Games That Push the Limits of the Atari 8-Bit Family

#Pushingthelimits #Atari8bit
The 400, 800, 1200, XL, XE, no one ever seemed sure what to call these machines, the Atari 8-bit Family is the clumsy name for them all. Once again I'm going to be trawling through the retro effluent to dredge up a net full of games that pushed these machines to the limits.
Games featured:
Star Raiders
Wayout
Capture the Flag
Mercenary: Escape From Targ
Alternate Reality: The City
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
Space Harrier
Atariblast!
Demos Featured:
Numen by Taquart
Cyberpunk by Lamers

[@arcadeheroes_coinop]

Great video! I've wanted to play Atariblast, but need to get one of those fancy RAM upgrades. I'll have to be one of "those guys" though: Star Raiders was significant and one of my favorites, but just a note that it was essentially a computer version of Atari's Starship I (1977, arcade, kind of obscure). Granted, it was far more complex than Starship I, but SR was influenced by that. And since I'm being that guy, I'd recommend checking out: Dropzone, Attack of the Mutant Camels, Cavernia, Into The Eagles Nest, Trust, Stealth (this one was particularly impressive in '84, pulling off some effects like Space Harrier), Crime Buster, Encounter, Rescue on Fractalus and The Eidolon (surprised the last two weren't mentioned, but that's another video I guess!)

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks your pointing that out, I just looked up Starship 1 and yep, I can totally see what you mean. That game looks pretty good for 1977, maybe some sort of sprite scaling going on wow! I'm always glad to be corrected, thanks! And Stealth looks stunning, how did I miss that?

[@arcadeheroes_coinop]

@@Sharopolis Welcome - I'm an arcade nerd, so it comes with the territory, lol. I've only once came across a working SSI, but it was pretty cool to see scaling sprites almost 10 years before Space Harrier. On Stealth, I only discovered it a few years ago...I played Atari a ton as a kid, but never had heard of it. What a mind blowing game for '84 given the hardware. I should add that I hadn't heard of Escape From Targ until your video, will definitely check it out!

[@VJFranzK]

Also Star Raiders 2! Which looked good but didn't play so well, because it was supposed to be The Last Starfighter game. (And a 2015 revealed true unfinished Star Raiders 2!)

[@arcadeheroes_coinop]

@@VJFranzK Yeah, I tried to get into TLSF (and the SR2 proto of it), but definitely not the same vibe. Too bad that it was a series that Atari just couldn't figure out down the road. I still need to try the "true" SR2.

[@jvsnyc]

There was so way, way much more interesting and essential stuff going on in Star Raiders, as awesome as Starship One looked, there was no depth -- but the rest of what you wrote is spot on, and it did directly influence the StarShip game on the 2600, I will buy that.

[@verficationaccount]

I was completely blown away as a kid when I found out that in Mercenary you could drive cars and fly.. Those were the times when my games came without manuals mind you. And without boxes. And without a receipt. And without copy protection.

[@jvsnyc]

The game included a pretty necessary map as well as a lot of basic instructions. It was intentionally difficult to photocopy if I recall correctly, and as you would be marking up a lot of information you discovered during the game on it I vaguely remember literally tracing it to have extra copies...

[@whiskeysk]

my epiphany moment in Mercenary was when I found out the various shaped doors can be unlocked by the keys of the same shape. Was stuck at the locked doors for like 6 months. After the key discovery I finished the game in a few hours! I'm still amazed how we managed to find out how the games worked without any manuals etc, first on 8bit then on ST, pretty complex sims like F-16 Falcon or F-16 Combat Pilot, Silent Service. Young curious minds I guess :)

[@valley_robot]

Jolly Roger all the way mate

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

@@whiskeysk I recently loaded up a copy of Powermonger on my ST and I have no clue how to play it, no mouse over icon explanations, tiny pixelated icons... Back then I figured out how to play it in a day, by some kind of trial/error/reverse engineering, today I will have to find some manual. 😁

[@TheOriginalCoda]

@@whiskeysk I'm still trying to understand many Atari ST games today, that I couldn't figure out as a kid. Ranarama is next on my list.

[@seth8629]

M.U.L.E. was probably the most ground breaking game on the 8-bit line with a multitude of features that still stand out today. The complex strategic game allowed up to four human players, simultaneously required competition *and* cooperation, included surprisingly savvy computer opponents and a number of “real time” conditions that could dramatically alter gameplay. Still one of the best computer games I’ve played even decades later.

[@TheodoreWard]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooK2h4eQbbeljZY

[@hairnation68]

I remember the Christmas I got my Atari 400, wanted a computer and knew I wasn’t getting an Apple IIE. But I got the 400 the cassette storage with basketball and star raiders and was in heaven. One of the most incredible Christmas’s a child could have.

[@leonDleonD]

I'm missing Rescue on Fractalus and also the Eidolon on the list.

