Battle of the Ports - California Games (カリフォルニアゲーム) Show 413 - 60fps
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Missing Apple II GS footage - • Battle of the Ports - ...
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The Apple II GS section was oddly missing from the final edit of this video. So I'll upload it separately.
Time Code
00:25 - Apple II
02:04 - Commodore 64
03:10 - ZX Spectrum
03:28 - Amstrad CPC
04:13 - MSX
04:34 - NES
05:29 - Master System
06:31 - Atari 2600
07:36 - Mega Drive
08:32 - Amiga
09:06 - Atari ST
09:39 - MS DOS
10:24 - Atari Lynx
11:31 - Mobile (Java)
12:29 - All versions side by side
Enjoy!
#Californiagames
#Retrocore
#Battleoftheports
The Master System version of California Games was a huge hit here in Brazil around 1989 - yeah, things happened a little slower here back then xD. Alongside Outrun and Alex Kidd games, it was the stuff that pushed the Master System locally.
California Games was big in all regions where the Master System did well.
I played the BMX Level on the Lynx for Hours.. I was so into Moto Cross that time 🤣🤣
I've only ever played the Lynx version. Looks like I got lucky with that lol
Ah, many memories of the Master System version.
Not all of them are good, though. Never managed to understand how the surfing and skate events work
The lynx surfing and BMX were A MA ZING in terms of gameplay!
The Epyx sports games were surprisingly good on the Atari 2600, with Winter Games being the best of the lot. So fun! So addictive! Not much to look at, but two out of three ain't bad!
earlier in time they could've released every subgame as a different 2600 game
I never thought the 1MHz CPU of the Apple II would be able to handle the fake parallax scrolling & sprites in the 16-colour mid-resolution, that was only available on the //e with an enhanced graphics card or a //c, years after the original model was released. The Apple II wasn't made for that. That game is a technical feat in the graphics department compared with its prequels (Summer Games, Winter Games).
I absolutely mastered the master system version as a kid. I had a go recently and it was bloody impossible.
I love this moment of the day. A fresh beer and a new Battle of the ports video. Thanks!
Programmed by Choice, played under duress.
The tip with the half-pipe, is you need to hold the direction of the skater until the apex of the moment, then switch to the other direction, etc. :)
Absolutely loved this on the C64.
The 2600 version was a real technical achievement.
An Atari XL XE version was apparently started.
That's right about the XL XE version but sadly nothing can be found in a playable state.
Great video!! As a kid I got the Lynx that came with California Games and had some fun with it, also liked the surfing the best.
I'd agree. Surfing on the Lynx version is good fun.
On the Half Pipe when going up press down and when going down press up, it's all in the timing. I was brilliant at it on the SEGA Master System.
Ah, yes. That's how it was done. Man, I had forgotten about that
I had that 2600 game and while I appreciated the presentation over all, as a young kid ALL I wanted to play was the BMX level. Not because I was particularly good at it, but because, as a young kid, I LOVED the animation and sound effect when I crashed into things. Seeing that little biker fall off the bike and limp a couple inches down the mountain with the "dink-a-dink-a-dink-a-dink-a" music always caused me to crack up. So much so that for the longest time, I couldn't even remember the surfing event. I think I just shut the game off when I was done with BMX. The first two levels always stuck out in my mind having to endure them to get to that stage, but I had to "play it anyway I can" to see if the surfing part even jogged my memory.
Love surfing on the lynx
It's the easiest one to sure on for sure.
So weird but I hadn’t played this game in decades and since I recently got a master system everdrive I played this for hours the other day. Love bmx.
I always liked the Lynx Version and the Amiga Version best...🤘🤘🤘
I had this in my Lynx, there was a way of finnishing BMX with just a few big jumps, I think I finnished it in just a few seconds, 30 years ago though, can't remember how
You may be right. Back in the day I remember something like that.
I had this for the master system 💕
It is very likely the SMS version was released in South Korea, as the first models of Gam*boy had the FM Sound Unit built-in and California Games II was also released officially in SK by Samsung themselves.
There's a call games 2 on the Master System?
@@RetroCore yes, it was released in 1993. It was programmed by Probe and as I've heard, it is pretty bad.
