Ranking 78 Atari 7800 Homebrew Games from Worst to Best!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Hey guys, so I know it says ALL homebrew ranked, but it's just a snappier title than "All the Homebrew I Could Find and Play Ranked". Anyway I'll have more videos going over all the sprite hacks (I know I covered a few here), all the unreleased stuff and more. They might not be ranking videos but I'll essentially cover as many as I can in those just like I did here! I literally stayed up all night trying to finish this video and watching it back I still didn't get the timing of the lower third cards right. These long videos are a killer to my laptop. It's definitely not intended for editing, so fine tuning long videos is nearly impossible. It just runs too slow and laggy. But I promise I'll get a better editing rig as soon as I can afford it to make better content for you all! Next Thursday we'll be doing a brief 10 minute overview on the original Atari Flashback aka the 7800 mini! And before that on Monday I'll have another review for y'all. So subscribe and stay tuned!

[@ngiants2230]

Ahhh...😞 so not "ALL" after "ALL" ?? Lol...okay, your kingdom forgives you...haha...We love your vids just the same and yes...we understand that it is kind of hard to find EVERY single homebrew considering the number of games is always changing as homebrews are always in progress..No worries my friend. Have a great day!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@ngiants2230 I would've loved to cover all of them but yeah, it's hard to find them all too. But there is a pretty big list on the Atariage forums. I'm going to do a video with a bunch of games that are being worked on as we speak too. A sort of most anticipated homebrew video. Thanks for watching!

[@daydreamingdad]

Well, you did say to let you know if you missed any. 🙂Did my comment mentioning my own completed homebrew get deleted? Great list, though!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@daydreamingdad It shouldn't of. If it did get deleted it was accidental. But absolutely let us know what it is and how we can play it! I'd love to hear about it!

[@yougotthismyfriend3441]

😊

[@jh5124]

FANTASTIC VIDEO. I didn't even know about half of those. Thanks!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

There's a lot more out there that didn't fit the criteria for this video, but they'll all get featured eventually. I appreciate the support!

[@KrunchyTheClown78]

A great much needed video, gives people not familiar with the 7800 a good idea of what it offers! Good work!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Thank you, I hope people find it useful. There will definitely be more videos to include games I might've missed, projects that are being worked on, and one for projects that appear to be abandoned. Thanks for watching!

[@kNeczpal]

Fun video tbh I didn’t even know some of these existed, I agree with you on Rikki and Vikki I hope Atari is listening 👂 🕹👍

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Hopefully there's a bunch of comments like this and if somebody were to steer them this way and they see all the demand, maybe we could get it.... And thanks for the compliment!

[@edgeofeden7583]

My Oh My! You did It! This had to be even more work than rating the originals. If 7800 Homebrewers keep publishing, you'll have to have a Part 2. You gave me several titles I'll need to check out. Just a few of them I would like to own are Wizard's Dungeon, 1942, and Knight Guy Castle Days and of course Rikki and Vikki. Popeye and Attack of the Pescii Robots have already been ordered for a while. I already own Keystone Koppers and Time Salvo which are great. Now the problem is wanting to buy them all now. 😄 I also think that Rikki & Vikki and E.X.O. should also be on the Atari VCS-800 and the coming 2600+. Muddyvision already has a couple of 2600 games on the new VCS. Why not his 7800 games? Thank you so much, Silverback, for this review.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

No problem! Yeah I played muddy's Tyre Tracks (I think it is) on the VCS and it's an amazing 2600 game. I'd love to see EXO on there so I could finally play it! But Rikki & Vikki needs to be released on the 2600+ This video was a ton of work and I literally stayed up all night the night before trying to finalize it. Looking back I probably shouldn't of because I let a lot of mistakes slip by in my state of exhaustion. But hey, live and learn! Thanks for checking it out!

[@EgGu-l9y]

It's cool that someone is out there converting their favorite 5200, Coleco Vision & other classic console games to the 7800.

[@davidrevitt7470]

Great upload

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Thank you!