[@DarrenCoull]

Yep, these two were awesome games, always loved the Lucasfilm intro sound :-)

[@root42]

I second that. Those originated on the Atari 8bit line and I think looked best on them, compared to e.g. the C64.

[@glennshoemake4200]

Also don't forget Ballblazer another Lucasfilm game with great 3d capability and a catchy soundtrack

[@retropixelshow]

Koronis Rift as well.

[@daishi5571]

And they ran better than the easily comparable C64.

[@jond1965]

I bought my Atari 800 back in 1982. It still works. and I played star raiders all the time.

[@tomsuzyinfluencerinfj2712]

Star Raiders was the first 'killer app' game on a computer. Software which sells hardware.

[@Heaven-dy9lj]

I definitely think there could be a part 2 to this : ) Albert, Crownland, Yoomp, Stunt Racer, Rescue on Fractulas (any game from Lucasfilm) Drop Zone IK and Alley Cat!!!- What sounds, animation and effects!

[@dunebasher1971]

Great to see the 8-bit Ataris getting some love. It's easy to forget now just how powerful they were when they were released in 1979; they were still clearly superior to newer competing 8-bit machines even 7-8 years later. I'd quite seriously argue that the C64 was the only true 8-bit competitor to the Atari 8-bit range, and even the C64, despite the benefit of slightly more powerful graphics and sound hardware, often came off second best to the Ataris for the smoothness and speed of games that were available on both platforms.

[@johnrickard8512]

I would agree - the C64 was probably the first home computer that could properly compete with the Atari on even footing. The Atari had a better CPU, the C64 usually had more RAM, but the GPU and sound hardware were a toss up(Atari's GPU had a wider color palette and could deal with more on-screen sprites, C64's GPU was easier to program and could handle more sprites per scanline as well as more active colors for each object on screen)(POKEY had more available voices, SID had more waveforms, and both could modulate their output)

[@OneEyedJack1970]

I like how you could combine two of the voices from POKEY to get 16-bit sound. The Atari hardware was truly ahead of it's time.

[@Heaven-dy9lj]

That's a fair summary, as an Atari fan I concur : ).

[@akfreed6949]

Uh , the ATARI was more powerful than the C64 . I've seen the ATARI versions and C64 versions of the same titles of games and the ATARI kicked COMMODOREs butt every single time ! The C64 can't duplicate STAR RAIDERS .

[@bbtund81]

@@mortimore4030 Obviously, the C64 still sees the light of day. In fact there's a much higher resolution than the atari.

[@fourthhorseman4531]

The Atari 8 bits were really great machines. I miss those days.

[@TheRelaxingRide]

Great choices all round. I'd add all the Lucasfilm Games (Behind Jaggi Lines, Ballblaster, Koronis Rift, The Eidolon). Also have fond memories of Star Raiders II (The Last Starfighter)

[@roncorless2592]

Star Raiders will always be my number one personal favorite video game of all time becuase it involved you flying a starfighter into the farthest reaches of deep space across the entire galaxy taking out Zylon enemy starfighters looking exactly like the TIE fighters from Star Wars. I used to played it on my ATARI 600XL computer back in the good ol' 80s. GOD I MISS STAR RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!

[@lorensims4846]

My first computer was the Atari 800. I chose it over the Apple II because of its superior graphics. It really did give me my best introduction to computer science, writing machine language subroutines to call routines for the ANTIC display chip, and Display Lists for ANTIC chip that called 6502 routines to pull quick tricks with the screen. I always said I didn't have time for playing games and only bought them as graphics demos so I could figure out how they did what they did. It was Ted Nelson's review of it in Creative Computing that sold me. Atari was demoing the machine for a bunch of educators. They shoed States & Capitals and some of the language learning programs. Then they demonstrated Star Raiders. The educators didn't know what to make of it but Ted and his buddy were jumping up and down in their seats. "If you don't know what this kind of graphics means for education you completely miss the point!" I got a kick out of Chris Crawford on the Tomorrow Show demonstrating his game "Scram!" which is a nuclear reactor simulation that he was invited on to show exactly what happened at Three Mile Island.

[@skabde]

Ballblazer, fun game, incredibly smooth 3D graphics, even if it's just a checkerboard. But what a stunningly smooth checkerboard! 😆

[@MoparStephen]

Real-time anti-aliasing going on in that checkerboard too.

[@alanbourke4069]

Cleverly programmed checkerboard.

[@VJFranzK]

...with great music!

[@tornadotj2059]

I still play Ballblazer on my 7800 when I have someone wanting to play an 8 bit game.

[@sebastienromain6510]

I agree, incredible game for such a small computer

[@ClayCowgill]

A lot of the Synapse games pushed the hardware pretty hard- ‘Dimension X’ comes to mind (it was almost a graphics demo thinly disguised as a game). ‘Rainbow Walker’ was another pretty one and I saw someone earlier mention ‘Necromancer’. Fun video to watch- thanks!

