Summer Games & Desert Falcon retrospective: Struggling for the bronze | NES Works Gaiden #024 

That diver went in feet first and got 10's. That's supposed to be an automatic zero.

Really interesting look at a classic system I knew virtually nothing about. I really appreciate how you've broadened your march through gaming history. We're all eager for more about the systems we loved as children and still do, but hearing about literally *everything* available gives much needed context and by definition, the ones we don't know about because we didn't have them/know about them are going to be more educational. Excellent job!

My cousin had Sega Master System and Atari 7800 from 1986-1989. I had the Commodore 64 and NES from 1985-1990. What an amazing set up we had to experience literally almost everything.

I'm in love with Desert Falcon's cute little hopping motion. Star Fox Zero's walker mode clearly missed out on something endearing.

1:20 I love you Jeremy, never change Desert Falcon always had this alluring look to me that reminds me of the C64 demoscene. The esoteric symbology, the muted brown palettes, text flashing in different colours and it all just has this Jeff Minter flavour to it.

The value-proposition of the 7800 looks bleaker by the month.

The Ouya has a Commodore 64 emulator on it. And it has an amazing controller config that makes Summer and Winter Games so cool. My family still plays it on UFC nights to this day.

It's so funny how much I readily accepted 2600 Zaxxon back then, regardless of its quality and inability to actually match the gameplay of the arcade. Desert Falcon was always interesting because of its originality, in my opinion. It featured aesthetics that weren't shown in many other games with its Egyptian themes and items. Plus, falcons are cool! (I played the XE version) Nice vid!

I must say (again and again) I really enjoy seeing a new video from you each Wednesday. It really helps make the middle of the week even better! Keep up the great work! Each and every video you do on the 7800 really help to explain why the 7800 ended up the way it did without resorting to hyperbole.

Being pretty familiar with the NES & SNES libraries at this point, these gaiden series have been more interesting than the honden for me.

Desert Falcon: childhood trauma in a 2600 cartridge. Seriously, the two-note song is very ominous, the enemies come out of nowhere, the controls feel awkward, and that sphinx's sudden appearance with that unusually loud "oo-wah-oo-wah" sound is icing on the cake. Then again, the Atari 2600 version wasn't exactly known for being the most functional version. Yes, I know you're talking the 7800 version. I just grew up with the 2600 version.

I played a lot of the 2600 version of Desert Falcon I love that game, the way the bird hops and flaps his wings the animations are so cute I love them.

Desert Falcon sounds like a helicopter shooter with a modern day war asthetic instead of an Egyptian one.

the vhs quality aesthetic is really awesome

Desert Falcon actually looks pretty dang good for the time. I love the way the Sphinx's face animates.

I guess Desert Falcon gives me one more reason to get an Evercade so I can play the 7800 version on handheld or connected to my modern TV. I probably would have enjoyed a shooter like that too back in my NES kid days.

I had Summer Games for my Atari 800 XL disk drive. More events but what I like the most about it was playing the national anthems at the country select screen.

Modern console makers should copy Coleco’s strategy. Instead of console exclusives, Sony should also put their games out on Xbox, just make sure the Xbox version sucks compared to PlayStation.

Jeremy we miss seeing your beautiful cheekbones in HD !!

I loved how “Summer Games II” on the C64 (and other computers, I”m assuming) could pull in the events from the original.

It's so weird hearing this crisp, clean audio alongside grainy ancient VHS video.. haha

-It would be pretty funny if Sega took inspiration from Desert Falcon for Panzer Dragoon. In II Zwei some stages have the dragon scurrying on the ground instead of flying. -My dad actually got me a 7800 instead of a 2600 Jr. because it was more advanced (but still not very expensive compared to NES).

Thank you for making this, I really enjoyed it!

Beautifully made videos

Not a lot of offerings, but it did include my favorite game on the system. Desert Falcon is a strangely addictive game for me. It's really easy for me to get in the "zone" and loose myself in it in a way I don't tend to for other games of it's era.

After seeing this series of videos I can kind of see how the 7800 bombed

Jeremy, Absolutely love that filter.Nicely done.😊👍

Hold on. Who in the comments taped over this week's NES Works episode!? I hadn't watched it yet.

Epyx' "Games" games with their more methodical and skill-based gameplay always felt a lot more satisfying than Track & Field and its ilk. Even in this slightly reduced form, Summer Games really is a damn fine competitive sports game.

So, what is the titular Desert Falcon shooting? Is it simply spitting at its enemies or can it fire bullets from its mouth like the snake enemies in Super Mario Bros. 2? And what is it about the falcon that so many want it dead? Is it a carrier bird flying secret messages for the resistance? Or did the falcon steal their sandwiches or something?

the power up system in desert falcon reminds me of Riddle of the Sphinx from 1982 for the 2600 probably just a coincidence but if you stretch the imagination there could be some connection?

