I agree that this was 2600 gaming at its finest. Guess what I will be dusting off and playing for the rest of the morning? Does anyone else think that the second aliens up (side view) look a bit like Colonial Vipers from the original Battlestar Galactica?
Wow Vanguard was one of my All Time Favorite 2600 Games!! I played it all the time, or Pitfall 1 & 2, or H.E.R.O., or the classics Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Combat. Oh and setting with my Grandma and playing Bowling in the 2600, She bowled a 300 game on there one evening and before we could take a picture of the screen I did something and accidentally reset the game and lost the special screen that shows lights flashing saying 300 and congratulations. My grandma cried and I did too. I still feel horrible when I think about that. But I loved play Atari with my Granny, she was a gamer, I wish she was alive today, she would love this age of Arcade1Up machines and all the glory of playing thousands of games on a raspberry pi set up. Any way, Great Episode! I love your channel, you stir up so many childhood memories, keep up the great work Willy. Take care.
I had Vanguard way back in the day and later on when my friend first got Nintendo one of the first two player games I ever played with him was Lifeforce. It always felt to me like vanguard was a spiritual ancestor of Life Force given that it had horizontal and vertical scrolling levels. It never ceases to amaze me that even though the Atari 2600 hardware was weak that they tried so much on it and actually pulled off relatively well so many ideas. I mean there's even first person games and although I wouldn't quite call them FPSs they sure were similar! Games like Tunnel Runner, Survival Run, Escape from the Mindmaster and Crypts of Chaos all did things many would assume impossible on the 2600.
Way back when I first saw that 1980 Flash Gordon movie, I can remember hearing that music when Vultan shouts "DIIIIVE!" Fun cheesy Sci-Fi stuff! I recall first playing Vanguard, as well as that tune you would hear when you get Energy. Somehow I didn't know it was that tune in Flash Gordon, until I saw that movie the second time, when it was first shown on TV. Here's a fun fact I've found on the IMDb: The music that plays when Vultan's men begin their attack was later used in the arcade video game Vanguard.
Skaggs was a grocery store chain and was Albertson’s predecessor. Two people Skaggs and Albertsons created Skaggs Albertsons, then the s-lit and that became Skaggs Alpha Beta, then Albertsons bought out Skaggs and we have Albertsons. Ow.
I also remember my parents buying groceries at Skaggs Alpha Beta. I loved hanging out in their audio video area looking at albums and playing on a 2600 they had set up at our store.
If people had any idea how challenging it was to program the 2600 they would have a lot more respect for the games that were made for it. I salute ALL 2600 programmers, even the ones whose games are considered "crap".
![Atari 2600 Longplay [022] Vanguard](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ewQDKtc1i-4/mqdefault.jpg)
Love playing this game. Nice review.
I agree that this was 2600 gaming at its finest. Guess what I will be dusting off and playing for the rest of the morning? Does anyone else think that the second aliens up (side view) look a bit like Colonial Vipers from the original Battlestar Galactica?
Wow Vanguard was one of my All Time Favorite 2600 Games!! I played it all the time, or Pitfall 1 & 2, or H.E.R.O., or the classics Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Combat. Oh and setting with my Grandma and playing Bowling in the 2600, She bowled a 300 game on there one evening and before we could take a picture of the screen I did something and accidentally reset the game and lost the special screen that shows lights flashing saying 300 and congratulations. My grandma cried and I did too. I still feel horrible when I think about that. But I loved play Atari with my Granny, she was a gamer, I wish she was alive today, she would love this age of Arcade1Up machines and all the glory of playing thousands of games on a raspberry pi set up. Any way, Great Episode! I love your channel, you stir up so many childhood memories, keep up the great work Willy. Take care.
Always loved this one on the 2600. A wonderful effort that for some reason many people put hate on.
I had Vanguard way back in the day and later on when my friend first got Nintendo one of the first two player games I ever played with him was Lifeforce.
It always felt to me like vanguard was a spiritual ancestor of Life Force given that it had horizontal and vertical scrolling levels.
It never ceases to amaze me that even though the Atari 2600 hardware was weak that they tried so much on it and actually pulled off relatively well so many ideas.
I mean there's even first person games and although I wouldn't quite call them FPSs they sure were similar! Games like Tunnel Runner, Survival Run, Escape from the Mindmaster and Crypts of Chaos all did things many would assume impossible on the 2600.
Fun Fact! The music diddy that plays while invincible is actually from the 1980 movie "Flash Gordon".
Fun fact: The intro in the music is from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the music when you get the invincibility is from the Flash Gordon movie.
Thanks for the video. I have such great childhood memories of playing Vanguard on my 2600
Easily one of the best ports. Centipede, Space Invaders, and Berzerk were so solid, too - but this one was an achievement in programming.
Way back when I first saw that 1980 Flash Gordon movie, I can remember hearing that music when Vultan shouts "DIIIIVE!" Fun cheesy Sci-Fi stuff!
I recall first playing Vanguard, as well as that tune you would hear when you get Energy. Somehow I didn't know it was that tune in Flash Gordon, until I saw that movie the second time, when it was first shown on TV.
Here's a fun fact I've found on the IMDb:
The music that plays when Vultan's men begin their attack was later used in the arcade video game Vanguard.
Love the boxart, too. It's from the famous Ralph MCQuarrie who ist best known for the original Star Wars art design.
Skaggs was a grocery store chain and was Albertson’s predecessor. Two people Skaggs and Albertsons created Skaggs Albertsons, then the s-lit and that became Skaggs Alpha Beta, then Albertsons bought out Skaggs and we have Albertsons. Ow.
Thanks! I had never heard of them.
I also remember my parents buying groceries at Skaggs Alpha Beta. I loved hanging out in their audio video area looking at albums and playing on a 2600 they had set up at our store.
If people had any idea how challenging it was to program the 2600 they would have a lot more respect for the games that were made for it. I salute ALL 2600 programmers, even the ones whose games are considered "crap".
Totally off topic, Boz Scaggs- Lido Shuffle, great tune from 1970's.
Cult leader Keith Raniere (aka Vanguard)’s favorite game!