This Was Supposed to Be About Xevious

I'm admittedly on a bit of an Atari 7800 bender lately. You'll have to excuse me. I like the system and tend to ride it out wild hairs.

Xevious has actually been on my mind quite a bit over the past few months. I've been really enjoying Shadow Labyrinth (which reminds me... I need to get back to playing it), and since that game not only features Namco characters but actually takes place in the Xevious universe, it's gotten me thinking about it again.

While I've probably spent more time with the NES version than any other release, it's impossible to ignore the Atari 7800 port. It was one of the system's big launch titles, thanks once again to Atari's close relationship with Namco. Atari even published the arcade version here in the United States.

For years, I honestly assumed Namco had programmed the 7800 version themselves.

Much like last week's Ikari Warriors post, I decided to do a little digging.

Nope.

It was actually developed by General Computer Corporation—the same folks responsible for Ms. Pac-Man.

For some reason, I'd always assumed the 7800 version was adapted from a home computer release. Thinking about it, that's a feeling I get from a lot of Atari 7800 games. They're obviously console games, but they have this unmistakable home computer vibe to them.

I know that probably sounds a little ridiculous.

But consider Atari during the 1980s. They weren't just a console company—they were heavily invested in home computers. The Atari XEGS was essentially a repackaged computer, and the 5200 itself evolved from Atari's 8-bit computer architecture.

Really, a lot of the line between home computers and game consoles was blurrier than people remember.

The ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 were close enough in hardware that software often jumped between them with relatively little effort. Some consoles even had optional computer expansion kits.

Honestly, I think that idea deserved a bigger push.

If manufacturers had done more to market consoles as an affordable stepping stone into home computing, I think a lot more working-class families would have adopted computers much earlier.

Of course...

That probably would've upset the same gatekeepers who spent the '90s telling everyone they were idiots for using AOL because it made getting online too easy.

Oh yeah, Xevious is pretty good.

Ikari on Atari

Lately, I've been exploring some old Atari 7800 games and having a genuinely great time doing it. I've said before here on Zone Base that I've always thought the 7800 got a bit of a bum deal. Under different circumstances, I really think it could've been a much bigger success.

Most people don't associate Ikari Warriors with Atari. Usually it's the arcade version or the NES port that comes to mind. However, ports were also produced for both the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800. I haven't had a chance to try the 2600 version yet, but I really like the 7800 release. I've even seen more than a few people say they prefer it over the NES port. Whether that's honest opinion or just a little system loyalty, I couldn't tell you... but I can say it's a pretty fun game.

I was lying in bed playing it on my Atari GameStation Go while listening to a livestream of old Japanese ghost shows when a question suddenly popped into my head.

Who actually made this game?

Was SNK involved at all?

After all, Atari had a pretty good relationship with Namco around this time, which is why so many Namco games ended up being published under Atari's Tengen label. That got me wondering how Ikari Warriors ended up on the 7800.

So I started digging.

Let me tell you... information on some of these oddball Atari 7800 releases isn't exactly easy to come by.

The game was developed by a company called Imagineering and published by Atari sometime around 1989 or 1990. The exact release date seems a little fuzzy, which isn't too surprising considering how publishing dates were handled back then. That time frame certainly sounds right, though, because I distinctly remember seeing advertisements for the 7800 version in gaming magazines around that time.

More specifically, I remember Atari really pushing the artwork they used in those ads. I honestly feel like I've seen that particular piece of Ikari Warriors artwork more than any other artwork associated with the original game.

Admittedly, I've always preferred Ikari Warriors II, so that's the game that's gotten most of my attention over the years.

Aw hell, Atari

It's pretty safe to say Atari hasn't always made the best decisions when it comes to their game consoles. Sure, they had success with Pong and the VCS/2600 and their home computers were definitely popular. However, when it came to following up the 2600... they just never got it together. There was solid and not so solid attempts, but clearly someone was not connecting the dots. Admittedly the general ignorance about computers at the time didn't help. When Atari released the 5200, the 2600 was still pretty popular. What was the difference? Well, it's more powerful. Oh yeah? Yeah, here's the same games you already have for your 2600. See the disconnect?