Coleco and Atari didn't program Pit Fall 2. It was done by Activision. They pulled out all the stops to make it as good as possible on the 2600. They even added an expensive sound chip to the cart for the music. There wasn't much incentive for them to make it better on Coleco.
Activision was made up of a bunch of ex Atari employees that started their own company. The most talented Atari game devs got together and started Activision after someone in management told them they were no different than the people packing the boxes.
I have to admit that in spite of growing up with and still owning these consoles, I rarely go back to them for the arcade ports, as most of the classics have been later re-released in compilations, or I've just bought the arcade boards. Still, I am always down for a 4 player game of Warlords on the 2600. That game is still a heck of a party game that no one sees coming. Also, I really like playing the 2600 version of Track & Field with the arcade controller it came with at release. It feels great, and I enjoy actually playing it more than the later NES version. Best thing I did, though, was to build my mom an avid Atari 2600 fan) an arcade stick to use with her 2600 using proper arcade parts. It's amazing how much more fun these games can be with a controller that doesn't feel so spongey that you jam it through your palm just to play.
I knew the guy who programmed Curse of Quintana Roo, at least the Colecovision version. We worked together years later at graphics software publisher Micrografx. Cool dude.
Activision was a stickler at the time that Pitfall 2 was released in making the game play similar across platforms, so much so, that the programmer that made the port for the Atari 5200 version made an entire second level for the game, but was not allowed to include it, it remains though as an easter egg... so on the Atari 5200 version it is possible to access a whole secret second level!
Good comparison of Atari 2600 VS The Colecovision systems! I try and keep the manuals for all games! I am probably the only person still does! LOL! Good video!
I have a question and please forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong but...shouldn't it be the Atari 5200 vs Colecovision? I thought the Colecovision was an entire generation ahead of the 2600. I could be wrong as I didn't start until the Nes and Master System. Anything before that I'm pretty much in the dark. As much as I dislike Star Trek, the arcade game has always looked pretty neat too me. I used to be a diehard Srar Wars fan...until the scum at Disney ran it into the ground.
@@SecondOpinionGames1 Aaaah, well thank you my friend. The video was absolute fantastic no matter what. Hey, the 2600 really can hold its own at times and that's pretty neat. That's something you just don't see anymore. Can you imagine an Xbox One game looking and playing better than a Series X game?! That would be crazy talk and yet, the 2600 did it. That says quite a bit about the programmers of the day as well. You hear complaints about lacking space today that just don't hold a candle to the guys making fully playable and fun games on a 4Kb cart back then! You can't fit a full term paper on 4Kb but these wizards were making good games with less.
I really liked the Star Trek music at the end. It was really well done on primitive hardware. Another version of Frogger i like is the 5200 version. A better comparison is between Coleco, and 5200 version with Frogger but i know this video is about Colecovision vs 2600. Maybe a future comparison with those systems?? 👍
The Cabbage Patch game on Colecovision looks really great and fun. It looks very similar to Pitfall abs i loved that on the Atari VCS. I've never owned a Colecovision but if I had one I'd love to try the Cabbage Patch game
I heard you can use a Sega Genesis controller on a Colecovision. Is that true? If it is, does it work ok? How does it work when the Coleco has the phone keypad?
in a way this is like comparing a 60s era Mustang with a 40s Ford. The 2600 had no graphic processor, 2 sprites, 1 color/line background 4k/ memory bank while the Coleco was based on the more advanced TI video processor with 32 sprites (4/line), 16 colors/line and much more memory. Better been comparing 5200 with the coleco.
Atari 2600 had TWO versions of Frogger - the Parker Bros cartridge version which you show here and the FAR SUPERIOR cassette version by Sega/Starpath. This version had ALL the music of the arcade, no flicker, and was better than the Colecovision version, and ALL other versions save for the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 remake - both of which are arcade perfect.
@@SecondOpinionGames1 You can download audio files of the games (or convert the BIN files to WAV with the appropriate program), and then record them to cassette, or even burn them to CD.
Yeah, I’m sorry but Keystone Kapers is not an arcade convert, it was made first for the Atari 2600 and than ported to other systems🕹, it was never in the arcade.
