Atlantis and Cosmic Ark were two of my absolute favorite games back in the 80's. I got REALLY REALLY good at Cosmic Ark too. As a kid, I gained those near perfect reflexes needed for that game. Sadly, when I play it now, now that I'm in my 50's, I just... don't have the dexterity anymore. Haha!
I think what I loved most about this video was your accurate and completely detailed descriptions of something I have been doing from muscle memory longer than I can remember :) I love this game. I still play it all the time.
Glad you're getting better. Maybe the threequel could have scrolling like Solaris or Juno First, with the small ship getting revenge for the Atlantis attack.
I would love to see an Atlantean trilogy. Remake or reimagined I'm not so sure of. The originals are great because of their simplicity and straight forward gameplay. It's fun to show friends who never played them.
I only had two Imagic games as a kid, this and Demon Ataack. I played Coamic Ark ten times more than I played Demon Attack, and it was one of my most played games.
Cosmic Ark is a great game hurt by Imagic's occasional attempts to mimic Chuck E. Cheese elements into some of its titles. A Chuck E. Cheese game is one that constantly gets quarters pumped into it because games are either short or impossible to finish on one credit. Like Dragonfire, the game becomes impossible at some point due to the cannons and I also feel the Space Zap section has moments where I knew I hit that meteor but the game says I didn't. If you can get to Pac-Land then you're truly a master of Cosmic Ark.
Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, and Star Voyager are side by side in my Atari cartridge case. Imagic had some of the very best games and the absolute coolest box art!
Imagic was my favorite 3rd party publisher for intellivision, back then I had dracula and my favorite Demon Attack , recently I bought back cib of demon attack , atlantis, truckin, nova blast and Ice trek , their games had great graphics , they were innovative and sometimes a bit weird lol, I didn’t know that cosmic ark was the sequel of atlantis , I will have to try this game , it looks fun , thanks for the video Jon
Little Andy never had this game back in the day, but he had a couple friends who had it, so he only played it a little. Now, as an adult Andy, he's played it several times through emulation. His top score is little over 10,000 but he doesn't remember the exact score. He just remembers clearing the 10,000 point mark but not by much.
yeah, once you get that far...the defense lasers are almost constant, and the meteors almost become guesswork because they are so fast after that audio cue...the pink ones are slower even though they zigzag.
Hey Jon, thanks for putting out a new video despite all your recent troubles, you're a real trooper! this game takes 💯% concentration...eyes burning from not blinking, tongue & drool lolling out like Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes comics) when he's busy drawing a picture. That being said, a couple of tips and tricks I learned for Cosmic Ark...the beasties seem to dodge less when you try to beam them up from a further height, but then you have to be more mindful of the laser(especially at higher levels where it is almost constant zapzapzap). Next, the joystick is not your friend, even though it is more nostalgic and period correct...but using a sega genesis controller D pad makes shooting in the proper direction and maneuvering the scout ship much easier, imo. Finally, and this is a no-brainer, you cannot play this game muted, the audio cues are vital...although later on with the speed the meteors come in at, it becomes more a matter of intuition and hoping you're right. Lastly, yeah...I think the pac-man beasties might be the last variety, I haven't seen any others past them...I know I topped 10k score, I think maybe 12k or so was my best, but that notebook paper I had all my old Atari games high scores on got lost some time ago after high school. 😭 Keep up the videos, not just for your fans, but also for yourself...I am sure doing these are as satisfying for you as they are for us!
I really loved this game as a kid. I still enjoy it but I have some great memories playing this. It was a very balanced game as far as fun yet hard but not so bad you wanted to chunk the controller at the tv...very often. LoL. I don't remember my high score but I do know I took a polaroid of it once and tapes it to my mirror. It was probably not an impressive score but felt like it at the time
I can very much relate to the decline in reflexes. Between that and the tiny lag experienced playing emulations on LED screens, I cannot seem to get the kind of high scores I used to achieve back in the day.
I loved this game, but I swear that sometimes, during the meteor phase, some of my shots didn't register. I can't count the number of times I'd sworn I moved the stick in the right direction, but no shot comes out and I'd get hit.
You must return the stick to center before you can fire another shot. If you just slide diagonally to a new direction that won't count. I'll be that's what was happening to you.
I had Cosmic Ark - played it a lot. I was good. I tried it a few years ago, I lost my skill and was down right terrible. It was a cool game for the time.
Jon, here’s a question I’ll never be able to answer by myself… When I was a kid I remember being blown away by the star field. It looked amazing. Now as an adult I play entirely on modern TVs with no access to a CRT. I was wondering if the Star field looks any different on a traditional CRT television. Like maybe the stars look smoother or more natural. Like on my modern tv the stars look very crisp and HD. But maybe they’re missing some smoothness or more analog look. I don’t know. Maybe there is no difference and my brain has just convinced me they looked better when I was a kid.
It does look a little crunchy on modern displays or under emulation with no filters. It can appear a bit too sharp and jagged. On a CRT (or with a CRT filter as I use in Stella), the edges blur and you get that really cool shimmering/sparkling effect.
