I have to agree with you "Vic User". People look at Cosmic Cruncher negatively because it is such a common cartridge. It is so damn common that I get sick of looking at the damn thing. It is so stinking common that everybody over time accumulates over 10 copies of this cheap cartridge. But........ if you just give the game a try, it's actually pretty fun. I forced myself to give it a try and now I kind of like it.
Barney wrote:I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. Spikes Peak is one of my favorate.
I love the Atari 2600 even though it is very hard, but the VIC 20 version is almost impossible! Maybe I just hate it by comparison.
And Cosmic Cruncher seems kind of rare to me. I would say the most common VIC cart, for me, is Avenger or Adventure Land. I've only found one Cosmic Cruncher in my years of searching thrift stores.
Jeff-20 wrote:Alien Sidestep is so bad it's funny. What an annoying experience! hahaha
Last weekend I actually tried out Alien Sidestep on Mega-Cart. I told a friend about that specific manner of the Aliens, he wouldn't believe it and so I just *had* to start it up.
Well, auto-fire works wonders here. You just need to adjust the frequency so you build up a "wall" of bullets to the right of the aliens, blocking them. Then just go a bit to the left, and ZAP!
This game, Galactic Warriors, deserves top billing in this thread... great splash screen, awesome features, but IMHO, it just never lived up to its hype. Maybe it's my joystick, just can't get off all the combo moves it 'claims' to allow.
Maybe I should have told you about the secret hot key combination earlier (keys '<-', '1', '2', 'S', and 'Z' with your left hand, keys 'INST DEL', 'CLR HOME', 'POUND', '=' and right 'SHIFT' with your right hand ... and 'N' with your nose tip).
Any game offered commercially that was written in BASIC is a non-starter for me. For all the reasons why most of us here would realise, the VIC 20 and other old 8 bit systems really only start humming with programs in machine language in order to squeeze out everything the computer has to offer in terms of speed, memory, sound, graphics and just general playability. BASIC is fine in itself for users to make their own applications and programs. I don't mind type-in programs from magazines being in BASIC since there is a learning element to it, but I would never think of asking people to give me their money in exchange for a single program that I whipped out in BASIC.
I am trying to think of an analogy. Imagine buying a book on Amazon. It looks like an interesting book when you read the reviews and so you order it. When it arrives, you expect to find a single bound copy of printed text, but instead you get a binder full of loose-leaf sheets with the story written by hand, complete with Typex over the mistakes. Even if it is written very neatly and you like the story, I am sure you would feel a bit ripped off, right?
That is exactly my feeling with programs of any kind in BASIC. I don't want to see any program in BASIC that the owner of the computer did not make himself for his own specific purposes.
There are only three kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can't.
pitcalco wrote:Any game offered commercially that was written in BASIC is a non-starter for me. For all the reasons why most of us here would realise, the VIC 20 and other old 8 bit systems really only start humming with programs in machine language in order to squeeze out everything the computer has to offer in terms of speed, memory, sound, graphics and just general playability. BASIC is fine in itself for users to make their own applications and programs. I don't mind type-in programs from magazines being in BASIC since there is a learning element to it, but I would never think of asking people to give me their money in exchange for a single program that I whipped out in BASIC.
I am trying to think of an analogy. Imagine buying a book on Amazon. It looks like an interesting book when you read the reviews and so you order it. When it arrives, you expect to find a single bound copy of printed text, but instead you get a binder full of loose-leaf sheets with the story written by hand, complete with Typex over the mistakes. Even if it is written very neatly and you like the story, I am sure you would feel a bit ripped off, right?
That is exactly my feeling with programs of any kind in BASIC. I don't want to see any program in BASIC that the owner of the computer did not make himself for his own specific purposes.
I agree... pretty much every Basic Game sold in stores was crap. I remember a company called "ALA Software" who cranked out games back in the early 80's. I bought many of them and they were all written in basic and totally unplayable. I felt as though I got ripped off.
I want to add another perspective on commercial BASIC games. I'll also use an analogy.
Golf is a simple sport almost anyone could play, but spectators still pay to watch a better golfer demonstrate his or her particular play style in a game.
For me, a Basic game is this sort of demonstration. Like the type in magazine, it is showing the aspiring programmer what can be done. Furthermore, it allows the user to stop the program and alter code to tweak it to desired play. Maybe observe or steal snippets of code for his or her own programming. Basically, it's a golf clinic. The commercial Basic game serves a very specific function that straddles the market of game player and aspiring game maker and even the game modder (gameshark proves the viability of that market).
Again, Spike's Peak gets my vote.