[@pacbilly]

In both similar games, you refer to the arcade original as Delta Race, but it was actually Omega Race. Delta Race may be another port for a different platform, but Omega Race was the original. The Vic-20 version of Omega Race is far superior to the C64 version, which plays too fast.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

You know what you're absolutely right. It is omega race. I'm not sure why I thought Delta race was the original. Oops egg on my face. At least we have you here to pick up my slack lol.

[@junker15]

Rikki & Vikki is the reason I picked up a 7800. I also bought Food Fight. I was not disappointed by any of my decisions!

[@JustMe99999]

Wow that version of Popeye is really good looking.

[@Jolt7800]

7800 Pro Gamer, you have outdone yourself with this review! I appreciate seeing the footage of so many games I have not seen before. I have only been into the homebrew scene a few years, so this helps make up for some lost time. Frenzy is one of favorites.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad I could introduce you to some new games, hopefully there's a few you'll enjoy down the road. My hopes with this channel was to help introduce people to the 7800 and the cool stuff being done to this day. Thanks for watching!

[@StuartKReilly]

I was one of the first people to review Rikki and Vikki when it came out. I was still very new at game reviews at the time but it was so cool to talk with Tailchao and get an idea of what a technical marvel that game is. I’m very happy he put it on Steam so more people can enjoy it. I recommend it to everyone I know

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I watched your review and interview with Tailchao and it was very good. Your video was one of the ones that made me want to try this KZbin thing. I hope you're doing well and thank you for being one of the only early reviews available of that great game!

[@wyleFTW]

Rikki and vikki is inspirational

[@TheAtariNetwork]

It's such a marvel on the 7800. Osman aka Tailchao put so much love and care into it, but I know other people can and will make things to match it. And you can argue some people have produced things more technically complex already.

[@tarstarkusz]

6:10 Piranha was a real arcade game. It too was just a pac man hack, but it did actually exist. I personally played it in a store in the 1980s.

[@Cafeman_2D]

thanks for the show!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

That's what I'm here for 😁

[@ObsidianContraption]

Nice run down of homebrews!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Thank you!

[@johnketo2150]

Great video. I was surprised that Merlain from Good Deal Games didn’t make the list. I have a copy, but have not played it yet. There is literally no footage of Merlain on the internet, so I have never seen it!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Merlain is mostly a text adventure so I skipped over it. Text adventures on the 7800 include Journey of Snail, Journey of Snail A New World, Merlain, Merlain II and the ET Book Cart. There really isn't much to show with any of those. Mostly text and then you choose an option to continue the story, although some include pictures and mini games. Sorry to disappoint you but I just couldn't see many people being interested in a few seconds of text.

[@DJNurseAnnabella]

Nice to see the game that's based on myself and podcast @ 3:00!! There's going to be a sequel coming out in a few months too called Lava Lamps & 8-Track Theater II:Nurse's Revenge. Look out for it!!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

That's awesome I can't wait to see the sequel!

[@Monhamd1000]

Thanks to these Homebrew, the 7800 gets the love it deserves!

[@tarstarkusz]

Great video. Pretty good placements. There are a few I would quibble with, but overall, it's pretty reasonable.

[@Ai_Dreamscapes_in_Latent_Space]

Excellent list. I really wish Atari could work on some deals so that a lot of homebrew carts would become officially accessible worldwide. The time is absolutely right for it, and these carts would sell like hotcakes.

[@johnwilliams7999]

ricki and vikki looks great! I don't know a lot about this system do you have any videos on the people that made them (the homebrew)?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Yes I have two videos with the game creator, look up our podcast with Osman Celimi (Atari 7800 forever podcast) and then the man vs 7800 Rikki and Vikki also featured the creator as well as his gameplay, but spoilers in that one!

[@ClassicCo-op]

This is great! Other than Rikki and Vikki, do you know if any of these are co-op?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

There is quite a few two player ones, donkey Kong PK is alternating, dragons havoc is 2 player simultaneously, I believe the asteroids ports are two player just like the 7800 version (multiple modes including simultaneously), danger zone is all two player essentially, and most of them say two player on the back that I'm looking at but I have little to no experience there. If there is a certain game you're curious about let me know and I'll check for you!

