For me the 7800 taught me the perils of brand loyalty. I got one instead of a NES and regretted it the day I saw Zelda for the first time. At the end of the day it was just a sexier way to play most 2600 titles (M-Network carts won't fit into the 7800 for some reason).
I got a 7800 before getting an NES. No regrets at all. Sure, the NES got more action out of me once I got it but I still went back to my 7800 often and would have done so more had better access to the games been there.
The fact that they kept the same sound chip from the 2600 with no upgrade was a shockingly incompetent decision. Other than that, nothing wrong with these games, other than the fact that most of them are just updates of titles that we'd already been buying for years. Thinking about how Zelda blew me away when I played it for the first time, I pity those poor kids who got an Atari instead. OR, how 'bout the kids of those parents who fell the for "The Fun is Back" ad and actually got a 2600?
@@speedgriffon2504 I owned a 7800 before I even knew the NES existed. I was pretty happy with it having played the 2600 many times several years earlier. Even after I got an NES, I still revisited my 7800 to play it’s and the 2600s games. I agree about the sound chip. The other big issue was offering the superior D-pad controller only in Europe.
@@speedgriffon2504it wasn't incompetence. There were existing plans to improve the sound chip after the initial prototype release. However by the time of the wide release Atari had been sold to Jack Tramiel and he had 90 days to make the company profitable. He couldn't afford to improve the sound. He basically had to release exactly what they had with zero extra costs. It's less incompetence and more "this needs to go out the door and it needs to make whatever money it can as soon as possible"
I owned a 7800 actually as a kid, in the 90s no less. I remember my uncle being a bit nostalgic for it so he traded me the classic Star Wars trilogy on VHS for it. That was, yeah, that was a great deal for me.
It was the first console we had, my Grandma got it for us when I was around 4-5. so 90,91-ish. It came packed in with 6 or 7 games and we played it until the controllers broke. I have long wondered how long the salesman kept smiling after she left the store.
Desert Falcon was promoted to be a console exclusive but as the market crash became apparent it was quickly developed and produced for other platforms including the 2600 which is rumored to have been coded simultaneously despite the exclusive announcement
You have to remember the 7800 was originally going to be launched in 1984 but was shelved till 1986. If it had been released in 84 it probably could have been a hit...if not for the video game crash and Atari's tainted image at the time.
Comparing those two versions of Ikari Warriors shows exactly why the 7800 had no chance. It wasn't even in the same ballpark as the NES. I loved my 5200 though too :)
We got one of these for Christmas in '86. My dad is a technophile who pretty consistently put his money on the wrong horse back then - we also had a Commodore 128 and, later, the Prodigy service. To his credit, I have fond memories of all three.
I was born in 79 and I love watching about all the systems I grew up with. It also helps me appreciate the ENORMOUS amount of games I have at my fingertips nowadays.
Sure there's hundreds of thousands of games to choose from today, most with great graphics, physics and sound but how many of them are more FUN to play than Centipede?
@@johncollins5552 couldn't agree more. I have always been a fun factor is most important person. I'd rather play Ms Pac Man or like Mega Man 2 than the latest rushed out, overpriced graphics fest.
I’m just glad collecting Atari 7800 is still cheap and not overly expensive like most other Atari consoles. Most games on the 7800 are under $8-$10 sealed.
Wow stuff must have changed in a year because a lot of 7800 games are stupid pricey and others while on the cheaper end are still going for more than the majority of the 2600 library
Not gonna lie, I have always appreciated how you are open and direct and honest about your intentions to make money with this UA-cam channel. There's absolutely nothing wrong with designing art to make money; the problem comes when people misrepresent their intentions and thus themselves.
Karateka isn't the easiest game to pick up and play, however, once you learn the mechanics it's great. You may vaguely recognize the animation technique, as it was created by Jordan Mechner and perfected in his second game, Prince of Persia.
Possibly. But remember the reason they shelved it originally was because the video game market at the time was considered dead and the NES made headroom by being sold and marketed as a toy not a video game system.
I dunno about that. NES hype was the biggest hype I ever lived through. Back then....just seeing that NES controller alone made everyone want one over the "outdated" stick. I like your idea but no. By then we were seeing Atari as outdated...still played it but I do not believe it would have given NES any trouble if it had released then. Just my...I was there observation ;)
No, that wouldn't have changed a thing. Nintendo already had shackled down all big name japanese game publishers with their illegal exclusive contracts. Without proper game support you can't get a system off the ground (unless the big competition makes dumb mistake after dumb mistake, which is the reason why the Master System steamrolled the NES here in Europe and South America, despite not having all the "famous" franchises from Capcom or Konami) And even for 1984 the Atari 7800 was pretty dire on a technical level. The NES has its graphic flaws but looks way better than this pixelated mess. Also Atari was just mis-managed at the time. Warner pretty much killed the company, then, they sold it to Jack Tramiel (who got fired from his own company Commodore because stock holders were unhappy with his leadership) in July 1984 and it started a long, slow decline with a ton of bad releases, bad decisions and only 1 good system (the ST, altough it never could compete with the Amiga)
Damn, videogames have come such a long way. I don't think future generations will have nearly as much of an appreciation for videogames as us boomers who grew up with the beeps and boops.
I love the 7800 controller. I still think the 7800 could have done great if it had released when it was originally intended. If it had a lead on the NES it could have lead to a very different console history
I literally clicked on this because I was wondering, "Did the Atari 7800 that my cousins had when I was a kid actually have any 2D Sidescrolling Platformers on it?" Scrapyard Dog was the only one...wow. They missed out on that genre!
Great video! I just acquired an Atari 7800 recently along with about eight games. Granted they aren't all my favorites, but I've been enjoying everything overall. Truth be told if Nintendo's illegal monopolistic practices regarding third party developers had been struck down by the courts sooner the Atari 7800, and the Sega Master System both would likely have had larger better original game libraries. Both are a case of the potential being there, but not under ideal circumstances to come to fruition.
Id love to see the Atari XE game system library review next. It seems like a very interesting and somewhat capable system. I remember 8-Bit Guys review of it. He was trying to figure out what was the best home system to play the classic games from the early 80s on and he picked the Atari XE cuz of the games available for it plus it had composite instead of just RF. Pretty interesting video.
