I want to beat every 7800 game that can be...

[RickR]

I agree.  I've played every version of this game on the various 8-bit systems.  This one is the best.  (The Colecovision version is the worst :)  ) 

[CrossBow]

I'm in the minority on this one, but I prefer Commando to Ikari Warriors because I've never even been able to get past the first stage of Ikari! The splash damage area from enemy grenades is just insane and I find use of the tank to be useless because it just doesn't last long for me.

That said... Commando does have a flaw in one part of the game play that I think I've mentioned a few times before. There is one spot on one of the later levels where you can essentially just park in place with the machine gun and keep racking up lots of solder kills without much risk to yourself. I scored over 3million on it one day and just shut it off out of boredom because of this. So... any high score contests using Commando for the 7800 need to be reconsidered due to this one game play section alone.

 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:34 AM, CrossBow said:

I'm in the minority on this one, but I prefer Commando to Ikari Warriors because I've never even been able to get past the first stage of Ikari! The splash damage area from enemy grenades is just insane and I find use of the tank to be useless because it just doesn't last long for me.

That said... Commando does have a flaw in one part of the game play that I think I've mentioned a few times before. There is one spot on one of the later levels where you can essentially just park in place with the machine gun and keep racking up lots of solder kills without much risk to yourself. I scored over 3million on it one day and just shut it off out of boredom because of this. So... any high score contests using Commando for the 7800 need to be reconsidered due to this one game play section alone.

 

Wow I didn't know that.  If Commando is ever part of the HSC promise me you won't participate lol. 

With that said it's been a while but it's time for a minor update:

Day 17.  Games Beaten 16

Been working a lot and I actually have to work all weekend too. But I have completed a couple more. Starting with...

Ballblazer!  I love the THX Lucas Arts logo and the music. It's a simple sudo 3D affair but man it's fun and impressive, especially with 2 players or short burst. I played against the Droid on 7 and managed to beat him pretty good. He scored a couple times early but I feel he gets pretty predictable. Still, I can't help but to be impressed. If only Rescue on Fractulus had been completed. Anyway...

I beat Touchdown football and it only took me 3 touchdowns to remember how the point after works. That's why I got the odd score, 19-0. This one is no Tecmo Bowl but it's okay. I like the little cheerleader and dance you do when you score, but passing is useless to me. I did manage an interception. 

A lot of the easier ones are dropping fast.  Once I finish working the extra hours over the next couple weeks I'll have more time. Until then, I'll update when possible and do what I can to keep making progress. 

[CrossBow]

13 hours ago, Silver Back said:

Wow I didn't know that.  If Commando is ever part of the HSC promise me you won't participate lol. 

Pretty sure the spot is known enough or can be figured out pretty easily. So yeah, honestly it really ruins any hsc for this game. I use the tactic to park and rack up a few extra men before continuing on. But essentially if time is of a concern and you can pay attention enough to make sure an odd soldier does happen to somehow creep up behind you or just below you, you can essentially play this game indefinitely. Like I said, I rack up over 3mill just standing there one day and shut it off because by that point I had cleared through the game of all the 2 sets of levels a few times and decided I'd played enough!

 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Day 18.  Games Beaten 18

One a day average is a good pace. Still just completing games that I have beaten before or are givens essentially. I had the day off work so I started with...

Kung Fu Master!  This game has grown on me the more I play it. I tried completing it the same day I got through fight night but I couldnt make it past the wizard. As it seems to often happen, I got it first try this morning. I honestly wanted to go another loop after rescuing my girlfriend but eventually I moved onto...

Missing in Action. It's a shame that this never actually made a retail release.  I really like what they have here. There's a nice variety in level design, where some of my favorites have you manning a gun boat, using a machine gun to mow down enemies, and scaling down a mountain or cave of some sort. 

This would've been a stand out action title on the 7800 and while I doubt it would've saved the console, it would've been an exciting release for those of us that choose Atari over Sega or Nintendo. 

Missing in Action being an released game, I had to manually skip through the sewers as I reached a part where I just kept falling through what should've been the floor, but I played every level as far as I could.  