[@DylanGladstoneMusic]

Thank you for putting this video up! I had most of the games on this list and your analysis was pretty spot on. As others have mentioned, the most technically impressive games to me were the Lucasfilm Games titles, Rescue on Fractals, Ballblazer, The Eidolon, and Kronis Rift. Ballblazer's gameplay really stands out. To me it's a lot more fun to play than its PlayStation sequel. When I was a teenager I was trying to save up enough money to buy an Apple IIe until a friend invited me over to see his new computer, an Atari 400. It looked like a toy with its membrane keyboard but after he showed me Star Raiders I put the money I was saving for the IIe towards an Atari system. I taught myself Assembly language on it, and a few years later ended up getting a job as a computer programmer. It was such a fantastic system.

[@marky26uk]

Star Raiders !!!!!!, way ahead of it's time, i still play this game on my original Atari 800XL and still enjoy it, big massive praises to all the people involved in making this game, and all crammed into 16k (if i'm not mistaken), games like this made the Atari 8-bit systems stand out a mile compared with other systems at the time in my opinion, thanks for sharing :)

[@oldguy9051]

ROM size: 8K All people involved = Doug Neubauer ;-)

[@heathwellsNZ]

I had star raiders on cartridge when it first came out... One of my all time favourite games. Ever. I must have spent several hundred hours over the years playing it!

[@antonnym214]

I saw Star Raiders when it first came out, and if I were old enough to have a job and my own money, I would have bought the system if only to play Star Raiders. The graphics were great, but it was the sound that pulled me in. I had never heard that whooshing sound from a computer! It's fair to say this was the first Wing Commander, and to me, in many ways, more enjoyable.

[@MattMcIrvin]

The sound of engaging hyperwarp, jumping to an enemy-occupied sector, and coming out with a RED ALERT blaring is one of those things that just takes me back decades.

[@DylanGladstoneMusic]

Star Raiders is the game that sold me on the system as well. I was old enough to have an after school job and was saving up for an Apple IIe until a friend stopped me and showed me Star Raiders. That night I decided to put the IIe money towards an Atari system.

[@mar_rod]

Thanks for mentioning "Alternate Reality (The Dungeon)" really was technically quite astonishing.

[@rudolfrieder186]

"Wayout" and "Capture the Flag" are indeed using some kind of raycasting, just without textures. Also the walls are mirrored to achieve a decent framerate. Flat-shaded polygons wouldn't be possible at this speed.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

Yup. The slightly bowed walls gave it away. Pretty impressive for a game that came out a DECADE before Wolfenstein 3D.

[@AdeBamforth]

One of the things I loved about Capture the Flag was how the music seamlessly became more urgent the closer you got to your opponent, then went back to normal if the evaded you again.

[@DylanGladstoneMusic]

I had Capture the Flag and the instant it appeared in the video memories of that music getting stuck in my head came flooding back. It wasn't a very interesting game, but the visuals and music were mesmerizing.

[@TonyJLangford]

When it comes to first-person 3D, I was always super impressed by Encounter. I show my kids all the 8-bit favourites from time to time and I'm always reminded that games from that era seem to be harder than today's games... or maybe I'm just not as good at gaming as I used to be!

[@whiskeysk]

Encounter is a greatly underrated game!

[@ulisesgomezd.3405]

You're right about many old games are harder than new games; Ms. PacMan and Jr. PacMan for the 8bit ATARI computers are harder than many actual games; many children and teenagers of current era are great and impressive gamers, but, most of them can't deal with difficulty and frustration not only in gamming, in everything about their lives; life for them has been so easy compared to our times, so, it has been harmful for many of them.

[@johnrickard8512]

I personally love how Atari built the graphics hardware on this model. They started with a GPU very similar to the one on the 2600...but then gave it a co-processor(ANTIC) to handle the line-by-line video frame alterations. The result was a video subsystem that was very difficult to beat until the 16-bit generations.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

As mentioned another historically, technological feat of Jay Miner, which several years later was followed with the Amiga chipset. I remember blowing an enemy up in Star Raiders and flying through the debris. This was truly jaw dropping from an 8kb cartridge.

[@garethmoores4168]

I remember being totally blown away by the 3d maze in capture the flag! Those were the days....

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

I'm pissed off you included "Alternate Reality: The City," because you took away my chance to leave a know-it-all comment saying "you forgot 'Alternate Reality: The City!'"

[@Sharopolis]

Ha Ha

[@epobirs]

@@Sharopolis Ah but have you seen the horizontal scrolling shooter by the same author, 'Tale of the Beta Lyrae'? It was amazing at the time.

[@markemoon2]

I know this feeling. It's like a best kept secret. I got ridiculously addicted to this as a kid and picking it up on an emulator a couple of years ago, it happened all over again. A superb game..

[@markemoon2]

@@epobirs I have. A great version of the Scramble genre with a wonderful soundtrack..

