A tribute to unrealized potential
Written: Aug 22 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good graphics, good sound,
Cons: Not many carts available; Atari dropped the ball on promoting this fantastic machine
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| HawgWyld's Full Review: Atari 7800 |
This is my favorite machine that Atari ever made. Now, before you Atari 2600 fans start cursing me, let me point out that the very reason it is my favorite "classic" arcade game is that those 2600 carts work on it.
This, in my opinions, incorporates a lot of things that the ill-fated 5200 should have. The 5200, which was supposed to be the next step in Atari's development after the 2600, had those horrible, fragile joysticks that never worked well and was totally incompatible with the 2600. What Atari failed to take into consideration when designing the 5200, for some reason, was that a heck of a lot of people owned 2600's and loved them.
The 7800, alas, arrived too late. It features compatibility with the 2600 (right down to the controllers, folks) and snazzy graphics and sound. Unfortunately, the 7800 arrived after the Nintendo NES was setting the world on fire, so the 7800 wasn't able to capitalize on the popularity of the 2600 and few games were developed for it (there are around 75 titles that have been identified).
Now that I've rambled on a bit about the history of the 7800, let's take a look at the actual machine. Most of the games available for it were "arcade classics" such as Donkey Kong, Dig Dug and Galaga that had been around for a few years. You won't find many "platformers" for this system, such as Super Mario Brothers for the NES, but there are a couple here and there that are worth mentioning. Junk Yard Dog is a good example of a fine platform game for the 7800 -- it's nothing special these days, but serves fans well.
The arcade games are where this little system, though, shines. There is a super cool version of Asteroids available that features colorful, "spinning" asteroids, and fantastic versions of Donkey Kong, Jr., Pole Position II (which came packed with the system), Ms. Pac Man and other "classic" games. My favorite arcade game for this system is Galaga. The Atari 7800 has the best "home" version of Galaga I've seen, and it's complete with all the wacky explosions, "challenging" stages, and other nifty features offered by the game. For those who don't remember Galaga, it's pretty much a "shoot 'em up" in which the player controls a space ship with horizontal-only movement and blasts away with insects that fire puny guns and try to wipe out the player.
Sports game for this system are, well, kind of sad. The best one (and, arguably, the best game for the 7800) is Ballblazer. That game is rather like soccer, but each player controls a hydroplaning vehicle and moves a "ball" around the field with the goal of firing it through a goal. That's a simple concept, of course, but this game features a "three-dimensional" perspective in that each player "sees" the field through the "window" of the hyrdofoil. The scrolling graphics are darn cool, and the screen is split so that each player can "see" his portion of the field and what the opposition is doing. One or two players can take part in this mess, and it's a lot of fun. I, by the way, still delight in whipping my Wife at this.
The only objection I have about this machine has to do with the joysticks. The "pro-style" sticks are pretty good, but I've got those awful "Euro" controllers. Those are just a bad rip-off of the NES control pads, and they aren't comfortable at all. Luckily, most of the 7800 games only require one "fire" button, and that 2600 joystick fits in just fine.
As for 2600 compatibility, I haven't had a problem. I have over 100 2600 carts, and they all work fine. Well, almost. The only one that won't work is Activision's Starmaster cart, which needs the 2600 hardware to run correctly -- it utilizes the "color / bw" switch on the 2600 console to swap screens, and the 7800 doesn't have that switch.
For the technical specs, the 7800 uses a "custom built" 6502 eight-bit CPU that runs at 1.79 MHz. The screen resolution is either 160 x 200 or 320 x 240, 256 colors are available and the graphics speed is 7.16 MHz. These specs, by the way, I stole from a site located at members.aol.com/jpsoftco/7800.htm.
What is interesting is that the 6502 is the CPU used by the Apple //e, Atari family of computers and NES. It's a darn useful little chip, and the 7800 uses it well.
So, as I said, this system remains one of my favorite "classic" consoles. There are some great 7800-specific games available, and the ability to play 2600 carts on it is a great feature. It's just too bad that Atari was in such a mess at the time this was released that the full potential of this machine was never realized and there are few carts available for it. Oh, well.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
HawgWyld
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Ethan C. Nobles
Location: Benton, Ark.
Reviews written: 1433
Trusted by: 495 members
About Me:
The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient.
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