Summer Games & Desert Falcon retrospective: Struggling for the bronze | NES Works Gaiden

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2025

ความคิดเห็น • 106

  • @randycruel
    @randycruel 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My cousin had Sega Master System and Atari 7800 from 1986-1989. I had the Commodore 64 and NES from 1985-1990.
    What an amazing set up we had to experience literally almost everything.

  • @TroyBlackford
    @TroyBlackford 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Really interesting look at a classic system I knew virtually nothing about. I really appreciate how you've broadened your march through gaming history. We're all eager for more about the systems we loved as children and still do, but hearing about literally *everything* available gives much needed context and by definition, the ones we don't know about because we didn't have them/know about them are going to be more educational. Excellent job!

  • @randycruel
    @randycruel 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The Ouya has a Commodore 64 emulator on it. And it has an amazing controller config that makes Summer and Winter Games so cool. My family still plays it on UFC nights to this day.

  • @kraeman
    @kraeman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    That diver went in feet first and got 10's. That's supposed to be an automatic zero.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      Musta decremented so far below zero he flipped the score registers in the other direction. 8-bit games, man.

  • @DanielSavageOnGooglePlus
    @DanielSavageOnGooglePlus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I'm in love with Desert Falcon's cute little hopping motion. Star Fox Zero's walker mode clearly missed out on something endearing.

  • @SEGAClownboss
    @SEGAClownboss 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    1:20 I love you Jeremy, never change
    Desert Falcon always had this alluring look to me that reminds me of the C64 demoscene. The esoteric symbology, the muted brown palettes, text flashing in different colours and it all just has this Jeff Minter flavour to it.

  • @Choralone422
    @Choralone422 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I must say (again and again) I really enjoy seeing a new video from you each Wednesday. It really helps make the middle of the week even better! Keep up the great work!
    Each and every video you do on the 7800 really help to explain why the 7800 ended up the way it did without resorting to hyperbole.

  • @AQuestionofCharacter
    @AQuestionofCharacter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    It's so funny how much I readily accepted 2600 Zaxxon back then, regardless of its quality and inability to actually match the gameplay of the arcade. Desert Falcon was always interesting because of its originality, in my opinion. It featured aesthetics that weren't shown in many other games with its Egyptian themes and items. Plus, falcons are cool! (I played the XE version) Nice vid!

    • @BB-te8tc
      @BB-te8tc 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I readily accepted Atari 2600 Pac-Man growing up because it was the first and only version I ever played.

    • @AQuestionofCharacter
      @AQuestionofCharacter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@BB-te8tc Lol so did the entire entertainment industry because they still constantly use the sound effects from that game.

  • @DaneeBound
    @DaneeBound 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    The value-proposition of the 7800 looks bleaker by the month.

    • @gmc9987
      @gmc9987 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      I'm considering cancelling my pre-order at GameStop.

    • @MCastleberry1980
      @MCastleberry1980 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Try getting that instead of NES for Christmas as a kid and trying to convince yourself that playing Ms Pac Man, Pole Position II and Mario Bros is as good as my friends with Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Ninja Gaiden, etc

    • @XanthinZarda
      @XanthinZarda 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@MCastleberry1980 Oh my. I can already imagine it being painful to see games that could _actually save_ but hearing that nice Tecmo sound driver compared against the 7800's mighty -noise generator- TIA would probably break any child.

    • @MCastleberry1980
      @MCastleberry1980 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@XanthinZarda I mean luckily I just hung out at my friend's places, but yeah, I got ripped off as a kid lol

    • @juststatedtheobvious9633
      @juststatedtheobvious9633 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Many of us who owned the 7800 couldn't afford an NES or Master System.
      We just saw it as a cool graphics upgrade over the pre-crash systems we generally ended up with. Shame its best game wasn't released until February 2019, though.

  • @NukeOTron
    @NukeOTron 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Desert Falcon: childhood trauma in a 2600 cartridge. Seriously, the two-note song is very ominous, the enemies come out of nowhere, the controls feel awkward, and that sphinx's sudden appearance with that unusually loud "oo-wah-oo-wah" sound is icing on the cake. Then again, the Atari 2600 version wasn't exactly known for being the most functional version.
    Yes, I know you're talking the 7800 version. I just grew up with the 2600 version.

    • @jessragan6714
      @jessragan6714 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      The 2600 was clearly batting outside its league trying to play this game. I mean, it tried. An effort was made. But like Double Dragon, the concept was way beyond its reach.

    • @juststatedtheobvious9633
      @juststatedtheobvious9633 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jessragan6714
      There's a homebrew of Zaxxon that proves the 2600 could do better.
      And the biggest issue with Double Dragon is the enemy AI being set to Terminator end boss, without so much as a stun lock to help you.

