Tandy Color Computer and Dragon compatibilty question?

[RangerG]

Hello --

Maybe I should not admit this, but I have really gotten into collecting for my CoCo computer. The CoCo didn't have that many domestic cart releases, but I know the Dragon (the European clone) had a handful of carts released for it. I have researched on the web and written a few emails to the guys with the sites, but I haven't gotten very far. I know there are a few CoCo fans here. Are any of the Dragon cart games compatible with the U.S. Tandy CoCo. I know software and the hardware is not totally compatible, but a few sites say most games will work on both, but I have also read that no Dragon games work on the CoCo. To add intrigue, the Tano Dragon was a Dragon for the U.S. market and thus I assume it is NTSC. What cartridges were released for it? I will get to the bottom of this, but any help is desired?

Take care,
RG

[YoshiM]

From what I've dug up so far, the CoCo and Dragon computers are similar. Dragon Data had to change things up with the Dragon to avoid legal problems with Tandy. The memory map and keyboard matrix are different, meaning machine language programs will not run on the CoCo (or vice versa). BASIC, however, should be okay.

Now what does this mean for carts? I can't say with 100% accuracy what's compatible and what's not. When I get a chance I'll dig through my Rainbow and Hot CoCo magazines to see if they mention anything.

[RangerG]

Yoshi --

I knew I had seen your avatar and that there was a fellow CoCo fan here. I got a reply back from a Dragon collector in the UK and he said that he thinks that they are compatible (howver the colors will possibly be different like Atari Pal games on a NTSC machine). Not the best answer - but I'm intrigued and will try to get a dragon cart (only about a dozen cart games released) and test it out. I'll tell you how it goes and thanks for checking the CoCo mags.

Take care,
RG

[The Unknown Gamer]

There are also some COCO programs in BASIC from a kids mag of the mid 1980s called Enter