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LET'S COMPARE: Atari 7800 Choplifter vs. Atari XEGS Choplifter


Video 61

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hi everyone,

now here is where the 7800 really shines. the programmer knew his/her stuff, and most likely the choplifter is a double sprite. music good to.

 

now the xe version, i will include the original 16k apple port also. it will show you why this one is so bad and choppy. the apple port is a port of apple basic with machine code, its why its pink. the 1988 atari version just updated the lousy apple port. its obvious its not a complete rewrite in atari machine code.

16k apple port. choplifter was released originally as a 16k game on  cart., 48k disk. by broderbund.

 

thanks,

 

lance

www.atarisales.com

 

 

VIDEO 61 & ATARI SALES
www.atarisales.com
22735 Congo St. NE, Stacy, MN 55079
651-462-2500

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Oh wow.  I never realized there were two versions of Choplifter for 8-bit.  I only knew of the "pink" version, which was pretty disappointing given the power of the hardware.

My all-time favorite version of Choplifter is the VIC-20 version, which looks similar to the pink version and gets really slow with lots of objects on the screen.  Still, the fact that they fit the whole game on the VIC-20 is incredible. 

 

My opinion of the 7800 version isn't very good, and maybe I need to spend more time playing it.  I agree that it's well programmed.  But it feels unfinished/unpolished to me.  For example, the slowness in hostages getting off the chopper.  And the bad collision detection on trying to bomb tanks.  Is it possible this one was rushed out the door before being perfected?

 

 

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I have Choplifter for the XE and A7800. I think it looks better on the A7800, but there could be more to it, and that I understand. I would like to collect the A5200 version as well. But, agreed, the A7800 version is well programmed. It could have been rushed. I don't know. But, it is worth collecting. I am surprised that Raid on Bungeling Bay was never ported, the sequel to Choplifter. I have never seen it on any Atari system.

Edited by DegasElite
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2 hours ago, RickR said:

Oh wow.  I never realized there were two versions of Choplifter for 8-bit.  I only knew of the "pink" version, which was pretty disappointing given the power of the hardware.

My all-time favorite version of Choplifter is the VIC-20 version, which looks similar to the pink version and gets really slow with lots of objects on the screen.  Still, the fact that they fit the whole game on the VIC-20 is incredible. 

 

My opinion of the 7800 version isn't very good, and maybe I need to spend more time playing it.  I agree that it's well programmed.  But it feels unfinished/unpolished to me.  For example, the slowness in hostages getting off the chopper.  And the bad collision detection on trying to bomb tanks.  Is it possible this one was rushed out the door before being perfected?

 

 

hi rickr,

wow, they squeezed that into a vic 20 cart, amazing!!!

 yes choplifter is over looked, or many do not know about the XEGS version. atari sold all 100,000 carts of the game they had made. yet jack still could not figure it out!

yes the 7800 version has some drawbacks, but it was squeezed onto a 32k cart, and there simply is not enough ram to utilize the full potential of the maria chip. that being said, the programmer did really good, and the music is great for a non pokey board.

 

lance

www.atarisales.com

 

VIDEO 61 & ATARI SALES
www.atarisales.com
22735 Congo St. NE, Stacy, MN 55079
651-462-2500

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I prefer the 7800 version.  I like how it looks and how it updates the original game.  Of course, the 7800 probably should have had the arcade version ported instead of the computer version.  I wonder how that would have looked like on the system.

🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming...

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7 hours ago, TrekMD said:

I prefer the 7800 version.  I like how it looks and how it updates the original game.  Of course, the 7800 probably should have had the arcade version ported instead of the computer version.  I wonder how that would have looked like on the system.

hi trekmd.

 

yea the 7800 version is much better, its hampered by to small a board, but much better than a apple port on the XE, that is for sure.

 

lance

www.atarisales.com

 

VIDEO 61 & ATARI SALES
www.atarisales.com
22735 Congo St. NE, Stacy, MN 55079
651-462-2500

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