Playing All of the TI 99/4A Speech Games

[RickR]

I finally got my TI 99/4A out and have a grand plan to try out all of the "Speech" games.  I always thought it was so cool that the TI was the one home computer that had a decently-supported speech synthesis unit, and I remember that it really works well. 

As you know, I'm no TI expert.  So if you know of any speech games I should try, please let me know!  I know I'll go over Parsec, Alpiner, Demon Attack, and Star Trek.  Again, please help me find them all!

First of all, a quick look at my setup.  It's a standard issue TI-99/4A with the speech unit.  I've added a 32k sideboard, a FlashROM99, and an Atari joystick adapter.

The first speech game I will try is called "Borzork", and it's a Berzerk clone done by nanochess over at the AtariAge forums:  https://atariage.com/forums/topic/283561-borzork/?do=findComment&comment=4198985

How is the game?

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time.  I love Berzerk.  This version is incredible.  It plays a lot faster than I was expecting.  That makes it challenging!  It's got great graphics, great colors.  Just all around a pretty perfect Berzerk clone. 

How is the speech?

The speech in this game is AWESOME.  Have you played the Atari 5200 version of Berzerk?  The speech there sounds good, but it only plays while nothing else is going on.  That's because the Atari uses all it's clock cycles to generate the speech.  No such limitation here.  The robots chatter constantly.  There seem to be about 3 different distinct robot voices.  And they go without any slow-downs in the game.  INCREDIBLE. 

Final Grade:

A+.  THIS is the definitive home port of Berzerk.  If you have a TI, you need to try this game.  

PS - I understand this game can be purchased in cart form, and I think I'm going to pursue that.  As long as the developer Nanochess gets the proceeds. 

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by RickR

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All the speech games?  This is an EXCELLENT idea for a thread Rick!  One of the latest ones is Escape North Korea by @Airshack  I've attached the FlashROM .BIN and a copy of the manual.  

Now if I remember correctly, MASH, Buck Rogers, Moon Mine, Microsurgeon, Fathom and Bigfoot were some lesser known/liked games that included speech.  Of the original TI era released games I think Parsec and Star Trek were the best.  Now as for the recent one, I agree Borzork it up on my list too, in fact it's one of my favorite games!

There is one non-speech synthesizer game that will run on a bare bones console and that is Dragon's Lair by Tursi from Harmlesslion.com it was a fairly recent and licensed game that is no longer in production though.  I made a video about it in 2019 (see below).

I also did a video on Borzork as well..

Let's see what turns up for other games!

ENK8.bin Escape North Korea.pdf

[RickR]

Thank you!

Those are great suggestions and more games to add to my list.  I'll do North Korea next, since we are lucky enough to have @Airshackhere. 

I hope everyone feels comfortable enough to let us know your opinions on the various games as I get to them.  And also any suggestions are welcome too.