Atari 5200 Guy

Has to be an acquired taste for me ... And I have not acquired it yet. At least not on the scale originally posted. But as a ground up flavor aid used lightly then, yea, it is OK.

Where we live trick and treater's are not allowed because it is considered soliciting. So we usually travel downtown to watch the stores do what is called the Halloween Trail. Only for kids but fun to see them all dressed up. Town officials already said they are doing it this year regardless of COVID. And our nephews are here for the first time so I have no clue what we will do. Afterwards, though, I have a few scary games I can play on modern systems or I might stick with a BW flick on the archives.

THAT was the most fun I've had with Pole Position II on the 7800 ... EVER! I have to wait until 2012 to do it again?!? Aww, man. Contrary to some beliefs I honestly think PP II was a great pack-in game for the 7800. It's a nice rounded easy to pick up and play kind of game. Anyone at any age could enjoy it. I still don't understand something, though. Why make individual boxed copies of the game that no one is going to need? Doesn't make sense to me. PP II included with the 7800: Yes. PP II available separately from the machine: No. Makes no sense. Oh..sorry...got side tracked. This was an awesome experience and I've had fun playing this game with all of you. Note I said play WITH you all...not against you. 😉 Awesome run @Justin. I'm very much glad I got to see you break that old record during this Squad Challenge.

I've found Touchdown Football to be of some fun.

20 years? Already?!? Wow. I've only been here since 2015 but it's been the best five years I've had with any online site. Why couldn't online college have been this much fun?

I third this motion!

The 7800 has more heart than people give it credit for. Just think about it. That console was done by GCC. It was their first and only console. The graphics chip in the 7800, MARIA, is also GCC's first IC. They studied how to design IC circuits just for the 7800. Pretty cool. And that graphics processor can actually handle a lot.

Welcome to the 7800 Club!! Those joysticks are OK if you don't need a LOT of button presses (hint: Ms. Pac-Man) but it's balance is off when needing one or both of those fire buttons. I have to disagree with this but only by personal opinion. Compete against NES' offerings? No. Compete against SMS offerings? No. But I was in to racing games more than any other game genre so Pole Position II was the sole reason that caused me to want a 7800 in the first place. I seen the box up high on a consignment/clearance toy store top shelf close to the ceiling. It wasn't the Atari name I seen first...it was that black console, its controller, and an image of Pole Position II that caught my eye...then I seen "Atari"...I simply had to have it and that's what my Grandmother got me for Christmas that year. I was 16. That little machine sat between the NES and SMS in my bedroom and got the most attention. The games on it I had more time for. When I didn't have homework or have to do things around the house (which wasn't very often) I put some time in the more in depth NES games, sometimes SMS games depending on what I was wanting to play. Regardless the 7800 got the most attention. Asteroids became an instant favorite with my friend and I because the two player mode allowed us to be idiots, flying around carelessly, banging into each other and rocks, and us laughing so hard we made ourselves sick to our stomachs. I don't know how many times my friend spent the night and I would wake up and he would be on the 7800 playing something. He didn't pick the NES or the SMS...he picked the Atari. His favorite was Galaga and mine was Pole Position II. We could play games together on it better than we could games on the NES. He wasn't very good at complex games which the NES had but he could rock it on arcade style games which the 7800 and SMS offered heavily.

Reminds me of those old Tomy pinball games.

I love Zelda, the original one, because I experienced it first...long before I would experience Adventure. My favorite Zelda, however, is A Link to the Past on the Super but it's not listed. My favorite adventure/RPG is Phantasy Star III on the Genesis but Adventure holds its own for a simple reason...it has no story. Well, let me put it in a different tone. Zelda, and other adventure games that followed, were great games but the had one problem: replay value. Once you beat them you were pretty much done. You knew where everything was at that point and doing it all over again might not have been as exciting for some. While true the second go around in Zelda changed things around the plot was the same. Adventure really has no story on the scale of games like Zelda. All you are after is a golden chalice while avoiding up to three dragons. And, yes, I've beat all three rounds not too long ago and had a blast doing it. I picked Adventure mainly because I'd be more likely to play all three levels of it again before I'd go after Ganon again. However, Adventure is not my favorite. Good game: yes. The only reason I wanted a 2600 way back when was for Space Invaders...that's it. But if I only had Adventure and Zelda to choose from I'd go with Adventure.