In some of these comparisons (in both part 1 and 2) I prefer the 2600 colors. For example, I do not like the white colors in Coleco's Cabbage Patch Kids. Plus a lot of Coleco's games have this over the top brightness to them. That said, I probably would have chosen the Coleco over the Atari back in the day.
Was hoping there was a chat I miss atari was very little playing it and thinking back I think my joystick was messed up I rember years later and plugged in a genesis controller and moon patrol was a breeze
So we found our odyssey games, my dad needs to know if you still live at the same place or if you moved so we can give you the games. (Also this is jacobs son)
This isn't a fair comparison. The Atari 2600 and ColecoVision were different generation systems. It shouldn't be any surprise that a newer generation system has better graphics than an older generation system. A better comparison would be the ColecoVision to the Atari 5200, not the 2600.
I know it’s not fair. But the two were in direct competition. Like the Atari Jaguar is better paired against the SNES then the N64. Not the same generation but it was where the battle was 😃
Dig Dug - Only the last creature is supposed to make a run for it up to the top of the level. It happens when you've disposed of all the other creatures. Keystone Kapers - This was an original game, not an arcade port. I actually don't like the graphics on the Colecovision/MSX version. The colors are too pastel for my taste and I can't tell what half the graphics in the background are supposed to be. Star Trek - You don't pick off Vulcans. Vulcans are friends of the federation. You're picking off Klingons.
@@SecondOpinionGames1 I can't find any reference to it ever having been an arcade game. It's only listed as having been made for; Atari 2600 Atari 5200 Atari 8-Bit Colecovision MSX Windows (2010) Xbox 360 (2010) Also, a couple years ago, it was ported to the C64 (with a couple minor differences in the game behavior). There was also a C64 clone game several years ago, but it wasn't as faithful a port. Can you post a video or screenshots of the MAME game? I can't try the ROM myself as I have an old system and none of the recent versions of MAME will run on it.
Neither Atari NOR Coleco had anything to do with programming Pitfall or Pitfall II. They were programmed and published by Activision, not Coleco nor Atari.
@@SecondOpinionGames1 Cool. I do think it's very disappointing that Activision didn't even TRY to make the Colecovision version better, at least graphics and sound-wise, the potential to do so was DEFINITELY there.
I don't understand this at all...why didn't the Colecovision pull ahead of Atari and Intelivision? This isn't close at all and now the games I started with seem to make more sense. I started with the Nes and Master System in 1986 and they look lightyears ahead of the 2600 and Intellivision. The two 3rd generation machines look and play better than the Coleco Vision but it's not a complete blowout. I'm guessing the people buying these machines typically failed to understand the video game market at all. They probably saw their Atari's like their Televisions and thought it should remain current for 10 years. It took us Gen X'ers from the third generation to really grasp what was happening here because when it came time to pivot into the 16-bit generation most of us were ready to go. I got my Sega Genesis on Christmas of 1989 so I went running for it.
Atari fanboy. Star Trek on Coleco was far superior to the Atari. I player them on both systems, and I played the arcade version. The Coleco version is far closer to the arcade game
Coleco and Atari didn't program Pit Fall 2. It was done by Activision. They pulled out all the stops to make it as good as possible on the 2600. They even added an expensive sound chip to the cart for the music. There wasn't much incentive for them to make it better on Coleco.
That explains it 🧐
They is David Crane. Everyone knew his name back then. Keystone Kapers was not an arcade conversion either.
Activision was made up of a bunch of ex Atari employees that started their own company.
The most talented Atari game devs got together and started Activision after someone in management told them they were no different than the people packing the boxes.
@@EgGu-l9yOne of them being.....David Crane. You know, the guy that made Pitfall II and the DPC chip.
Crazy how many people came out of Atari.
bill gates, Steve Jobs, Nolan Bushnell all worked for Atari at some point.
@@PlasticCogLiquid
I have to admit that in spite of growing up with and still owning these consoles, I rarely go back to them for the arcade ports, as most of the classics have been later re-released in compilations, or I've just bought the arcade boards. Still, I am always down for a 4 player game of Warlords on the 2600. That game is still a heck of a party game that no one sees coming. Also, I really like playing the 2600 version of Track & Field with the arcade controller it came with at release. It feels great, and I enjoy actually playing it more than the later NES version.
