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.

Evil out! *throws beans at Monday*

Crap, it's already Monday. I don't know about you all, but I was really enjoying my weekend. Oh well, guess the week has to begin at some point. I hope you all had a great weekend too. Mine was a long one as I had taken Friday off to spend with my wife. Friday was her birthday and after I got home from work and got a little sleep we went out for some fun. She likes to go shopping on her birthday, so that's what we did! Her main place of interest was a visit to Kinokuniya for stationary and some blind box fun. We had dinner at Cheesecake Factory and visited a few other stores. Dinner was specifically good. I had a cheeseburger with fries and was too full for my cheesecake. It took me all weekend to eat that slice. We had ordered her a birthday cake from Nothing Bunt Cakes and Mom gave her a cookie cake. So much cake!

There was a big winter storm this weekend, so we spent Saturday and Sunday at home. Our grocery order came Friday, so it was nice lounging around this weekend. I played video games and watched a lot of TV. Actually, Saturday evening was spent with my laptop building a game library for my Atari Gamestation Go. I had gotten some Micro SD Cards last weekend for this task and working on it was fun. I'm not done, but you're never done with this sort of thing. I did manage to build a good library of games for now. However, I discovered that I've misplaced my SD card hub. So actually playing said games will have to wait until it's found... or I just get a new one. Thankfully they're cheap. Speaking of my Atari Gamestation Go, My Arcade introduced a new model this weekend. The Capcom/Namco version! They had been previewing it over the course of the year and I was tempted to get it instead. However the Atari version has a trackball and keypad, so I'm more happy with mine. I definitely wanted it more. It feels a little more premium, you know? It's funny in various Gamestation forums reading the occasional troll who joins the chat to tell us to buy another retro handheld. It's just like the iPhone vs Android people. Who cares?

I also enjoyed more sneak peeks of Wonderfest Winter kits groups are readying for the show. There's some really fun figures planned, I really like a set of Transformers SD figures one group has. The first American Wonderfest is nearing and I'm super excited to go! More on that later as we've got Toylanta first! Several groups have some neat exclusives planned this year and I love checking them out. There's always show exclusives, but each year it gets bigger and more get made! I really enjoy chatting with the different toy designers there as well. It's such a fun show. The Mrs got me a thermal printer at Christmas and I've been having fun coming up with stickers for Zone Base to hand out. I've always have been tempted to make business cards... but that never felt right. I've got rolls of sticker paper in fun colors to print them on, so if you see me, get some stickers!

As far as toys go, I got some good ones this weekend. While I was sleeping Friday, the Mrs went to the store for a few things left off the grocery order. While there she picked up Age of the Primes Quickstrike! Hooray! I'm a little behind on Age of the Primes toys and was worried about getting him. Saturday I ordered the Blokees Transformers Defender version 06 box. I'd been waiting patiently for it to hit the US shop and can't wait to get my hands on those new kits! Unfortunately the Bruticus kit wasn't available yet, so I'll have to wait a little longer to complete him. Maybe when it shows I'll finally order a box of the new Transformers Wheels kits. I really want some of them too. I planned on building more from my backlog this weekend, but only assembled 6 Defender version kits. Oh well, you're never done! 

Well, I've got a fun week in store for you all. There's plenty of robots, monsters, and misadventure planned for your eyeballs on Zone Base! Thank you all for reading and sharing the site with your friends. Be excellent to each other!

Monday Fighter

Hey there Zone Base readers, thank you for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! It's been a little longer since my last weekly update thanks to a slightly busy Monday last week, but we're back to the non-spooky routine after one hell of a successful Halloween season. I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was pretty low key. Saturday was a somewhat rainy day with a trip to Walmart and a great hamburger for supper. The Mrs and I finally watched Jurrasic World Reborn... and unfortunately it wasn't great. Still, I enjoyed the dinosaur action and world building. I actually thought the movie had a good story, it just wasn't told very well. 

Sunday, we had plans to do some housework that fell through as time got away from us. That and I fixed a drawer with a broken runner leading to an achey body for the rest of the day. The fix itself wasn't terribly hard, just twisting myself into where I needed to be was. Next weekend, we'll make up for lost time. I plan to do some toy organizing. Not hard or exciting, but time consuming and fun. And now that it's November, I'm on the annual 'don't buy yourself anything until after Christmas' rule. Don't worry though readers, there's plenty of content coming for your eyeballs in the coming weeks. After all, I get and have more toys than covered here. I'll always find something to talk about.

