2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

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VideoGameCritic
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 28th, 2013, 6:45 pm

These are two re-reviews, but the grades are still the same.  The original reviews were extremely short, but these are quite detailed.  Comments?

Astrosmasher1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby Astrosmasher1 » August 28th, 2013, 7:17 pm

Two excellent games.  I think Mega force is better that Megamania and I give that a B.

Orion1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby Orion1 » August 28th, 2013, 8:11 pm

Mega-Mania is my favorite of the 2600 games.  I'm not sure why some people dislike it.  If you put the game beside Space Invaders and compare, Mega-mania bests it in every technical category. I would argue it beats it in the gameplay category as well.

As for the weird enemies, that's because the game takes place in someone's dream.  That's also why the ship resembles the Enterprise.  As for the "novelty wearing off" when the enemies start looping, I don't find that it does.  Many of the enemies move in an entirely different way the second and the third time though.  Have you gotten to the third set of cookies?  It's like raining death!

Getting back to Space Invaders, the enemies move, and look, the exact same way every wave, except for a little bit more speed and they start closer to the ground.  In Mega-Mania you basically get 24 straight stages of differing enemies and enemy patterns.

As for the solid-colored objects not being detailed, you may have forgotten you were playing an Atari 2600 on that one. [smile]  Look at the Berserk robots or the objects in Adventure.  A little more detail would be great, but as for the overall graphic, Mega-Mania is still pretty detailed for a 2600 game.

One other thing I've sensed is that there's an "art" to playing Mega-Mania.  It has to do with the guided missiles.  Once you've perfected the game, you can take out an entire wave of enemies without a single bullet missing an enemy.  Anyway, I just enjoy the game.

I have also played a lot of Mega Force and I think the review and grade were pretty spot on for that one.

 

DanZero1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby DanZero1 » August 28th, 2013, 8:43 pm

Megamania is still a favorite on the Activision Anthology collections I have. I like the various patterns of the enemies as well as how accurate you have to be on the smaller ones. The extra lives come in handy very much. If you just suspend your disbelief, it's pretty fun.

Rev1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby Rev1 » August 29th, 2013, 2:19 am

that's racist...

Best line ever. Anyway, I liked the reviews a lot. It's always nice to see some new 2600 reviews since it seems like you have covered them all.

LuckyMan1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby LuckyMan1 » August 29th, 2013, 1:04 pm

Nice reviews! The added humor in the Megamania review makes for a very enjoyable read.

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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 29th, 2013, 4:53 pm

Here's a YouTube video of the MegaMania commercial.  

snakeboy1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby snakeboy1 » August 29th, 2013, 7:24 pm

[QUOTE=videogamecritic]Here's a YouTube video of the MegaMania commercial.  [/QUOTE]

Man, they just don't make 'em like that anymore. Pretty radical.

Rev1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby Rev1 » August 30th, 2013, 2:07 am

[QUOTE=videogamecritic]Here's a YouTube video of the MegaMania commercial.  [/QUOTE]

Awesome. It's so cool to see the old commercials. The thing I find the best about old commercials is how you can pretty much place the decade that the commercials were from based on the style of the commercial. I really don't know how to described it.

Teddybear1
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2013/8/28: Atari 2600: Mega Force, Megamania

Postby Teddybear1 » August 30th, 2013, 9:51 am

This whole thread is great (the YouTube link was a riot!)  The hype far exceeded the game itself.  I have been trying to find the print ad that appeared in Electronic Games magazine back then with no luck.  I recall it was a picture of some dude in sunglasses with his hair all messed up and joystick in hand - demonstrating that Megamania will just blow you away.  Megamania is a solid C in my book and sometimes there ain't no shame in being average.  A great rewrite of the review VGC.


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