This actually had a microtransactions system of sorts, letting you gain coins by putting in more quarters (up to until you have 25 credits). In emulation this made the game more manageable to me, been playing it for a while today. If you focus on buying the right items and use the warp in level 1 you can get a lot further. But it seems balanced for 2-player and sadly there are no difficulty options.
Atari's arcade games were so different from other arcade games, the games looked higher in res, had special effects way before "mode 7" were a word also they had this special weird controls, I think overall they were ahead of their time and, well .. different from the others. Sure, not all Atari arcade games were fun or sounded great but you always got that unnatural sensation when you played an Atari arcade game.
Agreed. Probably the biggest innovators in arcade games in the 80s, even if some of the games were not necessarily ‘good’ or the ‘best’ games. The innovation in Marble Madness, Paperboy, Gauntlet, Vindicators, Toobin’ and so on. Everyone seems to wax lyrical about Capcom and Konami but I find Atari’s games more original and appealing. The former two didn’t innovate as much IMHO.
When I first played Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System and was amazed by their rapid indoor moving screens, I ALWAYS thought Xybots could be translated ad a Sega Master System cart based on how well Phantasy Star did these corridor scenes well, especially if the screen was smaller, I always thought that was a missed opportunity. Great video Retro Core!
I've never heard about this game before. The 1987 version looks really good for a 35 years old arcade. It's amazing how those old arcades aged so well.
Indeed, especially when compared to the home ports. This was a time when arcades could never be replicated in the home. That time didn't arrive until the Saturn with its Capcom arcade ports.
The only thing that holds back the Lynx is the low screen resolution. The GameBoy was 160 x 144 but the Lynx was a sad 160 × 102. If only they'd gone a little higher.
@@RetroCore Yeah it's a lower vertical count but on that tiny screen it really doesn't matter so much. What's far more important and impressive is what the Lynx can do in terms if its hardware processing.
@@RetroCoreR.J. Mical and Dave Needle wanted to go higher, by adding more colors and a higher screen resolution to the design back in 1987/8, but they decided not to because the Lynx had limitations in its screen drivers and the cost of color LCD panels at the time was high.
This is an amazing game, that just in recent times I have come to appreciate, and I have always played mostly with the Lynx version, as it's one of the systems best conversions.
I can remember playing this in the arcade and on the spectrum, a great game. Looking at the screen layout it would be cool to have seen a 3DS version as well.
Great freakin game Xybots is Mark. I love the arcade version of it. Atari Games from the mid 80's to early 90's were my favorite times from them. And i love the "bong" sound with you inserted coins into the arcade slots from them Mark. Anthony..
Another excellent video. Listening to the arcade tune and sound effects and you think Atari's arcade division had a very small music and sound effects library. All their games have a clanging metal effect with a mad man stabbing random keys on a synthesiser.
That is very true. You can also notice similarities in the graphics layout of their games. Intermediary screens and panels look awfully similar. As such, an Atari game is often very recognizable in the arcades, even before seeing the Atari logo.
@@nekononiaow And much like Namco and Taito, Atari also uses the same basic 8x8 pixel font even up to the 90s, though they sometimes use a larger, fancier font.
Xybots started out as an idea by Ed Logg to do Castle Wolfenstein , he started the game as a twoplayer split-screen Gauntlet III, but then Atari marketing said they wanted something other than Gauntlet 🙄 so he changed the characters and enemies to be more like Major Havoc. Ed has said he still regrets changing the theme and wishes he had kept his original game concept.
Xybots is pretty neat, but I never got to play any version at the time. I'm pretty sure I didn't play it until one of the PS2 Midway Arcade Treasures. Still didn't play much of it, but it's fairly fun and looks neat. The Lynx version again impresses. Aside from the vertical resolution and battery life, it does pretty well versus the Game Gear and Game Boy. It makes me wonder if maybe RJ Mical and Dave Needle should have stuck to designing handhelds after the Lynx. It was hard to make any headway against the Game Boy juggernaut after the first year it was on the market, but at least the price of a newer handheld in '93 would have been easier to digest than the licensing model EA went with with the 3DO and the insane launch prices. Dave Needle and RJ Mical's 3DO design isn't too bad for '93: it doesn't compare well versus the PS1 or Saturn, but it's not too bad versus the Jaguar or 32X. Though it's got some trash games, I do kind of like the 3DO (I certainly don't think it was worth the asking price though), and I can't fault it too much at a hardware level for 1993 home hardware beyond maybe needing a higher-clocked CPU or at least the ARM610 with cache instead of the ARM60. I just wonder if they'd been better off taking what they were working that became the 3DO but instead scaled down the design to something that could have been a cart-based portable. Probably technically impossible in '93, but considering they Needle and Mical never got the M2 into consumers hands and the MX never got picked up by anyone at all, I just feel like another portable would have been an easier sell to consumers. These two designed some decently interesting hardware, but they really never had much commercial success beyond their work with the rest of the Amiga team.
Ah, custom arcade cabs. I'm sure Atari used the same cabinet for quite a few of their games so it probably wasn't adding much if anything to the price.
@@RetroCore I don't think so. I seem to remember that Xybots really did have a custom cabinet. It's possible it was reused somewhere but it was still much more expensive to produce than a run of the mill arcade cabinet.
2:14 There's an prototype of the NES version floating around the Internet, but the prototype itself is optimized to run on PAL (50Hz) systems. The characters doesn't carry a gun like in other versions as well
Also dont mind the tiny screen, its a 1987 3d game. Full screen 3d wasent possible to do without heavy comprimise. Most, if not all, 3d rpg games did extractly screen reduce trick like this in the 8/16 bit area. As least on those machines that diddent have proper scaling. Yep dispite this Xybots was a fun game.
