Atari ST CrackTro [006] Mr. Atari from Trivial Pursuit

Main Screen

I will not have too many stories to write for 'CrackTros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not have very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because they are art, and need to be preserved.

Seeing that there are only three to four Mr. Atari intros, I continued with capturing them.  No scroller here, just a short screen.

Golden Axe - Atari ST [005] PlayThru

Title Screen

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

Golden Axe, an excellent side scroller hack-and-slash from Sega that was released in the arcades  in 1989.  I have only played the Atari ST version, and Sega Master System version, maybe 2 or 3 times.  I had the Genesis cartridge early on, and that is the one I played the most.

Atari ST CrackTro [005] Mr. Atari from Star Wars

Main Screen

I will not have too many stories to write for 'Cracktros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not have very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because they are art, and need to be preserved.  I will also attempt to transcribe the scroll text, which will be posted in a companion blog entry linked above.

Seeing that there are only three to four Mr. Atari intros, I continued with capturing them.  I do like the fact that the graphic used with the intro ties right into the game.  Can't go wrong with Tie Fighters!

Thundercats - Atari ST [004] PlayThru

Title Screen

A trainer was used for making this capture, because playing this game without one would be crazy. Even with one, I died too many times....

Actually, playing this game WITH a trainer is not much better...

Atari ST Cracktro [004] Mr. Atari from Defender of the Crown

Main Screen

I will not have too many stories to write for 'CrackTros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not have very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because they are art, and need to be preserved.  I will also attempt to transcribe the scroll text, which will be posted in a companion blog entry linked below.

Having captured a playthru of Defender of the Crown, I decided to capture the any cracktros for the game I could locate.

Strider - Atari ST [003] PlayThru

Title Screem

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

I first acquired Strider for the Atari ST, then for the Sega Genesis not long after release, and finally for the Sega Master System, when retailers were blowing those games out in the US.

Early on, I remember enjoying this game, but my main issue was the fact that the play area was squished, which was squished even more when playing on the 12 inch Atari SC1224 monitors of the day.

Atari ST Cracktro [003] Menacing Cracking Alliance [MCA] from Thundercats

I will not have too many stories to write for 'CrackTros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not see very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because the demo screens are art, and need to be preserved.

Gauntlet - Atari ST [002] Shortplay PlayThru Levels 1-26

Title Screen

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

Gauntlet is a port of the Atari Games 1985 arcade title, which was ported to many other systems.

I remember when Gauntlet was new, and a local Time Out arcade had the cabinet.  Similar to Street Fighter 2 a few years later, people were lined up to feed quarters into the machine, to get their 2000 health.  Back then, the Wizard was not very popular, since you could only have 1 of each class in the original game, so typically that controller on the arcade cabinet was empty.

Atari ST Cracktro [002] Blade Runners from Thundercats

Main Intro Screen

I will not have too many stories to write for 'CrackTros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not see very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because the demo screens are art, and need to be preserved.  I will also attempt to transcribe the scroll text, which will be posted in a companinon blog entry linked below.

Having captured a playthru of Thundercats, I decided to capture the various cracktros for the game, so this is one of them.

Gauntlet - Sega Master System [002] Shortplay PlayThru Levels 1-26

Title Screen

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

Gauntlet is a port of the Atari Games 1985 arcade title, which was ported to many other systems.

I remember when Gauntlet was new, and a local Time Out arcade had the cabinet.  Similar to Street Fighter 2 a few years later, people were lined up to feed quarters into the machine to get their 2000 health.  Back then, the Wizard was not too popular, since you could only have 1 of each class in the original game, so typically that controller on the arcade cabinet was empty.

Atari ST Cracktro [001] Blade Runners from Super Hang On

Main Intro Screen

I will not have too many stories to write for 'CrackTros' (Demo screens that appeared as introductions to cracked video games) as I did not see very many of these back in the day.  I am mainly recording these now because the demo screens are art, and need to be preserved.

On this occasion, this was probably the first 'cracked' game I had ever seen.  It definitely is a stand out mainly from the Blade Runner name.  Hopefully I will capture Super Hang On gameplay later.

Bruce Lee [Homebrew] - Sega Master System [001] PlayThru

Title Screen

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

Bruce Lee is a homebrew remake of the Datasoft game for the Atari 800/Commodore 64 released in 1984 for the Sega Master System.  Kagesan released the latest version for the Sega Master System on
March 4, 2015.

Defender of the Crown - Atari ST [001] PlayThru

Title Screen

NOTE: A trainer was used for making this capture.

Defender of the Crown.  This is the first 16-bit computer title that I ever saw when I was growing up.  My father was looking for a computer, so we stopped in a store in Woodbridge, VA that was carrying Amiga systems (just a few storefronts down from L&Y Electronics, which was carrying Atari systems). A demo of Defender of the Crown was being displayed on the Amiga 1000 to showcase the graphics.  My father ended up buying an Atari 1040 STf (the one used for this capture!), and Defender of the Crown was one of the early games that was purchased.

Welcome to Retro Playthrus!

Coleco Telstar Console

Why Retro Playthrus?

To quickly summarize my interest here, many games have been released since I first started playing games. I have made many purchases, but so many titles have sat on shelves collecting dust that I have not had the chance to complete, mainly from the facts of life getting in the way.  I plan to start rectifying some of this, beginning by capturing the game play mainly on the retro game systems I grew up with, such as the Atari 800/XL/XE, Sega Master System, Atari ST, and maybe some SNK Neo Geo.