[@smackeye]

Good selection. As soon as I saw this I thought he better have Mercenary and the Alternate Reality series in there! I wrote a fanboy letter to the late Mercenary developer Paul Woakes back as a child in the mid 80's and he wrote me a lovely reply back... wish I still had it. AR was truly great, The City especially in my view. It was tough, but once you got into the sweet spot, and started doing ok and getting a bit of money and some of the rare drops, it became fun, especially as you start to kill the tougher monsters. These were definitely the highlights of my Atari gaming years, they really did push the machine to its limits. Other honourable mentions would have to go to Rescue On Fractalus, Elektraglide and Ultima IV. There are lots of others undoubtedly not springing to mind, but I think these are some of the key games that really pushed the machine to its limits.

[@Dr.Quarex]

I spent so much time playing Mercenary and basically never made any progress. But I definitely felt like it was something special in my collection of Atari games for sure; it felt like an amazing achievement just figuring out the thrust commands well enough to fly to the orbital station that I assumed was "out of bounds," considering it was nothing more than a dot in the sky at first. Oh, memories.

[@Alianger]

Those gradient backgrounds are definitely cool

[@Sharopolis]

They are!

[@ridiculous_gaming]

Star Raiders is still astounding and I am still waiting for the unreleased 1450XLD. As far as an amazing game for its time, can we say Seven Cities of Gold? The colors from the intro itself was above the competition.

[@MIKIEC71]

Space Harrier looks amazing! I never knew those 8 bit Ataris were so capable. Great vid!

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks!

[@MrKarlyboy]

Chris Butler did the C64 and he is a highly respectable games programmer doing many successful conversions but he has been very humbled by Chris Hutt who has made his look rather amateur. The speed on the Atari, the smoothness of the scaling and masking is pretty extraordinary. Without question the best version on the 8-bits and even beats the ST and Amiga version. The Nintendo NES is rubbish, the Atari 8-bit kicks its a**, and also the It's jaw dropping. The speed and smoothness. It's a touch blocky but you can forgive that, it feels more like the arcade than any other 8-bit / 16-bit release in general. Impressive

[@DylanGladstoneMusic]

That really blew me away also.

[@ulisesgomezd.3405]

You must to play Yoomp! Or His Dark Majesty, Rescue on Fractalus. The ATARI 8bit machines, not only are game consoles, they were designed to be real computers, you can write, print, save on disk or tape, to program, etc., and even an ATARI 8bit machine can communicate with nowdays computers; i know it because i'm a proud owner of one since i was a kid and many games i play, i downloaded them from the internet, using a serial DB9-SIO interface what i made using a diagram that you can find on internet, and a program called AspeQT, i can emulate a modem, a floppy disk, or an ATARI hard drive and i can load the games i want. There are other options you can buy, like a cartridge that is a Compact flash reader, and acts as a hard drive, the machine is surprisingly versatile; well, only in courier in my case but, i can prit to my shared printer on Windows.

[@PeBoVision]

Holy poop that 17 minutes flew by! Excellent content. The 800XL is the computer I bought when my beloved TI-99/4A was discontinued and software dried up overnight. Although I always pined for my TI (eventually buying another decades later), there was absolutely no denying the 8 bit Atari's graphics superiority over anything else out there and massive game software library. The basic interpreter was lightning fast - about a magnitude faster than what I was used to. This was one of the better highlight videos I've watched for the system (which was far more popular on this side of the pond) When I eventually moved on to the 16-bit Ataris one of the first games I bought was Alternate Reality. I figure it it looked as good as it did on the 8-bit computer, it was going to be gorgeous on the ST. I don't think I ever loaded it again after the first time. The 8 bit version had some wild copy protection. Disks appeared to copy just fine with no sector tools, but if you tried to play the game, everything looks to be working until you notice that none of the NPC's (who's assistance you need to progress) will interact with you. Merchants and taverns kick you out, calling you a thief. All you can do is wander the streets - forever because you can't die. I thought it was a brilliantly imaginative way to thumb a nose at pirates. My favourite Atari exclusive was 'Captain Beeble" a side scrolling action puzzler from Bob Connell & Canadian publisher InHome software. Enormous moving objects, smooth scrolling, tons of Shamus-esque critters and a stressful escape countdown once you achieve your objective. It may not have stretched any graphics limits, but it sure felt like it had at the time.

[@Sinn0100]

I don't...I don't have the words right now to describe.. words fail me. I started gaming in 1985 with a launch Nes and 1986 with the release of the Master System. I was a very casual player and far to young to truly get into gaming. It wasn't until 1989 with the release of the Genesis when I truly became a gamer. Throughout the early 1990's I was a Sega Genesis/Sega CD and Snes kid. Now, back to the old 8-bit machines for a second. I always thought the Nes and more so the Master System was cutting edge for their time?! These games would have blown my fragile little mind. They're absolutely stunning and make me wonder why for example the Genesis had to use software scaling when these 8-bit computers did it without any issues? I'm seeing hardware scaling on an 8-bit computer from 1979?! What?! They were making the types of games we play today!