  • @philmason9653
    @philmason9653 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Being pretty familiar with the NES & SNES libraries at this point, these gaiden series have been more interesting than the honden for me.

  • @JGRICH61
    @JGRICH61 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Beautifully made videos

  • @benjammin7700
    @benjammin7700 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had Summer Games for my Atari 800 XL disk drive. More events but what I like the most about it was playing the national anthems at the country select screen.

  • @Level1Sword
    @Level1Sword 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Desert Falcon sounds like a helicopter shooter with a modern day war asthetic instead of an Egyptian one.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I was surprised, too! I went into this expecting "Desert Strike." But remember, this was years before the Gulf War redefined America's image of warfare from "classic jungle camo" to "chocolate chip BDUs." In the mid ’80s, our adversarial relationship with Middle Eastern countries amounted to a lot of shouty posturing from a distance, not rolling tanks across the desert.

    • @Lifesizemortal
      @Lifesizemortal 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Desert Falcon is one of those games i only played for the first time a few years ago and yeah, perhaps the title is misleading even when that is EXACTLY what the game is about. I found the landing / flying mechanic very particular to that game

  • @cerberus144
    @cerberus144 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I played a lot of the 2600 version of Desert Falcon I love that game, the way the bird hops and flaps his wings the animations are so cute I love them.

  • @TeruteruBozusama
    @TeruteruBozusama 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    2:50 it looks like a mix of a receipt and and the blue screen of death

  • @CaptINVLD
    @CaptINVLD 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Desert Falcon actually looks pretty dang good for the time. I love the way the Sphinx's face animates.

  • @MN_-
    @MN_- 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    the vhs quality aesthetic is really awesome

  • @absolutezeronow7928
    @absolutezeronow7928 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I guess Desert Falcon gives me one more reason to get an Evercade so I can play the 7800 version on handheld or connected to my modern TV. I probably would have enjoyed a shooter like that too back in my NES kid days.

    • @absolutezeronow7928
      @absolutezeronow7928 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I have an Evercade, and 7800 version of Desert Falcon is pretty good. Definitely something I'd replay multiple times.

  • @RonnieBarzel
    @RonnieBarzel 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I loved how “Summer Games II” on the C64 (and other computers, I”m assuming) could pull in the events from the original.

  • @fineandsmurfy
    @fineandsmurfy 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for making this, I really enjoyed it!

  • @qycedweik1127
    @qycedweik1127 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Jeremy we miss seeing your beautiful cheekbones in HD !!

  • @theSato
    @theSato 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    It's so weird hearing this crisp, clean audio alongside grainy ancient VHS video.. haha

  • @duhdeedee
    @duhdeedee 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    -It would be pretty funny if Sega took inspiration from Desert Falcon for Panzer Dragoon. In II Zwei some stages have the dragon scurrying on the ground instead of flying.
    -My dad actually got me a 7800 instead of a 2600 Jr. because it was more advanced (but still not very expensive compared to NES).

  • @BlUsKrEEm
    @BlUsKrEEm 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Not a lot of offerings, but it did include my favorite game on the system. Desert Falcon is a strangely addictive game for me. It's really easy for me to get in the "zone" and loose myself in it in a way I don't tend to for other games of it's era.

  • @billcook4768
    @billcook4768 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Modern console makers should copy Coleco’s strategy. Instead of console exclusives, Sony should also put their games out on Xbox, just make sure the Xbox version sucks compared to PlayStation.

    • @piratapequeno
      @piratapequeno 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      They could go even further and only put the Xbox version on the 360.

    • @ValkyrieTiara
      @ValkyrieTiara 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'm imagining Nintendo doing this and it's even funnier. I can't stop laughing at the image of an official Mario Odyssey port on PS3 and it just being TRASH. Chunky models (they would have to make new ones specifically to be worse!), awful framerate, 480p, super gummy controls, music and sound like it's coming through a tin can... just a truly disgusting game all around lol

    • @magus2342
      @magus2342 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Have you seen Playstation Now on PC? Sony basically did exactly as you requested.

  • @Riz2336
    @Riz2336 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    After seeing this series of videos I can kind of see how the 7800 bombed

  • @yesthatdash
    @yesthatdash 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Jeremy, Absolutely love that filter.Nicely done.😊👍

  • @lounowell4171
    @lounowell4171 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    the power up system in desert falcon reminds me of Riddle of the Sphinx from 1982 for the 2600
    probably just a coincidence but if you stretch the imagination there could be some connection?

  • @BenCol
    @BenCol 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    So, what is the titular Desert Falcon shooting? Is it simply spitting at its enemies or can it fire bullets from its mouth like the snake enemies in Super Mario Bros. 2?
    And what is it about the falcon that so many want it dead? Is it a carrier bird flying secret messages for the resistance? Or did the falcon steal their sandwiches or something?

