I played this game constantly from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2000. Usually I lost at 10-20 levels, but there were more luck. Usually I played until the moment my older brother came, or in the evening when my parents came home, these were probably one of the few happy moments (although in that early childhood there were more of them than there were later) now I'm almost 30, two months away.
My dad told me stories how he played this for hours on a 286 when he was a teenager (I was playing DXball at the time). I'm so glad I got to see this mythological creature in action. :) Edit: After watching the video I got myself a copy of the DOS version and after some fiddling I got it to work in DosBOX 0.74 at the speed seen in the video using the popspeed.exe . Here are the steps: 1. Set cycles to 300. 2. Enter command "popspeed.exe 110". According to documentation 110 is the default value the game runs at, but for some reason this does not show if the game is started without running popspeed. 3. Run the game. Documentation also recommends making a BAT file so you don't have to type popspeed every time you want to play it. :)
+ET2403 I had trouble getting POPSPEED working. I ultimatley found it easier to just run the older DOSBox version, as you can have multiple versions of DOSBox installed at the same time without issue. :B
Used to play this for hours on my Amstrad 2086. Eventually I completed all the levels and the game just resets to the beginning again, with the high score intact. IIRC I once managed to get through the full cycle twice in a single game
I remember playing it a lot at the age of 8 (it was 1999-2000. A couple of times I managed to reach 42, then after long "training" to 46, and it was on a modern computer at that time, and the speed of the game was much faster, without slowing utilities. My father (which by the way, I wildly hate, however, like my mother, but this is a very long story, and in all fairness) said that there are 50 levels. Father was a Soviet programmer, played it back in 1989 year, he was considered smart, but in fact he was a rather disgusting person. By the way, at that moment when he reached level 46, and these were rare happy moments when the computer was not busy (because if the parents left home, and the house was the same dumb than father, older brother) father was present at this moment and encouraged in every possible way, like come on, click, you have small chances. A little nostalgia
I wouldn't mind playing the modern versions,but the link to the site that had them doesn't seem to be there anymore :( And i don't know how easy it would be to find a game with such a simplistic name like "popcorn"
According to the root of the site it may only temporarily be offline. In the interim, you can grab this game from the DOS Games website instead: www.dosgames.com/game/popcorn/
@@Pixelmusement Well i saw a tweet from one of the creators,and the same happened when i clicked on the link of that tweet. they were announcing the mobile version though. Oh well,the standard DOS original is still there at least. Also,maybe the game is called popcorn based on how corn behave when it's turned into popcorn and how it kinda bounces around like a ball when it pops?
I definitely remember playing this during my childhood by name but i don't remember the CGA graphics. During the early 90s would it have possible that it had VGA or EGA? If not i must be remembering the graphics wrong cause the title and gameplay most certainly match!
+Travis Beamon I found out after releasing this video that it's SUPPOSED to be using the CGA hack to convert the magenta into red, so that might be why you're confused. :B
There are various versions of DOSBox, like the one with composite screen mode, fixed CRT pixel ratio, additional debug support, saving of states etc. On the other hand, my version of DOSBox saving PC Speaker port data wasn't based on this branch.
"Anyone have any idea why a game that's always been freeware would never actually show up on legitimate software download sites? This still has me perplexed." The same thing applies to Catacomb. It was released on the Gamer's Edge Sampler disk. The same disk contains Dangerous Dave. Catacomb and Dangerous Dave are both freeware. Until 2010 you could find Dangerous Dave everywhere, but not Catacomb. It was far easier to find the non-freeware sequel, The Catacomb, and the 3D Catacomb games. It wasn't really known that Catacomb and Dangerous Dave are both freeware, because it doesn't show it in the games, but in 2010 the Gamer's Edge Sampler disk appeared on the internet and it encourages you to make copies of it and share it with your friends and family. So I guess PopCorn and Catacomb don't make it clear enough it's legal to make copies of it for friends and family.
+wanmoke I think the Android version has to be purchased through Amazon. As for the iOS version, I don't have an Apple account which means I'm not able to look at the store which means I have no means of checking if the link to that game on the app store actually works or not. :/
I never understood why there were still games being released with exclusively CGA graphics in 1988, and even by 1990 there were still some games with only a CGA option. Practically everyone had at least EGA capable hardware by 1988 and certainly by 1990. Was it to make sure the game would scale to the lowest specs possible, and that there won't be a need to redraw the graphics for every video mode, since small development teams had limited budget and time constrains?
+Eli Malinsky Actually, yes. If CGA was the only option, chances were it was someone who wanted their game to propagate as much as possible as quickly as possible, since adding support for more video modes meant making more graphics, not to mention would increase the size of the data to include and graphics took up a LOT of space without using some form of compression, which in the 80s typically meant writing it yourself, IF you could. CGA support remained pretty common for games up until around 1992, which the game started outgrowing the power capabilities of most 286s and the average 386 owner had at least an EGA card, but more likely a VGA.