I owned a 7800. Folks bought this one rather than a Genesis or NES because it played all the 2600 carts. It was very good for what it was. Loved Centipede, Desert Falcon, Ms Pac-Man, and Xevious. Funny thing is that I played a ton of Gyruss too - and that was a 5200 game. I don't remember having a 5200, but I definitely didn't have the 2600 version. My memories are beginning to bleed into each other as I age...
I grew up with the 7800, the Master System and NES, mom was a gamer. And this list just takes me back! Dark Chambers and Tower Toppler are two of my favorites on the 7200.
@@Rountree1985 Your reply would be valid if the new ones didn't sound like complete dogshit. Seriously, did he go through and pick all the blandest ones?
Ah, the 7800. My first system ever. Mom gave one to me, I think I was five years old, so back in 1987 or 88. I had asked for an NES and got this instead one of those years for Christmas. The thing about the 7800 was... it could play all the older Atari systems' games.
Dark chambers had shooting the monster switches it to another monster. Sprites and memory. 4k of system memory was available but not all of it. To work around this the reused sprite was used. Since you couldn’t have to many on the screen just reassign sprites to make mobs challenging
I still have a 7800, but only 2 games for it (just pole position 2, pac man was a 2600 cart.) Now I'm aware of the library of games for the 7800. Thanks!!!
You think the enemies in Kung Fu Masters are getting “stuck?” They’re grabbing you and draining your life bar, my dude. It’s not a glitch. You wiggle your way free.
The Atari 7800 was never on my radar when it was current. My first foray into gaming started Christmas Eve and Christmas day of 1986. I received an Nes from my mother and a Sega Master System from my father (divorced parents). I was very young but I was just old enough to appreciate them both. I remember the old 7800 commercials with the rapping kids "under 50 bucks"...that made me want one even less.
@@mpacino1224 There is a very good reason...well, there's an understandable one and a very stupid one. Understandable- When I was born I was diagnosed with a severe medical disability. Since birth I have had eight neurological procedures (brain surgeries) so far and more to come in the future. I also have had 5 major surgeries on my stomach as well. I am also blind in one eye stemming from one of my many, many surgeries. Basically, I was unable to have a normal childhood like everyone else. My parents were so happy I found something I loved they fully supported it. Think of it like playing for a baseball or football team. I made a lot of friends as a gamer and our house was the neighborhood hangout. Stupid- While my parents worked together to make sure I had a stable childhood (smart), they regularly completed with each other. If my dad bought me a game my mother was ready to buy me two. I was always greatful for everything I got and I tried to stop them on many occasion. I would tell them that doing stuff like that was completely unnecessary and they still did it anyway. It didn't stop until I became an adult after I really put my foot down. Crazy.
With Dark Chambers, the reason the monsters change is probably to save RAM, instead of having two variables per enemy to see what its health is and what type it is, just have one variable that says what its health is and then change its type according to its health. That's my best guess
Other than the sound chip, this should have had rough the same punch as the NES. Sort of disappointing that it didn’t really have the epic games that the NES had. Such potential!
I grew up with the Atari 2600, 7800, NES and the Sega Master System, mom was a gamer. I can't tell you which system was better, because I went back and forth between them all. The 7800 Had some of my favorite games. Now I'm starting to see why some people said that I was spoiled, most families only had one system at a time. Anyways time to play some Tower Toppler.
It seems that Atari should’ve used that special sound chip in more of their games. Maybe it was too difficult to use with greater frequency. Either way, it’s a real shame.
@@Nestalgba92023 correct. Sega did something similar with its Master System. They had specific games that utilized better sound and it was a significant improvement. I think it wound up being the same sound chip that was used on the Mega Drive/Genesis.
7800 was my first console, with that said the controller was never uncomfortable for me. It was leagues ahead of the 2600 controllers we had that WERE quite uncomfortable to use by comparison. We eventually got a Sega Genesis and the controller for that wasn't any better. There simply wasn't as much to hold onto compared to the 7800's so your hand were sort of crammed onto the controller. It was really with the N64 and PS1 that controllers beat the 7800 for comfort in my experience. They gave you something to really grip that wasn't so close to the buttons.
I had the 7800 as a kid. Pole position was the game I played the most. Double Dragon was my favorite game on a NES and still is next to a Super Mario 3 of course but as far as the 7800 you're right it is not easy to play at all plus the NES version has the greatest opening title song of all time I think and first level song.
When I was going to college, I worked at a pawn shop that focused on video games, CDs, Blu-rays, and DVDs. One day a guy brought in an Atari 7200 with cables, a two boxes of games. I bought it from the guy and found out the games were the entire catalog. It works perfectly and is in mint condition, included a working light gun, and has some good moments, but it's been sitting in a bigger box at the bottom of a closet for years. There's just no compelling reason to play it when I have a 2600, Master System, and NES.
If you turn your shields back on when the Jaggie jumps on your ship, it fries him. That scared the crap out of me in middle school the first time I saw it.
I've been over this before with multiple others - the protagonist is the lead role, not necessarily always the hero, and the antagonist is whoever and whatever is the strongest opposition to the lead role, not necessarily always the villain. Sometimes, the protagonist of the show _is_ the villain and the antagonist the hero, like with Invader Zim. And sometimes, like with Tom and Jerry, they're _both_ villains.
Great video! Classic atari games bring me an extra large dose of nostalgia and memories from childhood! I like the format and the rating scale! Good job!
The Sega Master System port of Choplifter is the best, containing ALL levels. The 7800 port only has the first level. It was also ported to the Famicom, but that version is so bad it didn't get released for the NES.
While I don't have all of the homebrew games for the 7800, I have several. Some titles support the Pokey chip used in the 5200. You used to have to supply them with a Pokey chip if you wanted Pokey sound. Now they offer the option of using their own chip called PokeyOne. Atari 7800 Homebrews that I have in my collection: Armour Attack II Asteroids Deluxe Astro Blaster b*nQ Beef Drop VE Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest (w/Pokey Sound Chip) Crazy Brix FailSafe Frenzy (cartridge includes voice enhanced 7800 port of Berzerk) Froggie Jr. Pac-Man K.C. Munchkin Meteor Shower Moon Cresta Pit-Fighter Plutos Sirius Space Invaders Super Cobra T:ME Salvo Wasp! Worm!