Very interesting your video about the Lynx version. Besides, the Amiga version while identical to the ST version, has better sound effects as can be heard from your video. I remembered there was also this strange electronic voice a bit like the arcade. The 32 bits home computer port are rather good compared to other arcade ports, it seems ^_^
The only port that I own is for the Lynx. A pretty good game. Tengen also announced it for the NES, but it was cancelled at some point. I do own some repros CIB for cancelled NES games. Airball (finished by the homebrew community. I bought mine from RetroUSB). Also complete protos for Secret Ties (sequel to Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode) and Spy vs. Spy: The Island Caper (sequel to Spy vs. Spy; sometimes referred to as Spy vs. Spy II). I bought the latter two from the now defunct TheNESDump.
@@david-spliso1928 Yeah, the lynx was an impressive device, a good few interesting and unique games for the time. IMO Xybots is one of the best games for it.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 to be fair, most systems couldn't even handle high polygonal counts at the time, and the Lynx (though capable of 3D), simply wasn't Arcade-tier just like every other home system
@@turrican3839 True. But to also be fair, the Gameboy port of the sequel blows away every 16-bit port. And that's ultimately why the Gameboy's competitors lost the console war. They had the technological edge, but sometimes that edge made developers a bit too complacent.
I have fond memories of seeing this in the arcades and occasionally giving it a go. Really interesting about it originally going to be a Gauntlet sequel. You can really tell what they were going for, pretty much a faux-3D Gauntlet. Really must be up there with being one of the earliest third-person "3D" games where you're controlling a character with full traversal.
I played this at a retro arcade place around 40 minutes away from mine and I found it very unique and fun. I didn't know this game was on the Atari Lynx and not surprised it was on home computers.
This is indeed a cool game for its time. It also has lots of secrets BTW, you can destroy enemy bullets and stun enemies with the Zap button. Some barrels contain powerups when zapped.
A great battle cheers Mark, this one's a bit of a marmite game but I've always liked the arcade and Lynx versions, that handheld was so ahead of it time you didn't get anything that bettered it until the Gameboy Advance came out some twelve years later, despite the flaws the processing power was just amazing giving a real arcade feel for a portable.
The ZX version is an impressive surprise that I only discovered existed much later thanks to the internet. It's like Space Harrier, I thought a Speccy version would be a waste of time but it's actually an impressive version for the system.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 But it is. A 3D labirinth on a small window is nothing too demanding but then you have 3rd person combat and simultaneous 2 player.
The Lynx version wins just by having a reasonably-sized viewing area, but I do like the arcade's sound better. It's a shame the announced Genesis port never saw the light of day, since if Roadblasters is any indication, the port could have been nearly arcade-perfect!
Seems to be the case most of the time. Build the simplest version (usually the spectrum) then port that to the CPC and MSX. The C64 always gets a unique version.
It's a shame that releasing games with specialized controllers wasn't economically viable for the most part. This game would have greatly benefited from such a device. Just like Omega Race on the Atari 2600, it made all of the difference in the world.
I was hoping that the Atari Lynx port was on the Evercade Lynx collection, but it wasn't. The Lynx handheld is expensive now and wanted to try this game out aside from emulating it.
I never saw this in the arcade. I knew it was an arcade game, but the first version I played was for the C64, then later the Amiga one. I liked the idea of the game, but the controls made them unplayable. Sometimes I have to wonder if they even playtest their ports at all. If I'd been designing it, I would have put in an optional, alternate control method where you used two of the keys on the keyboard to turn. Even if you were holding your joystick (as many of us did back in the 80s/90s), it would have been less awkward to reach over to the keyboard when you wanted to turn. At least you would have been able to strafe. I've since played the arcade version on compilations (I think for the PS1 and/or PS2) and I like it, although I'm not very good at it. I'm not really sure what to buy in the shops as I don't know what most of the items do.
Again, hats off 🎩👒 to Smith-san, who manages to dig out games so obscure which 90% gamers, even to old fart (who until 1995 still played on C64) like me have never heard of it 😄😄😄 In retrospect, what a shame that both Sega Game Gear & Atari Lynx have failed to compete against Nintendo's Game Boy as both of it's competitors were technically superior handhelds. Even "mighty" Sony failed to do so, despite Nintendo's DS and 3DS were a kid's meal toys compared to PSP & PSVita. What a waste! 😢😢😢
@@RetroCore The Lynx was already suffering from low frame rates compared to other consoles of the era. If the system was any more expensive and the battery performance even worse, would it have even been worth bringing it out?
Speaking of Atari Games, I have another fun title to add to the list for the Battle of the Ports Mark. The game is called Thunder Jaws. A Run n Gun title by Atari Games in 1990, It was available for the Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. Anthony..
@@RetroCore Like many Atari arcade games, it's very interesting. I think the game is average, but it's a mixture of an underwater shooting stage (think of that one underwater stage in Sly Spy), and a Rolling Thunder clone. While it has an amazing atmospheric soundtrack, it simtanously has the most loudest, earrape-y sfx I've ever heard. It's also has the same DD3 choppiness in the Rolling Thunder stages as well. [EDIT] According to Guru Larry, it was originally going to be Rolling Thunder 2 as well, but it really pissed Namco off, and they made their own sequel then.
Kind of odd to think this was ever intended as a Gauntlet game, it seems more like a 3D / 2 player souped up version of Berzerk as it is! There was however an isometric perspective Gauntlet III later released for the micros by US Gold.
I had a lot of fun with Xybots on my LYNX. Interesting that it was originally going to be a sequel to Gauntlet. I say this because Gauntlet: The Third Encounter on LYNX wasn’t very good; and then I found out later it’s not really a Gauntlet game, it was a totally unrelated game that just uses the name brand.