2:50 it looks like a mix of a receipt and and the blue screen of death

I was wondering when this was going to happen... I had my days mixed up.

Really interesting episode as usual. Great work. VHS is awesome, but can we please have HD Jeremy back?

I always wondered why this VHS aesthetic is not used more often in the retro gaming community. I loved when you started to use of the VHS quality video. You might want to zoom in the camera on you face so we can see you more clearly. Doing that you compensate for the lower definition.

Nobody could splinter a user base like Atari... not even Sega with its Sega CD and 32X! It's weirdly ironic that they were desperate to kill the Atari 5200 with the 7800, and then just as desperate to kill the 7800 with the XEGS, basically a re-do of the 5200 with more RAM and a less frustrating controller. (And Mentos for system buttons.) Also, John Stossel (and his apostles' colossal fossils) still sucks. Can you believe he's got a presence on RU-vid? He's still Ayn Randing it up after all these years.

"i hope no cops are watching this episode" same. Acab

Play Desert Falcon on the Atari Collection 2 cart, only on Evercade!

@0:23 Something’s really wrong with the Nt mini core because wow it’s not supposed to sound that deep

I have to admit, the title "Desert Falcon" did not lead me to expect an actual bird.

I grew up with this game on the C64 - and hearing the music during the torch lighting on this version without the excellent SID chip is just.. sad

I will play desert falcon. 😀👍🎮

Summer & Games & Desert & Falcon

4:44 - Is this a John Stossel

Holy shit that Olympic theme 😖

I thought Summer Games seemed familiar until I saw the events, then I realized it was a different title I played from Epyx, World Games. It wasn’t great either, and I’m not sure why we rented it. It doesn’t help that the experience is forever marred by being associated with the stench of some rotting cruciferous vegetable. Probably broccoli. Don’t ask. Mostly because I don’t remember the story behind it.

Atari Corp launched a massive marketing campaign with the Atari 7800 but the biggest wtf was that it was already backward compatible with 2600 games and yet Atari Corp somehow had money to order making Atari 2600 Junior consoles... in 1986 at the same time they launched the 7800... and then iirc by 1987 or 88 they launched the Atari XEGS with a commercial on television outright mocking the Nintendo Entertainment System hardware and then finally by 1989 they launched the Atari Linx... Bear in mind that during the 1980s the "gamer" magazines were not organized but if they had been organized it would have been difficult for editorial staff to hide how horrible the Atari systems were like how during the 2005 to 2009 timeframe all the gamer journalists decided to address the Xbox 360 RRoD until the last year mentioned. Also if you were somehow suckered into buying the Atari 7800, just imagine going to arcades and to friend's houses who owned the NES or Sega Master System and basically feeling like they had videogame software and hardware from ten years into the future. Nevermind if you had a friend who got the launch Sega Genesis with the weak marketing that Sega of America had in 1989.

The failure of choosing this system as an idiot 7 year old on Christmas of 1986 over the NES had gone from an angry mistake to a hilarious joke at this point (the nes was requested the following year). The summer games opening theme, made on the same sound chip you’d find in 1977’s 2600, was just painful. I assume next week we get the XEGS, Atari’s attempt to bloat the market a decade before Sega did it in the 90’s. That, even though a reskinned computer from 1979, had a better internal sound chip than the 7800

What was it that caused Atari to drop the ball so hard in this period compared to Nintendo or even Sega? Had they just bled out their talent and know-how following the video game crash? One would have to assume that it was at least *possible* for the 7800 to have been quite a bit more of a success had Atari played its cards right. The hardware wasn't terrible (besides the on-board sound), it was backwards-compatible with the most popular console pre-NES, and it was from a well-known, domestic brand (at the height of post-War Japanese xenophobia). Why does it seem like Atari was intent on barely trying to compete?

Okay this video makes my head hurt I remember one of the first games I bought was desert falcon....but I could have sworn I had the 2600....lol nm

Dessert falcon was my favorite 7800 game along with food fight, I was one of those unlucky kids who got a atari 7800 for Christmas 86 instead of a nintendo, me and my brother was passed, but we did end up getting like the best games in the Whole library in no time, about 8 or so games that were all pretty good minus karteka

Enjoyed the Stossel shade. That guy's been a jerk for over 40 years now

IM always amazed at Ataris complete lack of understanding of video games. Basically as soon as competition happened, they never kept up.

Desert Falcon. My lord... don't even think about playing the 2600 version. I owned it, and the visuals are so poorly drawn, it makes the game almost unplayable. Shamefully, it's the only version of the game that can be played on the Atari Vault Steam/PS4 collection.

Heavily neglected console. Could have been the greatest Atari console if it had the library to back it up. The hardware was there but the software? Not really.

Was everyone working at Atari on crack????