I recently recently received an email from a guy named Mike Sanders who actually worked on the Atari 2600 version of He-Man: Masters of the Universe. Here's what he had to say:
Hi,
Found the review - some things never die. Glad that you liked the opening - so did I.
I worked on the opening, music, and the Wind Raider sequence. BTW - the 2600 version was done first - the Intellivision followed. "They" had so much more capability, and altered the 2600 game play to take advantage.
Music on the 2600 was a challenge - I'm happy with how that part came out.
Did anyone notice the homage to Chopper Command in the background of the Wind Raider sequence?
Mike Sanders
Naturally I replied and asked a few questions, including if the 2600 was more powerful, and also about Chopper Command.
Hi Dave,
No, the Intellivision had the power, but the 2600 programmers had more skill. Who invented a 10-bit data word, anyway?
The scrolling mountains were a direct lift from Chopper Command - I always liked them.
While at Mattel I built a music keyboard (modified from a PAIA synthesizer - also 6502 based) that attached to the joystick ports. It allowed us to "play" the 2600 and hear what the music might sound like before committing it to code. Usually there was only one key that sounded sort of in tune - the rest were awful.
I am now working on Airshow Moving Maps that passengers watch while flying on commercial and corporate aircraft - still a video game, but the pilot has the controller!
Mike
Pretty neat huh? If you guys want to send me some questions, maybe I'll compile a short list of questions (the best ones) to send him.
Dave