Ive heard of xybots but knew nothing about it or saw any gameplay of it till now, and I have to say it looks really fun. Shame the snes and genesis ports never happened, the arcade music seems perfect for the mega drive's sound driver. The 8-bit ports look decent, but i'm surprised the amstrad port uses two colors on the bottom screen unlike the others . 16-bit computer ports look good as well. I swore thee was an nes vesion, but I might be going crazy. Anyway, ill probably play the lynx version of this game.
If only there would be a keyboard joystick combo, allowing you to turn using Arrow Keys, and joystick for movement/strafing. It would make the game much more enjoyable
Does anyone know how far along it was as a Gauntlet game before becoming Xybots? For example, was it this 3-D effect with ghosts, sorcerers, etc? Or was it all still just on paper? I did find out something: Ed Logg said the reason it became the game it was rather than Gauntlet III was that the marketing division didn't want three games from one franchise in three years (!)
This is a really cool arcade game, and the ports are good enough. Some a little odd. =) I find the ST controls pretty good and really like the explosions on it and the Amiga version.
Coin op is typical fare for Atari at that time period. ZX Spectrum isn't all too hot. MSX is similar to the ZX Spectrum. C64 is very lazy. CPC is broken. ST is decent despite limited controls. Amiga is a step up from the ST. Lynx is a decent way to play on the go.
Not heard of this one before- but I thought to myself I bet its by atari. It just had that atari system 1 board feel (like road runner and road blasters etc)
At least the Amstrad version actuelly used the 4 color hires mode, which for me actuelly make sense. Actuelly im played this game a lots on the C64 and purchased it back in the game. Im was newer aware its was a arcade port back in the days. Hmmm. normally MSX games runs slower than Speccy when its a speccy ports, but for some games they do might have optimized it.
Yep, the MSX version running faster is quite the rare case. The machine was capable but in most cases western released games on that platform were just lazy ports of speccy games.
I have so many memories of playing Xybots on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and MAME and played the arcade cab a few times. It's sad that when Atari got broken up all the talent stayed with the arcade division. The antics on the consumer machine side were baffling, they released something as underpowered as the 7800 into a market against the Master System and Famicom, even the 5200 is difficult to forgive, they already knew what they were up against with the Famicom and they released... That. They finally farted out the Jaguar which struggled to compete against aging 16 Bit consoles and got absolutely massacred by the incoming Playstation and Saturn. There's a fine dividing line where it's difficult to believe it's incompetence and it starts to look like suicide. Maybe they just liked failing.
And they put the aging XEGS up against the NES. The Panther was to be the home console to take on the SNES and MD, but turned out to be another waste of resources, as Atari couldn't support the launch and development of 2 flagship consoles at once, it was supposed to launch alongside the Lynx. The Tramiel's simply thought being the cheapest with hardware would be enough to see them through, didn't understand the console market by time of the Jaguar
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 Always heard that the Tramiels hated consoles and thought computers would be the future of gaming. Not sure how much of that is true though.
@John S The 7800 was intended to compete with a Famicom that didn't have any add-on chips and was held back by a small cart size. Minus the part where GCC likely had no idea the Famicom was even a thing when they began designing it. It traded resolution for the ability to run 100 sprites on screen without flicker. It easily blows away the Sega SG-1000 and Microsoft's MSX standard. Back to the Famicom: Punch-Out? Super Mario Bros 3? Ninja Gaiden? None of those are possible on original Famicom specs. Even Gradius is doing things that Nintendo hadn't planned for. Now compare Ballblader on both systems. The 7800's flaws aren't the system itself. It's that the new Atari refused to take it seriously. It had the smallest carts. A stubborn refusal to take advantage of the potential upgrades, like enhanced sound chips and plans for a CD add-on. It was sent out to be slaughtered, and prove Jack right about focusing on computers.
All they need is the Wolfenstein technique. Or, as Solar Flare pointed out, they could cheat and use the PS1 technique. Which would be their best option, since you only need it for transitions, and the twitch gunplay is more important.
Been a while since i played the Lynx version, but seem to remember it was easier than the coin op 🤔 You started quite well armed, the enemy robot A. I seemed toned down. It was also missing some of the games mechanical voices?
Amiga 's version looks good. I just wish it also had the BGM. A Mega Drive version would've been amazing especially if M2 (Marble Madness Japanese version's developer) did it. IMO, Atari Games marketing's decision to nix the original Gauntlet 3 concept worked in its favor. I like the Xybots theme more. The emulation in Midway Arcade Origins (PS3/360) unfortunately is missing the Zap button. Oops. Strange, because it was made by Backbone, with staff from Digital Eclipse who did it on PS2/original Xbox.
There weren't even prototype versions of the Genesis and NES versions of Xybots? Bummer. It seems like it would have worked pretty well on the Genesis in particular. Maybe NuFX would have handled it... they did a good job with 2020 Super Baseball!
Personally always found this to be quite tedious as a single player title, you really need 2 players to get the most from it. Even then the enemy bases and robots were lacking in imagination. Knew of the announced MD version, previewed alongside Paperboy and Hard Drivin, but wasn't aware of the SNES version being announced.
The game does indeed shine more as a 2 player tile but I do like it as a 1 player game for a quick blast now and then. It can get annoying when robots hide behind walls constantly. I don't know about a SNES version but there is a NES version which after making this video came to my attention it had been leaked. No sight of the MD release though.
Man, it's a little sad that the SNES version didn't get made. If done right then it would be the best home port sans emulation with the shoulder controls as the turn buttons and maybe even sprinkle in some mode 7 effects too.
