I finally got around to reading this bonus chapter. I'm surprised no one has commented yet, but I found it a typically good chapter in the spirit of the book, and (like your other bonus chapters) it's a shame it didn't make the print version.
I actually played "Scramble" before I played Defender, so I was surprised to find it came out afterwards! I guess it had something to do with where I lived at the time, where Defender, probably unsurprisingly, sat virtually unplayed next to all the other Japanese arcade games. (I played the cocktail version of Defender.)
Chopper Command is one of my top five faves on the Atari 2600, and it was good to see it get a prominent mention in the article. In fact, most of the "variants" you mentioned I played and enjoyed immensely I think I still have the boxed version of "Star Ray" somewhere (in very bad condition, if I do) for the Amiga. I guess I gravitated toward this genre more than I realized.
One thing I didn't much like about arcade version of Defender was the separate buttons for thrust and reverse. It seemed pointless when a standard 8-way joystick could have handled all the functions just fine, as was done with most (all?) home ports of the game.
I had a friend in the 80's who had his own coin-op Stargate machine in his house. I didn't play it much, and really didn't understand it (what were the "stargates" for?). I never paid it much attention.
Oh well, I enjoyed this bonus chapter, but have been looking forward to your "Robotron" chapter for months! I'm just curious as to what y'all's take on "Robotron" will be!
I finally got around to reading this bonus chapter. I'm surprised no one has commented yet, but I found it a typically good chapter in the spirit of the book, and (like your other bonus chapters) it's a shame it didn't make the print version.
I actually played "Scramble" before I played Defender, so I was surprised to find it came out afterwards! I guess it had something to do with where I lived at the time, where Defender, probably unsurprisingly, sat virtually unplayed next to all the other Japanese arcade games. (I played the cocktail version of Defender.)
Chopper Command is one of my top five faves on the Atari 2600, and it was good to see it get a prominent mention in the article. In fact, most of the "variants" you mentioned I played and enjoyed immensely I think I still have the boxed version of "Star Ray" somewhere (in very bad condition, if I do) for the Amiga. I guess I gravitated toward this genre more than I realized.
One thing I didn't much like about arcade version of Defender was the separate buttons for thrust and reverse. It seemed pointless when a standard 8-way joystick could have handled all the functions just fine, as was done with most (all?) home ports of the game.
I had a friend in the 80's who had his own coin-op Stargate machine in his house. I didn't play it much, and really didn't understand it (what were the "stargates" for?). I never paid it much attention.
Oh well, I enjoyed this bonus chapter, but have been looking forward to your "Robotron" chapter for months! I'm just curious as to what y'all's take on "Robotron" will be!
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