Another thread I was reading got me thinking on this one.. what games do you feel are 'missing' from the 7800s lineup? i don't mean 'what the killer app' would have been, but just things that seemed to be major hits (particularly in the early/test launch) that Atari seemed to have either overlooked or never got around to. Note, these are NOT requests for homebrews.. just thoughts on what maybe should have been.
Kangaroo - I'm a bit surprised Atari didn't put this one out with a new coat of pixels in order to have a good slightly-fresher platformer out there. It wasn't a 'hit' game by any stretch but could have helped bolster the 'cuteness' games a little bit.
Defender / Stargate - I'm amazed this one could be missed, particularly after the fantastic Stargate for the 2600. Yeah, it was long in the tooth by 1983, but it was still one of the 'big macho' games around and Defender was one of the 2600's mainstays (despite its bad quality).
Missile Command - An old game, certainly, but still popular (particularly with the trackball) and the 7800 could have been a very colorful version. Not entirely sure how the two-button setup would work with a three-button game, mind you...
Apshai - Yeah, not exactly in Atari's catalog, but the 7800 needed to compete at some level with the 'computer games' of the time, and one of the dominant genres was the dawn of the cRPG. Apshai was a light-action RPG with lots of rooms and relatively simple gameplay by today's standards, certainly, but it was 'deep' for its time. The Apshai series with better graphics and maybe some of the desc text on the actual SCREEN would have been a good staple for the 7800 and helped with the near non-existant 'adventure' genre.
Kangaroo - I'm a bit surprised Atari didn't put this one out with a new coat of pixels in order to have a good slightly-fresher platformer out there. It wasn't a 'hit' game by any stretch but could have helped bolster the 'cuteness' games a little bit.
Defender / Stargate - I'm amazed this one could be missed, particularly after the fantastic Stargate for the 2600. Yeah, it was long in the tooth by 1983, but it was still one of the 'big macho' games around and Defender was one of the 2600's mainstays (despite its bad quality).
Missile Command - An old game, certainly, but still popular (particularly with the trackball) and the 7800 could have been a very colorful version. Not entirely sure how the two-button setup would work with a three-button game, mind you...
Apshai - Yeah, not exactly in Atari's catalog, but the 7800 needed to compete at some level with the 'computer games' of the time, and one of the dominant genres was the dawn of the cRPG. Apshai was a light-action RPG with lots of rooms and relatively simple gameplay by today's standards, certainly, but it was 'deep' for its time. The Apshai series with better graphics and maybe some of the desc text on the actual SCREEN would have been a good staple for the 7800 and helped with the near non-existant 'adventure' genre.