I still have a 5200 and a 7200, with about a total of 277 games. It all still works and everything is original, however I did have to recap the 5200. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them either. I still play quite a few of the games with my younger nieces and nephews, and it was the last thing my papa bought me before he passed away.
I have been looking forward to this. Mostly cause this was the first video I ever saw from you. Hopefully you don’t take that the wrong way. I decided to stick around after all.
#1: Karateka on the Apple II was one of the best games in 1986 to play at home. #2: Anytime you see "Bros." It's short for "Brothers." It's why the period is there.
Definitely a great improvement over the original video. Even as a big fan of the 7800, I would agree that it was too little, too late. The graphics chip was really good, but the sound was definitely lacking. I know that the TIA handled both the 2600's graphics and sound, which was why the 7800 was able to play 2600 games. But they're definitely could have been room for a POKEY as well. The system was supposed to come out in 1984, but was delayed due to the crash. And I believe both that and the NES came out nationwide in 1986. So, it couldn't stand a chance. I think that if the 5200 was never released and the 7800 came out in 1984 like intented, then it could have been a different story. The 7800 definitely had potential when it came to graphics, with the big selling point being that it had practically no sprite flicker. It also had more exclusives when compared to the 5200, which had almost none aside from Countermeasure. At the very least, homebrew devs have been doing a great job of breathing new life into the system. I own a physical copy of Rikki & Vikki and it is a fantastic puzzle game. Pac-Man Collection, Super Pac-Man, Froggie, and Beef Drop are also quite good, with promising ports of Arkanoid and Popeye on the horizon. Also, one final note. Atari missed a big opportunity to make the 7800 controller both a joystick and a paddle.
As an owner of a 7800, a few of the things you said were a bit off. I also have a compatible lightgun and most of its games, so I can give more info on those if you want. Cracked: It's actually a joystick game. You can also catch an egg midair by holding the button and drop in the nest. That's required to get far in the game, but it's also distracting as the enemies keep coming for the others. It's still an OK game at best, as that's basically the majority of the game and gets old fast. Karateka: The right button toggles the fighting stance. The controls are explained in the manual, but actually blocking or landing a hit can be confusing. I could only ever get as far as the level with the bird. There seems to be a glitch that makes the bastard nearly impossible to hit, which makes it nearly impossible to win. It's an otherwise OK game. Just needs controls that work better with the controller. Well, it really needs a better controller, but that's another matter. Sentinels: more or less accurate. It's merely an OK lightgun game, still better than Barnyard. The system had better gun games. Overall, I agree. The 7800 had few decent titles and few exclusives that where worth bothering with. It was hobbled by bad sound and joysticks design, released years late and horribly marketed due to bad management , especially in it's later years when Atari dropped most of their retail presence.
I bought one recently and imported a European controller. It's definitely leagues above the terrible American controller, though the buttons feel a but stiff
What if I told you two directions were technically possible to input on an Atari 2600? One digital joystick and one analog joystick? And all on one controller? The controller would have been so expensive or using technology that didn't exist when it did, but it can technically take those inputs. In fact, you could technically do the analog joystick as an addon for a regular controller.
@@DoomRater Technically yes. but then you'd be left with 2600's single fire button. The 7800 controller also used the two analog pot inputs to distinguish the left and right buttons in 7800 games.
A single fire button would be all that's needed (or in the case of Karateka, not really?) for the game I'm thinking of. For other games, you'd probably want to extend all the joystick directions as buttons instead, which would result in an analog joystick controller and 5 buttons.
Great video, thanks... toying with the idea of buying a 7800 to add to my retro collection so this was a very informative and honest take on the system and games.
If you went directly from 2600 to 7200 and then yes you would have. I knew one guy who had the 7800 while I had the 2600, and that was directly in 1987 just before we moved away and I never saw him again. That system had me fascinated at the time for how much of a step up it was from my own. Still NES was already out at that point for a few years as was the master system and both had superior sound chips, controllers, and more support. I didn't know that until 1990.
@@xenxander Yeah, me too. About a year & 1/2 later he upgraded to the SNES & we to the Sega Genesis... what an awesome time for gaming that was, though!
I like the new additions, Frame. I just wish that the games that you say have bad sound you’d let us hear them. I had to go to another video to see exactly what you were talking about with Jinks. However now I can see why you may had spared us the pain.
To make this video perfect I would have to completely redo it, unfortunately I just don't have the passion for that. Covering the 7800 the first time was enough for me but I revisited this due to popular demand.
So I watched AVGN talk about the cover to scrapyard dog and the guy's nose, so seeing that his nose is so prominent in the actual game is hilarious to me.
my buddy was an Atari fan in our early teens, he also had a NES. I could never get into it, however food fight, boxing, and desert falcon the only titles i enjoyed. But I think the system could have had better games given time I mean Rikki and Vikki looks amazing in comparison to its original titles.
I actually opted for this as a Christmas present over the NES back in 87. Yea...i was an Atari fanboy at the time who was being stubborn. But as someone who had aspirations of being a pilot early on...i greatly enjoyed the systems variety of flight sims (having gotten my start on Space Shuttle back on the 2600). I dont regret it. Had alot of fun with Food Fight, Joust, Dig Dug, and Xevious also. I would eventually come around to the NES in 89, but i still have my 7800 console and games. Thanks for the walk down memory lane
I had a 7800, well for a short time as my parents were one of those 1990s hangover couples who hated videogames; but knew a guy[aka uncle with old kit] on my insistence. aka i had a CEX box full of gamea and console of dreamcast and gamecube shortly after.
Karateka is one of those games that you need to learn the wonky controls, when you do it's rather good. You have 2 stances you can alternate, running and fighting. Running equals a one hit death if you take a hit while in it, fighting does not.
I still give it a “Bad” grade (1). I begged my mom to get this for my birthday back in 1989. She was like “wouldn’t you rather have Joust?” And I was like, “No, mom, that game is too old”. Always listen to your mom.....
With Impossible Mission, you have to collect every single item. However, some of these items are hidden in unsearchable objects, and one of the items apparently just doesn’t exist in the game. Hence why the game is impossible. However, the pal version fixed the issue.