I can't help but to wish that games like Missing In Action, Sirius, Plutos, Klax and Rescue on Fractulus had been completed and released in the 7800s middle to late life over things like Jinx, Mat Mania Challenge and Meltdown. Not to offend anybody who likes those games but I feel those were more solid titles. Of course none of it would've mattered. 

I have a few more sports games and some homebrews I've completed in the past that I know I can conquer again before the challenge gets hard. Still working lots at work so I don't know when the next update will be but I'll see you then!

Edit: oh I tried scrapyard dog in-between Kung Fu Master and MIA an made it to world 5-1 or 5-2 before dying and not being allowed to continue.  Not bad for not playing it since the AA HSC. I know I can make it to the slide puzzle but I only ever finished that once, so any help on the "boss" is appreciated. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Silver Back
Added info on Scrapyard Dog

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Just a small update, Im not scheduled for work until 11 this morning so I decided to try the two games with connected endings, Alien Brigade (using a light gun) and Planet Smashers. I can easily make it to the mother alien that spits out eggs, but how do you kill her?  I can shoot her tail making it blow up before it regenerates but this doesn't seem to actually kill her. If I can figure this out then Alien Brigade should be crossed off soon. 

Planet Smashers was one of those 7800 games I didn't know about back in the day and was excited to get when I started collecting. I loved it initially but then I turned sour to it. After spending 30 minutes with it this morning I can say I'm starting to appreciate it again. I can't wait to try it again when I have the time.

So that's it, two attempts and two failures this morning. If anybody can help me with Alien Brigade I appreciate it. Otherwise I'll see you all next update. 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys but I had some things pop up. My father started to have heart issues and we ended up losing him him about a week ago. So for this update I want to do something relevant to Atari and my father. 

My dad wasn't much of a gamer, it was actually my mom who loved played videogames. But my dad did enjoy a few games that we would play as a family. Space Invaders and Asteroids were two games he really enjoyed, and he was the one that showed me the trick to get your ship to shoot faster in 2600 space invaders. 

My dad's favorite 2600 game was Maze Craze. I think it was close to those maze puzzles you would do with pen and paper and he enjoyed those as a kid I was told.  He also enjoyed cars and he really got a kick out of games like night driver.  We also sit around as a family (mom, dad, sister and I) trying to beat Double Dragon. That's part of the reason why I can beat it fairly regularly today. 

The best video game memory I have with my dad wasn't Atari but actually NES. At this point the 7800 was the kids system that we had access to in the basement, and the nes was in the living room for us to play a few nights a week. My mom had been working hard on Zelda 2 for a long time and could not beat shadow link. She would try over and over and get extremely frustrated. My dad asked if he could try, never having played the game before, and actually beat shadow link in his first try. It made mom so angry I don't think she ever played the game again, but we all got a good laugh from it. Even recently my mom told that story and admits how funny and cool it was. 

I should have a progress update soon for trying to beat all the games, but I'm still building my motivation back up. 

[RickR]

I'm very sorry to hear about your father.  May he rest in peace.  Hold on to those memories!  They sound like nice ones. 

[peteym5]

How far have you got with Venture?

 

[TrekMD]

Sorry to learn of the loss of your father, @Silver Back.  Those are good memories.   Thanks for sharing them.

[7800 Pro Gamer]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:44 PM, peteym5 said:

How far have you got with Venture?

 

Sorry for the lack of update again life is flying by faster than I can handle sometimes. I love the venture you've released and have made it maybe 3 or 4 complete cycles through on each mode. I haven't been playing many games lately so it's hard to remember exactly but I hope to play it some more soon. 

Thank you everybody for your well wishes and nice comments. I no longer care if I succeed in my challenge but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on it. It just means that I'm not gaging success or failure on if I beat them all but rather I'm going to enjoy the ride. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Silver Back

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Well it's been a long time but after an extended break in getting my personal life in line, I got back into the saddle by beating...

