New Atari 7800 Homebrew - Baby Pac-Man

[TrekMD]

Bob DeCrescenzo is currently working on a new homebrew for the 7800:  Baby Pac-Man.  This title is one that has never been ported to a home system because it is both a video game and a pinball game in one.  The game is still in development but binaries are available for testing. 

https://youtu.be/LK_OB2jc2Xc

Development Thread

[TrekMD]

Since no one has commented on this, I thought I'd wake up the thread.  The pinball table and the arcade portion are now combined!  Get the latest binary on the thread over at AA.  This is well worth playing and it is not even done yet!  This is the first and only Baby Pac-Man home version and it will be exclusive to the 7800!

[ArcadeAction]

This seems like a fun idea. I was just playing Baby Pacman again in an arcade/pinball museum last week.

The ghosts are probably the most intelligent of any Pac-Man arcade game in that they can move back and forth and wait and watch what your are doing. The arcade graphics also look very much like the Atari 5200 version of Pac-Man as the eyes are solid black. It's a game I'd like to play more of.

[TrekMD]

I always found it curious that the ghosts lacked the detail of other Pac-Man games but I believe that's because of resolution limiations of the arcade.

[TrekMD]

Check the thread on this over at AA.  This has made tremendous progress and it is fantastic!

[HomerRamone2084]

Never really bothered with this in the arcade - though I do remember it. (And im pretty fond of pins these days - Infact I used to have a Mr & Ms Pac Man pintable.. wish I still had it )

[TrekMD]

It's a tough version of Pac-Man and the 7800 will have the only home port for it once this is completed. 

[TrekMD]

Here is a video of the game as it is now.  Still some work to be done but it is fantastic!

https://youtu.be/3J-Y4wUPpIY

[TrekMD]

Yet a newer video with more pinball sounds added.  This is almost complete!

https://youtu.be/FNcRM4Tbr-g

[TrekMD]

This game has now been completed.  Unfortunately, there's been some issues (read: drama) because of some people making comments that were not helpful.  In any case, hopefully, we will see a cart release and the game will be sold on the AA Store.  Here is a picture of the cart that Bob shared.

[TrekMD]

John Hancock has made a video looking at the game to honor Bob...

https://youtu.be/0ZrOxToedko

[guest4828]

Looks amazing - Bob is the man when it comes to 7800 homebrew.

[TrekMD]

For sure!  And he does a superb job with these games.  I missed the first release (he sold special colored carts on a limited run), so I'm eagerly waiting for the AA store release. 

[Cryptic33]

What great little game. Very unusual to combine two games together like that. It seems the 7800 is getting a good amount of new homebrews and of a good standard also. I only owned this console for a brief time as they never really took off here in the UK and getting games was very hard, 7800 games that is. Nice to see it now getting the love it deserves and the mods to keep it current.

[TrekMD]

Yes, the original arcade version of this game combined both video and pinball and it is tough as nails.  This 7800 version captures the game very well.  Another fascinating aspect is that the TIA on the 7800 is just fine to reproduce the sounds as even the arcade machine only had two sound channels.  As for 7800 development, Bob alone has created so many games for the console that it is amazing.  Once the XM is released (which is getting much closer), that will help developers make even better games for the system.  Here is a picture of the arcade machine for Baby Pac-Man so you can compare with the 7800 port...