The reason enemies "demote" in Dark Chambers as they're shot is because that's how it worked in the Atari 8-bit computer game it's a port of, Dandy Dungeon (which directly inspired Gauntlet). The reason it worked that way in Dandy is because in Dandy, enemies had no internal data representation. Instead, they were literally their onscreen graphics characters in the background tilemap. To move them the game engine scanned the tile buffer for enemy graphics and moved them toward the player, like a simple cellular automaton. This scheme allowed populating the dungeons with any arbitrary number of enemies without using any more RAM, but each enemy had no internal state, like health. So instead the author faked it by having multiple enemy types that demoted when shot. The later console ports of Dandy, now renamed to Dark Chambers, DID use sprites for enemies and could have given them health points and different behaviors, but they didn't do this for some reason. Maybe they didn't want to get sued for making an unauthorized Gauntlet knockoff, or maybe they wanted to limit the gameplay to what an Atari 2600 could handle so all three versions would play the same.
In a way the 7800's graphics were more versatile than the NES's, being bitmapped with a system like the ANTIC on the Atari 8-bits and 5200. A separate controller chip could use a different graphic mode, and set certain settings, for each row of the screen. The downside is that the resolution is only 160 across, in the most commonly used mode. It had other options but of course you sacrifice colour for resolution. All in it wasn't a great success, though like the NES also allowed the graphics to be stored in ROM and directly output to screen, so saving on RAM. The NES was straight-up tile mapped graphics. Ultimately probably more advanced. But limited, you couldn't draw to bitmaps on it, couldn't do vector games. It's why every NES game has the same ultimate feel to it, a static background made of 8x8 tiles, with very limited animation, and sprites on top of that. Makes for quick graphics, but you're limited to exactly what it is.
Don’t know if you did(after looking didn’t see your thumbnail on possible answers) ,but i am interested of getting a Colecovision. A games review(with expanding modules)maybe? I just love that console.
Basketbrawl was released for the Atari 7800 in 1990, then for the Atari Lynx in 1992. It is similar to the 1989 Midway arcade game Arch Rivals which had the tagline "A basket brawl!" Given they were released within a year of each other I wonder if one ripped off the other or if it coregent programming.
It's so interesting to see how much more vibrant and broadly colorful the 7800 is, and yet it still has those comparatively chunky pixels compared to the NES.
I'm an older gamer, and this was the Era I grew up in. I never had a 7800, but had a Commodore 128 and my buddy had a 64. Between us we had almost all the games you showcased here. It was a fun blast of memories and nostalgia. To this day we have an inside joke involving us breaking out in "...another visitor...stay a while....stay forEVAAAH! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha..."
Excellent review of games! I'm aware that it's impossible to agree on the veredict of each game and opinions are always subjective buuuuuut Karateka was awesome! It's the first game of Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia), I was thrilled by its cinematics (clearly Jordan liked to be a film director). There is a book of how he made this awesome game: The making of Karateka. Of course, it had many issues, in Commodore 64 was sloooow (not in Atari 7800) and if you get hit when you were running, you were dead. Anyway, was one of those games that I remember fondly.
I picked up one of these with a bunch of games from Macro in the late 90s. Don't know where they found them, but they obviously wanted rid of them, cos they cost next to nothing. Ended up being a really fun little console. The built in version of Asteroids was great, and Food Fight is an underrated gem.
i had one,obviously the black and white labels were cost cutting measure. i loved food fight and the fact that u didnt have to get rid of my old games then
For me the 7800 taught me the perils of brand loyalty. I got one instead of a NES and regretted it the day I saw Zelda for the first time. At the end of the day it was just a sexier way to play most 2600 titles (M-Network carts won't fit into the 7800 for some reason).
Certain carts wouldn't fit because the plastic piece that surrounds the cartridge slot in the system itself
I got a 7800 before getting an NES. No regrets at all. Sure, the NES got more action out of me once I got it but I still went back to my 7800 often and would have done so more had better access to the games been there.
The fact that they kept the same sound chip from the 2600 with no upgrade was a shockingly incompetent decision. Other than that, nothing wrong with these games, other than the fact that most of them are just updates of titles that we'd already been buying for years. Thinking about how Zelda blew me away when I played it for the first time, I pity those poor kids who got an Atari instead. OR, how 'bout the kids of those parents who fell the for "The Fun is Back" ad and actually got a 2600?
@@speedgriffon2504 I owned a 7800 before I even knew the NES existed. I was pretty happy with it having played the 2600 many times several years earlier. Even after I got an NES, I still revisited my 7800 to play it’s and the 2600s games.
I agree about the sound chip. The other big issue was offering the superior D-pad controller only in Europe.
@@speedgriffon2504it wasn't incompetence. There were existing plans to improve the sound chip after the initial prototype release. However by the time of the wide release Atari had been sold to Jack Tramiel and he had 90 days to make the company profitable. He couldn't afford to improve the sound. He basically had to release exactly what they had with zero extra costs. It's less incompetence and more "this needs to go out the door and it needs to make whatever money it can as soon as possible"
I owned a 7800 actually as a kid, in the 90s no less. I remember my uncle being a bit nostalgic for it so he traded me the classic Star Wars trilogy on VHS for it. That was, yeah, that was a great deal for me.
It was the first console we had, my Grandma got it for us when I was around 4-5. so 90,91-ish. It came packed in with 6 or 7 games and we played it until the controllers broke. I have long wondered how long the salesman kept smiling after she left the store.
I had a 7800 back in the day and I loved it. Desert Falcon was my jam. :)
Desert Falcon was promoted to be a console exclusive but as the market crash became apparent it was quickly developed and produced for other platforms including the 2600 which is rumored to have been coded simultaneously despite the exclusive announcement
It’s a shame the relatively advanced graphics chip was paired with the same sound chip as the 2600. It would be a great arcade system otherwise.
Agreed the sound chip was a flipping joke.
@Swilly Billy Yes. it would have been on par with the NES if it would have had more memory and a better sound chip.
You have to remember the 7800 was originally going to be launched in 1984 but was shelved till 1986. If it had been released in 84 it probably could have been a hit...if not for the video game crash and Atari's tainted image at the time.
Comparing those two versions of Ikari Warriors shows exactly why the 7800 had no chance. It wasn't even in the same ballpark as the NES. I loved my 5200 though too :)
Honestly it was just a meh console really. Even back in '84 it was just a boring experience. Only 3 games on it were worth getting.