[@micksmithson6724]

Paul Woakes Mercenary was not only brilliant to play, but the sense of humour was great, "Argon commander's brother in law", the drink p3p51 and loads of other little bit that made me laugh.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Incredible job! Bosconian, Time Pilot and the new Galaga conversion that has been in the works show a lot too, but you really picked the ones that show that hardware for the 1977 (developed) and 1979 released machines shining. Great work

[@Sharopolis]

Thank you!

[@tomsuzyinfluencerinfj2712]

Star Raiders= Killer-App. People bought 800s just by seeing the demo in game stores

[@PanchoMarconi]

Lots of 3d, there's also Eidolon, Rescue at Fractalus, Blacklamp, Draconus

[@c.g.vonhagenstein7576]

I came here to mention Eidolon and Rescue at Fractalus (my personal first videogame jump scare lol).

[@LandBeyond]

He missed some real advanced 3d games.

[@Zolaerla]

Draconus is just a 2D platformer with an awesome theme song.

[@renderizer01]

Thanks for this great video about my beloved old baby. I still have the 130 XE (had the 800, 600 XL with RAM extension and the 800 XL before) with the 1050 floppy drive, but the SIO cable has gone missing many moons ago. I used to write fast graphics routines (using OSS's Mac/65 assembler) and was actually quite proud of some of the things I managed to pull off but this later stuff is breathtaking. Those were great times.. Thanks for the reminder.

[@8-bitsteve500]

Great video, Star Raiders was a titan of a game, I still play it today. I'm a little surprised Rescue on Fractalus didn't get a mention, the Atari 800/XL version of that is the best.

[@0525ohhwell]

I still remember when I finally got to play Star Raiders. It was one of the first games when I could see myself playing it for more than 10-15 minutes. And yeah, I think it had the most depth of any game on the 2600.

[@anotherledfreak8649]

This brought back so many memories I've downloaded Xformer for my PC. I'm even considering getting an old 800XL form ebay (just don't tell the wife🤣🤣) Star raiders and its follow up Star Raider 2 brilliant games. Me and my brother spent hours playing Capture the Flag in 2 player mode. So many great games and so many great (or "wasted" according to my parents) hours spent on my old 8 bits (600XL then 800XL). Great video!

[@davidcady6315]

You may want to give a try to Aric Wilmunder's original Star Raiders II (which, in the end, went unreleased), as it resembles the original quite a lot and as such is much closer to it in its execution (though there are a few quirky things due to the game not being 100% finished) than the official "Last Starfighter re-done" ;-) Anyway, if interested, check out www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-star-raiders-ii_30426.html for more details (BTW I'm using Atari800Win ;-)) But principially I agree, those games (as well as the Atari 8-bit machines) were really great - I had the 800 XL myself and the memories of using it (as well as the times of my youth connected to that, naturally) are some of the sweetest I have.

[@jrherita]

No Fractalus? :) EDIT: This was a great video btw - thank you for putting this together!

[@patsfan4life]

Capture The Flag looks amazing considering the time....

[@Barnaclebeard]

I *loved* Wayout. I have never seen a single reference to it before. The wind effects were quite cool!

[@joet7136]

That rubiks cube demo is INSANE for an 8-bit computer!

[@OdeeOz]

I had most of those games. *_Still have my Atari 800 and the 520-ST too._* Wait! *_No Rescue on Fractalus?_* :O 8:35 Shame *Alternate Reality* never completed the series they planned. Would be a good project to reboot IMO

[@DylanGladstoneMusic]

I also had the 520 ST for a couple of years. I had a lot of fun with it Later I got into raytraced animation and ended up selling the ST to by an Amiga 500 so I could take advantage of the hold-and-modify mode's extended color capabilities. The Amiga picked up where the Atari left off since it was designed by some of the same people.

[@elbiggus]

I think the biggest thing missing from this list is The Eidolon (and the closely related Rescue on Fractalus and Koronis Rift) -- it's much closer to an FPS than Way Out, atmospheric, and actually pretty good fun on top of being technically impressive. Lucasfilm Games probably came closest to pushing the hardware in the early days; the first time I fired one of their games up and got that THX-style intro is a moment that will stay with me forever. (Also Ballblazer was pretty good.) Other honourable mentions from back in the day include Kennedy Approach (a visually unremarkable title that's actually pretty intense, and deserves attention for the speech synthesis used as an essential gameplay element), Dropzone (a Defender-like shooter from some guy called Archer Maclean -- no idea what happened to him, bit of a one hit wonder), and Encounter! (pretty slick and smooth 3D shooter by Paul Woakes of Mercenary fame). Notable modern releases worthy of mention include Yoomp! (a hypnotic Trailblazer-meets-rhythm-action thing) and Crownland (a respectable Mario-inspired platformer). There was also Project M (an actual Wolfenstein 3D clone) -- development was abandoned in 2010 while it was in very early stages (no enemies or anything), but even so it was an astonishing achievement.

