Sundog is by far one of my most favorite games from the 1980s. Originally written for the Apple II in 1984 by Wayne Holder and Bruce Webster and released by FTL games (founded by Wayne Holder in 1982), I didn’t play it until version 3.0 was released as a port to the Atari ST in 1985. Sundog was just one of the successes of FTL. Any gamer awake around that time would recognize that other big FTL hit game series, Dungeon Master.
Thankfully, I can still play Sundog on my Mac using NoSTalgia 1.42. This emulator hasn’t been updated in several years, but it works well. Of course, you’ll need the game ROM to play the game as well. note: I have it on good authority you’ll find it on Automation Experts 116.

The original intent behind this post was to write up a history of the game and review the gameplay a bit, until I discovered this has already been done by Maury Markowitz, and quite well in my opinion. Ian Hadfield’s Sundog Information Page has loads of information about the various cities, planets, and commodity exchanges in Sundog.

If ever there was a topic that just smacks of flame bait, this is it. CNET reports that there are a few folks with credentials enough to dare play that particular game though, and have compiled a chronological list of the most important video games of all time, and have submitted it for review and potential permanent preservation to the U.S. Library of Congress. Although I wasn’t even born when the first on the list (Spacewar, 1962) hit screens, I *do* remember Star Raiders on the Atari in 1979. Others on the list are equally memorable. Is the list definitive? Will these be the games that define our generation in 200 years when they are all thats left? Time to fire up the the Atari emulator for some Star Raiders!

I’ve been playing retro games for a long while, struggling to run the old ROMs even back when I used Windows, before I switched to Linux for my home machine, almost 7 years ago now, using various emulators. M.A.M.E. has always been a favorite of mine, since it allows me to play all those great old arcade games that I had pumped so many quarters into in years past. On the Mac, I’ve used…

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I love those old arcade games and the ones I used to play on my various Ataris. Toward the end of playing them again, I found three emulators that allow me to do just that on the iBook (yes, its easier to find good emulators for the PC)

MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) for MAC OS X
http://www.macmame.org/

Stella Atari 2600 Emulator for Mac OS X
http://stella.sourceforge.net/

NoSTalgia Atari ST emulator for Mac OS X
http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/

Atari800MacX emulator for the 8bit Atari for Mac OS X
http://members.cox.net/atarimac/

Of course, you need ROMs (disk images) for programs and games you want to run, and those are probably illegal unless you have the systems and can “dump” them yourself, but an enterprising person can usually find these things on the web.