11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

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11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby VideoGameCritic » November 4th, 2006, 6:06 pm

Here's a few old-school titles for you Atari 8-bit fans.

Mario Bros. Lover

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby Mario Bros. Lover » November 4th, 2006, 9:35 pm

VGC, boy did you screw up!!!  I have played Mario Bros. on every system humanly imaginable, and let me tell you, the XEGS version is the best by far, and one of the finest arcade conversions I have ever seen of any game on any system.  So I was stuneed by the mer B+ grade... Then it hit me!  I looked at the screenshot... and you reviewed the wrong game!!!  I am almost certain you reviewed the original Atari 8-bit cartridge for the 400/800 (which I guess would work in an XEGS, and is roughly comparable to the 5200 version).  That wasn't it!  A fantastic XE only version was released years later, and it rocks!  (And yes, the enemies flip up in various directions, and the graphics and sound are better than the 5200...).  It's okay, we all make our mistakes


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11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby VideoGameCritic » November 5th, 2006, 9:31 pm

Thanks for the comments.  You may be right.  I'll investigate.  If there is another version, I'll track it down.

Mario Bros. Lover

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby Mario Bros. Lover » November 5th, 2006, 10:05 pm

Here's the many faces review talking about the XE version:

http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RTM24/RTM24.html#The_Many_Faces_of_Mario_Bros

 

Here's the 5200 review on atariprotos saying the XE version is different and was released later:

http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/software/mariobros/mariobros.htm

 

Here's the 8-bit review on atariprotos saying it was never released and again talking about the XE version...wait, what were you playing???

http://www.atariprotos.com/8bit/software/mariobros/mariobros.htm

 

And here is the best electronics web page where I ordered my rocking version of the XE game... but you better move quick, the price was high and the guy on the phone told me it was because it was getting scarcer...

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/


mario bros. lover

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby mario bros. lover » November 6th, 2006, 9:47 am

aha... and here's the page from best with the Mario Bros. product indicating 800XL / XE only

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/xe_game.htm


Kroozer

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby Kroozer » November 6th, 2006, 1:22 pm

I remember playing Hardball on my C-64 back in the day.  for 1986, those graphics blew me away and I liked how Accolade used the same gameplay menu system in other games (4th and Inches, Basketball title, etc).  If you pay close attention to the names of the players, you will find that they are the production team at Accolade.


Alienblue

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby Alienblue » November 7th, 2006, 6:47 am

I'll never understand how anyone can love BALLBLAZER. Sure it had Fractal Graphics and amzing 3-D and all, but strip it down to the essential GAMEPLAY- It's just 3-D PONG! Boooring!

I think the best Mario Bros. award from what I've seen goes to the 7800 version. 5200 had great graphics but they were DIFFERENT from the coin-op, TOO different (I don't get what you are talking about either, on MY 5200 Mario Bros. , the flipped "critters" DO flip in differrent directions if hit on the exact left or right- it is just trickier is all). Haven't played the XE though.

On MB...Anyone know why Nintendo put "SPINIES" on the first two stages of the MB included in SMB advance games, instead of TURTLES? It's not like to save memory, because there WAS no Spiny in SMB2, the first advance game! So, WHY!? Were turtles too big?

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11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby VideoGameCritic » November 10th, 2006, 3:39 pm

[QUOTE=Mario Bros. Lover]

VGC, boy did you screw up!!!  I have played Mario Bros. on every system humanly imaginable, and let me tell you, the XEGS version is the best by far, and one of the finest arcade conversions I have ever seen of any game on any system.  So I was stuneed by the mer B+ grade... Then it hit me!  I looked at the screenshot... and you reviewed the wrong game!!!  I am almost certain you reviewed the original Atari 8-bit cartridge for the 400/800 (which I guess would work in an XEGS, and is roughly comparable to the 5200 version).  That wasn't it!  A fantastic XE only version was released years later, and it rocks!  (And yes, the enemies flip up in various directions, and the graphics and sound are better than the 5200...).  It's okay, we all make our mistakes

[/QUOTE]

After a little investigation, I determined that I did indeed review the XL/XE version.  Sorry to rain on your parade.

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11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby VideoGameCritic » November 10th, 2006, 3:42 pm

[QUOTE=Alienblue]I'll never understand how anyone can love BALLBLAZER. Sure it had Fractal Graphics and amzing 3-D and all, but strip it down to the essential GAMEPLAY- It's just 3-D PONG! Boooring!

[/QUOTE]

It's not fair to compare Ballblazer to Pong - the two games aren't remotely alike.  If anything, it has more in common with hockey or soccer.  It also has a lot of style and strategy.

Mario Bros. Lover

11/4/2006: Atari XEGS: Ballblazer, Hardball, Mario Bros.

Postby Mario Bros. Lover » November 10th, 2006, 5:01 pm

If you did review the XL/XE version:

1) your screenshot is just plain wrong....

2) you are dead wrong about the creatures not bouncing up to the sides - just try hitting them from a position other than dead center...  I just did it....

3) your comment about the graphics and sound being inferior to the 5200 is way off IMHO...



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