Played loads back in the day on the c64 and enjoyed
I actually, with considerable patience, became extremely good at this on the NES. Dark times.
Dark times indeed 😅
Impressive work on the Apple II version fonts to make it legible on the old CRTs.
Yup that sounds like basic 4-operator FM patches on the MD with unnecessary hard-panning.
What is never conveyed with any Lynx footage is horrid the original screen looked, viewers who never experienced it should seek out footage and get the eyebrow raising experience.
Great vid!
Wow the Master System version was pixel perfect esp the waves in surfing and good frame rate considering the limitations of the system.
Fun fact:
For the Sega releases, Tectoy over here in Brazil renamed the game "Jogos de Verão" (Summer Games).
And then they renamed the game "Summer Games" to "Jogos Olímpicos" (Olympic Games)
All of those changes were only on the Cartridge and cover though. Title screen still showed "California Games".
They also had that "Game Box Series: Esportes Radicais" which was a California Games stripped down to just BMX and Surfing events. Never understood what the hell the were thinking when they did that. Other Game Box Series carts were pretty cool with 3 nice games on it, but that one was just TWO EVENTS of a FULL GAME. What the hell. I wonder how dissapointed kids would be when they got that cartridge (and considering how California Games was so damn popular here, I bet there were kids who got this cart while ALREADY OWNING California Games, which would be a damn waste)
I guess having California on the title wasn't appealing?
Wow, sounds like the Brazilian releases of the "games" series was a mess.
@@RetroCore
First: Tectoy wanted to localize the game's name since it was summer themed, and "Jogos Californianos" wouldn't sound well so they changed to "Jogos de Verão".
Second: Those bundles were quite nice; since you could get those games for cheaper.
But Tectoy being Tectoy had to screw up somewhere and with the Radical Sports cartridge, they did just that.
Epyx, along with System 3, Thalamus and a few others, was one of the best developers for 64, the release of a new game was always an event and the Games series was incredible. Good memories, also my favorite is Summer Games II.
One of my favourites as a teen. Great video👍🏻
I had this one back in the day for the Master System. I had no idea it was such a good port compared to the others until many years later. It was definitely among my most-played SMS games and was popular among my friends too. Half pipe was tricky to learn at first, but it got pretty easy to exploit once I figured everything out. Foot bag was probably the toughest for me and my least favorite(the upgrade made it easier), but decent enough. Flying disc also seemed to be tough to grasp for inexperienced players. I eventually got good enough at that one I tried to handicap myself and see if I could catch some really short throws, which I could do but diving catches were never fully reliable. I remember the Lynx version from TV commercials which mostly showed the surfing event. I had no idea the BMX and half pipe looked so different on the Lynx.
I think the best event will n the Lynx has to be the Surfing.
Haha this is actually the second time in short time where the Lynx comes out as a winner. That small cat had a lot of potential!
Sorry, but it didn't. The master system version is the best version of this game. Better even than the mega drive version
@@brazilmugenteam ok that’s fair. But close enough!
Lynx had some impressive graphics for sure. But lacks 2 games and the physics is wrong.
Try the sms version yourself and you will understand. It beats even the mega drive version
I own the Lynx version and enjoy it for what it is. Don't really care that all the events aren't there, it's a handheld so it's excusable.
I did just buy a Master System a few days ago. If the cartridge doesn't cost an arm and a leg like Phantasy Star and some others do I'll pick it up for that and see what I think of it.
@@owlbelieveit6811 Yeah, I can understand they cutting some events in Lynx, but not on Mega Drive (which misses the flying disc).
Try the master system version, its amazing.
THE first time I saw this on C64, it was amazing! Good 2600 port too
Indeed it is!
I feel like if you were there in the 80's, you understand how to play these events. If you weren't, you don't. And I don't understand why. It's not like we read a manual or something back then!
Understood how to play most of them, anyways. But I remember most of the fun coming from people intentionally screwing up.
I think back in the 80s we had more time to spend figuring things out, lol.
LOL that Java Phone straight up QTE game and I think back in day I will like it than any console/computer port of this game.
Thanks for covering this; big favorite in my youth.
Did we forget to put the Apple IIgs footage into the video?
