Atari 800 Games (1979-1985)
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- čas přidán 12. 10. 2020
- Ever wondered what the world was like before Super Mario Bros and Zelda? Here are 25 games from this period...
CHAPTERS
00:00 Title
00:11 Star Raiders (1979)
02:18 Fort Apocalypse (1982)
04:19 Journey to the Planets (1982)
06:33 Miner 2049er (1982)
08:30 Wayout (1982)
10:07 Captain Beeble (1983)
11:45 Castle Hassle (1983)
14:01 Gateway to Apshai (1983)
15:59 Jet Boot Jack (1983)
17:40 Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory (1983)
18:58 Pharaoh's Curse (1983)
20:28 Spelunker (1983)
22:44 Boulder Dash (1984)
24:48 Bruce Lee (1984)
26:45 Ghost Chaser (1984)
28:40 Matterhorn (1984)
30:40 Maxwell Manor (1984)
32:37 Montezuma's Revenge (1984)
34:45 Run For It (1984)
37:00 Whistler's Brother (1984)
38:25 Zenji (1984)
40:15 Karateka (1985)
42:02 Starquake (1985)
43:34 The Goonies (1985)
45:48 Zorro (1985)
Q1) How can I play these games?
Download Altirra (Atari 8-bit Emulator)
Download Game Roms from Atarimania
Configure Altirra: Input → Port 1 → Arrow Keys = Joystick
Controls:
[ ↑ ][←][ ↓ ][→] Joystick
[Ctrl] Joystick Button
[F2] START
[F3] SELECT
[F4] OPTION
[F5] RESET
Q2) What settings did you use to record this?
System → Configure System → Video → Artifacting: None
View → Filter Mode → Point
View → Stretch Mode → Square Pixels (fixed multiples only)
Record Video:
- Format: ZMBV (AVI)
- Frame rate: 60 fps
- Encode duplicate frames as full frames: Yes
- Aspect Ratio: Pixel double
- Resampling: Nearest
- Frame scaling: No
Q3) Why 4K?
Altirra uses a resolution of 336x224 (3:2), but games of this time were displayed at 4:3 on CRT TVs. These CRTs would STRETCH the pixels to achieve this aspect ratio - something modern LED/LCD TVs cannot do...
But we CAN create the illusion of stretched pixels by stretching the resolution at fixed multiples... And so, after losslessly exporting my project at 336x224, I scaled the width by 8x and the height by 9x to create 4:3 footage (2688x2016) with equal-sized pixels (8x9).
The upscale took 2.5 hours (on my laptop), but the output filesize was very reasonable (~500MB).
Below is the ffmpeg command I used to upscale the video:
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -sws_flags neighbor -vf scale=2688x2016,setsar=1:1 -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 output.mp4
Q4) What other obsessive details went into this video?
Duration of Titles Cards = (Total Syllables / 4) (Rounded Up)
Font: Courier New → Best aliased font (for upscaling)
Q5) Why 1979 to 1985?
I wanted to get an idea of what gaming was like before Super Mario Bros (September 1985) and Zelda (February 1986). The Atari 8-bit computer line had a major production run between late 1979 and mid-1985. I also tried out hundreds of arcade games and a few dozen Atari 2600 games for comparison.
Q6) Where are the arcade-style Atari 800 games?
I wanted to focus on games with a clear sense of level progression (and an ending).
Q7) Where is Pitfall?
I didn't include Pitfall, Pitfall 2, and HERO because the Atari 2600 versions of these games are just as good. Considering that more Atari 2600s have been sold than GameCubes or original Xboxes, I think most would assciate these three games with the Atari 2600 rather than the Atari 800.
Q8) Where is Game X?
I tried out hundreds of games for this video. There is a good chance that I already played it, but let me know anyway.
Q9) What are some other interesting games from this period?
Alien Garden (1982) ~ First Art Game (debatable)
Murder on the Zinderneuf (1983) ~ Mystery Game
New York City: The Big Apple (1984) ~ Primitive GTA
Master of the Lamps (1985) ~ Trippy Magic Carpet Ride
Air Support (1984) ~ Action RTS
Hacker (1985) ~ Hacking Sim
Alley Cat (1983) ~ Arcade Fun
Q10) Any games you wish you had included?
Pondering About Max's (1989) ~ I might make a video on this one
Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz (1986) ~ Just missed the cut-off
Hard Hat Willy (1983) ~ Prototype
Crossfire (1981) ~ Arcade Fun
I thought as a little kid that Star Raiders was the ultimate immersive experience. The stars on the screen, the beeps, and just the sounds in general. I was transported into that universe. I can't even describe it. It shows how important expectation is.
Love to shut up pro C-64 fans when they say the 64 is better than the ATARI 800 . All I have to do is say two words : STAR RAIDERS .
I've loved Star Raiders since I was a kid, and it still stands out as an amazing game to play today. What still boggles my mind as a developer is how Doug Neubauer pulled this off in 1979 on this hardware.
I know graphics aren't everything, but Journey to the Planets seems impressive for 1970's hardware... Until you see it next to Star Raiders and Wayout on the same system and they are doing a fully 3D space shooter and an FPS. Absolutely bonkers amounts of skill went into getting the most of those little machines.
The most astonishing thing about Star Raiders: 8 kilobytes. The entire thing was created on 8,000 BYTES. It seems almost inconceivable that such feats were possible.
Bruce Lee, Montezuma's Revenge, Karateka, Boulder Dash are some of my favourites. I like and miss the sound of programs loading. I still have my 800 and 1050 but lost 300+ disks full of good stuff during a move. Good video!
I had an Atari 400 for a while back in the day ... Star Raiders was my absolute favourite game on the system, along with a fun selection of other games like Bruce Lee, Zaxxon and Shamus.
My first computer as a kid was a 600XL, followed later by a 130XE I bought with paper-route money. These are all my childhood favorites! Still playing most of them today.
I really appreciate that you show enough play time for each game (with competent playing) to get a real sense of game objective and mechanics. Well done!
I like Jet Boot Jack on Atari the most! Boulder Dash, Hero, Pole Position, Pop Eye and Submission are also my favorite games all times. Cheers!
Bruce Lee was excellent on this machine, the Atari's Pokey chip was mental 😉
Wayout is just downright eerie for an 8-bit'er in 1982. Made me get off the couch :)
To hear the music from journey to the planets...amazing! So many wonderful memories of a wonderful time ...
Still got my 800 from 1982, accessories, and games, in mint condition.
One of the reasons I liked these games, you always wanted get to the next screen. That's what brought you back.
Lots of good stuff here, but Star Raiders is THE killer app for the 8-bits... amazing stuff for 1979.
Hi I know it's been awhile since you posted this but I have to tell you that you've unlocked a ton of core memories for me as kid. My favorite game you had in there was Gateway to Apshai. That was the OG of RPG's lol. Thanks again!
Giving my 80's Flash Backs..I love Bolder Dash, and Bruce lee....l.
I don't know how you and I managed to have such similar taste in Atari 8-bit games, but your list there could have been taken from my game collection in the early 80s. Thus, quite a trip down memory lane for me. Also much, much thanks for the details regarding the emulator.
When I was little ghost chaser was my game! I would love to play that again