We got one of these for Christmas in '86. My dad is a technophile who pretty consistently put his money on the wrong horse back then - we also had a Commodore 128 and, later, the Prodigy service. To his credit, I have fond memories of all three.
As a person who owned a Jaguar when everyone else had a Playstation, I sympathize with your dad.
Now this is a gent who takes pride in his channel.
I was born in 79 and I love watching about all the systems I grew up with. It also helps me appreciate the ENORMOUS amount of games I have at my fingertips nowadays.
Sure there's hundreds of thousands of games to choose from today, most with great graphics, physics and sound but how many of them are more FUN to play than Centipede?
@@johncollins5552 couldn't agree more. I have always been a fun factor is most important person. I'd rather play Ms Pac Man or like Mega Man 2 than the latest rushed out, overpriced graphics fest.
@@johncollins5552to this day, I often find myself playing games like Enduro and Radar Lock. So much fun. And I wasn't even born in the past century!
I’m just glad collecting Atari 7800 is still cheap and not overly expensive like most other Atari consoles. Most games on the 7800 are under $8-$10 sealed.
Wow stuff must have changed in a year because a lot of 7800 games are stupid pricey and others while on the cheaper end are still going for more than the majority of the 2600 library
Not gonna lie, I have always appreciated how you are open and direct and honest about your intentions to make money with this UA-cam channel. There's absolutely nothing wrong with designing art to make money; the problem comes when people misrepresent their intentions and thus themselves.
Indeed
Karateka isn't the easiest game to pick up and play, however, once you learn the mechanics it's great. You may vaguely recognize the animation technique, as it was created by Jordan Mechner and perfected in his second game, Prince of Persia.
Now imagine if they released the 7800 in 1984 like they were supposed to. It would've been a much bigger hit and would go toe to toe with the NES.
Possibly. But remember the reason they shelved it originally was because the video game market at the time was considered dead and the NES made headroom by being sold and marketed as a toy not a video game system.
I dunno about that. NES hype was the biggest hype I ever lived through. Back then....just seeing that NES controller alone made everyone want one over the "outdated" stick. I like your idea but no. By then we were seeing Atari as outdated...still played it but I do not believe it would have given NES any trouble if it had released then. Just my...I was there observation ;)
No, that wouldn't have changed a thing. Nintendo already had shackled down all big name japanese game publishers with their illegal exclusive contracts. Without proper game support you can't get a system off the ground (unless the big competition makes dumb mistake after dumb mistake, which is the reason why the Master System steamrolled the NES here in Europe and South America, despite not having all the "famous" franchises from Capcom or Konami)
And even for 1984 the Atari 7800 was pretty dire on a technical level. The NES has its graphic flaws but looks way better than this pixelated mess.
Also Atari was just mis-managed at the time. Warner pretty much killed the company, then, they sold it to Jack Tramiel (who got fired from his own company Commodore because stock holders were unhappy with his leadership) in July 1984 and it started a long, slow decline with a ton of bad releases, bad decisions and only 1 good system (the ST, altough it never could compete with the Amiga)
Not really. The audio is crap even on the 2 exceptions and the graphics for the most part suck in every game.
Atari was a PARIAH by 1984. Video Games weren't dead. People just hated Atari and wanted nothing to do with them.
Damn, videogames have come such a long way. I don't think future generations will have nearly as much of an appreciation for videogames as us boomers who grew up with the beeps and boops.
*As us gen-x-ers. FTFY. Boomers were already grown up by the time the pong consoles, Channel F, VCS, iTV, Coleco etc all showed up.
Personally find the old atari games to be okay just nothing memorable. The Nes games were a Great evolution though
The 7800 games already look pretty decent when compared to the 2600 games.
I'm happy to have grown up in the 8 bit era and beyond. The appreciation I have for gaming as a result of that is priceless
@@jonahabenhaim1223 that's where my real nostalgia starts as well.
I love the 7800 controller. I still think the 7800 could have done great if it had released when it was originally intended. If it had a lead on the NES it could have lead to a very different console history
The pal controller did.
I literally clicked on this because I was wondering, "Did the Atari 7800 that my cousins had when I was a kid actually have any 2D Sidescrolling Platformers on it?" Scrapyard Dog was the only one...wow. They missed out on that genre!
Great video! I just acquired an Atari 7800 recently along with about eight games. Granted they aren't all my favorites, but I've been enjoying everything overall. Truth be told if Nintendo's illegal monopolistic practices regarding third party developers had been struck down by the courts sooner the Atari 7800, and the Sega Master System both would likely have had larger better original game libraries. Both are a case of the potential being there, but not under ideal circumstances to come to fruition.
Id love to see the Atari XE game system library review next. It seems like a very interesting and somewhat capable system. I remember 8-Bit Guys review of it. He was trying to figure out what was the best home system to play the classic games from the early 80s on and he picked the Atari XE cuz of the games available for it plus it had composite instead of just RF. Pretty interesting video.
I owned a 7800. Folks bought this one rather than a Genesis or NES because it played all the 2600 carts. It was very good for what it was. Loved Centipede, Desert Falcon, Ms Pac-Man, and Xevious.
Funny thing is that I played a ton of Gyruss too - and that was a 5200 game. I don't remember having a 5200, but I definitely didn't have the 2600 version. My memories are beginning to bleed into each other as I age...
The 7800 and Vectrex were my systems growing up, I once played Galaga until the game crashed.
Finally, The Atari 7800 Deserves some recognition.
I grew up with the 7800, the Master System and NES, mom was a gamer. And this list just takes me back! Dark Chambers and Tower Toppler are two of my favorites on the 7200.
So, we didn't miss much with 7800! (The Atari 800 computers were delivering some more detailed gameplay at the time.)
Ouch that CGR reference...
What happened?
Holy crap, the old "Yeah, Framerater!", it sounds so much better!
New thing bad old thing good DAE
@@Rountree1985 Your reply would be valid if the new ones didn't sound like complete dogshit. Seriously, did he go through and pick all the blandest ones?
Tower toppler is called nebulus on other systems and is great. It’s more of a memorisation puzzle game, thus the time limit.