Tech trivia: The Apple II version is one of the few games to use "double hi-res" to get 16 colors at the same time onscreen. It wasn't used for action games that much because it was very hard to program for, and slow.
Ah, the GS footage was uploaded in a separate video as I forgot to add it to the main show.
I’m ashamed to admit I always thought California Games was an Atari arcade game, I had no idea it was a C64 and Apple II game originally. I’m not sure why I thought that now, the only time I ever played the game was on a friend’s Lynx at school. I do remember the surfing being pretty cool on that one.
Well, it sure has the look of being an Atari arcade. Easy mistake I think.
Speccy, Msx and Amstrad versions gave me a real chuckle. And the boys at Arcade Perfect Podcast will appreciate your use of the word TURD !!!
Can't go wrong by calling something a turd :D
I had this on the Speccy +2, C64 and MD and once you got used to the controls I loved 'em all
Back in the day I'm sure I could play the Master System version well but now, I'm so bad.
Another great BotP, Mark. I had the 2600 port and rented the NES port a couple of times a bit later. I enjoy the game, though really only a couple of the events (hackey-sack/foot-bag and the Frisbee/flying-disc events, which the latter is missing on the 2600). I played the hackey-sack event a whole lot though: I always thought it was the most interesting event. However, I preferred Winter Games and, especially, World Games. My uncle had Winter Games, and I had the PC-booter version of World Games and then the NES version too. World Games in particular has really fun events, IMO. The Lynx version of California Games makes me wish that Epyx had also released one or more of the other games in the series, though with their financial situation that may not have been possible anyways.
There were a lot of Rare developed games on the NES that I enjoyed, even some based on game shows.
Great video, as always. I’m just as bad playing this as I am playing real sports!
Lol, same here. Probably why I don't care for sports games other than driving.
I played this on ms-dos, it had a special cga mode where the upper half had a different palette than the lower half of the screen. I always wondered how they did that and it was my favorite mode to play the game in, I always liked the game, mainly with the dude that kept the ball(?) high.
This is a game that I've heard quite a bit about but never really have been interested enough to play. I doubt I'm missing out on much, though some of these look quite impressive for the systems they are running on. The Commodore 64 version has extremely smooth animation, something that I'm starting to notice is a trend on Battle of the Ports, and the Apple II original really is one of the best-looking games for the system, if not the very best. The best looking and sounding is the Master System port, and I'm surprised it had FM audio support, seeing as it probably didn't even get a release in Japan. Mark Cerny really went all out with that one! The Lynx version has some questionable color choices, but as usual for the system, it has some nice scaling effects.
Also, and I have a feeling you might know this considering you said "GEMS-like sound," Novotrade actually used their own sound driver for the Genesis/Mega Drive. However, I've seen another TH-camr call it "Hungarian GEMS" due to how similar it is on a programming level as well as how it often sounds. It's odd that they even bothered to create their own sound driver with how terrible it sounds.
The Apple II could look pretty nice when care was taken.
Sweet new BOTP. I don't know why I didn't get a notification 😕
That is a bummer. Seems the notifications are beyond my control, too 😢
nothing screams early pc gaming to me like this, summer games and winter games
Loved the C64 version, the replay value was massive. Playing with a group of friends was the best.
I do remember playing with mates back in the day to see who could get the furthest in the roller skating section.
My fave versions of the game are the Master System, Amiga and NES. Especially SMS cuz Mark Cerny did a good job with the programming and handling the visuals
It's funny that the Java version would include breakdancing, which originated from New York, on the opposite side of the country from California.
Just goes to show that the developers had no idea.
There was a Spectrum version?
Yep. From reading up on the net, it wasn't very good.
I think the Apple II version graphically looks very nice for the hardware.
It does, I'm quite impressed with it. Most games on the Apple II looked way more primitive than this.
Looked at these days California Games seems so quaint, seeing a banana skin on the sidewalk for the skating event seemed so out of place juxtaposed against the human faeces and used needles strewn around the encampments you'd be expecting to see these days. Imagine the nightmarish events in a California Games 2022.
The homeless became a crisis in California during the 80's. Not to mention, the failure of the drug war plus slashing mental health budgets only prevented people from seeking the treatment they needed.
