This was just awesome, I even got to find out the name of one of my favorite arcade games from before my memory was able to remember, it was back in 1988 and my brother and I went downtown to the arcade , which we weren't allowed to go cuz well, parents right, so yeah I played a lot of Cabal, some Ms Pac-man , and a bunch of Bubble Bobble, cuz it was just quarter crack to a nine year old. But there was this rat game I was playing there and for some 30 ish years I've wondered in the back of my mind, what it was called, until now, Ataris Pack Rat. Holy Grail achieved, and some would say that its a little thing, but it's huge to a nostalgic middle aged dude like me. Thanks for listening and great episode.
Awesome video !! Lots of fond memories !! Some titles I never heard of ! Many of these Atari did not develop - they published ( distributed) them on behalf of other companies ! Several were developed by Namco and the FMV games were developed by American Laser Games !
A lot of people don't seem to be aware but Namco were the majority owner of Atari Games for quite a number of years, hence why there are quite a lot of Namco games that were also produced by Atari Games and released through the Tengen label for home systems.
By the mid 80s, I hadn’t gone to arcades very frequently so this video was very informative for me. I noticed a limited number of themes (cops, cars, sequels, franchise tie-ins) and a shortage of originality (with even the original-looking Klax being a response to Tetris). I hadn’t realized there was so much use of FMV though it makes sense now. Thanks for your time and effort in putting this together.
I'd actually say that there was far more originality in the stuff Atari Games were putting out compared to other companies at this time. I mean look at stuff like Marble Madness, Paperboy, Toobin', Xybots, Robot Monsters, Pit-Fighter, Hard Drivin', 720, STUN Runner, Road Riot, Shuuz, Rampart etc. these were genuinely original and innovative games.
@@TheLairdsLair thanks for your insight here. Perhaps it was just the effect of seeing 80 games at once. I suppose then it would be natural to see recurring themes. I’ll take another look at the specific games you mentioned.
Of all the arcade coin-op creators out there, Atari couldn't be beat in the first half of the 80's, so many creative titles, and many had unique controls that made the experience all the better. Sadly over time, the name "Atari" no longer means what it once did, but they will forever hold my top spot when it comes to classic arcade games.
I never knew about a bunch of these. I'm especially surprised at the horse shoes game. I never would have guessed someone would create a video version of pitching shoes. 😄
Atari never really had a cohesive "theme", but I guess if Atari had a mascot it would be a tank. Tank, Combat, Battlezone, Assault, Vindicators ... Atari really did have a lot of tank games. More so than anyone else.
@TheLairdsLair Also, the control yoke used for the Star Wars games (and possibly S.T.U.N Runner) was from a version of Battle Zone made for the US Army to train tank personnel.
That's because Atari Games and Atari Corp. were totally seperate companies by this point. That said a lot of these were licensed for the Lynx - Xybots, Hard Drivin', STUN Runner, Paperboy, Rolling Thunder, Road Riot, Pit-Fighter, Relief Pitcher, Hydra, Cyberball etc.
@@TheLairdsLairThe XEGS was produced during this time period and more should have been done to license games to that system. Instead of these awesome new arcade releases, XEGS users were stuck with arcade releases...from 1981
Well, i'd say the 7800 more than the XEGS but I do agree. Strangely there were XEGS/7800 ports planned/announced for quite a few games like Paperboy, Pac-Land and Klax but they were never released.
Great showing, thanks! Loved "APB", "Xybots", and "Vindicators" the most. Home console editions were good for Vindicators (80s neon colors aside) and APB was awful regardless of home console... Is "Guts of Glory" just a game variation of "Air and Sea Battle" from 1977, just made to look slicker? "Radikal Bikers" aka "Pizza Man" was surely a cheesy joke?! 😂😂😂 "Rush Hour" has a track that looks similar to one in "Carmageddon"?
This was just awesome, I even got to find out the name of one of my favorite arcade games from before my memory was able to remember, it was back in 1988 and my brother and I went downtown to the arcade , which we weren't allowed to go cuz well, parents right, so yeah I played a lot of Cabal, some Ms Pac-man , and a bunch of Bubble Bobble, cuz it was just quarter crack to a nine year old. But there was this rat game I was playing there and for some 30 ish years I've wondered in the back of my mind, what it was called, until now, Ataris Pack Rat. Holy Grail achieved, and some would say that its a little thing, but it's huge to a nostalgic middle aged dude like me. Thanks for listening and great episode.
