One of my favorites--Major Havoc

[HDN]

Wow, no one has posted here in nearly a year? That changes now.

Major Havoc is one of my favorite Arcade Games. I've seen the cabinet in person but never played because it was broken at the time. I have become well acquainted with this game with Atari Anthology on Xbox. This great platformer/shooter/breakout? hybrid deserves more love and attention. What are your thoughts on the game?

[TrekMD]

This is a game I have hardly played.  I did see one machine at FreePlay Florida a couple of years ago but it was always busy!

[HDN]

20 hours ago, TrekMD said:

This is a game I have hardly played.  I did see one machine at FreePlay Florida a couple of years ago but it was always busy!

If you have an original Xbox- or PS2-compatible system, I'd say play it on Atari Anthology. The game is dirt cheap and it's a decent collection of arcade and 2600 games.

[nosweargamer]

I've played it on a DS greatest hits cart and enjoyed it. It's one of those Atari arcade titles that are not as well known as the big hits, possibly because it didn't get a 2600 port.

I recall there being a rumor that Atari was thinking off rebooting the Major Havoc character for the Jaguar, but I don't know how true that was.

[HDN]

@nosweargamer There are DS greatest hits carts? I need to pick those up! I'm a huge DS fan. I'm aware of a few GBA compilations and even own some but never saw any for the DS.

[nosweargamer]

2 hours ago, HDN said:

@nosweargamer There are DS greatest hits carts? I need to pick those up! I'm a huge DS fan. I'm aware of a few GBA compilations and even own some but never saw any for the DS.

[nosweargamer]

They're mostly 2600 titles, but several arcade titles included too.

[HDN]

1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:

They're mostly 2600 titles, but several arcade titles included too.

Do they utilize the touch screen for trak ball/paddle/video touch pad controls?

[nosweargamer]

57 minutes ago, HDN said:

Do they utilize the touch screen for trak ball/paddle/video touch pad controls?

Yes, although nothing beats real trakballs and paddles 

[HDN]

4 minutes ago, nosweargamer said:

Yes, although nothing beats real trakballs and paddles 

Nothing truer than that! I always hated Crystal Castles until I stumbled across the arcade machine about a year ago. Now it's one of my favorites. A similar thing happened with Breakout and I.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Crystal Castles is a nightmare to play without the trakball controller but the 2600 does do a pretty impressive job.  That is one title that should have been put on the 5200.  It lacks trakball games.  Only two were true trakball games: Missile Command and Centipede.  A $75 controller and only two games that were true trakball games.  Makes no sense.

[Justin]

2 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

That is one title that should have been put on the 5200.

That is one title that should have been put on the 7800. With a 7800 Trak-Ball.

Sadly Atari sold off Battlezone in the past few years and it likely will no longer be included in any of these "Greatest Hits" bundles.

[nosweargamer]

8 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

 A $75 controller and only two games that were true trakball games.  Makes no sense.

It's better than a $2500 system with only 2 games! 😄

[HDN]

6 hours ago, Justin said:

Sadly Atari sold off Battlezone in the past few years and it likely will no longer be included in any of these "Greatest Hits" bundles.

Who'd they sell it to? That's sad. That was always one of my favorites.

[MaliciousCarp]

I have the Atari 12-in-1 Arcade 1up machine.  It is the first time that I have played Major Havoc.  The clickey "spinner" controller makes it difficult to play, but once you get a feel for it it is manageable.  It is a really innovative game!  

Edited August 20, 2020 by MaliciousCarp
whoops - typo

[HDN]

2 hours ago, MaliciousCarp said:

I have the Atari 12-in-1 Arcade 1up machine.  It is the first time that I have played Major Havoc.  The clickey "spinner" controller makes it difficult to play, but once you get a feel for it it is manageable.  It is a really innovative game!  

Those Arcade 1up machines seem really expensive for what they are. If I could get just one, however, I'd be a fool not to get the Atari one with it's controller options not available on modern consoles.

[MaliciousCarp]

22 minutes ago, HDN said:

Those Arcade 1up machines seem really expensive for what they are. If I could get just one, however, I'd be a fool not to get the Atari one with it's controller options not available on modern consoles.

I have 2 of them that I bought at a warehouse sale (Refurbished / open box stock) for $100 each.  They are actually great machines, but the MSRP is way too high.  If you keep an eye out for them you can actually get them for a reasonable price.

[HDN]

7 minutes ago, MaliciousCarp said:

I have 2 of them that I bought at a warehouse sale (Refurbished / open box stock) for $100 each.  They are actually great machines, but the MSRP is way too high.  If you keep an eye out for them you can actually get them for a reasonable price.

I played one of them once at a game store in Sheboygan, WI while on vacation last year. Was not impressed.

[vaxick]

Mark Cerny, the lead hardware engineer of both the PS4 and PS5 was one of the individuals who worked on that game.  

[HDN]

5 hours ago, vaxick said:

Mark Cerny, the lead hardware engineer of both the PS4 and PS5 was one of the individuals who worked on that game.  

I'd have to consider that a downgrade! To be honest, I like Major Havoc 1000x better than the PS4 or PS5. Personally a die-hard Nintendo fan. But to each their own. 

Thank you for sharing this information with us!

[Sabertooth]

Mark Cerny also did Marble Madness while at Atari Games. He was only 18! Dude is a genius. And I went for Sony after Sega left the hardware business so I'm a big fan. 

P.S. the Atari Games era - which Marble Madness kicked off - doesn't get the love it deserves. There were so many great arcade games that came out of that shop post-Atari Inc. also, the Tengen carts for NES.