Mode 7 is just a single flat texture that can be moved in 3d space. The arcade game doesn't use anything like it, and it wouldn't be much help for an SNES port. Not unless you're using it to keep the resolution small, so you can run a custom software engine at a decent speed like Wolfenstein 3d.
That's would have been the best way but I doubt a SNES version would have been much different than what we saw on the Amiga and ST. They could do it like Faceballl I guess.
never hear this game and when I see the port all of them except 1 is for PC, no wonder I never hear this game even though I think SNES or MegaDrive/Genesis can play this beautifully.
I generally hate the Lynx but I do always admit it had impressive tech. Just generally did not have good games. But this port is impressive considering the time period.
Lol, like most Atari consoles after the 2600. The Lynx is a powerful beast but that screen really let it down. The resolution was too low. Add the lack of quality devs and it never stood a chance against the Game Boy or Game Gear.
@@RetroCore Exactly. The resolution is horrible. And the fact that at the time Western game developers were not very good for the most part and that's all they had.
@@SynthatronPrime Back in the days Gameboy was the only alternative ...later introduced Game Gear was not much better spec wise while the Pc Engine Gt was much more expensive and powerful
@@federicocatelli8785 Yeah I had a Game Boy. I never thought the Lynx looked good even back then. I'd see ads in comics and on TV and thought it looked bad.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
This actually had a microtransactions system of sorts, letting you gain coins by putting in more quarters (up to until you have 25 credits).
In emulation this made the game more manageable to me, been playing it for a while today. If you focus on buying the right items and use the warp in level 1 you can get a lot further. But it seems balanced for 2-player and sadly there are no difficulty options.
Atari's arcade games were so different from other arcade games, the games looked higher in res, had special effects way before "mode 7" were a word also they had this special weird controls, I think overall they were ahead of their time and, well .. different from the others. Sure, not all Atari arcade games were fun or sounded great but you always got that unnatural sensation when you played an Atari arcade game.
Agreed. Probably the biggest innovators in arcade games in the 80s, even if some of the games were not necessarily ‘good’ or the ‘best’ games. The innovation in Marble Madness, Paperboy, Gauntlet, Vindicators, Toobin’ and so on. Everyone seems to wax lyrical about Capcom and Konami but I find Atari’s games more original and appealing. The former two didn’t innovate as much IMHO.
This game still holds up today - Its really fun!
When I first played Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System and was amazed by their rapid indoor moving screens, I ALWAYS thought Xybots could be translated ad a Sega Master System cart based on how well Phantasy Star did these corridor scenes well, especially if the screen was smaller, I always thought that was a missed opportunity. Great video Retro Core!
Ah, the maze areas on Phantasy Star are legendary. The best 3D maze on any 8bit system, ever.
@@RetroCore Very ahead of its time
Definitely a classic that went underappreciated in its day.
I've never heard about this game before. The 1987 version looks really good for a 35 years old arcade. It's amazing how those old arcades aged so well.
Indeed, especially when compared to the home ports. This was a time when arcades could never be replicated in the home. That time didn't arrive until the Saturn with its Capcom arcade ports.
The Atari Lynx wins again. Such great hardware in that console, designed by many who worked on the Amiga.
The only thing that holds back the Lynx is the low screen resolution. The GameBoy was 160 x 144 but the Lynx was a sad 160 × 102. If only they'd gone a little higher.
@@RetroCore Yeah it's a lower vertical count but on that tiny screen it really doesn't matter so much. What's far more important and impressive is what the Lynx can do in terms if its hardware processing.
@@RetroCoreR.J. Mical and Dave Needle wanted to go higher, by adding more colors and a higher screen resolution to the design back in 1987/8, but they decided not to because the Lynx had limitations in its screen drivers and the cost of color LCD panels at the time was high.
The actual LCD screen is physically bigger on the Lynx so it's not that bad on real hardware@@RetroCore
This is an amazing game, that just in recent times I have come to appreciate, and I have always played mostly with the Lynx version, as it's one of the systems best conversions.
I played the Lynx port on my MiSTer hooked up to my 38 inch CRT. It’s truly a cool experience.
I can remember playing this in the arcade and on the spectrum, a great game. Looking at the screen layout it would be cool to have seen a 3DS version as well.
Yeah, top screen for action with a map on the bottom. That would work really well.
I remember this in the arcades. I really liked seeing other guys playing😊
It's one of those games that can entertain just by watching. I think the 3D view had a lot to do with that.
Great freakin game Xybots is Mark. I love the arcade version of it. Atari Games from the mid 80's to early 90's were my favorite times from them. And i love the "bong" sound with you inserted coins into the arcade slots from them Mark.
Anthony..
Same here. Just a shame Atari Games really declined then before making a brief comeback around the late 90s… then practically disappeared
@Charlie Cat
I liked Gauntlet's coin sounds, where it had a slightly different sound for each character.
I forgot how much I loved this game. Thanks again Retro Core Nostalgia channel.
It's my pleasure 😊
Another excellent video.
Listening to the arcade tune and sound effects and you think Atari's arcade division had a very small music and sound effects library. All their games have a clanging metal effect with a mad man stabbing random keys on a synthesiser.
Yep, they're were not a very talented company when it came to audio.
That is very true. You can also notice similarities in the graphics layout of their games. Intermediary screens and panels look awfully similar. As such, an Atari game is often very recognizable in the arcades, even before seeing the Atari logo.
@@nekononiaow And much like Namco and Taito, Atari also uses the same basic 8x8 pixel font even up to the 90s, though they sometimes use a larger, fancier font.
Xybots started out as an idea by Ed Logg to do Castle Wolfenstein , he started the game as a twoplayer split-screen Gauntlet III, but then Atari marketing said they wanted something other than Gauntlet 🙄 so he changed the characters and enemies to be more like Major Havoc.