Wizards Dungeon!  So this is a new to cartridge homebrew that came out just this year, and I played it and beat if before but I had to do it again for this list. And for a review. So what did I think of it?  Well you'll have to keep an eye on http://www.atari7800forever.com/ to find out. I'll have my review to the funkmaster soon!

Hopefully I'll have more updates soon. 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

I'm restarting this challenge of beating every 7800 game that has an ending, seeing every arcade screen and beating the CPU in every sports game.   But this time instead of charting progress in forum posts, I'm going to do it all on video.

Here is the first game that I beat on my journey, Midnight Mutants. 

Feedback is appreciated.   Let's beat up the 7800s library!

[socrates63]

4 hours ago, Silver Back said:

Here is the first game that I beat on my journey, Midnight Mutants. 

Hi, John. Thanks for posting the video. I just got done watching and subbed to the channel.

I didn't know about the 7800 back in the day. I grew up with the 2600 and 5200 (my friend's) and later switched over to Atari computers. So when the 7800 and the Nintendo and Sega consoles started coming out, I ignored all that because I was gaming on the computer.

A few years ago, I bought a 7800 on ebay which had the UAV mod installed by the seller. However, I hadn't really played anything after my disappointment with the couple of games I tried out. That didn't stop me from collecting games and buying homebrews for it. It was only three weeks ago when the I/O launched the high score challenge with Asteroids for the 7800 that I started spending significant time with the 7800. I've been loving it and look forward to playing more 7800 games and will follow your progress closely.

You Midnight Mutants video was a lot of fun and informative. I love the voice over. It wasn't simply you talking about your reactions to the game as you played it. I'm not a big fan of watching people play games and listening to their live reactions on their play. Your voice over content was more like listening to the director commentary while watching a movie. Your research about the game and its creators was extremely informative and interesting. And you also talked about the game play and provided hints and tips. Please keep up with the voice overs.

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Thanks @socrates63 for the kind words.   I wanted to make a video I'd be interested in watching, but honestly I've never done anything with videos and voice overs before.   I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I plan on spreading information and facts about the 7800 because a lot of it seems lost to time.  Hopefully the next videos will be just as good for you. 

The 7800 can be extremely disappointing if you go in expecting something like the NES.  Due to a combination of Ataris owners at the time, Nintendo's death grip on exclusives and the video game market itself, the 7800 stuck to classics in it's early years, computer ports in mid life and just crazy off the wall games at the end!  But there's a lot of really good games from each period that you'll get to discover.

Also thanks for making me aware of the I/O high score challenge that's something I'd love to participate in. 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Ok guys, it was a tough tower to climb but I toppled another game.   This one was exciting because I've never beaten this game before where Midnight Mutants I've completed about a half dozen times or more. 

 

Again, I appreciate any feedback or criticism.   I did a little more editing in this video.   First, I died a lot on the last two towers so I cut the repeated deaths.   I was getting bored watching me die in the same spot three or four times so I saved you all the time.  But I still have the unedited gameplay of anybody needs proof I beat it in one sitting lol

 

I also edited the audio and cut where I coughed, cleared my throat or sniffled.   I have some congestion so sorry if I sound worse. 

 

I hope you all enjoy my journey of beating the whole 7800 library and my second episode: Tower Toppler!

 

 

[TrekMD]

I really like this game!  I spent a lot of time playing it back in the day and memorizing patterns in order to survive!  It's a fun game!

[7800 Pro Gamer]

It's a tough game that demands you play it, learn and get a little further every time you play.   If anybody knows more than I presented about the 7800 development of Tower Toppler let me know, because I found very little. 

[TrekMD]

I've never seen a lot about its development.  Also, I was first surprised to see the same game but with the title Nebulus on other consoles and computers! 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Took down another game for the 3rd episode of Man vs 7800!  Hope you guys like it.   I know I have to work on speaking clearer but Im learning a bit more with each video!  And as always any feedback or criticism is appreciated!