[@Lightblue2222]

Totally awesome!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Thank you!

[@Lightblue2222]

​@7800ProGamer I finally broke through and bought my first homebrew game! TEMPEST for 5200. But my next homebrew will be a 7800 game for certain ! ! ! Some great choices out there.

[@serqetry]

Wow thanks for doing this video. There are some awesome looking homebrew games I didn't know about. Time Salvo is an obvious clone of Crossfire by Sierra Online, one of my all-time favorite games on the Apple II... I'll have to get that one for sure. Also you're 100% right, Galaxian is better than Galaga... and that 7800 Galaxian looks amazing! Galaga is bad game design IMO, the main mechanic of the game is a no-win scenario where you use up your own ships to get the firepower you need to play. It's dumb.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Oh see I wasn't aware that T:me Salvo was based on anything, that's good to know! The 7800 Galaxian is really good! They took it off AtariAge store but you can download it off the forums in a thread titled something like "all my games and binaries in one thread" and it's posted by PacManPlus. Thanks for watching!

[@daviddavies3637]

Well, there were some blasts from the past for me. Moon Cresta is one of my favourite arcade games. I always found Astro Blasters too frustrating and preferred Astro Fighter instead.

[@jonl2996]

I don't know why but I swear that I played this game when I was 8 or 9 at my friends grandparents house on the 7800 in the late 80's or very early 90's

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Which game?

[@MrBluhorseshu]

remember Super Cobra and Scramble from the c64

[@x7heDeviLx]

I know they say the 7800 is better than the nes but I’m glad Nintendo had a lot more games that scrolled and actually didn’t stay on one screen a little more depth.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Both consoles had their own strengths. The 7800 was created to be a sprite monster but scrolling and tile based graphics never seemed to be its strength. Even if it is technically superior to the NES, and I don't know if that's the case, you can't say that Nintendo didn't use their technology and designers masterfully to take full advantage of what they had. I think it's okay to live in a world where we can appreciate both. The 7800 was ignored for so long that I'm just glad it's getting pushed and some recognition with collectors...

[@ParanoidThalyyMVS]

Wow! A channel dedicated solely to my favorite Atari console? Sign me up please!

[@cootmaster]

delta race looks like omega race , atari 2600 omega was killr w the sounds

[@bruhbruhbruh645]

Did anybody notice the 14,460 points this guy got on the Galaxian one?

[@glenjust630]

Do you know if the developers of these 7800 homebrews made them available in rom at all? I’m wanting to get some for the Atari Gamestation Pro.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Yes you can find all the ones he made available here: forums.atariage.com/topic/352599-most-recent-binaries-for-the-games-of-mine-being-pulled-all-in-one-place/

[@dominicsmith5588]

Thanks, this was great. I'm thinking of getting into the scene and knowing which games to avoid is pretty good to save me wasting time and money. One thing I am curious is how far the homebrew scene can go, as times goes on and programmers become more and more experienced and getting the most out of the hardware we're going to see leaps forward in the technical achievements of the games. You only need look at other examples like the lazy arcade ports in the first year of the NES compared to the hardware pushing games in it's later years. I am genuinely curious just how far programmers can push the system. For example, the retro gaming community was blown away by seeing the Master System Sonic the Hedgehog running on the Commadore 64. Given how impressive the Atari 7800 was at rendering 3D though Ball Blazers, could we soon start seeing some conversions of Genesis and SNES 3D games onto it?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I think we'll definitely start to see more and more impressive things on the console! Especially if Atari is interested in releasing anything on their store front. The 7800 certainly had its share of impressive 3 dimensional graphics back in the day but I'm not sure how far developers will take it. I think we'll see more and more impressive sprite work to rival Rikki & Vikki. I wish I had the capability to show off EXO because that one looks really good. But I hope to see developers continue to do amazing things in the years to come and of course I'll report on all of it and do my part in reviewing and revealing them to y'all!

[@EnjoySynthSounds]

That game utilised the REU expansion module.

