Atari 800 Games (1979-1985)
· 13.10.2020 · 20:02:55 ··· ··· Tuesday ·· 2 (2)
Chromatic Motion Ever wondered what the world was like before Super Mario Bros and Zelda? Here are 25 games from this period...
CHAPTERS
00:00 Title
00:11 Star Raiders (1979)
02:18 Fort Apocalypse (1982)
04:19 Journey to the Planets (1982)
06:33 Miner 2049er (1982)
08:30 Wayout (1982)
10:07 Captain Beeble (1983)
11:45 Castle Hassle (1983)
14:01 Gateway to Apshai (1983)
15:59 Jet Boot Jack (1983)
17:40 Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory (1983)
18:58 Pharaoh's Curse (1983)
20:28 Spelunker (1983)
22:44 Boulder Dash (1984)
24:48 Bruce Lee (1984)
26:45 Ghost Chaser (1984)
28:40 Matterhorn (1984)
30:40 Maxwell Manor (1984)
32:37 Montezuma's Revenge (1984)
34:45 Run For It (1984)
37:00 Whistler's Brother (1984)
38:25 Zenji (1984)
40:15 Karateka (1985)
42:02 Starquake (1985)
43:34 The Goonies (1985)
45:48 Zorro (1985)
Q1) How can I play these games?
Download Altirra (Atari 8-bit Emulator)
Download Game Roms from Atarimania
Configure Altirra: Input → Port 1 → Arrow Keys = Joystick
Controls:
[ ↑ ][←][ ↓ ][→] Joystick
[Ctrl] Joystick Button
[F2] START
[F3] SELECT
[F4] OPTION
[F5] RESET
Q2) What settings did you use to record this?
System → Configure System → Video → Artifacting: None
View → Filter Mode → Point
View → Stretch Mode → Square Pixels (fixed multiples only)
Record Video:
- Format: ZMBV (AVI)
- Frame rate: 60 fps
- Encode duplicate frames as full frames: Yes
- Aspect Ratio: Pixel double
- Resampling: Nearest
- Frame scaling: No
Q3) Why 4K?
Altirra uses a resolution of 336x224 (3:2), but games of this time were displayed at 4:3 on CRT TVs. These CRTs would STRETCH the pixels to achieve this aspect ratio - something modern LED/LCD TVs cannot do...
But we CAN create the illusion of stretched pixels by stretching the resolution at fixed multiples... And so, after losslessly exporting my project at 336x224, I scaled the width by 8x and the height by 9x to create 4:3 footage (2688x2016) with equal-sized pixels (8x9).
The upscale took 2.5 hours (on my laptop), but the output filesize was very reasonable (~500MB).
Below is the ffmpeg command I used to upscale the video:
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -sws_flags neighbor -vf scale=2688x2016,setsar=1:1 -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 output.mp4
Q4) What other obsessive details went into this video?
Duration of Titles Cards = (Total Syllables / 4) (Rounded Up)
Font: Courier New → Best aliased font (for upscaling)
Q5) Why 1979 to 1985?
I wanted to get an idea of what gaming was like before Super Mario Bros (September 1985) and Zelda (February 1986). The Atari 8-bit computer line had a major production run between late 1979 and mid-1985. I also tried out hundreds of arcade games and a few dozen Atari 2600 games for comparison.
Q6) Where are the arcade-style Atari 800 games?
I wanted to focus on games with a clear sense of level progression (and an ending).
Q7) Where is Pitfall?
I didn't include Pitfall, Pitfall 2, and HERO because the Atari 2600 versions of these games are just as good. Considering that more Atari 2600s have been sold than GameCubes or original Xboxes, I think most would assciate these three games with the Atari 2600 rather than the Atari 800.
Q8) Where is Game X?
I tried out hundreds of games for this video. There is a good chance that I already played it, but let me know anyway.
Q9) What are some other interesting games from this period?
Alien Garden (1982) ~ First Art Game (debatable)
Murder on the Zinderneuf (1983) ~ Mystery Game
New York City: The Big Apple (1984) ~ Primitive GTA
Master of the Lamps (1985) ~ Trippy Magic Carpet Ride
Air Support (1984) ~ Action RTS
Hacker (1985) ~ Hacking Sim
Alley Cat (1983) ~ Arcade Fun
Q10) Any games you wish you had included?
Pondering About Max's (1989) ~ I might make a video on this one
Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz (1986) ~ Just missed the cut-off
Hard Hat Willy (1983) ~ Prototype
Crossfire (1981) ~ Arcade Fun
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