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The Falcon is stealing their gems and gold! You can see why they'd be perturbed.

    • @BenCol
      @BenCol 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@JeremyParish Fair enough, but I’m still perplexed as to what the falcon is using for ammunition - it appears to be arrows, but I can’t see a bow. Did the eagle swallow them all beforehand so it could later regurgitate them at lethal velocity at its enemies? That’s what I’m going with.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I think it's a mother bird that has weaponized the worm slurry it would normally feed its young.

  • @thepthepthep
    @thepthepthep 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    @0:23 Something’s really wrong with the Nt mini core because wow it’s not supposed to sound that deep

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'm still struggling to get my 7800 to work correctly... I can currently capture video but no audio. I figured the Nt Mini's inaccurate sound is better than no sound at all...

  • @goranjosic
    @goranjosic 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    4:44 - Is this a John Stossel

  • @abraveastronaut
    @abraveastronaut ปีที่แล้ว

    I have to admit, the title "Desert Falcon" did not lead me to expect an actual bird.

  • @Monkey_SK
    @Monkey_SK 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hold on. Who in the comments taped over this week's NES Works episode!? I hadn't watched it yet.

  • @baardbi
    @baardbi 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Really interesting episode as usual. Great work. VHS is awesome, but can we please have HD Jeremy back?

  • @BanditTheCat2017
    @BanditTheCat2017 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Summer & Games & Desert & Falcon

    • @BB-te8tc
      @BB-te8tc 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      & Knuckles

  • @joshzumstien6289
    @joshzumstien6289 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Play Desert Falcon on the Atari Collection 2 cart, only on Evercade!

  • @Pikachu132
    @Pikachu132 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Epyx' "Games" games with their more methodical and skill-based gameplay always felt a lot more satisfying than Track & Field and its ilk. Even in this slightly reduced form, Summer Games really is a damn fine competitive sports game.

  • @MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml
    @MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was wondering when this was going to happen... I had my days mixed up.

  • @tomstorm255
    @tomstorm255 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I grew up with this game on the C64 - and hearing the music during the torch lighting on this version without the excellent SID chip is just.. sad

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Kinda the general theme for that port

  • @jamesmoss3424
    @jamesmoss3424 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I will play desert falcon. 😀👍🎮

  • @gacelmiguel
    @gacelmiguel 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I always wondered why this VHS aesthetic is not used more often in the retro gaming community. I loved when you started to use of the VHS quality video. You might want to zoom in the camera on you face so we can see you more clearly. Doing that you compensate for the lower definition.

  • @RhizometricReality
    @RhizometricReality 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    "i hope no cops are watching this episode" same. Acab

    • @Yordleton
      @Yordleton 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      whenever he actually said "ACAB" in the mappy episode my heart did the Grinch thing and broke through the edges of the X-ray machine. I love it.

  • @jessragan6714
    @jessragan6714 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Nobody could splinter a user base like Atari... not even Sega with its Sega CD and 32X! It's weirdly ironic that they were desperate to kill the Atari 5200 with the 7800, and then just as desperate to kill the 7800 with the XEGS, basically a re-do of the 5200 with more RAM and a less frustrating controller. (And Mentos for system buttons.)
    Also, John Stossel (and his apostles' colossal fossils) still sucks. Can you believe he's got a presence on TH-cam? He's still Ayn Randing it up after all these years.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I love the Mentos buttons, tho

  • @stoozdee
    @stoozdee 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Holy shit that Olympic theme 😖

  • @brettdulaney697
    @brettdulaney697 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Dessert falcon was my favorite 7800 game along with food fight, I was one of those unlucky kids who got a atari 7800 for Christmas 86 instead of a nintendo, me and my brother was passed, but we did end up getting like the best games in the Whole library in no time, about 8 or so games that were all pretty good minus karteka

  • @rootbeer_666
    @rootbeer_666 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I thought Summer Games seemed familiar until I saw the events, then I realized it was a different title I played from Epyx, World Games. It wasn’t great either, and I’m not sure why we rented it. It doesn’t help that the experience is forever marred by being associated with the stench of some rotting cruciferous vegetable. Probably broccoli.
    Don’t ask.
    Mostly because I don’t remember the story behind it.

    • @rootbeer_666
      @rootbeer_666 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also, I was going to grumble about more John Stossel but I watched the full story he presented and it was considerably more positive than I expected. Not that my opinion of him has improved, I still think he’s terrible.

  • @piratapequeno
    @piratapequeno 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    What was it that caused Atari to drop the ball so hard in this period compared to Nintendo or even Sega? Had they just bled out their talent and know-how following the video game crash? One would have to assume that it was at least *possible* for the 7800 to have been quite a bit more of a success had Atari played its cards right. The hardware wasn't terrible (besides the on-board sound), it was backwards-compatible with the most popular console pre-NES, and it was from a well-known, domestic brand (at the height of post-War Japanese xenophobia). Why does it seem like Atari was intent on barely trying to compete?