I haven't played this game often because the meteor section frustrated me too much. My best score is 7,500. I should try again, since I actually love the concept
Cosmic Ark is the only Imagic game I have (Demon Attack looks fun). I enjoyed Cosmic Ark although it wasn't my traditional go to. I haven't played it in a while. I'll have to bust it out again and see how high of a score I can get.
I'm still amazed at the programming wizardry that Imagic and Activision did on the 2600. So colorful and the bleeps and buzzes sound great
Atlantis and Cosmic Ark were two of my absolute favorite games back in the 80's. I got REALLY REALLY good at Cosmic Ark too. As a kid, I gained those near perfect reflexes needed for that game. Sadly, when I play it now, now that I'm in my 50's, I just... don't have the dexterity anymore. Haha!
Imagic lived up to their name. Amazing games and awesome graphics for the time. Thanks for this Jon, glad you are doing well.
I think what I loved most about this video was your accurate and completely detailed descriptions of something I have been doing from muscle memory longer than I can remember :) I love this game. I still play it all the time.
*Loved* Night Driver, Space Invaders, and Missile Command on our Atari. 🕹️😁
Glad you're getting better. Maybe the threequel could have scrolling like Solaris or Juno First, with the small ship getting revenge for the Atlantis attack.
This is a game that can get you in a flow. Almost Zen-like at times. The star field is amazing. Great Friday play Jon! ❤
Atlantis and Cosmic Ark are two of my favorite Atari 2600 games. Played the heck out of them.
Great video! Atlantis and Cosmic Ark are both in my top ten Atari games!
Nice choices!
No doubt...hours played on both of them amount to a higher percentage of total playtime than most other games! Simple...yet addicting. 🕹️🕹️🕹️
This was great dude! Thought i would mention also, Fantastic interview with HSW! Loved it!
You absolutely HAD to play these games back to back. I always would do this and just... roleplay the story that they told.
I would love to see an Atlantean trilogy. Remake or reimagined I'm not so sure of. The originals are great because of their simplicity and straight forward gameplay. It's fun to show friends who never played them.
there was an Antantlis II...but not sure if it really fits in to the trilogy, it was basically a remake of Atlantis.
I only had two Imagic games as a kid, this and Demon Ataack. I played Coamic Ark ten times more than I played Demon Attack, and it was one of my most played games.
Cosmic Ark is a great game hurt by Imagic's occasional attempts to mimic Chuck E. Cheese elements into some of its titles. A Chuck E. Cheese game is one that constantly gets quarters pumped into it because games are either short or impossible to finish on one credit. Like Dragonfire, the game becomes impossible at some point due to the cannons and I also feel the Space Zap section has moments where I knew I hit that meteor but the game says I didn't. If you can get to Pac-Land then you're truly a master of Cosmic Ark.
Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, and Star Voyager are side by side in my Atari cartridge case. Imagic had some of the very best games and the absolute coolest box art!
I had Cosmic Arc. I'm guessing that was the only IMAGIC game I had. The shape of the cartridge was very unique to IMAGIC carts. Great Content!🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲
The shape was certainly eye-catching! Thanks so much for watching. 😁
Loved this game, Mr. Scott called the 2 humpback whales George & Gracie beasties in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home from 1986! 😎
That's my favorite Star Trek movie, the comedic moments were great.
Wow, Imagic makes good games. Thank you, Jon, for the video.
You bet!
Cosmic Ark is my favorite 2600 game hands down. Just something about it. Imagic definitely put out some bangers back in the day!
Imagic was my favorite 3rd party publisher for intellivision, back then I had dracula and my favorite Demon Attack , recently I bought back cib of demon attack , atlantis, truckin, nova blast and Ice trek , their games had great graphics , they were innovative and sometimes a bit weird lol, I didn’t know that cosmic ark was the sequel of atlantis , I will have to try this game , it looks fun , thanks for the video Jon
i miss playing atari at my freinds house in the summer ...we played this game alot too..
Great game and playthrough. Thanks for sharing Jon :-)
I’m stoned and this brings back a lot of memories! Great work!❤
Edit: Have you ever thought about a video of the Swordquest series on the Atari 2600,
Little Andy never had this game back in the day, but he had a couple friends who had it, so he only played it a little. Now, as an adult Andy, he's played it several times through emulation. His top score is little over 10,000 but he doesn't remember the exact score. He just remembers clearing the 10,000 point mark but not by much.
yeah, once you get that far...the defense lasers are almost constant, and the meteors almost become guesswork because they are so fast after that audio cue...the pink ones are slower even though they zigzag.
Hey Jon, thanks for putting out a new video despite all your recent troubles, you're a real trooper!
this game takes 💯% concentration...eyes burning from not blinking, tongue & drool lolling out like Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes comics) when he's busy drawing a picture.
That being said, a couple of tips and tricks I learned for Cosmic Ark...the beasties seem to dodge less when you try to beam them up from a further height, but then you have to be more mindful of the laser(especially at higher levels where it is almost constant zapzapzap).
Next, the joystick is not your friend, even though it is more nostalgic and period correct...but using a sega genesis controller D pad makes shooting in the proper direction and maneuvering the scout ship much easier, imo. Finally, and this is a no-brainer, you cannot play this game muted, the audio cues are vital...although later on with the speed the meteors come in at, it becomes more a matter of intuition and hoping you're right.