Ed has said he still regrets changing the theme and wishes he had kept his original game concept.
If only he had done 😕
Xybots is pretty neat, but I never got to play any version at the time. I'm pretty sure I didn't play it until one of the PS2 Midway Arcade Treasures. Still didn't play much of it, but it's fairly fun and looks neat. The Lynx version again impresses. Aside from the vertical resolution and battery life, it does pretty well versus the Game Gear and Game Boy. It makes me wonder if maybe RJ Mical and Dave Needle should have stuck to designing handhelds after the Lynx.
It was hard to make any headway against the Game Boy juggernaut after the first year it was on the market, but at least the price of a newer handheld in '93 would have been easier to digest than the licensing model EA went with with the 3DO and the insane launch prices. Dave Needle and RJ Mical's 3DO design isn't too bad for '93: it doesn't compare well versus the PS1 or Saturn, but it's not too bad versus the Jaguar or 32X. Though it's got some trash games, I do kind of like the 3DO (I certainly don't think it was worth the asking price though), and I can't fault it too much at a hardware level for 1993 home hardware beyond maybe needing a higher-clocked CPU or at least the ARM610 with cache instead of the ARM60. I just wonder if they'd been better off taking what they were working that became the 3DO but instead scaled down the design to something that could have been a cart-based portable. Probably technically impossible in '93, but considering they Needle and Mical never got the M2 into consumers hands and the MX never got picked up by anyone at all, I just feel like another portable would have been an easier sell to consumers. These two designed some decently interesting hardware, but they really never had much commercial success beyond their work with the rest of the Amiga team.
I pumped a lot of quarters into this game at the arcade when it first came out.
The star of the show was that arcade cabinet. It probably raised the price substantially but it looked amazing
Ah, custom arcade cabs. I'm sure Atari used the same cabinet for quite a few of their games so it probably wasn't adding much if anything to the price.
@@RetroCore I don't think so. I seem to remember that Xybots really did have a custom cabinet. It's possible it was reused somewhere but it was still much more expensive to produce than a run of the mill arcade cabinet.
Loved playing it in the arcade. Never played any of the ports though.
Only the Lynx version is faithful. The other ports are okay but they all suffer from the same control problems.
I asked you for this and you delivered. Thank you !!!!
You're welcome. I eventually get around to it.
2:14 There's an prototype of the NES version floating around the Internet, but the prototype itself is optimized to run on PAL (50Hz) systems. The characters doesn't carry a gun like in other versions as well
Cool to know. I had no idea a prototype made it out.
I played the emulated version of it on the PSP as part of Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play.
Another great BOTP!
Also dont mind the tiny screen, its a 1987 3d game. Full screen 3d wasent possible to do without heavy comprimise. Most, if not all, 3d rpg games did extractly screen reduce trick like this in the 8/16 bit area. As least on those machines that diddent have proper scaling. Yep dispite this Xybots was a fun game.
Very interesting your video about the Lynx version. Besides, the Amiga version while identical to the ST version, has better sound effects as can be heard from your video. I remembered there was also this strange electronic voice a bit like the arcade. The 32 bits home computer port are rather good compared to other arcade ports, it seems ^_^
The only port that I own is for the Lynx. A pretty good game. Tengen also announced it for the NES, but it was cancelled at some point. I do own some repros CIB for cancelled NES games. Airball (finished by the homebrew community. I bought mine from RetroUSB). Also complete protos for Secret Ties (sequel to Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode) and Spy vs. Spy: The Island Caper (sequel to Spy vs. Spy; sometimes referred to as Spy vs. Spy II). I bought the latter two from the now defunct TheNESDump.
One of my favorite arcade machines, I still fire it up on the Lynx from time to time.
I was surprised at how good the links port was.
The Lynx has hardware sprite scaling.
@@david-spliso1928 Yeah, the lynx was an impressive device, a good few interesting and unique games for the time. IMO Xybots is one of the best games for it.
@@RetroCore The Lynx was an example of great ideas executed poorly.
Really enjoy playing this Atari classic, think first home version I played was on friends AtariST bitd 👍
The Lynx was an absolute masterclass of game ports
Tell me about it. The only bad one I know of is Off-Road.
@@solarflare9078 you're not wrong, its the only bad port in the entire system
@@turrican3839
Hard Drivin' is far from good.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 to be fair, most systems couldn't even handle high polygonal counts at the time, and the Lynx (though capable of 3D), simply wasn't Arcade-tier just like every other home system
@@turrican3839
True. But to also be fair, the Gameboy port of the sequel blows away every 16-bit port.
And that's ultimately why the Gameboy's competitors lost the console war. They had the technological edge, but sometimes that edge made developers a bit too complacent.
I have fond memories of seeing this in the arcades and occasionally giving it a go. Really interesting about it originally going to be a Gauntlet sequel. You can really tell what they were going for, pretty much a faux-3D Gauntlet. Really must be up there with being one of the earliest third-person "3D" games where you're controlling a character with full traversal.
I'd say. Back in the day this would have been mighty impressive.
Another great battle!
Thanks!
Loved playing the arcade version.
I played this at a retro arcade place around 40 minutes away from mine and I found it very unique and fun. I didn't know this game was on the Atari Lynx and not surprised it was on home computers.
Glad you liked it. It's one of those games which is more fun to play than it looks.
@@RetroCore I'm glad you liked it as well.
I have two random questions,
1. What's your favourite Mega Drive game?
2. What's your favourite console?
Groovy music.
This is indeed a cool game for its time. It also has lots of secrets
BTW, you can destroy enemy bullets and stun enemies with the Zap button. Some barrels contain powerups when zapped.
That is right. Some of the secret doors are death traps mind you.