[@socrates0603]

Don't mind the vector graphics?!? I thought about un-subbing LOL j/k. Love the idea of limiting the list to 78 since it's for the 7800. Where would you say your cut off line is for what's worth playing? I'd love to see you do the SABCDEF tier list.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Lol something about trying to emulate vector style graphics I don't care for. I do like true vector graphics. They're very bright and vivid and look sharp but when a home console attempts to simulate it, well it just doesn't look right to me. I don't know if that clears it up at all maybe I made it worse lol So I think I will try a tier list like you're talking about one day. I'd have to rewatch and see where the cut off for what's worth playing is but I feel right around Armor Attack II the games get pretty enjoyable. I'll do another reply later and let you know where the exact cut off is. Would you believe me if I told you 78 was a happy accident?

[@socrates0603]

@@TheAtariNetwork 78 was a happy accident? You really live up to your channel name I get it :) It's really tough to simulate vector graphics. I just went through the video and wrote the list of 78. Based on your comments, Armor Attack II sounds about right. I own many of the games mentioned in the top half. I added a few more to my wishlist, and scratched off a few that I had been going back and forth on. Great list of games, Jon, and I really appreciate you putting this out. Whether good or bad, I learned there are many 7800 homebrews. Indeed, the 7800 homebrew scene has exploded the past couple of years if 7800 AtariAge releases are any indication.

[@philippezsiga1125]

Popeye is just Amazing; sadly can t buy it anymore on Atari Age store. Many people like me would like to buy a CIB for the 7800

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Just be careful because as these last chance AtariAge orders ship I know people bought multiple copies of Popeye etc to resell. So you'll see some pop up in time for Christmas but the prices will be ridiculous. I also did an interview with the creator of Popeye (7800) recently and anything he can do to get it back out he is trying. So set a price, keep an eye out or maybe be patient and you might be rewarded. Hopefully that helps

[@GarryGri]

It's not really a good thing to say someone's labour of love is "the worst" homebrew game 😜

[@TheAtariNetwork]

If I can't be the best KZbinr I might as well be the worst. Everybody remembers the best and the worst but nobody remembers the middle ones! But yeah I ain't gonna lie it's kind of messed up. But it's the nature of the beast of these lists!

[@themidcentrist]

My dream would be to homebrew a spiritual sequel to Gyruss. I would add a way to control the speed of the ship (to make the circle you move in tighter or wider) and a Gradius inspired powerup system. My compliments to whoever did the 2600 version because I think they did a great job considering the hardware.

[@andywest5773]

Nice to see all these games. I don't know how you can stand playing them in the wrong aspect ratio, though. Everything looks weirdly stretched.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I play on a crt television and then have everything recorded on a laptop. I did spend some time messing with the settings on the laptop so I might've messed with the aspect on there but I have a beautiful picture at home.

[@andywest5773]

@@TheAtariNetwork Ah, that makes sense. Must just be something in the video capture or editing software.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@andywest5773 yeah I'll look into it but I don't know much about it yet. I've only been doing this for about two months but it's possible i did something back when I was first figuring it out. Worse case scenario I'll Google how to get it down to the proper aspect in output or editing

[@opa-age]

Do a lot of these homebrew games use the enhanced audio chip?

[@jollywankerproductions774]

Did crazy bricks use the paddle controllers on the 7800?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Yes it does

[@TheAtariNetwork]

And it's obviously the preferred way to play

[@yearight5303]

Weren't the 7800 graphics better than the 2600?

[@MarquisDeSang]

amazing content but the image quality is the lowest I have ever seen on the internet since 1995.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Lol I can't say I disagree but it's been a learning process. I record directly from an Atari 7800 to a CRT to my laptop and I'm still learning but I hope with the 2600 plus I can improve the quality in the future.