Best thing I did, though, was to build my mom an avid Atari 2600 fan) an arcade stick to use with her 2600 using proper arcade parts. It's amazing how much more fun these games can be with a controller that doesn't feel so spongey that you jam it through your palm just to play.
ColecoVision also has Track & Field and the game comes with that same arcade controller.
Sometimes I just want to play some quick games and these systems do the job 😀
I knew the guy who programmed Curse of Quintana Roo, at least the Colecovision version. We worked together years later at graphics software publisher Micrografx. Cool dude.
Activision was a stickler at the time that Pitfall 2 was released in making the game play similar across platforms, so much so, that the programmer that made the port for the Atari 5200 version made an entire second level for the game, but was not allowed to include it, it remains though as an easter egg... so on the Atari 5200 version it is possible to access a whole secret second level!
That is super cool to know 🧐
Good comparison of Atari 2600 VS The Colecovision systems! I try and keep the manuals for all games! I am probably the only person still does! LOL! Good video!
I do but back then ☹️
I have a question and please forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong but...shouldn't it be the Atari 5200 vs Colecovision? I thought the Colecovision was an entire generation ahead of the 2600. I could be wrong as I didn't start until the Nes and Master System. Anything before that I'm pretty much in the dark. As much as I dislike Star Trek, the arcade game has always looked pretty neat too me. I used to be a diehard Srar Wars fan...until the scum at Disney ran it into the ground.
True on many accounts. Also I don’t have enough 5200 games to put it up against the Colecovision.
@@SecondOpinionGames1
Aaaah, well thank you my friend. The video was absolute fantastic no matter what. Hey, the 2600 really can hold its own at times and that's pretty neat. That's something you just don't see anymore. Can you imagine an Xbox One game looking and playing better than a Series X game?! That would be crazy talk and yet, the 2600 did it. That says quite a bit about the programmers of the day as well. You hear complaints about lacking space today that just don't hold a candle to the guys making fully playable and fun games on a 4Kb cart back then! You can't fit a full term paper on 4Kb but these wizards were making good games with less.
@@Sinn0100 yes they were 😃
Great comparison/contrast video! Again tough call for me as I own, play, and find both to be great in their own respects.
I have great respect for both consoles
I really liked the Star Trek music at the end. It was really well done on primitive hardware. Another version of Frogger i like is the 5200 version. A better comparison is between Coleco, and 5200 version with Frogger but i know this video is about Colecovision vs 2600. Maybe a future comparison with those systems?? 👍
I haven’t played h The 5200 as much as maybe I should 😀
@@SecondOpinionGames1 the 5200 controls differently but once used to it i personally like it maybe even as good as the Coleco version.
The Cabbage Patch game on Colecovision looks really great and fun. It looks very similar to Pitfall abs i loved that on the Atari VCS. I've never owned a Colecovision but if I had one I'd love to try the Cabbage Patch game
It’s quite fun 😃
Thats what you call "twerking" at 10:28.
Lol 😝
I heard you can use a Sega Genesis controller on a Colecovision. Is that true? If it is, does it work ok? How does it work when the Coleco has the phone keypad?
It doesn’t 😞
At least with the number pad
in a way this is like comparing a 60s era Mustang with a 40s Ford. The 2600 had no graphic processor, 2 sprites, 1 color/line background 4k/ memory bank while the Coleco was based on the more advanced TI video processor with 32 sprites (4/line), 16 colors/line and much more memory. Better been comparing 5200 with the coleco.
The coleco is better than some 7800 games 😃
Don't yell at Atari or Colecovision over Pitfall II since both versions were made by Activision
True 🤔
Keep it up
Will do 😃
Now pitfall II, that was definitely ported to the arcade😅.
Or was it the other way around
Atari 2600 had TWO versions of Frogger - the Parker Bros cartridge version which you show here and the FAR SUPERIOR cassette version by Sega/Starpath. This version had ALL the music of the arcade, no flicker, and was better than the Colecovision version, and ALL other versions save for the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 remake - both of which are arcade perfect.