Ah, the 7800. My first system ever. Mom gave one to me, I think I was five years old, so back in 1987 or 88. I had asked for an NES and got this instead one of those years for Christmas. The thing about the 7800 was... it could play all the older Atari systems' games.
Dark chambers had shooting the monster switches it to another monster. Sprites and memory. 4k of system memory was available but not all of it. To work around this the reused sprite was used. Since you couldn’t have to many on the screen just reassign sprites to make mobs challenging
7800 was my first console ever and I played the heck out of it back in that day. Those controllers gave me hand cramps though.
The 7800 had some exclusive titles no one else had, so that's why I like it
I still have a 7800, but only 2 games for it (just pole position 2, pac man was a 2600 cart.) Now I'm aware of the library of games for the 7800. Thanks!!!
“Dark chambers makes for a great 7800 experience”
- Excellent score bumps out
You think the enemies in Kung Fu Masters are getting “stuck?” They’re grabbing you and draining your life bar, my dude. It’s not a glitch. You wiggle your way free.
The Atari 7800 was never on my radar when it was current. My first foray into gaming started Christmas Eve and Christmas day of 1986. I received an Nes from my mother and a Sega Master System from my father (divorced parents). I was very young but I was just old enough to appreciate them both. I remember the old 7800 commercials with the rapping kids "under 50 bucks"...that made me want one even less.
My divorced parents didn't buy me things I actually wanted lol. But I did get to play Colocovision at my Dad's. That was pretty awesome.
@@mpacino1224
There is a very good reason...well, there's an understandable one and a very stupid one.
Understandable-
When I was born I was diagnosed with a severe medical disability. Since birth I have had eight neurological procedures (brain surgeries) so far and more to come in the future. I also have had 5 major surgeries on my stomach as well. I am also blind in one eye stemming from one of my many, many surgeries. Basically, I was unable to have a normal childhood like everyone else. My parents were so happy I found something I loved they fully supported it. Think of it like playing for a baseball or football team. I made a lot of friends as a gamer and our house was the neighborhood hangout.
Stupid- While my parents worked together to make sure I had a stable childhood (smart), they regularly completed with each other. If my dad bought me a game my mother was ready to buy me two. I was always greatful for everything I got and I tried to stop them on many occasion. I would tell them that doing stuff like that was completely unnecessary and they still did it anyway. It didn't stop until I became an adult after I really put my foot down. Crazy.
With Dark Chambers, the reason the monsters change is probably to save RAM, instead of having two variables per enemy to see what its health is and what type it is, just have one variable that says what its health is and then change its type according to its health. That's my best guess
Other than the sound chip, this should have had rough the same punch as the NES. Sort of disappointing that it didn’t really have the epic games that the NES had. Such potential!
I grew up with the Atari 2600, 7800, NES and the Sega Master System, mom was a gamer. I can't tell you which system was better, because I went back and forth between them all. The 7800 Had some of my favorite games. Now I'm starting to see why some people said that I was spoiled, most families only had one system at a time. Anyways time to play some Tower Toppler.
It seems that Atari should’ve used that special sound chip in more of their games. Maybe it was too difficult to use with greater frequency. Either way, it’s a real shame.
Such as Atari's…Pokey sound chip, right?
@@Nestalgba92023 correct. Sega did something similar with its Master System. They had specific games that utilized better sound and it was a significant improvement. I think it wound up being the same sound chip that was used on the Mega Drive/Genesis.
"fix your damn sound, Atari..." Oh boy, I don't think they will 😂
7800 was my first console, with that said the controller was never uncomfortable for me. It was leagues ahead of the 2600 controllers we had that WERE quite uncomfortable to use by comparison. We eventually got a Sega Genesis and the controller for that wasn't any better. There simply wasn't as much to hold onto compared to the 7800's so your hand were sort of crammed onto the controller. It was really with the N64 and PS1 that controllers beat the 7800 for comfort in my experience. They gave you something to really grip that wasn't so close to the buttons.
The melody from Kangaroo on 2600 is the definitive "video game sound as a punishment" for me
This is the Star Wars special edition of framerater videos
Bravo, sir.
The 7800 was the deathrattle of Atari.
I had the 7800 as a kid. Pole position was the game I played the most. Double Dragon was my favorite game on a NES and still is next to a Super Mario 3 of course but as far as the 7800 you're right it is not easy to play at all plus the NES version has the greatest opening title song of all time I think and first level song.
Fun fact: Karateka was made by the guy who made Prince of Persia. That was a huge leap in quality.
When I was going to college, I worked at a pawn shop that focused on video games, CDs, Blu-rays, and DVDs. One day a guy brought in an Atari 7200 with cables, a two boxes of games. I bought it from the guy and found out the games were the entire catalog. It works perfectly and is in mint condition, included a working light gun, and has some good moments, but it's been sitting in a bigger box at the bottom of a closet for years. There's just no compelling reason to play it when I have a 2600, Master System, and NES.
If you turn your shields back on when the Jaggie jumps on your ship, it fries him.
That scared the crap out of me in middle school the first time I saw it.
Crossbow is a great arcade conversion. And I agree. Asteroids has aged very well
I've been over this before with multiple others - the protagonist is the lead role, not necessarily always the hero, and the antagonist is whoever and whatever is the strongest opposition to the lead role, not necessarily always the villain. Sometimes, the protagonist of the show _is_ the villain and the antagonist the hero, like with Invader Zim. And sometimes, like with Tom and Jerry, they're _both_ villains.
Great video! Classic atari games bring me an extra large dose of nostalgia and memories from childhood! I like the format and the rating scale! Good job!
It'd be fun to have videos like this but specifically for homebrew games
The Sega Master System port of Choplifter is the best, containing ALL levels. The 7800 port only has the first level. It was also ported to the Famicom, but that version is so bad it didn't get released for the NES.
While I don't have all of the homebrew games for the 7800, I have several. Some titles support the Pokey chip used in the 5200. You used to have to supply them with a Pokey chip if you wanted Pokey sound. Now they offer the option of using their own chip called PokeyOne. Atari 7800 Homebrews that I have in my collection:
Armour Attack II
Asteroids Deluxe
Astro Blaster
b*nQ
Beef Drop VE
Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest (w/Pokey Sound Chip)
Crazy Brix
FailSafe
Frenzy (cartridge includes voice enhanced 7800 port of Berzerk)
Froggie
Jr. Pac-Man
K.C. Munchkin
Meteor Shower
Moon Cresta
Pit-Fighter
Plutos
Sirius
Space Invaders
Super Cobra
T:ME Salvo
Wasp!
