Defender & Chopper Command: Atari Archive Episode 70

[@Phediuk]

Excellent work once again. You always go above and beyond in digging up old sources.

[@exidy-yt]

Our local computer and gaming store Minitronics had a Defender and Atlantis competition one day: I rolled defender's waves around back to 1 (and won) and my best friend schooled the competition at Atlantis, a much harder game. Such good memories of being a kid in the early 80s. Wouldn't trade em for anything. Great video, thanks for bringing the nostalgia!

[@jpbishi]

Great video! Defender easily one of my most played games as a kid. I think the scrolling aspect helped the longevity opposed to so many single screen games I owned. It really broadened what games could be for me as a small child.

[@ps3inquisition441]

I love Chopper Command, still play it from time to time.

[@briancross7835]

When I was a kid (sometime around 1984 or 1985), I used a dual-cassette deck to create a loop of the Airwolf theme music. I'd listen to it while I played Chopper Command for hours.

[@nickwerner7983]

Now you can loop the Airwolf theme music on KZbin. I wish I thought of that.

[@chadtufts6320]

Love this channel!!! I loved these games, and you are good at telling their stories!

[@Hologhoul]

Brilliant, as usual! Love the footage, that ad with the silly guy bobbing up and down with his girl behind him! Amazing, classic arcade game and indeed a very impressive VCS port, all things considered, I played it for hours and hours. I recall C64 also had a very good copy called Guardian which I loved. Resogun is a great game. All in all, an absolute classic.

[@PatrickMcNealPuppets-n-Things]

I won my Atari 2600 in a drawing at a local department store, and it came bundled with Defender. I loved this game! I even managed to turn it over several times (score above 999,999 points and resetting the score to zero). Sure, there were a lot of compromises made, but the game stands well on its own merit.

[@knightrdrx]

I like being able to pause and read the articles or old pages from magazines you display

[@syntaxerror9994]

I recall seeing a 3rd Defender arcade game. I didn't play it but it involved a section of flying through a tunnel.

[@vidarlystadjohansen9829]

such a great and thorough channel

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

As a kid, I played both of these, but I think I played Defender more.

[@MattMcIrvin]

I had the 8-bit computer version, which was *far* more faithful to the arcade game, though it's still easier, in part because it uses the Atari joystick instead of having thrust and reverse buttons (there were different difficulty levels). The space bar was the smart bomb, and, yes, I was one of the many who broke their Atari 800's space bar playing Defender.

[@2dskillz]

For me, it is the Atari 2600 version of Defender that I always think of, played it a lot as a kid.

[@TheHylianBatman]

Your series really makes it clear why Activision succeeded. It's really, really cool to see the games inspired by each other side-by-side. EDIT: THE NEXT GAME IS STAR WARS!!!! I'm so excited for that one!

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

A look at an excellent duo. I have to admit, I've spent more time with Chopper Command, but I think it's down to it appearing on the Activision Anthologies over the years. I really should hunt a cart of both of these down sometime - I wasn't aware of how Defender reworked things for the joystick, and I think it's a smart move of engineering from Polero. I guess that's what the best ports were known for on the 2600 after all.

[@diebesgrab]

Oh, goodness, Chopper Command! The first Activision game I got a score high enough in to earn the patch. Uh, this was in 2019, so I didn’t bother sending in for it. Or maybe I should have?

[@KrvaviAbadas]

21:18 i'm surprised you didn't bring up that Archer Maclean (RIP) actually developed a port of Defender for the Atari 400, and even tried to pitch the title directly. but got rejected due to Steve Baker's port already being in active development at the time. his development disks (which contained various builds of the port) were acquired by preservation site "Games That Weren't", who have been actively dumping everything over the past few months.

[@AtariArchive]

By the time I found out about the Maclean version the video was so far along that I would’ve needed to re-edit half of it to add it in, and I just didn’t have it in me! I’ll give it it’s due whenever I get around to my text version of this story.

