Previous thread: >>11852646
Rules of the thread are simple:
>You can only talk about games and systems made before the US release of the NES (1985). Everything before it from the CRT Amusement Device to stuff like Marble Madness and Kung Fu Master is cool here. Later and homebrew ports for Pre-NES games on Pre-NES systems are allowed (e.g. Jr. Pac-Man was released in arcades in 1983 but the 2600 port came out in 1986)
>That's it.
I'm currently holding a poll on 2600 games you'd recommend to newcomers. The results will be made into a little pastebin. If you'd like to contribute a vote or write in a game here's the link: https://strawpoll.com/XmZRQv2X3gd
What are your favorite obscure arcade titles from this era? Tube Panic and Cloak and Dagger are a couple of my favorites.

>>11869610 (OP)
Been getting into this thing lately. The Advanced D&D games were really fun, this machine really showed the kind of games home consoles were capable of before the NES. Any other recs for the world’s first 16-bit gaming system?

>>11871019
Read the manual and play Bomb Squad with the voice synthesis module. It's a unique game. Going in blind will leave you without any clue what to do or how to win.

Remember when platformers had more to do with climbing ladders than jumping? Peter Pepper remembers.

>>11871032
I remember AVGN briefly mentioning this one. Thanks anon.

>>11871089
Climbing ladders is more fun and challenging than jumping over platforms. It takes longer than jumping, so you need to be more careful and time your climbs to the perfect moment. The genre lost its way once pits entered the equation.

>>11871535
>The genre lost its way once pits entered the equation.
I had an initial reaction to disagree because I do like a lot of platformers outside the scope of this thread. However, I will admit that those games play like an entirely different genre, especially since they tend not to have as much vertical movement.

The design of early '80s platformers feel closer to Pac-Man than Super Mario Bros to me, probably because of arcade design in general. It's a shame that only a decade later, games made in that style like Donkey Kong '94 and BurgerTime Deluxe had already become rare outliers.

This game is awesome. It's a mix of Snake, Pac-Man, and Centipede. It also got an Arcadia 2001 port. Absolutely would recommend.

Wow arcade!

It's been mentioned briefly in previous threads but do you guys listen to music while playing Pre-NES games? I don't mind throwing on some 70s rock or funk while playing.

>>11877124
No, part of the charm to these games for me is the tranquility that comes from the bleeps and bloops while playing them alone late in my dark room.

There's something endearing about lo-res graphic mode on Apple II. Shame it was rarely used in favor of hi-res mode with less colors.

>>11877124
I was dying yesterday so I haven't rolled back to 2nd gen yet. Here's some Cassette Vision (Kikori no Yosaku) to bump with.

I was dying yesterday so I haven't rolled back to 2nd gen yet. Here's some Cassette Vision (Kikori no Yosaku) to bump with.

>>11880505
You can emulate cassette vision now?

>>11880510
For at least a year now if my file date is to be believed. PD777 is what I used and iirc it isn't very customizable.

Emulation is a bit different in that you essentially build an emulator for every ROM (you'll likely find packs with them all pre-built though). This does mirror the system well as it's one of those designs where the CPU is on the cartridge and the main unit is essentially a throughput.

>>11874608
Never even heard of it, will try.

I love video games

>>11880505
Now that is a graphics style I have never seen before. Nothing but rectangles and awkward parallelograms. How odd.

I find most NES ports or games that were on both the C64 and NES to be better on C64.

Bionic Commando (UK) is better, Bomb Jack is better, the RPGs are obviously loads better.

Pirates isn't as great because you have to load that from tape and I haven't found a floppy version.

>>11877124
I was listening to the radio when I was playing this shit in 1989 and I'm not going to stop even if radio content has gone down the fucking toilet.

Full ensemble of Atari Today™, but I can't really say I played anything good on Atari 8-bit.

Flying Ace was probably the best of the bunch, but it's a simple game that suffers from the tiny bullet range. You have a small amount of space though, so I kind of understand. Shoot the trucks (main target, lose a life if you don't kill enough before landing), avoid and/or shoot the enemy planes. It's fine, but all a bit cramped.

The next best was King of the Castle by General Masters Corporation, which is a simple functional maze game, but quite the drop-off in quality and then there's 8 more titles I played. Can't always get lucky, especially with low barrier of entry systems.

The other system was the very similar 5200, however it has a small library with generally "safer" games. large proto-release ratio too. Probably due to it being shitcanned unceremoniously.

Most of the released games I played were decent-good and well known. Dig Dug, Frogger II, Pitfall II, Pengo, Qix and Wizard of Wor. Not many lazy 2600 ports (Pitfall II is cheating), but nothing that would really get you excited for the 5200 itself.

>>11884203
The 5200 was 2 years too late and that controller was just the deathblow. Most unfortunate case of a good system kneecapped by shit management. I think an XEGS (call it the Atari Super Video System or something) that came out in 1980-1981 would've worked way better than the 5200.

Some more 1984 arcade games, though 2 of them were Lode Runner arcade ports (and 1 multi-game casino). There were some known good ones as well in Marble Madness and Mr. Do's Wild Ride. Is Mikie/Tooru-kun well known?

Pic is Mad Crusher/Crasher. The game is a simple isometric shooter with a jumping car by SNK. There's nothing much to it aside from some opposing vehicles getting different ways to strike back and the boostpad mechanic that functions as a temporary invincibility allowing you to bump. A game for the early 80s with a mid 80s coat of paint.

Not retro, but also definitely retro, but Atari is releasing a new DLC for Atari 50 which is focusing on Namco stuff. Definitely cool, but it kinda invalidates the steel book they did last year. Still, if it has some never before seen shit on it then I might get it. Otherwise there's no point for me.

>>11886242
Finally the best selling Atari 2600 gets an official re-release. Sad that the Ms. Pac-Man drama prevents Ms. and Jr. games from being included as well. People also wonder about Pole Position, but that might be held back by the usage of real racing tracks. We need Atari Pole Position commercial in HD.

>>11886247
>We need Atari Pole Position commercial in HD.
That alone would be worth getting the DLC for.