I did pick up a Funko Pop Rhinox this weekend as the Mrs suggested I should. Just need Black Arachnia to complete the Beast Wars set of Pops. I've really come to enjoy their mini Pop line this year, those are pretty neat. Unfortunately Funko doesn't seem to be doing so well business wise, which is a shame. I hope any employees that might loose their jobs bounce back quickly. Since I didn't post last week, I got some neat toys last weekend. Ordered Cyberworld Cyber Changers Starscream and Armored Cyber Changers Optimus Prime. At this point I've got the entire Cyberworld toy line and if things go according to plan will cover the rest of the line in the next coming weeks.

I'm sure more Cyberworld toys are on the way, hopefully 2026 will provide more of that neat little series. I also ordered the Blokees Transformers Defender version Devastator kit and one blind box from Galaxy Version series 08. I was trying to keep my last toy purchases for awhile simple and completing the Defender version Devastator is a goal I must finish! Actually, Defender version series 04, 05, and Galaxy Version 08 are sets I'm highly anticipating. I let Santa know how much I want them, let's just see if I was good enough all year to find them under the tree.

I also find myself wanting an Atari Gamestation Go as it looks awesome! I've got the Atari Gamestation that was released a few years ago and initially wrote off the Go when it was revealed. However it's proven to be an improvement of the original Gamestation all together and I'll be needing to get my hands on that! They've improved things like updating firmware and adding game roms making for a better experience. Not to mention it has a number pad incorporated in its design as well as in the extra controllers. Extra controllers? Yes, it's portable, but can be connected to a TV and used as a traditional console! Modern day Atari is a really neat company with some cool products. Admittedly a little under the radar... but that's where this site lives. 

Speaking of this site, I hope the various improvements make your experience as a reader more enjoyable. I'm always trying to improve myself and that extends to this podunk site. Thank you all for reading and continuing to support Zone Base. I guess it just goes to show how many of you just want to enjoy your hobbies without all the click bait trash nonsense. Bird fingers all around, but Mutual High Fives everyone! Be sure to share the site with your friends. There's another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure coming up!

Now Loading...

Hello there Zone Base readers, welcome back to another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! We've been celebrating Christmas the past few weeks and if there's one thing most of us expect to see under the tree is a new video game! Therefore, welcome to a specifically video game flavored week! Hit start and let's have some fun! This will also be the last normal week for a bit as Christmas and New Years will be going on for the 2 weeks after this one. As usual during holiday weeks, there will be content, but it will be abbreviated. I hope you all understand, but hope you have a great holiday even more!

This weekend was a busy one. The Mrs and I spent all of Saturday finishing our Christmas shopping. Stores were busy and things got hectic, but by the time it was done... so were we! Now we can enjoy the rest of Christmas without much stress. That's nice. I did manage to get a few toys for myself. I usually don't buy myself stuff during Christmas, but after I'm done getting everyone stuff, I do end up with a little something here and there. I found a Legacy United Slipstream at Target who didn't initially ring up at the register. Unexpectedly the cashier shrugged and generically entered $5. I'll take a win when I can! Later at a Ross I was hoping to find some of the random toy deals that may can be found at Christmas time. They mostly had Earthspark and Rise of the Beasts toys I had already purchased, but there was one Vintage Reissue Shrapnel to be found under a pile of random crap. Not to mention the Bombshell ordered from Walmart on clearance. Score! I love me some Insecticons! 

Sunday morning meant a last minute run to Target for some extra stocking stuffers before playing some games on my Switch. I maybe slept 7 hours over the entire weekend and honestly have been dealing with some extra body aches that were a little unbearable by Sunday. An Icy Hot patch and some Tylenol came in handy! Sunday evening my Mom came over and we had a little dinner for her birthday. Well, I've got a busy day ahead of me. There's plenty of presents to wrap and household chores to be done. I'm also looking at a hectic few weeks of juggling the holidays and my graveyard shift work schedule. Get in the car, when the going gets weird, the weird go pro. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I really appreciate your support. I know your busy enjoying the holidays with your loved ones and dealing with the business of the season yourself. If you could take the time to spread the word and share the site with your friends... that would be awesome. Thank you all. Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and Mutual High Fives everyone!