My own PC only had CGA (and Hercules, actually i had an ATI Wonder Graphics Solution that could emulate both) until 1996 when i got a Pentium MMX machine :-P. Even at the time i knew people at school with 286s, 386s, CGAs and monochrome monitors. Generally during the 80s and early 90s computers were very expensive, home computer gaming wasn't focused on IBM PC clones and a lot of people, especially kids using second hand computers, couldn't afford the more expensive stuff even they existed years prior. It wasn't until around mid90s that the majority of mainstream games started ignoring PCs that had even 2 or 3 year old hardware (and i also remember a lot of people being grumpy about it, it was a common topic in letters sent to the gaming magazine i was reading and it lasted during the second part of the 90s).
+badsectoracula The problem was that the tech was advancing WAY faster than anyone could keep up. You could go buy a top-of-the-line computer in the 90s and it would literally be outdated within 6 months! D:
I remember hearing a saying back in the day, late 90's, early 2000's that said that when you carry the computer that you just bought out of the store, it's already outdated.
Was there a popcorn 2? I remember playing a game very very similar to this (Not Arkanoid), but it had better graphics.. (Haven't finished watching yet obviously, 21st view lol.)
I'm saddened that there's no PC Speaker rendition of the song 'Popcorn'.
Played the hell out of this back in the day.
I played this game constantly from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2000. Usually I lost at 10-20 levels, but there were more luck. Usually I played until the moment my older brother came, or in the evening when my parents came home, these were probably one of the few happy moments (although in that early childhood there were more of them than there were later) now I'm almost 30, two months away.
First game I ever played on a 286 machine at my dad's workplace. Brings happy memories.
For the anecdote, Frédéric RAYNAL who is to be credited for the graphics, is the developer behind the very first Alone In the Dark game.
My dad told me stories how he played this for hours on a 286 when he was a teenager (I was playing DXball at the time). I'm so glad I got to see this mythological creature in action. :)
Edit: After watching the video I got myself a copy of the DOS version and after some fiddling I got it to work in DosBOX 0.74 at the speed seen in the video using the popspeed.exe . Here are the steps:
1. Set cycles to 300.
2. Enter command "popspeed.exe 110". According to documentation 110 is the default value the game runs at, but for some reason this does not show if the game is started without running popspeed.
3. Run the game. Documentation also recommends making a BAT file so you don't have to type popspeed every time you want to play it. :)
+ET2403 I had trouble getting POPSPEED working. I ultimatley found it easier to just run the older DOSBox version, as you can have multiple versions of DOSBox installed at the same time without issue. :B
I played this game just like your dad, I really enjoyed it at this time. I also loved and played DXBall a lot !!
Used to play this for hours on my Amstrad 2086. Eventually I completed all the levels and the game just resets to the beginning again, with the high score intact. IIRC I once managed to get through the full cycle twice in a single game
I remember playing it a lot at the age of 8 (it was 1999-2000. A couple of times I managed to reach 42, then after long "training" to 46, and it was on a modern computer at that time, and the speed of the game was much faster, without slowing utilities. My father (which by the way, I wildly hate, however, like my mother, but this is a very long story, and in all fairness) said that there are 50 levels. Father was a Soviet programmer, played it back in 1989 year, he was considered smart, but in fact he was a rather disgusting person. By the way, at that moment when he reached level 46, and these were rare happy moments when the computer was not busy (because if the parents left home, and the house was the same dumb than father, older brother) father was present at this moment and encouraged in every possible way, like come on, click, you have small chances.
A little nostalgia
One of my all time favorites
Also, small error: 4:08 Isn't it little big adventure 2? Maybe just an annotation there, sorry to be annoying :3
+invghost Whoops. Yeah... lemme go add that correction to the video description. ^_^;;;
Pixelmusement It's a bummer RUclips removed annotations so there's no way to correct it with text in the video itself.
Eli Malinsky wait what? Didn't know that
invghost Yeah, apparently the system was somehow abused. You can still edit the video description though.
Am I the only one here who remembers finding this on the Little Big Adventure 2 game disc of all places?
I wouldn't mind playing the modern versions,but the link to the site that had them doesn't seem to be there anymore :( And i don't know how easy it would be to find a game with such a simplistic name like "popcorn"
According to the root of the site it may only temporarily be offline. In the interim, you can grab this game from the DOS Games website instead: www.dosgames.com/game/popcorn/
@@Pixelmusement Well i saw a tweet from one of the creators,and the same happened when i clicked on the link of that tweet. they were announcing the mobile version though. Oh well,the standard DOS original is still there at least. Also,maybe the game is called popcorn based on how corn behave when it's turned into popcorn and how it kinda bounces around like a ball when it pops?
I definitely remember playing this during my childhood by name but i don't remember the CGA graphics. During the early 90s would it have possible that it had VGA or EGA? If not i must be remembering the graphics wrong cause the title and gameplay most certainly match!
+Travis Beamon I found out after releasing this video that it's SUPPOSED to be using the CGA hack to convert the magenta into red, so that might be why you're confused. :B
yes that definitely fits in to my sense of reality nicely :) thanks!
Did you get that second brick on level 39? I have a vague memory of this level (or maybe another similarly frustrating level) from back in the day.
