This week I played a lot of different stuff but mostly brick-breakers like Breakout and Arkanoid.
Retron 77 (Atari 2600):
Breakout/Super Breakout - I tried these with both the Retron's paddle controller and the original ones for 2600. I liked the tightness of the dial on the Retron's but it's smaller than the one on the original making it not feel quite as great. The originals, however, have a problem on the Retron in that the onscreen paddle jiggles a bit. I think that's the controller, but I'd have to test it on an original Atari to be sure. Either case is not great.
Bowling - An old favorite from the first years of Atari. It's so simple but satisfying.
Atari Plug 'n' Play Paddle Controller Games: This is one paddle controller loaded with about a dozen games made for the Atari paddles. I got it still sealed so this controller has never been used. It's dial is very tight and perfoms smoothly on screen. Break and Super Breakout play very well.
Space Invaders (GBC) on GBA SP: This is a colorful version of the old game with a selection of ships to choose from. It plays just like the original. My GBA SP, however, has a very dim screen, making this not very fun. I love the GBA SP though and looked up a tutorial on how to replace the screen. It requires some soldering though, so maybe not right now. I will break out my DS Lite for the GBC and GBA games next week.
Pong Next Level on Playstation One: This game is kind of interesting but the AI opponent is a little too good and frustrated me enough to stop. The first game mode is just Pong but with penguins that cross the play field. When you hit them more snowballs appear that you have to keep in play. If you get past this, new game types become playable. I had no patience for it though.
Xbox Stuff:
Atari 50: I got the new DLC packs and played through them all. One was about Atari's impact on culture and featured a handful of ports and homebrews. Berzerk and Berzerk with full voice synth homebrew were standouts. The other pack focused on Intellivision and their M-Network Atari games. Many are playable here as well as some unreleased and hard to find late release games. I enjoyed all the interviews immensely and revisiting all the games like Destroyer (a Sea Wolf type arcade game), but my favorite still was Neo Breakout, a set of breakout games arranged in increasingly complex versions - beat one and move on to the next. The controlls are very good.
Breakout Recharged: I was surprised to see how many games are in the Recharged series, ones like Black Widow, Missile Command and Asteroids. Breakout Recharged is really good. It comes with many powerups and challenge modes that breathes new life into this game.
Arkanoid Eternal Battle: This ports the original arcade machine, an online version and something called Neo that is not the same as the one on Atari 50. It's very good but hard. Arkanoid adds lots of new features to the Breakout formula like powerups and creative obsticles that will really challenge your ability to control the angle of your shot. This is always fun to revisit.
Arkan: The Dog Wanderer: I stumbled across this last year. It's a brick-breaker on its side. You control a dog that redirects a ball at a wall of blocks and enemies while hopping from platform to platform on a fixed screen. It's really good but I've gotten to the point where I can't get any further. The combination of enemies shooting at you and having to hop on platforms over an abyss makes the game difficult in the later levels.
Doughlings Arcade: This is a very colorful rendition of Breakout with powerups, different characters to play as, and funky music that will make you want to dance. It's very good. I've played it a lot but am stuck on a later level I can't quite get past.
Block Block: I found this on Capcom's Archive Collection 2. It's totally Arkanoid with a story. You complete boards to complete areas of an overworld map and advance the story, I guess. I cleared over half the overworld but still have no idea what the story is really about. The real interest is Breakout with powerups and some pinball inspired obsticles in the field like bumpers and tunnels. I'm really digging it.
Doughlings Invasion: Like Arcade but based on Space Invaders instead of Breakout. It's great and had boss fights that are no joke. I really enjoy it.
Galaxian: As a secondary aim, I thought I'd focus on fixed-screen shooters and this is one of the first. It's on Namco Museum Archives Vol 1.
Pinball: I ripped through every 1970s released table within Pinball Arcade which is Farsight Studios collection on Xbox. They did the Pinball Hall of Fame Collections of years back. This is a great collection from many pinball makers. I even have the Williams tables gotten before the license was sold to the makers of Pinball FX. These 70s tables are Electro Mechanical and Solid State tables which means they sound a bit different from the digital tables that have voice synthesized sounds and digital displays. Zacarria Pinball is another collection on Xbox. This is an Italian maker with many 70s tables. I have more to pick up here as well. They aren't as complex as the Williams/Gottlieb/Bally/Stern tables but they are good nonetheless. Finally there's Pinball FX which has the Williams license and their slew of unique digital tables. I generally want the simulated real-world tables for my 70s theme right now. The digital tables are really good though.
Finally I played the closest thing to Pachinko I could find, the Peggle series. Peggle, Peggle Nights and Peggle 2 (I'm still looking for Peggel Dual Shot). I made some good progress on completing challenges in Peggle 2 but I'm still stuck on an adventure level in original Peggle. Why hasn't there been a Peggle 3? It's such a great game in every way. It should be still going.
And that's a lot but not all I'm going to work through in the coming weeks. I even picked up a few more games today for other systems. How many systems can I play Breakout on? I'm going to see.
Oh yeah. I played a bit more Lego Star Wars; Skywalker Saga and a few hours of Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2 before the year ended this week. Space Marine seems to me to take some inspiration from the Souls games in that it is melee heavy. Yeah, you can shoot stuff, but most battle come down to one-ones with the bigger foes with your chainsaw. I enjoyed it but it will have to wait for the end of my 70s binge to return. Meanwhile, my friend as already beat the game. We may do some online co-op in it soon.
Oh that's finally it.
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