And there wouldn't be human feces if someone would behave like an adult and provide public bathrooms 24/7.
But nah, people would rather behave like idiot sadists and feel sorry for themselves, instead.
I guess the cruelty is the point.
Wow, and there I was thinking California was still a nice place 😢
@@RetroCore It never was.
Sounds like the remake we need!
Master System version was much more playable and just all round nicer than the MD version. Easily the best version I’ve played.
Get a Lynx if you ever can! I bet that even today, the BMX and surfing is just so much fun!
Did you skip the Apple II GS version?
Here you are - th-cam.com/video/uIpFHcpQg4M/w-d-xo.html
Mark cerny hiding the FM sound track fir us western audiences knowing one day like a super mega cryptic easter egg it would be discovered by retro nerd enthusiasts in the future when we all have flying cars lol
First played this one the lynx... man I felt so lucky to have access to this machine in that day compared to the gameboy. It was the lynx mk1.... damn it was huge lol
I wonder if they were planning a Japanese release?
The Genesis release 1991 imo a decent overhauled version of the classic game. The graphics looked good for the time and better then the others, gameplay bit altered but worked very good too. Yes the music could be much better, if not based on the gem engine. But nothing gamebreaking. As singlplayer dull, was it in multiplayer a hit with three or more players on the Mega Drive. Totally underrated here. Maybe not a hit release of the time, but a decent home-version 1991. Sometimes I have the feeling, as much he loved the Mega Drive back then, as much he is in conflict with the system nowdays. And he's doing so many BotP, maybe he has not the time to play all the games properly and test them only in a very shallow way!!
Sounds like Green Dog in many areas.
Yea, the fun in this game was playing it with friends.
First of all although the Apple II/GS and C64 are classics... the Atari 2600 really jumped out as a very good effort...
But then it's just an incredible hyperspace jump to the Nintendo FamiCom NES graphics by old RARE...
Mark Cerny's SMS port is frustrating because it's so good that it should have been natural to just have him handle the MegaDrive conversion next or whenever a good ROM size could do the game justice using MegaDrive graphics and sound... it is so shocking that a game that is running on basically the most powerful hardware on the entire list barring the phone and the Amiga to an extent was not properly handled or completed... this game was fun... an excellent quality version would have been legendary at least.
Great video... also I remember way back thinking it was weird how no Super FamiCom/SNES version got made given the MD version seems to be 1991 release.
If any game there needs a fully revised ROM hack, it's definitely MD California Games... at least to figure out how to duplicate Mark Cerny's gameplay and add the disk stage challenge...
The SNES did get California Games 2 but I don't recall much about it. Probably crap.
The SNES did get California Games 2 but I don't recall much about it. Probably crap.
Out of all the versions I have played it’s not them all the master system port is my favourite, Love the lynx version just a shame it’s missing events.
Hackysack was already stupid back then when it was called footbag and the only redeemable quality was hitting the seagull.
I have this game on my Commodore 64 as the tape and disk versions and Amiga 500.
Both of them are great formats 😺👍.
I also have the Mega Drive version,
but i was dissapointed with that format 😿.
CALIFORNIA GAMES is a legendary classic game 😺👍🕹️.
Greetings from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.
Mark Cerny showing his talents here. Gotta love the Atari 2600 version though. I find it so hard to be critical of games on the system when you know the developers had so little to work with to begin with.
Nice video - have good memories of the Amiga version. I think you need to get momentum on the half pipe through pressing up and down on the joystick as you go up and down the ramp. What happened to the IIGS version listed on the preview though?
Here you go th-cam.com/video/uIpFHcpQg4M/w-d-xo.html
👍
I love the NES port. I grew up playing it with my cousins back in the day. I can still tie or beat all the records on Two galaxies. Half pipe is easy when you figure out the controls. I can get around 30k. 9.0 is the highest possible score on surfing. I can get around 220k on footbag.
Had the C64 version. Used to love the motocross bike racing and surfing. Good times indeed.
I had the Atari ST verion and liked it. One time on half-pipe I was able to keep scoring after the timer ran out... must have been a bug. I just kept doing half turns until I got bored. I got a crazy high score.
Did the Apple ii gs version get accidentally missed out?