Xexious Promotional Video

Xevious is one of those games I wish I was good at. I can generally get a few minutes in before giving up. Sure, if I practiced more, I would probably get better and when I was younger did just that. I'd play these games over and over until I got somewhat decent and could get pretty far. Unfortunately a game like Xevious is like a martial art, you've got to keep at it or the skills will fade away. The game was originally released by Namco in Japan before Atari released it here in the states. Atari and Namco had a working relationship back then which lead to kids like myself not knowing they were different companies initially. I recently discovered this little video produced by Atari when they were introducing the game to arcades. It's a fun little look into Xevious's backstory and game play from back in the day. It's hard not to appreciate these older promotional videos these days.

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?

Genghis in Space

I've been revisiting Gyruss is recent days. It's a classic space shooter game made by Konami released in 1983 as an arcade game. Since then it's been on pretty much every system since. Despite it's age and the many versions on various hardware, there's never been a sequel. That's really weird in gaming, perhaps Gradius and other Konami's shooters fill that role. Still, I wouldn't mind a follow up. The only thing else is a bootleg game called Venus. You know I'm talking about an old arcade game when the subject of bootleg versions comes up.

Game play is pretty standard shooter fair. Though instead of your ship residing in the foreground, it can rotate around the entire screen similar to Tempest. This style of game is called a tube shooter, though it feels more like a hybrid of styles to me in Gyruss. Enemies come in waves as do obstacles with a boss at the end of the levels. Plot is light, you're flying through the solar system ridding the universe of evil along the way. Depending on the version you're playing, Genghis Khan is the main villain behind the forces you're fighting. Don't ask me how Genghis Khan came back as a galactic threat, or where he got all those eyeball space ships... but I dig it.

Weekly Update- 11/28/22

It's the beginning of a new week and the start of the Christmas season on Planet Zone! Hope you all didn't mind me taking a little break last week. I sure do love the Thanksgiving holiday and the extended time off. I really needed that! I spent the time watching kaiju movies, episodes of Transformers, and Christmas specials! Turns out Gobots are in Guardians of the Galaxy! Speaking of Gaudians of the Galaxy, stay tuned to my social media starting Thursday December 1st for my daily coverage of the Guardians of the Galaxy Lego Advent Calendar! In the meantime, I've got a fun week planned for you readers. Thanks so much for your support and please share with your friends!

Had my Atari those days

 

The other day something got me thinking about playing Atari back in the day. I was a 2600 kid, had a few different units. One would seemingly burn out in time to find a replacement at a thrift store. Said replacement would last the same amount of time. I think my last 2600 was actually a Sears Video Arcade. The Sears Video Arcade was the Atari 2600 sold under Sears branding for whatever reason that was. The person who'll inform me why will also correct me that the 2600 was originally the Atari VCS. For that person, thank you for your input. Because of my age it will always be the 2600 as by the time I got mine, it had been renamed.

I loved my Atari and have some fond memories of playing it on my little 13" black and white TV while listening to the radio. Of course the NES surpassed it in every way, but I still played my 2600 during the time as well. After all, a NES game could be pretty exspensive and an 2600 game could be bought for pretty cheap. I had to wait for a holiday to get Megaman 2, but got Vanguard for a few bucks on clearance. Fortunately the same place with those cheap Atari games turned out to be a cheap NES game outlet eventually. Good old Kay-Bee.

One thing that I never liked about my trusty 2600 was all those switches. They served a purpose, but I never liked them. Speaking of things I didn't like, I hated switching between the paddle controllers and joysticks. With my NES, all I needed to swap around was the light gun occasionally, and that was a big occasionally. It wasn't until adulthood that I learned of the Atari 2800. Which would have been the ideal Atari (other than an ST) for me at the time. 

The 2800 started it's life as a Japanese version of the 2600. It featured a more slick looking console to compete with the Famicom and other newer consoles at the time. This was just before Atari updated the 2600 with a sleeker looking box (at a much lower price) to try and compete with the NES. It looked sharp, replaced those switches with much more modern looking buttons. Most importantly, the controller was a hybrid paddle and joystick unit. A good update that corrected some issues.

Unfortunately for Atari, this wasn't much of a success in Japan. It wasn't even their first attempt at marketing the 2600 over there. The 2800 was about $100 (in US dollars) more than a Famicom and was almost a 10 year old system at this point with no real way to compete with the then hot new thing. So the 2800 bowed out of the race in Japan quietly before finding a new life here in America as the Sears Video Arcade 2. Don't ask me how we got back to Sears, history can be weird sometimes.