Worm!
Great vid! Cant wait to see a PCE/TurboGrafx/CD/SuperGrafx video from you. The latter would be easy with like 7 games lol.
the timeline where this genius series never started intimidates me.
I'm glad you called Joust and Xevious "Excellent". Had 'em both
I still have a 5200 and a 7200, with about a total of 277 games. It all still works and everything is original, however I did have to recap the 5200. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them either. I still play quite a few of the games with my younger nieces and nephews, and it was the last thing my papa bought me before he passed away.
I have been looking forward to this. Mostly cause this was the first video I ever saw from you. Hopefully you don’t take that the wrong way. I decided to stick around after all.
Alien Brigade was just Atari's Operation Wolf. Huge similarities
#1: Karateka on the Apple II was one of the best games in 1986 to play at home.
#2: Anytime you see "Bros." It's short for "Brothers." It's why the period is there.
Why is it incorrect to say "bros"? Haven't you heard the phrase 'chillin with my bros'?
@@FrameRater notice that you didn't use a period? Nobody says etc. as "etca."
I never would've guessed the 7800 sold better than the 5200. I had a 5200 as well as a few friends, but I knew nobody who had a 7800.
Pretty decent gfx and lovely colours, I liked the 7800
Definitely a great improvement over the original video. Even as a big fan of the 7800, I would agree that it was too little, too late. The graphics chip was really good, but the sound was definitely lacking. I know that the TIA handled both the 2600's graphics and sound, which was why the 7800 was able to play 2600 games. But they're definitely could have been room for a POKEY as well. The system was supposed to come out in 1984, but was delayed due to the crash. And I believe both that and the NES came out nationwide in 1986. So, it couldn't stand a chance. I think that if the 5200 was never released and the 7800 came out in 1984 like intented, then it could have been a different story. The 7800 definitely had potential when it came to graphics, with the big selling point being that it had practically no sprite flicker. It also had more exclusives when compared to the 5200, which had almost none aside from Countermeasure. At the very least, homebrew devs have been doing a great job of breathing new life into the system. I own a physical copy of Rikki & Vikki and it is a fantastic puzzle game. Pac-Man Collection, Super Pac-Man, Froggie, and Beef Drop are also quite good, with promising ports of Arkanoid and Popeye on the horizon.
Also, one final note. Atari missed a big opportunity to make the 7800 controller both a joystick and a paddle.
As an owner of a 7800, a few of the things you said were a bit off. I also have a compatible lightgun and most of its games, so I can give more info on those if you want.
Cracked: It's actually a joystick game. You can also catch an egg midair by holding the button and drop in the nest. That's required to get far in the game, but it's also distracting as the enemies keep coming for the others. It's still an OK game at best, as that's basically the majority of the game and gets old fast.
Karateka: The right button toggles the fighting stance. The controls are explained in the manual, but actually blocking or landing a hit can be confusing. I could only ever get as far as the level with the bird. There seems to be a glitch that makes the bastard nearly impossible to hit, which makes it nearly impossible to win. It's an otherwise OK game. Just needs controls that work better with the controller. Well, it really needs a better controller, but that's another matter.
Sentinels: more or less accurate. It's merely an OK lightgun game, still better than Barnyard. The system had better gun games.
Overall, I agree. The 7800 had few decent titles and few exclusives that where worth bothering with. It was hobbled by bad sound and joysticks design, released years late and horribly marketed due to bad management , especially in it's later years when Atari dropped most of their retail presence.
I bought one recently and imported a European controller. It's definitely leagues above the terrible American controller, though the buttons feel a but stiff
What if I told you two directions were technically possible to input on an Atari 2600? One digital joystick and one analog joystick? And all on one controller? The controller would have been so expensive or using technology that didn't exist when it did, but it can technically take those inputs. In fact, you could technically do the analog joystick as an addon for a regular controller.
@@DoomRater Technically yes. but then you'd be left with 2600's single fire button. The 7800 controller also used the two analog pot inputs to distinguish the left and right buttons in 7800 games.
A single fire button would be all that's needed (or in the case of Karateka, not really?) for the game I'm thinking of. For other games, you'd probably want to extend all the joystick directions as buttons instead, which would result in an analog joystick controller and 5 buttons.
@@DoomRater Better joystick configurations were certainly possible. I would settle for a standard controller that was usable.
YOU forgot the WARP on DESERT FALCON 5:15... loved that game
I've found this channel relatively recently, keep up the good work these videos are amazing!
Great video, thanks... toying with the idea of buying a 7800 to add to my retro collection so this was a very informative and honest take on the system and games.
It has returned!!!! Thank you, this is even better
That Lucasfilm Games game scared the crap out of me as a kid.
Every time I think of this channel name and hear the intro, I just think of the game over from Daytona USA. Or Li'l Jon going "YAYUH"
My cousin had the 7800 as a follow-up to the 2600. We absolutely LOVED it.
If you went directly from 2600 to 7200 and then yes you would have. I knew one guy who had the 7800 while I had the 2600, and that was directly in 1987 just before we moved away and I never saw him again. That system had me fascinated at the time for how much of a step up it was from my own.
Still NES was already out at that point for a few years as was the master system and both had superior sound chips, controllers, and more support.
I didn't know that until 1990.
@@xenxander Yeah, me too. About a year & 1/2 later he upgraded to the SNES & we to the Sega Genesis... what an awesome time for gaming that was, though!
I like the new additions, Frame. I just wish that the games that you say have bad sound you’d let us hear them. I had to go to another video to see exactly what you were talking about with Jinks.
However now I can see why you may had spared us the pain.
To make this video perfect I would have to completely redo it, unfortunately I just don't have the passion for that. Covering the 7800 the first time was enough for me but I revisited this due to popular demand.
So I watched AVGN talk about the cover to scrapyard dog and the guy's nose, so seeing that his nose is so prominent in the actual game is hilarious to me.
Ah, a re-do. This should be neat!
my buddy was an Atari fan in our early teens, he also had a NES. I could never get into it, however food fight, boxing, and desert falcon the only titles i enjoyed. But I think the system could have had better games given time I mean Rikki and Vikki looks amazing in comparison to its original titles.