Glad I could help! I was actually playing Peter Pack Rat in a real arcade just recently!
Awesome video !! Lots of fond memories !! Some titles I never heard of ! Many of these Atari did not develop - they published ( distributed) them on behalf of other companies ! Several were developed by Namco and the FMV games were developed by American Laser Games !
A lot of people don't seem to be aware but Namco were the majority owner of Atari Games for quite a number of years, hence why there are quite a lot of Namco games that were also produced by Atari Games and released through the Tengen label for home systems.
80s Atari arcade games had their own distinct look to them. Lots of bright colors.
By the mid 80s, I hadn’t gone to arcades very frequently so this video was very informative for me. I noticed a limited number of themes (cops, cars, sequels, franchise tie-ins) and a shortage of originality (with even the original-looking Klax being a response to Tetris). I hadn’t realized there was so much use of FMV though it makes sense now. Thanks for your time and effort in putting this together.
I'd actually say that there was far more originality in the stuff Atari Games were putting out compared to other companies at this time. I mean look at stuff like Marble Madness, Paperboy, Toobin', Xybots, Robot Monsters, Pit-Fighter, Hard Drivin', 720, STUN Runner, Road Riot, Shuuz, Rampart etc. these were genuinely original and innovative games.
@@TheLairdsLair thanks for your insight here. Perhaps it was just the effect of seeing 80 games at once. I suppose then it would be natural to see recurring themes. I’ll take another look at the specific games you mentioned.
Of all the arcade coin-op creators out there, Atari couldn't be beat in the first half of the 80's, so many creative titles, and many had unique controls that made the experience all the better. Sadly over time, the name "Atari" no longer means what it once did, but they will forever hold my top spot when it comes to classic arcade games.
Hard Drivin' and Race Drivin' are the craziest one here for their time period
I always liked hard drivin' and race drivin ' too bud. You're not alone. Peace
I never knew about a bunch of these. I'm especially surprised at the horse shoes game. I never would have guessed someone would create a video version of pitching shoes. 😄
Hard Drivin', Hard Racin', Steel Talons, and STUN Runner! Thanks for bringing these back for me:)
I'd totally forgotten about Blasteroids.
Atari never really had a cohesive "theme", but I guess if Atari had a mascot it would be a tank. Tank, Combat, Battlezone, Assault, Vindicators ... Atari really did have a lot of tank games. More so than anyone else.
Good point!
720° had a rather unique joystick, if I recall. And Roadrunner was going to be a laserdisc game with backgrounds and clips straight from the cartoons.
Yeah, correct.
@TheLairdsLair Also, the control yoke used for the Star Wars games (and possibly S.T.U.N Runner) was from a version of Battle Zone made for the US Army to train tank personnel.
Such a shame that Atari could not produce ports of these games on their home consoles, computers and Lynx during the 1986-1996 time period.
That's because Atari Games and Atari Corp. were totally seperate companies by this point. That said a lot of these were licensed for the Lynx - Xybots, Hard Drivin', STUN Runner, Paperboy, Rolling Thunder, Road Riot, Pit-Fighter, Relief Pitcher, Hydra, Cyberball etc.
@@TheLairdsLairThe XEGS was produced during this time period and more should have been done to license games to that system. Instead of these awesome new arcade releases, XEGS users were stuck with arcade releases...from 1981
Well, i'd say the 7800 more than the XEGS but I do agree. Strangely there were XEGS/7800 ports planned/announced for quite a few games like Paperboy, Pac-Land and Klax but they were never released.
Great showing, thanks!
Loved "APB", "Xybots", and "Vindicators" the most. Home console editions were good for Vindicators (80s neon colors aside) and APB was awful regardless of home console...
Is "Guts of Glory" just a game variation of "Air and Sea Battle" from 1977, just made to look slicker?
"Radikal Bikers" aka "Pizza Man" was surely a cheesy joke?! 😂😂😂
"Rush Hour" has a track that looks similar to one in "Carmageddon"?
I really liked A.P.B. personally, definitely seems to be a love it or loathe it game.