A great battle cheers Mark, this one's a bit of a marmite game but I've always liked the arcade and Lynx versions, that handheld was so ahead of it time you didn't get anything that bettered it until the Gameboy Advance came out some twelve years later, despite the flaws the processing power was just amazing giving a real arcade feel for a portable.
If only the Lynx had a higher resolution screen. That's the only thing that really holds it back.
Big like dropped 👍
👍
Excellent. Hope Thunder Jaws will be to your liking Mark.
The ZX version is an impressive surprise that I only discovered existed much later thanks to the internet. It's like Space Harrier, I thought a Speccy version would be a waste of time but it's actually an impressive version for the system.
It also spawned the way for all other 8bit ports 👍
How is it impressive for the system? There are more technically demanding Spectrum games that move at a faster pace.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 But it is. A 3D labirinth on a small window is nothing too demanding but then you have 3rd person combat and simultaneous 2 player.
The Lynx version wins just by having a reasonably-sized viewing area, but I do like the arcade's sound better. It's a shame the announced Genesis port never saw the light of day, since if Roadblasters is any indication, the port could have been nearly arcade-perfect!
All things considered, the Lynx has a larger playing window that the Arcade.
It's unfortunate that the 8 bit computers didn't get ports that properly used each system.
Seems to be the case most of the time. Build the simplest version (usually the spectrum) then port that to the CPC and MSX. The C64 always gets a unique version.
It's a shame that releasing games with specialized controllers wasn't economically viable for the most part. This game would have greatly benefited from such a device. Just like Omega Race on the Atari 2600, it made all of the difference in the world.
Indeed. I think it would have been economically possible as they released all manner of crappy controllers back they, just not the ones people wanted.
One of my favorite classic video games
I was hoping that the Atari Lynx port was on the Evercade Lynx collection, but it wasn't. The Lynx handheld is expensive now and wanted to try this game out aside from emulating it.
That is a shame because the Lynx game is pretty good.
I never saw this in the arcade. I knew it was an arcade game, but the first version I played was for the C64, then later the Amiga one. I liked the idea of the game, but the controls made them unplayable. Sometimes I have to wonder if they even playtest their ports at all. If I'd been designing it, I would have put in an optional, alternate control method where you used two of the keys on the keyboard to turn. Even if you were holding your joystick (as many of us did back in the 80s/90s), it would have been less awkward to reach over to the keyboard when you wanted to turn. At least you would have been able to strafe.
I've since played the arcade version on compilations (I think for the PS1 and/or PS2) and I like it, although I'm not very good at it. I'm not really sure what to buy in the shops as I don't know what most of the items do.
Again, hats off 🎩👒 to Smith-san, who manages to dig out games so obscure which 90% gamers, even to old fart (who until 1995 still played on C64) like me have never heard of it 😄😄😄
In retrospect, what a shame that both Sega Game Gear & Atari Lynx have failed to compete against Nintendo's Game Boy as both of it's competitors were technically superior handhelds. Even "mighty" Sony failed to do so, despite Nintendo's DS and 3DS were a kid's meal toys compared to PSP & PSVita. What a waste! 😢😢😢
The Lynx was quite a powerful system. If only it had a higher resolution screen. That's the weakest part about it.
@@RetroCore
The Lynx was already suffering from low frame rates compared to other consoles of the era.
If the system was any more expensive and the battery performance even worse, would it have even been worth bringing it out?
Loved this arcade as a kid. What’s that crunchy intro song you’ve got?
MSX port of a Spectrum game playing faster? That's a new one.
I know. Looks like they actually optimised the code for once.
Speaking of Atari Games, I have another fun title to add to the list for the Battle of the Ports Mark.
The game is called Thunder Jaws. A Run n Gun title by Atari Games in 1990, It was available for the Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and Commodore 64.
Anthony..
Never heard of that one. I'll take a look in to it.
@@RetroCore Like many Atari arcade games, it's very interesting. I think the game is average, but it's a mixture of an underwater shooting stage (think of that one underwater stage in Sly Spy), and a Rolling Thunder clone. While it has an amazing atmospheric soundtrack, it simtanously has the most loudest, earrape-y sfx I've ever heard. It's also has the same DD3 choppiness in the Rolling Thunder stages as well.
[EDIT] According to Guru Larry, it was originally going to be Rolling Thunder 2 as well, but it really pissed Namco off, and they made their own sequel then.
Kind of odd to think this was ever intended as a Gauntlet game, it seems more like a 3D / 2 player souped up version of Berzerk as it is!
There was however an isometric perspective Gauntlet III later released for the micros by US Gold.
Also on the Lynx isn't there?
@@RetroCore I didn't know about that one! It's not really the same game as the US Gold one by the looks of it. Maybe that's not a bad thing though.
I had a lot of fun with Xybots on my LYNX. Interesting that it was originally going to be a sequel to Gauntlet. I say this because Gauntlet: The Third Encounter on LYNX wasn’t very good; and then I found out later it’s not really a Gauntlet game, it was a totally unrelated game that just uses the name brand.
Wow, I never knew that about Gauntlet the third encounter. Well, I knew it was crap but didn't know it was originally a different game.
I used to have it on the lynx it’s a great port and a fun game, shame the home ports have the borked controls for turning.
I'd go so far as to say the Lynx port is a must own game for the platform.
I'd agree with you.
Ive heard of xybots but knew nothing about it or saw any gameplay of it till now, and I have to say it looks really fun. Shame the snes and genesis ports never happened, the arcade music seems perfect for the mega drive's sound driver. The 8-bit ports look decent, but i'm surprised the amstrad port uses two colors on the bottom screen unlike the others . 16-bit computer ports look good as well. I swore thee was an nes vesion, but I might be going crazy. Anyway, ill probably play the lynx version of this game.
