Defender bang out of date for the early 80s? Time you read up on the history of videogames methinks!
Defender revolutionised videogames - it was the first game to feature an active world evolving and existing outside of the player’s visible screen. It was also the first game to feature a smartbomb and - together with pacman - shares the title of the highest grossing video game of its time.
Playing a real Defender machine in a real early 80s arcade - with all of its associated sights, sounds and smells must be experienced to be appreciated. You are either too young, a philistine - or both! - if you think Defender was anything short of revolutionary.
Oh, and as for the SAM being more than capable of handling a half-decent side-scroller then think again. Ask any SAM programmer and they’ll tell you the machine is seriously underpowered for the sheer number of on-screen bytes you have to shift per frame. Remember, it doesn’t have any hardware scrolling or sprites - so how do you suggest side scrolling anything more than a simple landscape and keeping up the “one true speed” of 50fps would be achieved… Any supposedly fast-paced game that doesn’t keep up 50-fps is a total waste of time - watching a game struggle along at 12-fps (or less) kills all semblance of quality game-play.
A little history lesson is needed here...
Defender bang out of date for the early 80s? Time you read up on the history of videogames methinks!
Defender revolutionised videogames - it was the first game to feature an active world evolving and existing outside of the player’s visible screen. It was also the first game to feature a smartbomb and - together with pacman - shares the title of the highest grossing video game of its time.
Playing a real Defender machine in a real early 80s arcade - with all of its associated sights, sounds and smells must be experienced to be appreciated. You are either too young, a philistine - or both! - if you think Defender was anything short of revolutionary.
Oh, and as for the SAM being more than capable of handling a half-decent side-scroller then think again. Ask any SAM programmer and they’ll tell you the machine is seriously underpowered for the sheer number of on-screen bytes you have to shift per frame. Remember, it doesn’t have any hardware scrolling or sprites - so how do you suggest side scrolling anything more than a simple landscape and keeping up the “one true speed” of 50fps would be achieved… Any supposedly fast-paced game that doesn’t keep up 50-fps is a total waste of time - watching a game struggle along at 12-fps (or less) kills all semblance of quality game-play.