MiSTer FPGA – Tower Toppler / Atari 7800

*NOTE* – This video uses the 7800 core’s « Composite Blend » option to fill in the graphics properly. Comparison point included at the end (22:04) so you can see the difference it makes.
Originally released as « Nebulus » on the Commodore 64, this odd platforming puzzle game marked the first time we would see this type of rotating tower effect in games. This technique was later used in 16-bit titles including Mickey Mouse on Genesis/Mega Drive, and even as recently as 2021 with the indie release « Demons of Asteborg ». (Timestamped here: https://youtu.be/Cr4iVa4Ka1Q?t=1991)

Thanks to ‘sajattack’ for first recommending this on C64 during a livestream over a year ago. I struggled and failed to even get to the top of the first tower during that stream. Put in some practice on the Atari 7800 version and was able to get to the 5th tower for my first time in this video. The difficulty really kicks up a notch on the 4th tower, requiring some very accurately-timed jumps to even make it past the enemies on the bottom level. This is made even more difficult because of the variable slowdown and generally poorer performance of the Atari 7800 version over the C64 original. It’s still very playable here and features some stand-out graphics amongst the official Atari 7800 library. Much like the infamous waterfalls in Sonic The Hedgehog, the game relies on the generally blurrier composite/rf output to give special visual elements a proper effect. As you can see from the comparison at the end of the video, it does an admirable job of making the graphical presentation more complete here but does not feature the same colored artifacts you would get from composite/rf output. This gives an overall cleaner presentation than the original system, while still removing the distracting vertical lines from the background. I can certainly understand that some still prefer the colored artifacts, as it does give somewhat more of a texture to the tower & objects.

Our new Atari 7800 core came out of the gate with extreme accuracy thanks to Kitrinx. She is a dedicated MiSTer dev who has been a constant advocate for proper preservation. I’ve never met a person so excited about making old hardware obsolete, and we are lucky to have someone with this talent and drive working with the project so closely.

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Atari 7800 core 04-17-2021 build – Tower Toppler
A.K.A: Nebulus , Castelian , Kyorochan Land , キョロちゃんランド , Subline

Composite Blend: On (comparison with this turned off @22:04)

Filter: Scanlines(Bright)115_80_soft // Gamma: 2.3 // Color Temp: Warm

Played using an OEM NES controller with USB adapter & 1000hz polling.

Settings: 5x Integer Scaled (-2 offset) to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card

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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00 – Boot / Settings
00:35 – Title
01:20 – Tower 1
03:19 – Tower 2
05:58 – Tower 3
08:36 – Tower 4
16:33 – Tower 5 (PB: 29,570)
22:04 – Composite Blend: OFF (For Comparison)

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Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/WalrusFPGA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA

=—————CONTRIBUTE—————=

None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.

Patreon: https://patreon.com/FPGAMiSTer

PayPal: https://paypal.me/FPGAMiSTer

NOTE: I am not affiliated with Sorgelig and am only sharing these links as a fan of the project who wishes to see it continue to grow rapidly.

=—————–INFORM—————–=

Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Atari7800_MiSTer

MiSTer Forum/Wiki/Github (source, guides and info): http://MiSTerFPGA.org

Official MiSTer Discord for live chat/help: https://discord.gg/4xKVg4XVYn
(Be respectful; this server is moderated. New users must be verified.)

=——————BUILD——————=

Worldwide list of sellers for MiSTer expansion boards: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34&sid=74e1c5e7dae1b99284789d93194cfa0b

I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there. (North American seller. If in a different region, check list linked above for best local shipping rates.)

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