All most all my cassette tapes don’t work any more. 😞 they rotted away.
@@SecondOpinionGames1 You can download audio files of the games (or convert the BIN files to WAV with the appropriate program), and then record them to cassette, or even burn them to CD.
The ColecoVision port of Dig Dug is an unreleased prototype. That could explain why the AI is nowhere near as good as the other versions.
That would explain that 😀
Yeah, I’m sorry but Keystone Kapers is not an arcade convert, it was made first for the Atari 2600 and than ported to other systems🕹, it was never in the arcade.
Ok 👍
In some of these comparisons (in both part 1 and 2) I prefer the 2600 colors. For example, I do not like the white colors in Coleco's Cabbage Patch Kids. Plus a lot of Coleco's games have this over the top brightness to them. That said, I probably would have chosen the Coleco over the Atari back in the day.
Was hoping there was a chat I miss atari was very little playing it and thinking back I think my joystick was messed up I rember years later and plugged in a genesis controller and moon patrol was a breeze
Sorry I was at work when it premiered 😞
So we found our odyssey games, my dad needs to know if you still live at the same place or if you moved so we can give you the games. (Also this is jacobs son)
Montoursville Franklin st It sounds awesome
Second Opinion Games alright I’ll tell him
Call_Me_Damon yeah I would love to do a video on it 😃
This isn't a fair comparison. The Atari 2600 and ColecoVision were different generation systems. It shouldn't be any surprise that a newer generation system has better graphics than an older generation system. A better comparison would be the ColecoVision to the Atari 5200, not the 2600.
I know it’s not fair. But the two were in direct competition. Like the Atari Jaguar is better paired against the SNES then the N64. Not the same generation but it was where the battle was 😃
Dig Dug - Only the last creature is supposed to make a run for it up to the top of the level. It happens when you've disposed of all the other creatures.
Keystone Kapers - This was an original game, not an arcade port. I actually don't like the graphics on the Colecovision/MSX version. The colors are too pastel for my taste and I can't tell what half the graphics in the background are supposed to be.
Star Trek - You don't pick off Vulcans. Vulcans are friends of the federation. You're picking off Klingons.
Are you sure about keystone I found a arcade game on mame just like it 😃
@@SecondOpinionGames1 I can't find any reference to it ever having been an arcade game. It's only listed as having been made for;
Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Atari 8-Bit
Colecovision
MSX
Windows (2010)
Xbox 360 (2010)
Also, a couple years ago, it was ported to the C64 (with a couple minor differences in the game behavior). There was also a C64 clone game several years ago, but it wasn't as faithful a port.
Can you post a video or screenshots of the MAME game? I can't try the ROM myself as I have an old system and none of the recent versions of MAME will run on it.
@@lurkerrekrul when I get a chance I’ll look again. But thanks for the research. 😃
Neither Atari NOR Coleco had anything to do with programming Pitfall or Pitfall II. They were programmed and published by Activision, not Coleco nor Atari.
I know I’m just trying to keep the video fun 😃
@@SecondOpinionGames1 Cool. I do think it's very disappointing that Activision didn't even TRY to make the Colecovision version better, at least graphics and sound-wise, the potential to do so was DEFINITELY there.
I don't understand this at all...why didn't the Colecovision pull ahead of Atari and Intelivision? This isn't close at all and now the games I started with seem to make more sense. I started with the Nes and Master System in 1986 and they look lightyears ahead of the 2600 and Intellivision. The two 3rd generation machines look and play better than the Coleco Vision but it's not a complete blowout.
I'm guessing the people buying these machines typically failed to understand the video game market at all. They probably saw their Atari's like their Televisions and thought it should remain current for 10 years. It took us Gen X'ers from the third generation to really grasp what was happening here because when it came time to pivot into the 16-bit generation most of us were ready to go. I got my Sega Genesis on Christmas of 1989 so I went running for it.
Atari fanboy. Star Trek on Coleco was far superior to the Atari. I player them on both systems, and I played the arcade version. The Coleco version is far closer to the arcade game