[@-Evil-Genius-]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *🕹️ Overview of Defender Arcade Game Development* - Overview of the development history of the arcade game Defender by Williams, - Eugene Jarvis's pivotal role in the creation of Defender, - Description of the game's unique features and gameplay mechanics. 03:06 *🎮 Development Challenges and Innovations in Defender Arcade Game* - Challenges faced during the development process of Defender arcade game, - Innovations introduced in the game, such as the hardware platform capable of displaying 16 colors and the gameplay mechanics, - Collaboration between the development team members to overcome obstacles and complete the game. 06:21 *🕹️ Development of Defender for the Atari VCS* - Bob Poo's involvement in developing the home version of Defender for the Atari VCS, - Challenges in adapting the complex arcade game controls to the limited capabilities of the Atari VCS joystick, - Differences between the arcade and home versions of Defender. 10:03 *🎮 Gameplay Mechanics and Features of Defender for the Atari VCS* - Description of gameplay mechanics and features in the Atari VCS version of Defender, - Differences in difficulty levels and game modes, - Reception and feedback on the gameplay experience of Defender for the Atari VCS. 13:04 *📚 Background and Reception of Defender Arcade Game* - Background information provided in the manual of the Defender arcade game, - Inclusion of Atari Force comic book with the game and its significance, - Critical reception and praise for Defender arcade game upon its release. 16:07 *💰 Commercial Success and Legacy of Defender* - Commercial success of Defender arcade game in terms of sales and market share, - Continued interest and high score competitions associated with Defender, - Expansion of Defender to various gaming platforms and its enduring legacy. 18:15 *🎮 Atari Defender Ports and Revisions* - Atari's Defender ported to various home consoles and computers, retaining the visual design and gameplay mechanics. - Home computer versions varied in fidelity but generally remained faithful to the arcade game. - Atari revisited Defender on their own consoles multiple times, with varying degrees of success, including a notable attempt by Jeff Minter for the Atari Jaguar. 22:03 *🚁 Chopper Command Overview* - Chopper Command, developed by Activision, is a Defender-inspired game with thematic changes replacing aliens with jets and helicopters. - The game features a straightforward gameplay mechanic of defending a convoy of trucks from enemy attacks. - Despite similarities to Defender, Chopper Command offers a unique gameplay experience with its own challenges and strategies. 24:19 *🎮 Chopper Command Reception and Legacy* - Chopper Command received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for graphics and gameplay but criticism for lack of originality compared to Defender. - Sales figures for Chopper Command are not widely available, but it was considered one of Activision's stronger selling games of the time. - While Defender-style games have appeared periodically, the Defender franchise itself has remained dormant for over two decades, with little activity since the early 2000s. Made with HARPA AI

[@sheets75]

The Atari Force comics were entertaining, although I got the sense the creators had trouble wrapping their heads around this newfangled vidya game stuff. Nice art and fun space opera storytelling, though.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I allowed myself to lose these comics, as they didn't seem good enough to keep in my comic book collection (and they were too small).

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

Empire Strikes back and Snoopy and the Red Baron are 2 other games similar to these games. I still have my Atari hooked up next to my Sega Genesis.

[@absolutezeronow7928]

Defender II for NES was a game that I had growing up. Both games in this episode are interesting takes on Defender, I bet Bob Whitehead liked the compliment from Eugene Jarvis. I'm not surprised Warner Brothers Discovery has done nothing with the Midway catalog, there's nothing to write off for taxes. Anyway, looking forward to the Star Wars game next time.

[@PaulSoth]

That Defender II / Stargate port, along with Millipeed and Joust, were developed in 1983 by HAL as part of the failed Atati-Nintendo deal to distribute the Famicom in the US. Also, some of the sounds and music later made their way into Punch-Out!!

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

NES does a good job with the older 80's classics like Joust, Donkey Kong, ect. Most people overlooked them with all the newer franchises coming out like Mega-Man or Ninja Gaiden.

[@absolutezeronow7928]

@@pinebarrenpatriot8289 the NES was designed to play Donkey Kong so yeah, it would play that and other early 1980s classics like Galaga, Xevious, Pac-Man well. The Famicom port of Dig Dug is also pretty good.

[@allenhuffman]

I always thought that the Jaguar pack in game was basically Defender in 3-D.

[@danielespeziari5545]

Excellent video as usual. It seems that nowadays the 2600 Defender isn't as highly regarded as it once was. Stargate (Defender II) is technically impressive, but having to use two joysticks is a pain

[@sandal_thong8631]

I don't know. I haven't got it, so don't know whether tapping it might not be that difficult to achieve hyperspace, smart bomb, and the third thing.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

​@sandal_thong8631 It is not just the button. The button does the Smart Bombs, up does hyperspace, and down is Inviso.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@jeremiahthomas8140 Right. Some say they can use a modern controller on the Atari, so buttons on that could replace up, down and fire in the second controller.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Atari's Defender may be one of those games that if you can figure it out, you can keep playing almost indefinitely as it might not get much harder. Is that others' experience? I have yet to get Star Gate for Atari, and was interested to learn they use the second joystick for hyperspace, smart bomb, and something else. Perhaps that presents a better alternative than going off the top or bottom screen to use the function? I got the arcade version of Defender on the Playstation, but don't think I did as well.

[@MegaDeth859]

My dream has always been to NOT suck at Defender. 😔

[@EngineHeadCW]

Atari Defender's dealbreaker for me was that your laser would be interrupted by itself. Meaning, you only have the illusion of a fast firing speed, forcing you to wait til your laser traveled to the outer side of the screen before firing another, else it would disappear. I dislike this game only for that reason.

[@JIrish780]

PREACH, MY BROTHER IN JOYSTICKS!!! Warner is so allegedly cash strapped, yet they're just letting these games collect dust? Makes me a sad trash panda.

[@alexxbaudwhyn7572]

Stargate for 2600 was vastly improved over Defe, which was so badly coded I never played it when released in high school

[@datacipher]

lol. Such a terrible defender player. First timer!