Forcing A Soldier Into The Stars

I remember thinking Star Force was pretty similar to Star Soldier as a kid. However lots of space shooters were pretty similar, so I just chalked it up to that. Later I'd learn that Star Soldier is a spiritual follow up. Really this post isn't as much about either game as it is about playing shoot 'em ups more as a kid. I was pretty good at them at the time. During the Atari and NES years I'd often find myself in front of the TV just shooting bad guys at a frantic pace. It was a lot of fun and often gave way to playing out levels with toy space ships bought from gumball machines. Which ironically may have been bootlegs of keshi based on the very games I was playing out.

Load Nightmare

My parents would never buy me one.

Do The New Week

Holy crap it's Monday and the beginning of a new week here on Zone Base! I've got some fun content planed for you all this week... did that kid not notice her hand was cold? As usual, thanks for reading Zone Base and please don't forget to share with your friends.

Don't Let E.T. Ruin Your Week

I still remember that Christmas morning. My older brother and I's stockings were full of Atari games. The packaging made them a perfect fit for the big red socks and one of those big ass Tootsie Roll piggy banks full of candy that never got ate. Of all the games we got that Christmas, I think Circus was my favorite. I loved that game. We also got E.T, like every other kid in our school. I was pretty excited, E.T was all the rage. Speaking of rage have you ever played the game? 

Fortunately I was too young to get mad at it. I just enjoyed the opening music and walking around the forest as E.T... fell in another pit.. I'd beat the game over and over. Hopefully this week won't fill you as full of rage as this game has a lot of people. I've got a week full of fun posts to hopefully help you enjoy your week. Which I really hope isn't anything like this game.

I hope you aren't endlessly chased by government agents through woods (or in general) and really hope you don't fall into a pit... or hundreds of pits. I'd also advise you don't eat any random Reese's (or any other candy) you find laying on the ground in said forest. If so, I'd strongly recommend you really pursue that whole 'new year, new me' thing in January.

Christmas Time On Zone Base!

I'm back from Thanksgiving break and you know what that means? It's Christmas time on Planet Zone! Hang your stockings and trim the tree, all month will be full of Christmas glee! I've got a fun week of posts in mind with extra Christmas cheer sprinkled throughout! As always, thank you for continuing to read Zone Base and please share with your friends!

What I done did this dang weekend

After getting home from work Saturday morning, the wife and I paid At Home a visit to see where they were on Halloween stock after putting away the grocery delivery. They've added a new display and more stock since our last visit and I was glad to see the return of the skeleton octopus. I wanted one last year and never bought it. We grabbed some candles that were very similar to older Halloween candles from both out childhoods. Not the exact same molds, but pretty dang similar. Aparently Tuesday Morning has begun stocking their Halloween wares, so I see a visit to our local one is in order soon.

After that was a trip to Home Depot for a few more yard things and a visit to Walmart for the handful of things we needed outside of our grocery order. I dig the convenience of having groceries delivered, but I like to pick out my own Ready-Pac salads. I grabbed The Real Ghostbusters Egon while there. Eventually I'll get Netflix Sideswipe and Megatron, but considering the hundreds of them there, No rush.

Picked up some Panda Express and headed home. After a nap I assembled our new patio furniture outside on said patio while listening to the crickets and the radio. It was pretty nice outside of the nearly 100 degree weather. Summer in Georgia, it's just as hot at night. Hooray baby powder!

I organized my new room for a few hours and consolidated a few boxes for better storage. While organizing some DVD's and Godzilla toys on a shelf I listed to Unsolved Mysteries. The old one on Pluto, I've still got to watch the new one. Seeing as I finally just started Tiger King... it might be a minute.

Sunday we cooked out and my mom came over. Though it was so hot, I probably didn't need to use any charcoal to cook the food. After mom left I initially planned to work on my room some more, but ended up playing some of my At Home Blasts in the living room while the wife played her Switch. Oddly enough about the Blast consoles, the audio doesn't always work depending on TV model.

Our living room TV, nope. I played some NES Star Wars and a bunch of Atari games. Secret Quest is still a lot better than you think it would be. Seaquest is still super fun. NES Star Wars is a lot harder than I remember, fun, but not a casual game. We ended the weekend watching ghost videos before the sandman entered. Brought dreams or something. Weekends are pretty great, sleep is awesome.

The Green Goblin Is Just The Worst

Every play a game in an arcade or a store display and have that annoying kid who keeps pestering you until you lose and immediately asks if he can play now? THAT KID GREW UP TO BE THE GREEN GOBLIN!

Atari E.T for Christmas

I got it for Christmas that year.

*shrug* I never thought it was that bad.

Merry Christmas from Atari