Pole Position has brakes? Lol. I thought the grass and billboards were brakes 😉

I know @Justin will be happy to hear that. We all love Atari here. I love all video games but Atari things take top dog here. We enjoy playing the games to enjoy them but a little friendly competition is just that...to be friendly. It's not about winning or losing...it's how you play the game. They are a form of entertainment...they are meant to be enjoyed. No one should get hurt in any way playing these games. We should all live to see another day after playing a game and with a satisfied smile on our faces. Atari I/O is my online home. I've visited others similar but left due to all the negativity and drama. That doesn't exist here and I hope it stays that way. Grumpy old lady that wouldn't share a recipe? That sounds like my Grandmother. God love her. "How'd you make that, Granny?" Her answer? "Oh and pinch of this and a handful of that." Yea...that's what I thought. But she could make the best chocolate food items you ever put in your mouth. And while I'm here my nephews say "Hi!"

I'm currently out of dups or I'd hit on that Keystone Kapers. Good luck. I don't think that being in Canada would scare others off. I believe we have other Canada members on here.

They should have done that on the 2600 version as well. The only non-arcade ROM port of Pole Position to use analog controls is the 5200. So, I'm surprised people at Atari didn't think about using paddles for steering in Pole Position on both the 2600 and 7800.

I think the thought was that the 2600 port of Pac-Man would put more 2600 consoles in homes. Then again I don't think anyone would have seen how iconic Pac-Man would become either. Pac-Man went from game character to pop culture in no time...and people expected too much out of Atari and the 2600 then. I was always under the impression the 2600 could have done a better rendition of the game. I remember the first time I seen the 2600's Pac-Man I thought, "This was made by the same people that made my 5200's Pac-Man? No way.". Then you didn't see a game from Atari being made by one or more people...it was Atari that made it or it was Activision that made it. So, to me, both Pac-Man games were made by the same place and my thought process was more like how could you get one close to arcade perfect and one not even close to anything? Either way, both Pac-Man and E.T. are fun no matter what. Manuals are a must...especially with the 2600.

I've never played Rescue but I have Ballblazer...just not on the 5200. I played it first on the 7800 and later the Atari 8-bit computers. It's great to see the 5200 get some love once in a while.

Welcome to Atari I/O @Duckie25. I know you'll love it here. Wait...there's more than just Atari out there?!? 😉

Well, I'm at least in the 60k club now!

Those paddles even look great next to a 2600 Junior.

Happy Atari Day Everyone! Hope we all had a good one. While not on an Atari my nephew and I did play a game together on the 360 that sort of has roots to the Atari days. Splunky on the 360 which I believe is a more modern adaptation of Spelunker. I've never played any of the Spelunker games but after playing Splunky I might just have to try. Earlier today, though, I've been playing Solar Star for the Atari home computers. This is one game I have not been able to put down easily. The visuals are just amazing to me and I can't seem to get enough of it. This is one game that should have been on a console as well. I am enjoying it very much. I highly recommend this one. It's tough as nails, though, but still a LOT of fun.

I've heard of Pink Gorilla. Kelsey owns those I believe. Awesome game! I had an NBA Jam on the Genesis. I'm not a huge fan of typical sports games but Jam was different and a lot of fun. Yep. I grabbed an SNES when it came out just for F-Zero. That was it. I have favorites on there other than F-Zero but F-Zero was all I really needed. Top Gear, Zelda, SimCity, Gradius III, Super E.D.F., and a few others I had but F-Zero got the most play time.

The 32x and Sega CD I really liked but I favored the CD more only because I had the six pack and Sol-Feace on it. I loved Star Wars on the 32x though. It was stunning to the senses. But it seemed a bit harsh on my poor Model 1 Genny. It liked the Sega CD better. I just hated having to have power supplies for everything on that setup.

Solar Star Atari 8-Bit Computers Difficulty: Default High Score: 2,305 August 24, 2020

Something wicked this way comes. I hope to hear some of those stories someday. You know there's another aspect to game consoles that might have been overkill and hurt them in those early days...computer add-ons. Think about it. Why would someone want to buy a computer keyboard attachment for a game console to turn it into a computer that's going to have the same limited abilities as the system they are designed to work with when a computer with better capabilities could be bought instead? I think every console under the sun at that point was trying to also be a computer. The 2600, 7800, INTV, ColecoVision...all tried to do the console/computer hybrid thing. Maybe that scared a bunch of people off from game consoles. Just a theory.