[@Nemethon]

love it. started gaming and coding 1979 myself with Atari. Had Atari 800, Commodore VIC 20, Atari ST, Atari MegaSTE, Atari Falcon and then switched to intel PC. Good memories. ;)

[@smakfu1375]

The core 800 chipset is the immediate precursor to the Amiga, and featured many of the same architectural elements, including an independent display list coprocessor as part of the ANTIC. While I love the C=64, the Atari 8bit machines were so far ahead, they were never surpassed in the 8 bit realm.

[@priestfan81]

Alternate Reality looks as good as legends of valour 😅 This video is quite eye-opening for an Atari dismisser like me. Great stuff.

[@tharkthax3960]

Completely fair and brilliant video about atari 8 bit. Ive a huge collection and am proud of it. Always was under rated but as we all know it was completely capable of matching and more of other platforms. I love the speccy also, has a special quality i just love. The pokey chip is also highly capable. Programmed properly its astoundingly good. Really enjoyed your video.

[@Sharopolis]

Thank you!

[@rosse119]

I never get bored of these videos, seeing what the older computers/consoles can do is so fascinating! Can't wait for more

[@MrKarlyboy]

Necromancer by Bill Williams always impressed me, weird game but tons of sprites on the screen, Gremlins also where you have lots of gremlins in the room. Compare the C64 and Atari versions, almost identical but the Atari has so many more sprites (software sprites) which the C64 can do but the the C64 version seem to lack. I do think if they had provided a native software sprite stack (like the 7200 with more colours), faster loading data speeds, the Atari 130XE+ would have done very very well.

[@bjbell52]

I haven't seen Necromancer in decades. I do remember playing it. I disagree with your assessment that it use tons of sprites. I think of sprites on the Atari as player/missile graphics. What I think I'm seeing with Necromancer is bit mapped graphics using what Atari Basic calls Graphics 7. That was one of the great things about the Atari 8-bit line - they had bit mapped graphics, sprite graphics, and multi-colored redefinable character sets. I think the game Shamus used a multi-colored character for the various enemies. I don't know if the C64 had graphic modes like the Atari.

[@tappersreviews4677]

I think Atari 8bit computers were the best of their era, even better than C64. The colors alone were amazing.

[@TheWrightClanX5]

Keep 'em coming - love these 'push the limits of old systems' vids 🙂

[@Sharopolis]

Will do!

[@funkydmunky5100]

Loved, loved it! Liked and subbed :) Finally someone who knows Atari rather then pretending. Great job my bro!

[@MrRhoobarb1]

My first home computer was an 800XL with the tape deck and the 5 3/4" floppy. I remember you had to daisy chain them. I had Star Raider on cartridge which I loved. I had quite a few games on floppy, Mercenary being one of them. I was probably a bit young for Mercenary though, even with the large, foldout map it came with, I still didn't know what to do. So many great games on it. The best looking game IMO was Draconus. A really difficult, Lovecraftian metroid platformer type thing.

[@peterpayne2219]

This was my first computer, and I learned to program in BASIC and 6502 assembler. Such a fun system.

[@alexandervalle525]

At least a video which dedicates the real potential of atari 800xl. Good !!!!

[@brandonwallach2821]

I remember when I was a kid going into a store that was selling Atari computers and stood fixed on one showing Star Raiders and thought "I have gotta have this" and so managed to get my first computer.

[@Gaming-Enthusiast]

Loved my Atari computer back in the day . Still have it today

[@crooker2]

Ok. So you forgot LucasArts' Rescue on Fractalus. That was an amazingly immersive game on the Atari at the time. Similar was Lucasarts' The Eidelon. BallBreakers was also an amazing 2 player (split screen) goal-scoring game. But one of my favorites was the dungeon crawler Gateway to Apshai. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[@JohnDRobinsonelectronicdrums]

always a pleasure to watch your videos, sir!

[@Sharopolis]

Much appreciated!

[@JohnDRobinsonelectronicdrums]

@@Sharopolis you're welcome!

[@JB1912JB]

Thank-you for another enjoyable video. Please keep them coming.

[@Sharopolis]

More to come!

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

And when the Atari ST came out, they put out a new version of Star Raiders to attempt to have the same "killer app" effect. I was impressed by the graphics at the time, but only after playing it did I realize it wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

ST version was very disappointing. Rob Zybdel has described it as his homage, but also said he wanted to fix some flaws of the original 🤔 Sorry Rob, but you really screwed it uo

[@DanielMonteiroNit]

3:55 check out that fisheye distortion - it's a raycaster

[@zigaudrey]

I live when game pushed the console limit. Not only for the programmer skill but for what awesome story and game play they build.

[@samueljansen6372]

I'm really getting into these videos, keep it up

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks, will do!

[@tonibianchetti]

So many great games I haven’t never heard before. Many thanks

[@nekononiaow]

Great video. I do share your interrogations regarding the apparent lack of renown of those early Wolfenstein-like Wayout and Capture the Flag games, but maybe their gameplay (or lack thereof? I haven't played them) explains that players tend to remember other titles. With hindsight, it's clear that they were very close to inventing the FPS genre but stopped a few millimeters before achieving it. No doubt they would be much more famous if they had passed that threshold. But even then, had they tackled a reasonable RPG engine behind those visuals maybe that would have also given those games the depth that they needed to make a mark. Who knows?

