7800 Homebrews

[Sabertooth]

It's no secret that the 7800 was woefully supported by Atari Corp. during its commercial life. It did have a handful of outstanding arcade ports and some quirky exclusives but outside of its backward compatibility with the 2600, there was little compelling reason to buy one in the post-NES era. Thankfully, a handful of talented homebrew developers have sought to set right what once went wrong... by creating new, fun and memorable experiences for the platform. Even better, many of these are made available on cart!

 

So 7800 fans, have you tried any homebrew games? If so, what are your favorites?

 

Here are my top 3:

 

1) Frenzy! - A great translation of Frenzy! that also includes Berserk!

2) Jr. Pac-Man - A challenging take on the Pac formula and fairly true to Bally's unauthorized arcade hit.

3) Space Invaders - IMHO this is the definitive version for Atari consoles.

[Atari Today]

the homebrew scene on the 7800 is amazing!  Recently i picked up a copy of the Bob Decrescenzo Collection.  It has 8 homebrew games on it, my personal favorites being Failsafe and the Pac-man Collection.  (Both of those need to be in everyone's 7800 collection!)

 

Right now I'm really anticipating the release of Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest.  It looks to be a hit

[Sabertooth]

I have the Bob DeCrescenzo collection too. It's a fantastic multi-cart! IMHO you can't really go wrong with any of Bob's games. I can't wait for Crystal Quest, Astro Blaster and KC Munchkin!

 

Two more favorites of mine are Ken Siders' b*nQ (Qbert) and Beef Drop (Burgertime). Really good stuff.

[Atari Today]

I'm really considering Beef Drop for my next homebrew purchase.  How does it compare to other conversions? I'm a huge fan of Burgertime on the Intellivision..wondering if picking up another version is really necessary?

[Sabertooth]

There are two versions of Beef Drop for the 7800 - Pokey and Non-Pokey. I have the Pokey version and it's my favorite port of Burgertime. I haven't played the Non-Pokey version but I imagine it's pretty close for TIA sound. That said, the Intellivision version of Burgertime is a classic.

 

FYI- Ken also did a version on the 5200. It's good but the 7800 version plays better.

 

I found a video of the 7800 Pokey Beef Drop on YouTube (not mine). It will give you an idea.:

 

[PacManPlus]

Hi Guys!

 

Just came across this site.  Thank you for the kind words!

 

The thing that is holding back "Crystal Quest" is a supply of Pokeys.  The game itself has been done for over a year.  There is someone working on a 'clone' but I'm actually looking for a supply of Pokeys until that is completed.

Anyway, just wanted to say thank you, and have a wonderful Holiday!

 

Bob

[Atari Today]

Hi Guys!

 

Just came across this site.  Thank you for the kind words!

 

The thing that is holding back "Crystal Quest" is a supply of Pokeys.  The game itself has been done for over a year.  There is someone working on a 'clone' but I'm actually looking for a supply of Pokeys until that is completed.

Anyway, just wanted to say thank you, and have a wonderful Holiday!

 

Bob

Bob! Glad you found the site!  

Hope you had an awesome Christmas and again thanks for making awesome games.  Really looking forward to playing your next releases

 

Stay Rad!

[DegasElite]

There was also talk of the Atari 7800 Expansion Module. I heard about it on AtariAge through Curt Vendel, but it hasn't been released yet. It would add more memory to the 7800 and give it better graphics capability. It shows. I saw the results on YouTube of Donkey Kong XM and it was almost spot-on to the arcade. Only the sound was different and would give the NES version of Donkey Kong a run for its money. I wouldn't mind getting it for myself, but as I stated previously it isn't released yet. Bummer.