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Post by VectorX on May 10, 2013 22:20:27 GMT -5
It occurred to me there are several homebrews that we either haven't had much, or even any discussion on. So perhaps it's time to fill in a few blanks with this one  The first several are from Vectopia: Wormhole--Gyruss clone without the cool music, nor bonus stages, but has two additional power-ups that the arcade game didn't, like the slowdown (and it has a pretty cool indicator to it too!). I thought the indestructible asteroid from the original being remade into a rockaroid was pretty clever, and this game moves really fast as well! Trakkers--Targ clone, which I never played (saw it once in an arcade and should have played it). I don't know what gave Dondzila the idea to do this game (especially since it wasn't vector) but it's a good thing he did, as there's nothing else like it on the Vectrex. The enemy vehicles turning away from your shots and the HKTs beaming down make this a decent strategy/multi-directional shooter. Vectropolis 500--sure it wasn't finished, but it's still fun! There aren't many racing games on the Vectrex, and this is THE only four player game on the system too (has anyone played with three or all four players?). VecSports Boxing--aside from the review on vectrex.nl, I've never heard anything about this game. Anyone care to say anything about it? Robots games--Lord and War of the Robots I haven't really heard much about either, although I wasn't regularly reading on the Vectrex news group when they came out. VecCaves/Spike's Spree--well, no one has this one, so that's why I haven't heard much about either game, right?  |
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Post by TrekMD on May 10, 2013 22:31:55 GMT -5
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Post by VectorX on May 10, 2013 22:41:27 GMT -5
The other ones I haven't played. They do sound interesting. Were these released as carts? Wormhole, Trakkers and Vectropolis 500 are all on the Vectopia cart. Lord and War of the Robots were released by FURY as the usual limited edition carts, although War is available as a free download and on the Vectrex Regeneration app. VecCaves/Spike's Spree had less than 100 copies made and is promised to eventually be available as a cart again at some point. I know some of them area available as free roms. Robots and the Vectopia stuff is, but not VecCaves/SS or Lord of the Robots yet. |
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Post by Mayhem on May 11, 2013 6:20:07 GMT -5
I like VeCaves. It's a simple concept, and one done before, but it works well on the Vectrex. Part of me is also glad I won the copy at CGE instead of relying on finding it afterwards, given they only had 20 copies for sale there.
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Post by TrekMD on May 11, 2013 8:39:19 GMT -5
I hope that some of these rare games see release again.
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Post by VectorX on May 11, 2013 9:04:59 GMT -5
So what do you think of Spike's Spree, and how it compares with the original (Fast Food) if you've played it? |
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Post by gliptitude on May 11, 2013 13:06:23 GMT -5
Robots and the Vectopia stuff is, but not VecCaves/SS or Lord of the Robots yet. Both robots games are free downloads on the Fury Unlimited site. ... Regarding games missing love, there is one I recently had a lot of fun with that maybe gets its fair share from others, but has never gotten much love from me - ROCKAROIDS, (the first one). ... It works out really well on the Starblast controller because of the unusual button configuration, (3 is fire and 4 is thrust). For me I'd rather use the big button for thrusting and fire with one of the small stiff buttons. Rockaroids is the only thrust/steer game that I've found that has that configuration, and it's a fun one. (gah since I only have it in ROM form though, I need to swap controllers to navigate the VecFlash menu - annoying) ... I tried Wormhole out again, as a result of this thread. It's nice looking and sounding but the controls really screw me up. I guess it is designed for a spinner controller? |
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Post by VectorX on May 11, 2013 13:26:20 GMT -5
^Or for the original analog controller. Because in the same vein, Gyruss doesn't work well in MAME either unless you have a joystick (I assume, since I've only used the keyboard with it).
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Post by Mayhem on May 11, 2013 13:36:21 GMT -5
So what do you think of Spike's Spree, and how it compares with the original (Fast Food) if you've played it? Yeah, it's not bad.. I wasn't a huge fan of Fast Food, truth be told, although it is better as a game than many other 2600 efforts. |
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Post by dgo on Jun 8, 2013 7:51:59 GMT -5
Might I add the excellent very original game 'Spike Circus' written by Alex Nicholson ? Not only is it extremely well designed, with a very good scaling of difficulty and challenging gameplay, the way it makes use of the analog controller alone is worth mentioning. You do need a good working orginal controller for it. I remember using a barely used one (to get the edge in the competition he introduced the game with  ). Absolutely worth trying if you've never played it. (Lolz just found a pic of myself auctioning a unique copy he sold @ eurocon (with all proceeds he donated to charity btw)) Great guy and a great programmer. He also made a very impressive implementation of the Logo programming language on the Vec. That sadly didn't get very much attention, (as it's not a game I presume). |
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Post by VectorX on Jun 8, 2013 8:09:50 GMT -5
Might I add the excellent very original game 'Spike Circus' written by Alex Nicholson ? Not only is it extremely well designed, with a very good scaling of difficulty and challenging gameplay, the way it makes use of the analog controller alone is worth mentioning. Thanks for adding that, I hadn't heard much about it. (Lolz just found a pic of myself auctioning a unique copy he sold @ eurocon You look like you could be related to Al from Atari Age He also made a very impressive implementation of the Logo programming language on the Vec. That sadly didn't get very much attention, (as it's not a game I presume). No, it's not. George (/FURY) wrote up a good review of it, which it was definitely not a game. |
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Post by dgo on Jun 8, 2013 8:25:57 GMT -5
yeah that's my uncle. No just kidding ;P
I meant; I presume it didn't get a lot of attention because it's not a game.. I remember Alex, understandably, because he truly put his heart in it, being pretty disappointed very few actually started programming in it..
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Post by TrekMD on Jun 8, 2013 10:05:43 GMT -5
I wish there was a second run of Spike Circus made. From what you describe, it is a fun game.
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Post by VectorX on Jun 8, 2013 10:09:48 GMT -5
I remember Alex, understandably, because he truly put his heart in it, being pretty disappointed very few actually started programming in it.. It wouldn't have that big an audience anyway. I don't suppose you know what happened with Alex? We've been wondering for a while here. |
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 8, 2013 18:14:25 GMT -5
Might I add the excellent very original game 'Spike Circus' written by Alex Nicholson ? Not only is it extremely well designed, with a very good scaling of difficulty and challenging gameplay, the way it makes use of the analog controller alone is worth mentioning. If Spike's Circus is "missing love", I said IF, it's because we do not have access to this game. The game has come up in numerous conversations in these forums, mostly by people who WISH that they could play the game, but can't because it is limited to the small number of people who bought it years ago. I'm one of the people who has never played Spike's Circus, and also one who really wants to see it. It looks like a sweet game. ... I wish there was some agreeable way to get it out there, either on cartridge or just the ROM. |
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