I also have some different videos in the works if you want to subscribe to me over on YouTube!  Ok enough of that, here's the video:

 

 

[CrossBow]

4 hours ago, Silver Back said:

Took down another game for the 3rd episode of Man vs 7800!  Hope you guys like it.   I know I have to work on speaking clearer but Im learning a bit more with each video!  And as always any feedback or criticism is appreciated!

I also have some different videos in the works if you want to subscribe to me over on YouTube!  Ok enough of that, here's the video:

 

 

I got to be really good at this game when I was younger and preferred to play my 7800 version over my step-bro's NES version. The elbow punch is the most powerful attack and using the enemy stance to your advantage is the key here. As you stated, the enemy has two states. They are either going after your and following the player on the same plane as you stated, or they are walking in your direction but on a different line of plane on the game screen. So what I did was move the controller up and down quickly to get the attacking enemy to switch to wonder mode and then come down and elbow punch them over and over. I also used the reverse jump kick but mostly once I got enemies locked in ontop of each other in a corners and such to wallop them. 

On the green Abobo's just before entering the final lair, I found a way to get them to come one at a time if you didn't go too far beyond the screen and then again using the elbow punch of them was key to taking them down quickly. I got to the point where I could pretty much beat the game anytime I played it only loosing 1 life. I think I was able to do it on a single life a few times even. 

I doubt I could now though as it has been 20+ years since I played this but I'm sure if I took some time it would all come back to me.

 

[7800 Pro Gamer]

2 minutes ago, CrossBow said:

I got to be really good at this game when I was younger and preferred to play my 7800 version over my step-bro's NES version. The elbow punch is the most powerful attack and using the enemy stance to your advantage is the key here. As you stated, the enemy has two states. They are either going after your and following the player on the same plane as you stated, or they are walking in your direction but on a different line of plane on the game screen. So what I did was move the controller up and down quickly to get the attacking enemy to switch to wonder mode and then come down and elbow punch them over and over. I also used the reverse jump kick but mostly once I got enemies locked in ontop of each other in a corners and such to wallop them. 

That's awesome!  I never got that good at the game but I got decent enough to beat it.   I'll have to try mastering the elbow smash.   I like the back kick and then jump kick combo it's fun to do.   Then again I have fun smashing rocks together so maybe it's just me lol

 

4 minutes ago, CrossBow said:

On the green Abobo's just before entering the final lair, I found a way to get them to come one at a time if you didn't go too far beyond the screen and then again using the elbow punch of them was key to taking them down quickly. I got to the point where I could pretty much beat the game anytime I played it only loosing 1 life. I think I was able to do it on a single life a few times even. 

I managed to trigger the green abobo one at a time once.   I haven't been able to do it since but I should probably scroll the screen a little at a time and slowly to do that. 

 

6 minutes ago, CrossBow said:

doubt I could now though as it has been 20+ years since I played this but I'm sure if I took some time it would all come back to me.

Let me tell you I'm having a harder time now than all those years ago.   And back then I was using the Proline rather than the awesome retrogameboyz controller!

The fact that you know another strategy for this game goes to show that there can be variety in the 7800 Double Dragon.   I don't think many people give it a chance because the other versions are more appealing on most levels.  But I don't think the 7800 deserves all the hate it gets either. 

I have a video in the works comparing the NES and 7800 Double Dragons too!

Thanks for the comments and taking interest!

[TrekMD]

I know that Double Dragon on the 7800 doesn't look as good as the NES port (Activision needed to use more memory and POKEY with this game) but I really like the gameplay on it.  The elbow punch is definitely the best attack on the enemies.  This is also a version I can beat!  LOL

[7800 Pro Gamer]

Another game completed.   This time I took down Ninja Golf.   I was initially doing it on Kamikaze difficulty but I didn't think that was as much fun to watch.   My strategy on that difficulty is basically to run from everything. 

So here is the game completed on normal.  I also talk a bit about the two developers who did the game for Blue Sky.   David Dentt has also done some interviews online and in books about his efforts on Ninja Golf. 

 

 

[TrekMD]

Ninja Golf is such a weird, yet fun game.  I love the dragons on it!