer's campaign. Both of my great aunts (maternal) suffered and eventually died from the disease. Best of luck in hitting your fundraising goal. I'll watch for this in the years ahead. Thanks!

Welcome to the second "annex" entry of the Game Cave. In this entry, I'll discuss the PenguiNet game Rikki & Vikki for the Atari 7800. Rikki & Vikki was a surprise release on Steam (12/2018) and the 7800 in February 2019 from PenguiNet. Some of you may be familiar with PenguiNet for their amazing work on Zaku for the Lynx; arguably one of the best original titles on the platform. Zaku really pushed the Lynx and stands as a tremendously fun, graphically stunning and amazing sounding game. For Rikki & Vikki, PenguiNet continues in that tradition, delivering an original gaming experience on a classic console that largely exceeds Atari published efforts in key areas of gameplay, graphics and sound. Make no mistake - this is not a homebrew. This is a professionally developed game with a high level of production value and a stellar physical product. Now for some impressions & observations! Gameplay: Rikki & Vikki is a sort of puzzle platformer. The goal of the game is to save your two children - Mary & Sam - from Misery the Inconvenient. Misery has kidnapped your children and taken them to the six cavern Miseryland Themepark - "a downward spiral of inconvenience." On each level, use Rikki or Vikki to collect all of the keys within the time allotted to progress to the next level. Collecting keys isn't always easy. You have to move cubes, navigate enemies, spikes and other hazards to get to the keys. Some puzzles are more obvious than others and don't be surprised if you run out of time before solving a puzzle. Rikki & Vikki requires a 7800 compatible controller with independent fire buttons. This means that you can't use a standard 2600 controller or a Genesis gamepad for the game. The left button is used to "interact" with the cubes and the right button is used to jump. When you grab a cube you can throw it at an enemy or stick it to the floor or wall in order to gain access to an otherwise unreachable area of the play field. Falling into a void will cause you to re-emerge from the top - this is sometimes necessary to solve a puzzle. Each area of the Park - called "caverns" - consists of several levels and culminates in a boss battle. Gameplay modes come in three flavors: co-op with Rikki & Vikki, solo Rikki, and solo Vikki. I have not yet played co-op mode and from what I can tell, the solo experiences are the same whether playing as Rikki or Vikki. This is a hard game. You will die. You will run out of time. You will make stupid mistakes. You will get stuck. While you can continue, doing so forces a restart at the beginning of the cavern. Fortunately, after a few continues, a character named "Dut", a large penguin and "salesman" of you unlimited continues in exchange for your points. You will no longer get points in game - so no high score - but you will get to keep problem solving. This makes it a little less arduous to develop your skills and improve your puzzle solving strategies. Graphics: Rikki & Vikki boast what are possibly the best graphics on the 7800. The character animations, level-design, character and enemy sprites all look amazing. Add to that, the game runs in the 7800's 320 mode - a higher resolution mode that few games have taken advantage of. I struggle to think of a single game published for the 7800 that looks better. It looks first-party NES/SMS good folks. The animations are not just good, they're thoughtful and add depth to the game. The levels look great with coherent themes throughout. Its clear the people at PenguiNet are getting all they can out of the 7800. Sound: Like the graphics, PenguiNet went all in with the sound here. Apparently, they developed a custom chip for sound that allowed for NES level music. The TIA is still there and - at least on my 7800 - the harsh crashes are a bit louder than the music. However, that's my LHE mod and not the game. The music here is absolutely fantastic. Packaging: The packaging on this game is beautiful folks. Everything from the cart, to the box to the manual screams professional. The game comes on a custom transparent orange cart shell with a wrap around full color label. It fit my 7800 perfectly. The box is likewise full color and is in the same size and style as original run 7800 games - just missing "Atari." The instructions are full color and come as a "Miser Land Official Tour Guide" fold out with gameplay and character info. The package even comes with a warranty card, two passes to Misery Land and a PenguiNet sticker. Top notch all the way! Final Thoughts: This is 7800 gaming at its best. It has game design, graphics, sound and amazing packaging. If you own a 7800, I urge you to support the developer and grab a copy today. For $59.99 plus shipping, the package is well worth the price of entry. Even if you don't own a 7800 or don't have the $$, the game is also available on Steam for $9.99. For that price, you could hardly find a more fun and complete game play experience. Have you played Rikki & Vikki? What are your thoughts on the game? How does it stack up to other games on the 7800? PenguiNet Rikki & Vikki Trailer:

128,900 played using Mednaffe with a Logitech USB gamepad. Having PC troubles so I couldn't get to this via emu all week. Had time to restore today. Like @Atari Creep, this was my first time playing this game. My first impressions are that it looks really great for the time and is a fun adventure platformer. I would have been pumped to have it as a pack-in. I think the Creep mentioned that it has a shooter vibe and I think that's a right on observation. The powerups and body double, coupled with bullet hell inspired enemies make it feel a bit like a SCHMUP. In terms of a single-life high score run, the enemy regen allows you to rack up points without the need to progress. Theoretically, you could stay on the first screen and just kill the same three ninja dudes for a few hours. This would be boring as hell but one could do it if points are all that you're after. For myself, I couldn't take it and had to move on. Assuming it's the same in real hardware?

I have never been great at Turbo Sub but I've always found it fun. Gauntlet is decent but as you say, it's not really Gauntlet. It was interesting to get the background in your video. I never knew it was just rebadged Epyx developed Gauntlet clone. Super Asteroids/Missile Command is a terrific late release for the Lynx. I love how they updated the games. Of the two, I find that Missile Command has a bit more depth. One of my top games on these system. @btbfilms76, thanks as always for another entertaining installment!

109,885. Just a slight improvement in score. This variation is pretty fun. I wasn't great about selecting through the different options when I was a kid. Often, I'd just opt for the default unless there were obvious changes like Air Sea Battle, Combat or Space Invaders. As a grown-up it's been fun to click through and play a lot of these game variations. Some game options bring real variety to the proceedings and make these old games seem fresh.

102,729. Happy HSW Day! Played on a modded 4-switch Woody with the RetroGameBoyz Robotron 2084 controller.

With the move and losing the garage I have to downsize a bit. A lot of stuff is going into storage and I may post it as I go through it. Some stuff I just won't have space for. Up for grabs: 1. 24" Sanyo Flat CRT TV circa 2003. The TV is in good cosmetic and working order. Multiple inputs including S-video and composite. Pick-up only in Long Beach, CA. Must get by next Tuesday (7/30). 2. Set of retro gaming themed propaganda posters by illustrator Steve Thomas. The posters were stapled to the garage wall for years and are not pristine but still look cool. Free + shipping and packing. See pics below. More to come in the next several weeks and months including loose carts.

Great video @Atari Creep! I'm sorry that the original cartridge is glitching. I totally agree with you that playing with one controller after the dual pad is just not as enjoyable. It's a completely different experience. That said, you definitely made the best of it and that's a good score!