[@edwardkim8972]

I always had a feeling that my Atari 800 was superior to the C64, despite being 2.5 years older. The Atari 8-bit family simply had more specialized chips than the C64. The drawback is that most games on the Atari had to work on just 48k, which is the stock memory that most Atari 8-bits had. The C64 was technically slightly inferior, but could use 64k of memory for all its games.

[@joet7136]

Playing Star Raiders I would always play the Star Wars theme in my head and imagine myself as Luke shooting TIE fighers from the Millenium Falcon's quad cannons.

[@roba1899]

Yar's Revenge was a terrific game!

[@harveykongtin3665]

Can't remember if I already posted this comment or not? That AtariBlast! does run fine on a Atari 400 16K computer with the Atarimax 8mbit flashcart. There's also an extended memory version for those who may have expanded their memory to 1088K. There is a wait for the entire game to load into the extended memory. A game that was released back in 1990 but now runs off a flashcart (instead of using 2 disk drives) is HawkQuest) and a version using 2 fire buttons. Note - Scramble can use two fire buttons. This game was never converted Back in the Day - and was done only a few years ago.

[@philoffhistree6700]

Interesting iv only just spotted this despite being subbed but over the last few days i have been buying up all the Atari machines and now i know what games to get to

[@ulisesgomezd.3405]

Even you can make your own SIO to serial interface, with it, a serial port or an usb to serial converter, and a program called AspeQT, you can connect an ATARI XL-XE to a computer that runs windows xp, vista 7, 8, even 10; for what? You can run some recently launched games up to 48KiB of size in xex, com, or other formats and run, because you can emulate a hard drive and a floppy drive; by the way, there are many games in floppy format and you can download the images; i recommend rescue on fractalus, his dark majesty, the akternate reality games were released in floppy disk, also international Karate. Dr. Mario is available in .xex file.

[@OneEyedJack1970]

I got Star Raiders simply because it was the only game they had at K-Mart for the 5200 when I got it for Christmas in '82. No regrets.

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

Thank you for the insight into a machine that I didn't own back in the day.

[@markhall7173]

I had most of those games, nice selection there. I think probably one game that really pushed the hardware and was just fantastic all around that you really should look at, is Rescue of Fractalus. It was quite divisive back in the day, the reviews were a bit meh, but most people who played it loved it. Another is International Karate with sampled sound effects; just quite astonishing for the day - on and music by Rob Hubbard, which was always a win.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Superb video, really enjoyed this, you got yourself a sub! Good choices too, although I would also mention Rainbow Walker, Elektra Glide, Tempest Xtreem, Stunt Car Racer, Crownland, Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus.

[@wadsplash]

Brilliant, as always. It's a great idea to include more recent homebrew efforts in your Push the Limits series. I rather enjoyed the Nike Air Jordan analogy as well.

[@Sharopolis]

Many thanks!

[@mrjotz]

I remember playing Star Raiders on the Atari 5200!

[@19822andy]

Holy crap! I always wrote off and ignored the Atari 8-bit line. I'm shocked at what they were capable of! I'm gonna have to download an emulator now

[@sunspot42]

Recommended titles to try out include: Alley Cat - hilarious animation of a cat and its exaggerated street environment Ballblazer - one of two graphically stunning games produced by Lucas, ported to several systems but the 800's version is by far the smoothest and where it originated. Rescue on Fractalus - innovative game where you rescue downed pilots in a warzone - the alien landscapes you fly over were fractally generated. Another Lucas Games title. Pastfinder - wonderful, surreal Zaxxon-like title from Activision. MULE - Another game that originated on the Atari 8-bits, an economic simulator that's half Monopoly and half insanity. Probably the greatest game made for the Atari 8-bits, apart from maybe Star Raiders. Joust - the 800's port of Joust was exceptional Defender - the best of the 8-bit Defender ports Other highlights would be the classic Electronic Arts titles Archon and Archon II, Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory, Boulder Dash, Montezuma's Revenge, Realm of Impossibility and the Atari ports of several arcade classics, including Donkey Kong, Millipede, Space Invaders, Missile Command and Asteroids. I'm also very fond of Return of Heracles, a graphically-simple but gameplay open RPG based on Greek mythology.

[@TheOriginalCoda]

@@sunspot42 Nice list, thanks.

[@stevenallan5822]

Well this takes me back, forgot about the XE series.

[@mrmurder75]

I loved my 800xl. Loading a game on the tape deck. I did have a cartridge too though. But only one, defender. Epic game.

[@Highretrogamelord]

I love the Atari 8-bit family. I had a lot of fun doing gameplay videos of that system.

[@Sharopolis]

Your channel is a treasure trove of obscure gems!