Yes. He made a follow-up video containing the port, however
th-cam.com/video/uIpFHcpQg4M/w-d-xo.html
I have the MSX version here on my MSX. It's a Spectrum port done the most lazy way possible. I don't think it was coded by "Choice" at all, I believe it was Erbe soft doing its usual "Lets pass this code through an automatic Spectrum -> MSX converter and call it a day", and the Spectrum version wasn't all that good to start.
I kid you not, the game runs at like 1 frame per second, you can actually SEE the screen updating, its like it takes half a second to update the upper half of the screen, and then half a second to update the lower half of the screen. Oh, and of course, no sound. It's one of the most hideous thing I ever played, and if anyone had the guts to release this a commercial game, this person was a huge dishonest swindler.
The Master System version was a huge hit here in Brazil, many brazilians love this game because of the SMS version which, IMO, is the best version of the game, with the Amiga version coming in second.
The Lynx version is the most polished one, but missing 2 events its kinda sad since its probably the most advanced hardware the game was made for.... not considering the Mega-Drive version because .... Novotrade obviously botching the Mega-Drive version really badly. I can't understand how a company who botched Castlevania so badly on Amiga could still get contracts to port games to other systems.
Oh, and the Atari 2600 version is really great for the system indeed, and I'm going to say, Footbag on all versions is probably my fav event, and the 2600 version features some stuff on this even that's NOT on any of the other versions, and the way the score is handled on the 2600 makes it a lot more balanced and fun to play than on other versions. I honestly think they could had made a full 2600 game just of that footbag event and it would be a good 2600 game but, like you said, the BMX version is very fun too, with Surfing and Half-Pipe being less fun but still very good to play anyway (The 2600 version of Surfing also has a move I haven't seen in any other version, which is the ability to walk towards the front of the board)
Wow, the MSX version sound really bad. I'm actually quite glad it didn't work. Saved me the pain of having to play it.
I only have played the NES and Master System versions. I was going to try the Genesis version, but since you said it is bad, then nevermind. Too bad there was never a SNES version.
There was a California Games 2 on the SNES. I'm not sure what it is like though.
The Master System version seems to be the console port that's closest in spirit to the MS-DOS port I played when I was a kid. Probably just a bit better actually, maybe the best port that doesn't significantly change the game. Mega Drive version looks nice but doesn't even look like the same game. Amiga version kind of looks like the SMS and MS-DOS versions but better, while keeping the same spirit, maybe definitive.
I liked the Atari 2600 version, but that's probably because it was the only one I could manage to do any good in(well except for the BMX event, where I still sucked)
It's my birthday!
Happy birthday to you! ✌️😎✌️
I heard your house insurance does not allow the actual amount of candles on your cake ??
Happy Birthday!
So the SMS version is the best...or the Lynx?
SMS is the overall best but I do like the surfing ion the Lynx.
I had the Spectrum version and wasn't impressed, the C64 disc version is generally considered to be the classic version. The Atari VCS version was ambitious given the hardware and the scaling in the Lynx version was ground breaking for a home system. Personally, I found Winter Games the more fun and accessible game :)
Glad I didn't have to play the speccy version this time round 😁
On that ZX Spectrum version It sounds like your 'tape' hasn't stopped. I mean you can hear the loading sounds on your video.
oh dear lord i have played almost every version of this made in America lol from a monochrome apple 2e to the atari lynx ........ you know the other reason epyx was known as a hero to anyone who owned a c64 was they had the "fast loader" cartridge you put in the little used cartridge slot of the c64 that helped to load faster ...........To me the lynx game was just a remake of the 2600 version ....
Did I hear "Louie Louie" at the beginning of some of the later ports?
Yes you sure did.
Great stuff as always.
So, you think you might ever tackle DOOM? Or is that just way too massive an undertaking?
Possibly! It is a massive task though.
Hmmm...
I gotta go with either the C64, Amiga, MS-DOS, or the Master System/Mark III version.
The NES/Famicom port is okay. It's at least better than the NES/FDS port of Winter Games...
Should we expect California Games II next? :)
Not just now but maybe sometime this year 😉
You're almost at 420
Also this game is boring as af
yep, not far off.