There was indeed a NES version but I'm not sure if it was completed or released.
@@RetroCore oh ok
Despite being a speccy port. I quite enjoyed this on the cpc back on the day. Looks the better of the 8bit versions even if it is slower.
True, it did look the cleanest of all 8bit versions.
If only there would be a keyboard joystick combo, allowing you to turn using Arrow Keys, and joystick for movement/strafing. It would make the game much more enjoyable
If playing via MAME the Arcade version is pretty playable as the turning of the joystick is assigned to buttons. Works rather well.
2:05 SNES? Do you mean NES?
Does anyone know how far along it was as a Gauntlet game before becoming Xybots? For example, was it this 3-D effect with ghosts, sorcerers, etc? Or was it all still just on paper?
I did find out something: Ed Logg said the reason it became the game it was rather than Gauntlet III was that the marketing division didn't want three games from one franchise in three years (!)
@ that last part:
Mega Man 4-6: *exists*
I'd love to see some sort of Gauntlet version of this game but who knows if it even made it as far as a prototype.
Played on the amiga back in the day.wasnt too bad once u got to grips with the controls
Basically ever home computer version plays the same.
This is a really cool arcade game, and the ports are good enough. Some a little odd. =) I find the ST controls pretty good and really like the explosions on it and the Amiga version.
It would be cool if the Amiga and ST versions could be played with a mouse.
@@RetroCore yes!
Coin op is typical fare for Atari at that time period. ZX Spectrum isn't all too hot. MSX is similar to the ZX Spectrum. C64 is very lazy. CPC is broken. ST is decent despite limited controls. Amiga is a step up from the ST. Lynx is a decent way to play on the go.
arcade version was awesome.
Not heard of this one before- but I thought to myself I bet its by atari. It just had that atari system 1 board feel (like road runner and road blasters etc)
Indeed. Their games all had the same look in style.
At least the Amstrad version actuelly used the 4 color hires mode, which for me actuelly make sense. Actuelly im played this game a lots on the C64 and purchased it back in the game. Im was newer aware its was a arcade port back in the days.
Hmmm. normally MSX games runs slower than Speccy when its a speccy ports, but for some games they do might have optimized it.
Yep, the MSX version running faster is quite the rare case. The machine was capable but in most cases western released games on that platform were just lazy ports of speccy games.
I have so many memories of playing Xybots on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and MAME and played the arcade cab a few times. It's sad that when Atari got broken up all the talent stayed with the arcade division. The antics on the consumer machine side were baffling, they released something as underpowered as the 7800 into a market against the Master System and Famicom, even the 5200 is difficult to forgive, they already knew what they were up against with the Famicom and they released... That.
They finally farted out the Jaguar which struggled to compete against aging 16 Bit consoles and got absolutely massacred by the incoming Playstation and Saturn. There's a fine dividing line where it's difficult to believe it's incompetence and it starts to look like suicide. Maybe they just liked failing.
And they put the aging XEGS up against the NES.
The Panther was to be the home console to take on the SNES and MD, but turned out to be another waste of resources, as Atari couldn't support the launch and development of 2 flagship consoles at once, it was supposed to launch alongside the Lynx.
The Tramiel's simply thought being the cheapest with hardware would be enough to see them through, didn't understand the console market by time of the Jaguar
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 Always heard that the Tramiels hated consoles and thought computers would be the future of gaming. Not sure how much of that is true though.
REZ The Tramiels might’ve been the first example of the “PC Master Race” everyone mocks these days (for good reason).
@John S
The 7800 was intended to compete with a Famicom that didn't have any add-on chips and was held back by a small cart size. Minus the part where GCC likely had no idea the Famicom was even a thing when they began designing it.
It traded resolution for the ability to run 100 sprites on screen without flicker. It easily blows away the Sega SG-1000 and Microsoft's MSX standard.
Back to the Famicom: Punch-Out? Super Mario Bros 3? Ninja Gaiden? None of those are possible on original Famicom specs. Even Gradius is doing things that Nintendo hadn't planned for. Now compare Ballblader on both systems.
The 7800's flaws aren't the system itself. It's that the new Atari refused to take it seriously. It had the smallest carts. A stubborn refusal to take advantage of the potential upgrades, like enhanced sound chips and plans for a CD add-on. It was sent out to be slaughtered, and prove Jack right about focusing on computers.
Personally, Atari to me just means crappy hardware that had no idea what the competitors were doing. They just got lucky with the 2600.
This would probably look awesome on the Genesis if they used the Doom engine technique.
Or more like the Phantasy Star 1 technique
All they need is the Wolfenstein technique.
Or, as Solar Flare pointed out, they could cheat and use the PS1 technique. Which would be their best option, since you only need it for transitions, and the twitch gunplay is more important.
The best 3D maze effect ever on an 8bit system.
I love the Lynx one is the most I play. Like xenophobe in the lynx that I also like.
Some games just work so well on the Lynx.
Been a while since i played the Lynx version, but seem to remember it was easier than the coin op 🤔
You started quite well armed, the enemy robot A. I seemed toned down.
It was also missing some of the games mechanical voices?
The Lynx version is easier and it does indeed loose some of the voices. Still a great port for such an old handheld. Puts the other versions to shame.
@@RetroCore yep you start with enough cash to arm yourself up pretty well to get started and the enemy robots A. I Is less aggressive.
ATARI graphics art themes nostalgic; Arcades poster prodigies. I wanted Lynx & Amiga but chose LAZER TAG & PHOTON instead.
Well, let's be honest, Lazer tag was cool in the early 90s.
This was a great game in the arcade. Not sure what happened to the C64 port, shame.
