Taca Taca for Atari 2.0: animated title, music and three stadiums

Version 2.0 of Taca Taca for Atari 8-bit computers is ready to download. It is the biggest update since launch: the same game as ever, but it looks and sounds better than it ever has.

What's in it

• An animated title. The logo over a gradient sky, with a shine that sweeps across it; the crowd on the horizon, grass in perspective rolling towards you and a football that bounces and spins.
• Music. A three-voice POKEY tune on the title and champion screens, plus a fanfare when you win and another when you lose.
• A crowd and a pitch with depth. Both sets of fans, each in their team's colours, jump and take photos when a goal goes in. The grass is striped and the wooden frame has light and shade.
• The ball takes off. Shots lift it off the table: it looks bigger, its shadow moves away, it drops and bounces. It spins as it rolls.
• Three stadiums. Day, sunset and night, with the S key. In the cups the semi-final is played at sunset and the final at night.
• Goals with a replay. The screen shakes, the grass flashes, the net rattles and then comes the replay of the play. The supporters' drum keeps the match going.
• Series and saved cups. Two players can go for a best of 3 or 5. And from its disk, every cup you win is saved, with fireworks on the champion screen.

Which Atari you need

Version 2.0 is made for the Atari 800XL and the 65XE, and runs on the whole family with 48 KB or more: 1200XL, 130XE, 800XE, XEGS and the 800 with 48 KB. Play with no cartridge inserted; the game turns the built-in BASIC off by itself. With everything new, it runs as smoothly as before: 50 frames per second on PAL and 60 on NTSC.

The download is still free, as a .xex (21 KB), an .atr or a .zip with both plus instructions. The Atari manual is up to date too.

Download 2.0 for Atari