[@MarquisDeSang]

@@TheAtariNetworkI just ordered one, in fact I just bought the 2600+, the flashback gold 12 and the atgame station pro, because why not. And I also bought an Harmony Encore. My body is ready.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@MarquisDeSang damn you went all in! Let me know what you think of it all once you've played with them. Especially the 2600+

[@TAFKAN74]

What about the Munchkin Homebrew on the 7800? 🤔

[@TheAtariNetwork]

K.c munchkin?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

It's number 58

[@TAFKAN74]

​@@TheAtariNetworkOoops, I have missed that one! 🙃

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@TAFKAN74 it's all good 😊

[@10MARC]

It makes me weep every time you reference "Delta Race" instead of the actual name these are based on "Omega Race"... Love all the 7800 love here, though!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

Yeah I don't know what I was smoking but I made the mistake twice too. Sorry

[@10MARC]

@@TheAtariNetwork That's OK. I never make any mistakes or give the wrong information in any of the videos I do.* *The above statement is a lie.

[@ThePbrook1967]

Where can I get a download for Popeye??

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I don't think the full version is for download just yet but check here for playable versions: forums.atariage.com/topic/313342-popeye-7800/

[@adm712]

If there is someplace I can purchase Popeye, I would so greatly appreciate a lead. Thanks

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I'll keep an eye out for you. We just interviewed the creator of Popeye last Friday night on the Atari 7800 Forever podcast (found on this channel!) and I know he wants the game out there for everybody to purchase so hopefully he'll figure something out soon to get it into your hands and others. If I hear anything or see anything I'll come back here and let you know!

[@adm712]

@@TheAtariNetwork Thanks so so much. Such a fantastic port of this game and it's only reasonable that fans should have the opportunity to purchase it, and the programmers should reap the rewards of their hard work.

[@philippezsiga1125]

Like me many people wants to buy a CIB POPEYE fir atari 7800 as it s not available anymore on Atari Age store

[@vrchillbuilds]

can you doublecheck that source for #26?

[@TheAtariNetwork]

www.atarisales.com/main.html

[@TheAtariNetwork]

There that's the one where you can get the stuff. Is that what you meant?

[@vrchillbuilds]

i thought the site was parked. thanks for the specific url!

[@TheAtariNetwork]

@@vrchillbuilds yeah it's weird I swear I type it correctly all the time but a lot of times I get that parked site. Worse case scenario Google video61 Atarisales and it always comes up first result

[@johneygd]

Pffff i really don’t care about all those pac man games or clones of it,if you already own pac man,then just stick with it,about donkeykong and popeye they are indeed must haves in case you don’t got the 7800 version and 2600 version of it,too bad there was never a popeye game for the 7800 so you only option was to play the 2600 on it, Now game 19,8,and 5 are also impressive games as they are hardware pushers, However i really don’t care about those other games as they are just rip offs,verations or clones of other existing games, Why those homebrewers just don’t port all those advanced nes games to the 7800 instead because thise cpu’s and ppu chips are compatible with each other so theres no need to rework,rewrite or to recompile the code,the only problem would be the sound but they could emulate 1bit pcm on the 7800 by using the builtin soundchip while for those other soundchannels they could implent a 4 channel psg soundchip with the same capabilities of those 4 psg soundchannels from the nes,for controller input they could remap B & A on the left & right trigger button whole start & select can be mapped on pause and select button of the 7800 and finally the D-pad can be mapped on the poke stick, A bunos of doing this should also eliminate sprie flicker and slowdown since the atari 7800 can handle more sprites atonce on screen but it requires removing the sprite priority system in those nes games to allow taking advantage of this, Sure those games will still require mmc chips to run on the 7800 but still,,, Yeah there might be copyright issues but what if they could just use referencing names and characters to get around that for a while,why not,because am done with all those general simplistic copy cat and rip off homebrew games !!!

[@DJNurseAnnabella]

Lava Lamps is not a homebrew either,it IS an official Atari release approved by Nolan Bushnell himself,who was on my podcast before.

[@FunkmasterV]

Oh honey…

[@fionagibson3314]

I'm sorry if it is not on a cartridge I would not play it.

[@TheAtariNetwork]

I too prefer cartridges and the majority of these were played on and recorded from a cartridge. Most were obtained direct from the developers, AtariAge, Video61, GoodDealGames, eBay and a few sources no longer around. If I remember correctly only 3-4 were played from flashcart so I could reach the number of 78...