Lynx is the best imo aside from the arcade
Amiga 's version looks good. I just wish it also had the BGM. A Mega Drive version would've been amazing especially if M2 (Marble Madness Japanese version's developer) did it. IMO, Atari Games marketing's decision to nix the original Gauntlet 3 concept worked in its favor. I like the Xybots theme more.
The emulation in Midway Arcade Origins (PS3/360) unfortunately is missing the Zap button. Oops. Strange, because it was made by Backbone, with staff from Digital Eclipse who did it on PS2/original Xbox.
How on earth could they miss out one of the controls in the Midway Arcade Origins versions? That's just sloppy work 😕
I love your accent mate. Can I ask where you're from?
Thanks. I'm from Liverpool, UK but have spent the last 24 years living in Japan. So my accent is kind of a mess these days.
@@RetroCore Ah ok. I'm from Stockport. So not too far from Liverpool.
More than half of these ports are just the spectrum version.
Yep.
Also can you do a special on Yokai Monsters movies?
I more or less would like you to talk more about the best of Japanese horror old movies.
Ah, the only Yokai Monster movie I have is House. Very strange movie.
@@RetroCore I just watched the House, and it's nuts. I can see how Japanese drama games have taken inspiration from this movie.
Yep, it's a crazy one for sure.
There weren't even prototype versions of the Genesis and NES versions of Xybots? Bummer. It seems like it would have worked pretty well on the Genesis in particular. Maybe NuFX would have handled it... they did a good job with 2020 Super Baseball!
I've heard there was a NES prototype but I've never seen it myself. Never heard of a Mega Drive version though.
Personally always found this to be quite tedious as a single player title, you really need 2 players to get the most from it. Even then the enemy bases and robots were lacking in imagination.
Knew of the announced MD version, previewed alongside Paperboy and Hard Drivin, but wasn't aware of the SNES version being announced.
The game does indeed shine more as a 2 player tile but I do like it as a 1 player game for a quick blast now and then. It can get annoying when robots hide behind walls constantly.
I don't know about a SNES version but there is a NES version which after making this video came to my attention it had been leaked. No sight of the MD release though.
Xybots would have worked so well on the SNES.
Was the C64 version a Spectrum port. I thought it was crap.
C64 games are never direct speccy ports unlike the Amstrad CPC or MSX due to the difference in hardware but it sure looks like it was based upon it.
@@RetroCore do you remember Karnov C64 ?
Man, it's a little sad that the SNES version didn't get made.
If done right then it would be the best home port sans emulation with the shoulder controls as the turn buttons and maybe even sprinkle in some mode 7 effects too.
Mode 7 is just a single flat texture that can be moved in 3d space. The arcade game doesn't use anything like it, and it wouldn't be much help for an SNES port.
Not unless you're using it to keep the resolution small, so you can run a custom software engine at a decent speed like Wolfenstein 3d.
That's would have been the best way but I doubt a SNES version would have been much different than what we saw on the Amiga and ST. They could do it like Faceballl I guess.
never hear this game and when I see the port all of them except 1 is for PC, no wonder I never hear this game even though I think SNES or MegaDrive/Genesis can play this beautifully.
Can you do a special on Xevious and its background/culture in Japan.
Xevious has a background culture? Never knew that. Sadly I'm not interested in that game so it's tough to do anything meaningful about it.
@@RetroCore What I meant is that Japan seemed to get a lot more in-depth material about the game, and toy releases, etc.
Oh, I see what you mean now. 👍
I think you forgot about the NES version which is dumped as a rom.
Too bad this didn't get ported to the SNES. The shoulder buttons would have been perfect for turning.
Agreed.
I generally hate the Lynx but I do always admit it had impressive tech. Just generally did not have good games. But this port is impressive considering the time period.
Too bad it was bulky and had horrible autonomy compared to Gameboy
Lol, like most Atari consoles after the 2600. The Lynx is a powerful beast but that screen really let it down. The resolution was too low. Add the lack of quality devs and it never stood a chance against the Game Boy or Game Gear.
@@RetroCore Exactly. The resolution is horrible. And the fact that at the time Western game developers were not very good for the most part and that's all they had.
@@SynthatronPrime
Back in the days Gameboy was the only alternative ...later introduced Game Gear was not much better spec wise while the Pc Engine Gt was much more expensive and powerful
@@federicocatelli8785 Yeah I had a Game Boy. I never thought the Lynx looked good even back then. I'd see ads in comics and on TV and thought it looked bad.
Poor Amstrad port. Another time a recycling port from Spectrum with the usual scroll problems of the CPC. What a pity, CPC has a rich colour palette.
It sure is. When the CPC is used correctly it can really outshine the speccy.
Just stick to the Arcade one.
It's now been confirmed the full colour screens of an early C64 Version that appeared in the UK press, were indeed fakes.
Pure mock ups, nothing more.
They loved doing that. I remember a Speccy mag did the same thing with Gradius if my memory is correct.
I used to call this X Y Bots. lol
You mean as ecks-why-bots? I'd not heard that said before but I have heard people say ecksy-bots.
@@videogamebookreviews Yeah, ecks-why-bots. I was only 8 at the time. lol
Lol, classic. I bet as a young kid in the 80s I may have said the same thing 🤣
I would have thought this was a sequel to xenephobe
That would make more sense but nope, it was originally meant to be Gauntlet 2.
I always thught they culd of used the engine to make a xenophobe sequel ....... and we need a "80s action game hero or porn actor" trivia game
That would have been a great idea. Strange how they never bothered.
Not exactly ed logg's best work. Very repetetive grind. The limited view and rotation mechanics were very annoying and I didn't find it fun at all.
from the 4 "speccy versions", the CPC has it better due to managing some colours in the playfield.
Lol, 4 speccy versions is right.