    • @absolutezeronow7928
      @absolutezeronow7928 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Bad leadership (Trammel was the wrong guy at the wrong time), bad timing (NES was a juggernaut by 1987, if 7800 launched in 1984 as originally planned, that would have made things more competitive. If Sega didn't rely on middlemen, Master System also could have done better). I definitely could see an early console wars if Nintendo had stumbled more or if Atari or Sega got luckier and made better decisions.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yeah, Tramiel had made huge bank with the Commodore 64 and bought Atari's home division for the computers. The consoles were just a sort of extra that came along with the PCs, which is why they seem like an afterthought (they were).

    • @juststatedtheobvious9633
      @juststatedtheobvious9633 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JeremyParish
      A shame he made almost no effort to sell the ST in America.
      I only found out they existed due to foreign coverage.
      And even allowing for his ridiculous apathy to consoles, he tried to sell the XE on top of the 7800. That kind of insanity would be like Microsoft releasing an early Steambox right this moment, in order to better compete with itself.

  • @Mikey-zj8bn
    @Mikey-zj8bn 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Okay this video makes my head hurt I remember one of the first games I bought was desert falcon....but I could have sworn I had the 2600....lol nm

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      As the video says, it was ported to 2600 and Atari 8-bit.

    • @Mikey-zj8bn
      @Mikey-zj8bn 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JeremyParish yep thats why I edited my comment and it just made me wonder because I remember it looking more confusing then it did lol

  • @apollosungod2819
    @apollosungod2819 ปีที่แล้ว

    Atari Corp launched a massive marketing campaign with the Atari 7800 but the biggest wtf was that it was already backward compatible with 2600 games and yet Atari Corp somehow had money to order making Atari 2600 Junior consoles... in 1986 at the same time they launched the 7800... and then iirc by 1987 or 88 they launched the Atari XEGS with a commercial on television outright mocking the Nintendo Entertainment System hardware and then finally by 1989 they launched the Atari Linx...
    Bear in mind that during the 1980s the "gamer" magazines were not organized but if they had been organized it would have been difficult for editorial staff to hide how horrible the Atari systems were like how during the 2005 to 2009 timeframe all the gamer journalists decided to address the Xbox 360 RRoD until the last year mentioned.
    Also if you were somehow suckered into buying the Atari 7800, just imagine going to arcades and to friend's houses who owned the NES or Sega Master System and basically feeling like they had videogame software and hardware from ten years into the future.
    Nevermind if you had a friend who got the launch Sega Genesis with the weak marketing that Sega of America had in 1989.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  ปีที่แล้ว

      TLDR: Atari had no freaking clue

  • @jbanks979
    @jbanks979 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    The failure of choosing this system as an idiot 7 year old on Christmas of 1986 over the NES had gone from an angry mistake to a hilarious joke at this point (the nes was requested the following year).
    The summer games opening theme, made on the same sound chip you’d find in 1977’s 2600, was just painful.
    I assume next week we get the XEGS, Atari’s attempt to bloat the market a decade before Sega did it in the 90’s. That, even though a reskinned computer from 1979, had a better internal sound chip than the 7800

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I don't have any concrete plans to cover the XEGS for the time being, sorry!

  • @treymoney
    @treymoney 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Enjoyed the Stossel shade. That guy's been a jerk for over 40 years now

  • @jhoughjr1
    @jhoughjr1 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    IM always amazed at Ataris complete lack of understanding of video games. Basically as soon as competition happened, they never kept up.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Atari mostly did ok up until the point Warner sold the company for parts and the home biz was picked by someone who only cared about the Atari computer lineup, not consoles.

  • @tcbvgames
    @tcbvgames 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Desert Falcon. My lord... don't even think about playing the 2600 version. I owned it, and the visuals are so poorly drawn, it makes the game almost unplayable. Shamefully, it's the only version of the game that can be played on the Atari Vault Steam/PS4 collection.

    • @JeremyParish
      @JeremyParish  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Some of those late era 2600 games are real exercises in abstraction and wishful thinking!

    • @tcbvgames
      @tcbvgames 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@JeremyParish Prior to watching your video, I hoped that the hit detection and depth perception on the 7800 version would have been better, thanks to the improved visuals. Looks like you had the same problems I did with the 2600 version. Oh well.

  • @RemnantCult
    @RemnantCult 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Heavily neglected console. Could have been the greatest Atari console if it had the library to back it up. The hardware was there but the software? Not really.

  • @Syntox
    @Syntox 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Was everyone working at Atari on crack????

    • @juststatedtheobvious9633
      @juststatedtheobvious9633 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      No, the drugs were back in their more successful days.
      This was Atari barely caring about their console division.