Lastly, yeah...I think the pac-man beasties might be the last variety, I haven't seen any others past them...I know I topped 10k score, I think maybe 12k or so was my best, but that notebook paper I had all my old Atari games high scores on got lost some time ago after high school. 😭
Keep up the videos, not just for your fans, but also for yourself...I am sure doing these are as satisfying for you as they are for us!
I didn't own Cosmic Ark as a child but it looks like something I would have loved.
I really loved this game as a kid. I still enjoy it but I have some great memories playing this. It was a very balanced game as far as fun yet hard but not so bad you wanted to chunk the controller at the tv...very often. LoL. I don't remember my high score but I do know I took a polaroid of it once and tapes it to my mirror. It was probably not an impressive score but felt like it at the time
Woah! There is a 2 player co-op mode????!!!!! I never knew! 😎👍🏻
I can very much relate to the decline in reflexes. Between that and the tiny lag experienced playing emulations on LED screens, I cannot seem to get the kind of high scores I used to achieve back in the day.
Great review and this looks waaaaay too difficult for me, so kudos to you for you level of game play
😎🕹️
I loved this game, but I swear that sometimes, during the meteor phase, some of my shots didn't register. I can't count the number of times I'd sworn I moved the stick in the right direction, but no shot comes out and I'd get hit.
I had this feeling too. That's probably why I was frustrated
You must return the stick to center before you can fire another shot. If you just slide diagonally to a new direction that won't count. I'll be that's what was happening to you.
The loop seems real fun with this one, intense all the way!
I had Cosmic Ark - played it a lot. I was good. I tried it a few years ago, I lost my skill and was down right terrible. It was a cool game for the time.
Never knew the difficulty switch change the size of the ship! And I've been playing this game on and off since 1983!
Isn't it cool learning new stuff about something you thought you knew everything about? 😁 Sure is to me.
@@GenXGrownUp You bet that's cool! :)
Love to see a video on the Buck Rodger’s game
This was a great stroll down memory lane for me! But now is the time to do Activision's Decathlon in recognition of the Olympics!
Jon, here’s a question I’ll never be able to answer by myself… When I was a kid I remember being blown away by the star field. It looked amazing. Now as an adult I play entirely on modern TVs with no access to a CRT. I was wondering if the Star field looks any different on a traditional CRT television. Like maybe the stars look smoother or more natural. Like on my modern tv the stars look very crisp and HD. But maybe they’re missing some smoothness or more analog look. I don’t know. Maybe there is no difference and my brain has just convinced me they looked better when I was a kid.
that starfield was amazing...it looked better than a lot of later games on NES.
It does look a little crunchy on modern displays or under emulation with no filters. It can appear a bit too sharp and jagged. On a CRT (or with a CRT filter as I use in Stella), the edges blur and you get that really cool shimmering/sparkling effect.
Would love to see a Saboteur episode!
You should do a deep dive on subterranea for the 2600. That’s one of the best games on there.
I had this game back in 87 rad
Great game actually very good I like it!
I never thought about it until now. Are there more aliens to save in "Cosmic Ark" then there are Pokemon? The world may never know.
I haven't played this game often because the meteor section frustrated me too much. My best score is 7,500. I should try again, since I actually love the concept
Would be interesting to see you try out a game that has both a 2600 and either 5200 and/or 7800 version like Desert Falcon.
Maybe someone can make a Cosmic Ark shaped digital alarm clock featuring the klaxon sound... "ok, ok, I'm uppppp"
I'm surprised Jeff Minter and Llamasoft didn't make this since you're rescuing beasts
Friday Plays suggestion: Haunted House (the original)
Cosmic Ark!
Cosmic Ark is the only Imagic game I have (Demon Attack looks fun). I enjoyed Cosmic Ark although it wasn't my traditional go to. I haven't played it in a while. I'll have to bust it out again and see how high of a score I can get.
Ok, I was lucky enough to get to 11,790. The aliens were these flapping Bats or Birds looking aliens.
It was more fun than I remember.
Loved Cosmic Ark, though I never put it as a sequel to Atlantis.
From the manual "The game ends when you run out of energy and die"
Never played this, I’m off to boot up my flashback 50th, I’ll let you know how I get on.
First game 9180 and a huge grin, thanks for the vid now I’m heading back for more 😀
You're killin' it!
do we know if there is an unfinished rom of the 3rd game?
Nothing's ever emerged to my knowledge.
What emulator do you use?
I use most of them for various purposes. In this case I believe I was using Stella.
I'm sure someone could make a homebrew third sequel
For sure. But what should it be? 😁
Classic simple mechanics.
I donot think "coup de grace" means what you think it means.
OK. What do you think it means. 😉
I think it means, "an action or event that serves as the culmination."
It means literally "The merciful strike"...that means a merciful killing like shooting an animal with a broken leg to end its suffering.
it has 'ark' in the title you are collecting them and maybe some planets don't like that.
🤔
@@GenXGrownUp :)