[@Highretrogamelord]

@@Sharopolis Thank you. :)

[@zaphod12346]

So there should be 2 versions of Mercenary - i remember the tape i had as a kid - one side was the 48k version and the other side was the 64k version which was only for XL (and later XE) systems - the 48k one from memory had a slightly lower draw distance and the items you found tended to look more squished up The other big memory i have from Mercenary was picking up the large block of cheese - taking it outside then entering it to fly around the map :-)

[@Sharopolis]

I did not know that thanks! I noticed there were two different versions when I was making the video, but I didn't realise the difference, I just made all the footage from the same version. I've no idea which one I ended up using. Just checked the manual, yep it says it right there!

[@davidcady6315]

Yes, I have an image of the "better" version, indeed, it runs more smoothly.

[@ninoinoz4437]

I had the follow-up data disk: Second City.

[@ditmarvanbelle1061]

I feel like Dropzone should be on this list. 't Was just a regular 2D arcade shooter but it was so smooth, so fast, so MUCH.

[@YellowPelicanYT]

Great video, thanks for turning me on to these games 👍

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks for watching!

[@GORF_EMPIRE]

Jay Miner power! A great machine practically left for dead by Atari.

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

I had Star Raiders as a kid for the 2600 it seemed about the same as here. The 2600 version came with the keypad and an overlay. It was cool.

[@DavidWonn]

I also have that with the keypad. Unfortunately I would also get Basic Programming, but without the 2 keypads, so I had to borrow the one from Star Raiders, and constantly plug and unplug it from the two controller ports if I wanted to "play" Basic Programming.

[@phil1898]

That takes me back. My first computer was an Atari 400, then got an 800XL then an ST. My favourite game was River Raid, played that for *ages*.

[@tacoman6697]

Why in heavens was this range allowed to crawl while the 2600 ran? I chalk it up to poor management on the part of Atari, and given modern hindsight regarding their track record, that seems incredibly likely. Oh, what could have been.

[@exidy-yt]

SO glad to see Alternate Reality given it's proper due as THE groundbreaking 3D CRPG it is. I only played the (inferior) C64 port of The City and the (superior) C64 port of The Dungeon but these were SO special first for their true raycasting 3D rendering engines but also the level of realism in the environments like hunger, temperature, fatigue, disease etc. to go along with what you would really need to do if you found yourself dumped into an RPG world: secure shelter, food, protection, income etc. before truely starting a career as a monster-killer/wizard/dungeon delver, etc. Great list and I agree 100% with it so far. If you really want a detailed short list of what to do to survive and thrive in AR just let me know, I'll be glad to help but here are some basics: #1 Ignore The City and go right to The Dungeon. Although there were supposed to be an interconnected 7 'environments' to the world of Xebec's Demise, it was far too ambitious a concept for the tech of the time and only the first 2 were completed, and the journey is 1 way only. You cannot easily get strong enough in The City to have much of an advantage over someone starting fresh in The Dungeon, believe me I know as my first Dungeon character WAS a strong City survivor complete with guild stat boosts, good armour and a !Magical! Longsword, afaik the best weapon in The City. I had even killed the fearsome Night Stalker, (a joke compared to The Devourer of the dungeon, a monster created to suck up your items if you had too many and threatened a stack overflow, but I digress.) and was as tough as nails, I thought. He died fighting his Doppelganger in the first "safe" area of The Dungeon. It's far better to start in the dungeon, buy some torches to use for both light and a starting weapon from the store near the start, get the stats boost from the Chaos Guild hidden door on the left of the passage to the Well lit area, though you cant join them and get spells yet until you are stronger and grow an evil alignment, then grow to at least level 2 beating monsters behind doors in the well lit area, the torch letting you hit the ghosts for fire damage, easy good XP, and heal by sleeping in the manger. pay 51 coppers no less for a warm spot by the fire for max healing. Food and drink at Der Rathskeller bar not far off. You may get good tips from others here. Anyway, let me know if you want more, its an insanely deep game.

[@gamedoutgamer]

Great job with the video thank you! Trying to think of some more examples... Seven Cities of Gold, Eidolon, Millipede, Star Raiders II, Defender, International Karate, Drol, etc...

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks!

[@stephen-dev]

Alternate Reality (The City) Game was released early through pressure from the software publisher and was never finished. To get into the game, you need to constantly backup your character disk, fight, and if you win you back up again. Eventually, you get ahead enough. Later on, the Dungeon came out and the character was transferable, and from there you could win the game.

[@Barnaclebeard]

9:43 -- Philip Price's engine allows for full rotation but he decided to snap to 90 degree angles for simplicity of control.

[@Lifetto]

The Amiga Grandfather . One of the best 8bit machine ever!

[@edwinconcepcion1135]

Awesome video!

[@ITGuyinaction]

Very interesting video! Although I've found some games that I would be brave to risk saying even better that the ones presented in your video. :P

[@pauldaniel6208]

Great video! Keep 'em coming!

[@Sharopolis]

Thanks, more on it's way!