Intereseting and diverse list, ever played any version, probably sucked at it.
I've never been good at any of these types of games. You're right about the controls not being very intuitive for this one.
What happened to the Apple IIGS version? Did it fail to load like the Speccy and MSX ones?
Sorry, I forgot to add it to the main video. Here's an update th-cam.com/video/uIpFHcpQg4M/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroCore Cool. Thanks.
Why is this episode not public?
It is now but for some reason were seeing it when you should not be.
The VGA mode on the DOS version is unfortunately one of those lazy 16-color jobs that just takes the EGA mode and gives it a slightly better palette. Understandable given that VGA was very much a luxury in 1988, but less than ideal for a game that I feel was always better as a technical showcase than a, well, game.
This was one of my first Mega Drive games, always hated the half pipe haha, love hate relationship with this game, it's pretty crap but I have memories of playing it when I was a kid.
not my kind of game with it's "strange" controls and all but, hey, at least they got the trash littered broken pathways of LA right.
4:57 I'm not sure if they were planning to make those bad ljn games, or maybe it's because ljn treated them like crap. Just like how universal interactive studios treated naughty dog like crap. I don't know.
so the Java version disqualifies as a game.
i hate "games" with no game. so disappointing.
how did you get the Java footage?
I used a Java emulator running on Windows.
i think its the time someone to talk about grand father of gran turismo....Street Rod;)
Street Rod? I'll take a look in to that one.
I know why text on apple 2 looks bad but I still ask why apple 2 text looks so
Bad
I strongly disagree with you for the first time: the master system version is the best one by a mile. The lynx version is missing 2 games, the physics is weird (as a master player on foot bag, I can say it looks like a brick on the lynx and other versions).
You can change the gravity on master system too if you win the bonus game (footbag gravity, surfing speed and jump height in BMX)
That version outshines even the mega drive version - which only have better graphics and that is it. The same with lynx version.
I'd go for the Master System version over the Lynx version as well, owned the game on multiple systems, so no bias.
For whatever reason they dropped 2 events (cartridge space, coding issues, whatever..) it was shocking to find less events than those featured on the C64 cassette version.
Also, why change the surfing mechanics?
More was achieved on the Sega 8 bit console, than Atari's 8/16 bit hybrid console.
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 I can't agree more. I also owned it in multiple versions, the sms is the winner.
Do you know when some have a game to always return when they have some free time and want to have fun? It's the California Games on sms.
Where did you guys hear him say the Lynx version was the best?
He said the quality was uneven, and mentioned the missing games.
He said "Have I saved the best till last?", not "I have saved the best till last"
@@solarflare9078 yes I got it. I am answering him about that
Can you also do a Battle of the Ports of Pac-In-Time?
Some time in the future I can.
I had it on PC back in the day. I hated it.
liked california games II better. and ski or die and skate or die better than either one of the california games.
The only version worth playing is the Master System one. The rest is pure crap.
I have to admit, it was the Master System version I mostly played as a kid.
Choice? More like no choice to release just bad games!
Very disappointing Amstrad version this time. The best for me is Master System one, very complete for an 8bit port and with lovely graphics. California Games II is garbage in the Sega 8 bit console.
Apple ][ is a crapshoot at best. C64 really picks up the pace. ZX Spectrum is really broken. CPC really fucked things up. MSX is more broken than the Spectrum. NES is very good in most parts. Master System is great. 2600 is great within limitations. Genesis is a disappointment. Amiga isn't a pushover. ST dropped the ball. PC is a crapshoot. Lynx is has the sprite scaling but not enough to save things. Old school mobile phone is very lazy. The jingle played in most versions is Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen.
Always disappointed by Amiga Cal Games, jerky animation on the Skateboarding, a weaker surfing event than the C64.
The Lynx missing events supposedly due to coding issues, meaning they had to be dropped, but not had that confirmed.
I was never a huge fan of this and similar games when they were popular. They were so hard to control- and the time it seemed to take to master the events didn't appear to pay off much. Much like T&C for the NES. Just not my bag.
I kind of agree with you.
I thought there was an Snes version too, but I must of been mistaken. Never been a fan of this game anyway
California Games II is the one that has a SNES version. Not the first game.
Man do I hate this game