+Bilge Khan Nope. >:(
What are the unofficial DOSbox versions you are mentioning?
+Majmun X The SVN development branch, which has continued to be active despite no official "stable" releases being made since 0.74.
There are various versions of DOSBox, like the one with composite screen mode, fixed CRT pixel ratio, additional debug support, saving of states etc. On the other hand, my version of DOSBox saving PC Speaker port data wasn't based on this branch.
"Anyone have any idea why a game that's always been freeware would never actually show up on legitimate software download sites? This still has me perplexed."
The same thing applies to Catacomb. It was released on the Gamer's Edge Sampler disk. The same disk contains Dangerous Dave. Catacomb and Dangerous Dave are both freeware. Until 2010 you could find Dangerous Dave everywhere, but not Catacomb. It was far easier to find the non-freeware sequel, The Catacomb, and the 3D Catacomb games.
It wasn't really known that Catacomb and Dangerous Dave are both freeware, because it doesn't show it in the games, but in 2010 the Gamer's Edge Sampler disk appeared on the internet and it encourages you to make copies of it and share it with your friends and family.
So I guess PopCorn and Catacomb don't make it clear enough it's legal to make copies of it for friends and family.
Good review, very comprehensive.
"It takes some getting used to with a *normal* keyboard..." "Normal", heh.
+Jim Leonard ...yeah, I could've worded that line better; I meant "normal by today's standards" ^_^;
I'm confused. You mentioned that there are iOS and Android ports, but I couldn't find it on the App Store or Google Play.
+wanmoke I think the Android version has to be purchased through Amazon. As for the iOS version, I don't have an Apple account which means I'm not able to look at the store which means I have no means of checking if the link to that game on the app store actually works or not. :/
You don't need an account. A simple google search also turns up iTunes results.
@Pixelmusement Little Big Adventure 2, not LBP 2
+jadekitten5425 Yeah... I don't think anyone's gonna let me live that one down now, despite having a correction in the video description... ^_^;;;
oh i'm sorry, i hadn't clicked show more, so i thought i was being helpful
+jadekitten5425 No worries! Always be helpful, but always check stuff too! ;)
Just looked up my old LBA 2 disc and there is indeed a version of it on there. Id still rather play LBA 2 though.
I never understood why there were still games being released with exclusively CGA graphics in 1988, and even by 1990 there were still some games with only a CGA option. Practically everyone had at least EGA capable hardware by 1988 and certainly by 1990.
Was it to make sure the game would scale to the lowest specs possible, and that there won't be a need to redraw the graphics for every video mode, since small development teams had limited budget and time constrains?
+Eli Malinsky Actually, yes. If CGA was the only option, chances were it was someone who wanted their game to propagate as much as possible as quickly as possible, since adding support for more video modes meant making more graphics, not to mention would increase the size of the data to include and graphics took up a LOT of space without using some form of compression, which in the 80s typically meant writing it yourself, IF you could. CGA support remained pretty common for games up until around 1992, which the game started outgrowing the power capabilities of most 286s and the average 386 owner had at least an EGA card, but more likely a VGA.
Pixelmusement Thanks for the thorough explanation :)
My own PC only had CGA (and Hercules, actually i had an ATI Wonder Graphics Solution that could emulate both) until 1996 when i got a Pentium MMX machine :-P. Even at the time i knew people at school with 286s, 386s, CGAs and monochrome monitors. Generally during the 80s and early 90s computers were very expensive, home computer gaming wasn't focused on IBM PC clones and a lot of people, especially kids using second hand computers, couldn't afford the more expensive stuff even they existed years prior.
It wasn't until around mid90s that the majority of mainstream games started ignoring PCs that had even 2 or 3 year old hardware (and i also remember a lot of people being grumpy about it, it was a common topic in letters sent to the gaming magazine i was reading and it lasted during the second part of the 90s).
+badsectoracula The problem was that the tech was advancing WAY faster than anyone could keep up. You could go buy a top-of-the-line computer in the 90s and it would literally be outdated within 6 months! D:
I remember hearing a saying back in the day, late 90's, early 2000's that said that when you carry the computer that you just bought out of the store, it's already outdated.
4:08 LittleBigPlanet 2? Sounds like a correction is needed XD
+Lifeforce Swordmeister Already added the correct to the video description! ;)
An understandable mistake. I've done the exact same thing several times.
I thought that I heard that and was confused for a moment before my brain somehow understood what was meant. :P
Was there a popcorn 2? I remember playing a game very very similar to this (Not Arkanoid), but it had better graphics.. (Haven't finished watching yet obviously, 21st view lol.)
There were a lot of Arkanoid-likes for DOS back in the day. Aquanoid, Electranoid, Bananoid, Turoid, Krypton Egg, the list goes on.
DX Ball?
Hmm, I wonder what happens when you run this on an Intel Celron running at 2.16 GHz with 2.00 GB of ram...
+MeatBeat LIGHTNING FAST! If you blink, it's over! ;D
Pixelmusement I'm actually gonna try that :P
Oh boy, you weren't kidding ruclips.net/video/0ULqKNXPohU/видео.html