I actually opted for this as a Christmas present over the NES back in 87. Yea...i was an Atari fanboy at the time who was being stubborn. But as someone who had aspirations of being a pilot early on...i greatly enjoyed the systems variety of flight sims (having gotten my start on Space Shuttle back on the 2600).
I dont regret it. Had alot of fun with Food Fight, Joust, Dig Dug, and Xevious also. I would eventually come around to the NES in 89, but i still have my 7800 console and games.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane
@Framerater: “you surely don’t know anyone who owns one” Me: ::Raises 🖐 slowly:: since Christmas 1985 😂.
I had a 7800, well for a short time as my parents were one of those 1990s hangover couples who hated videogames; but knew a guy[aka uncle with old kit] on my insistence.
aka i had a CEX box full of gamea and console of dreamcast and gamecube shortly after.
Crossbow was an arcade port, and in the arcade, there was a physical mounted crossbow controller pointed at the screen.
11:41 Donkey Kong was a stand-in for Bluto because Nintendo lost the rights to use the Popeye IP in their games.
I've owned a 7800 since 1987. To this moment I had no idea it had a lightgun.
You should add in more game audio. It’s nice to hear the game music and found effects use, in addition to the visuals.
Karateka is one of those games that you need to learn the wonky controls, when you do it's rather good.
You have 2 stances you can alternate, running and fighting. Running equals a one hit death if you take a hit while in it, fighting does not.
I still give it a “Bad” grade (1). I begged my mom to get this for my birthday back in 1989. She was like “wouldn’t you rather have Joust?” And I was like, “No, mom, that game is too old”. Always listen to your mom.....
It is so satisfying killing that dang bird in the game. I had it on apple IIe and I loved that game.
On the C64 version at least, you had to learn how to factor in the lag between joystick input and screen action.
Had it for the Apple IIe, never played it on the 7800 but I was absolutely addicted to it on my computer. I love this game.
With Impossible Mission, you have to collect every single item. However, some of these items are hidden in unsearchable objects, and one of the items apparently just doesn’t exist in the game. Hence why the game is impossible. However, the pal version fixed the issue.
The reason enemies "demote" in Dark Chambers as they're shot is because that's how it worked in the Atari 8-bit computer game it's a port of, Dandy Dungeon (which directly inspired Gauntlet). The reason it worked that way in Dandy is because in Dandy, enemies had no internal data representation. Instead, they were literally their onscreen graphics characters in the background tilemap. To move them the game engine scanned the tile buffer for enemy graphics and moved them toward the player, like a simple cellular automaton. This scheme allowed populating the dungeons with any arbitrary number of enemies without using any more RAM, but each enemy had no internal state, like health. So instead the author faked it by having multiple enemy types that demoted when shot.
The later console ports of Dandy, now renamed to Dark Chambers, DID use sprites for enemies and could have given them health points and different behaviors, but they didn't do this for some reason. Maybe they didn't want to get sued for making an unauthorized Gauntlet knockoff, or maybe they wanted to limit the gameplay to what an Atari 2600 could handle so all three versions would play the same.
I loved food fight! I wish they’d put it on an anthology release
i got a 7800 as a gift and immediately returned it for an Nes
In a way the 7800's graphics were more versatile than the NES's, being bitmapped with a system like the ANTIC on the Atari 8-bits and 5200. A separate controller chip could use a different graphic mode, and set certain settings, for each row of the screen. The downside is that the resolution is only 160 across, in the most commonly used mode. It had other options but of course you sacrifice colour for resolution. All in it wasn't a great success, though like the NES also allowed the graphics to be stored in ROM and directly output to screen, so saving on RAM.
The NES was straight-up tile mapped graphics. Ultimately probably more advanced. But limited, you couldn't draw to bitmaps on it, couldn't do vector games. It's why every NES game has the same ultimate feel to it, a static background made of 8x8 tiles, with very limited animation, and sprites on top of that. Makes for quick graphics, but you're limited to exactly what it is.
I remember loving Choplifter and Pole Position 2 as a kid.
hey im glad to see more of this series
Don’t know if you did(after looking didn’t see your thumbnail on possible answers) ,but i am interested of getting a Colecovision. A games review(with expanding modules)maybe? I just love that console.
Basketbrawl was released for the Atari 7800 in 1990, then for the Atari Lynx in 1992. It is similar to the 1989 Midway arcade game Arch Rivals which had the tagline "A basket brawl!"
Given they were released within a year of each other I wonder if one ripped off the other or if it coregent programming.
26:53 Missing a "Chapter" for Scrapyard Dog...one of my favourite games on the Atari Lynx! Which isn't saying much.
"I will return!..........I'm back"
That needs to be a meme. Lol
the 7800 version of Ikari Warriors looks way better than the NES version, there are more colors in the 7800 version
It's so interesting to see how much more vibrant and broadly colorful the 7800 is, and yet it still has those comparatively chunky pixels compared to the NES.
I'm an older gamer, and this was the Era I grew up in. I never had a 7800, but had a Commodore 128 and my buddy had a 64. Between us we had almost all the games you showcased here. It was a fun blast of memories and nostalgia. To this day we have an inside joke involving us breaking out in "...another visitor...stay a while....stay forEVAAAH! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha..."
Excellent review of games! I'm aware that it's impossible to agree on the veredict of each game and opinions are always subjective buuuuuut Karateka was awesome! It's the first game of Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia), I was thrilled by its cinematics (clearly Jordan liked to be a film director). There is a book of how he made this awesome game: The making of Karateka. Of course, it had many issues, in Commodore 64 was sloooow (not in Atari 7800) and if you get hit when you were running, you were dead. Anyway, was one of those games that I remember fondly.
I picked up one of these with a bunch of games from Macro in the late 90s. Don't know where they found them, but they obviously wanted rid of them, cos they cost next to nothing. Ended up being a really fun little console. The built in version of Asteroids was great, and Food Fight is an underrated gem.
Dear lord, Rikki and Vikki looks impressive.
Chop lifter cracks me up when you land and 20 guys pile into the Helicopter.
i had one,obviously the black and white labels were cost cutting measure. i loved food fight and the fact that u didnt have to get rid of my old games then