Favorite Atari 2600 Games

[yotsuya]

I recall once when I was a kid and heading to my local "Odd Lot" store and buying them for .54 cents. I stumbled upon it while shopping with my dad. He couldn't believe the price either and he told me to pick up one of each game. He helped me look through the bargain bin to make sure we didn't miss any. I got 7 games that day!

That's awesome. I picked up a bunch of great titles like that, and we kept going back until the well ran dry.

[mgb]

Riddle of the Sphinx (requires reading manual )

Wow, I had forgotten about that game. I remember having that cart at one time.

[Vigo]

Good to see a little love for the Sphinx around here. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

I recall once when I was a kid and heading to my local "Odd Lot" store and buying them for .54 cents. I stumbled upon it while shopping with my dad. He couldn't believe the price either and he told me to pick up one of each game. He helped me look through the bargain bin to make sure we didn't miss any. I got 7 games that day!

That's awesome. I picked up a bunch of great titles like that, and we kept going back until the well ran dry.

Yeah, was bummed when I couldn't find them anymore.  You could never get the Activision games though.  They were considered the "high end" games for the VCS at the time.  However, I did find an obscure game called "Dice Game" by Panda (1983).  Boring by today's standards but fun at the time. 

D

[pbj]

When I bought my Sega Genesis, Highland Superstores had just gone bust.  As the guy in Electronics Boutique was looking for the one copy of Atomic Robokid they had (it was only $18 and I had blown the wad on the system), the manager comes running in carrying dozens of Genesis games.  Because I had just bought the system, he revealed that the warehouse was down the street and they were stacking them deep and selling them cheap.

Never seen anything like it... imagine looting except with cash registers.  You walked in, they handed you a price sheet.  $5/game.  The Genesis was probably all of three months old at the time.  Walked out of there with five of the six available games... the only NES game they had was Wrath of the Black Manta.  People with misguided priorities were buying stereos, TVs, etc.

So I'm too young for all the 50 cent 2600 glory, but I got a similar taste... once....

[DeLuSioNal29]

So I'm too young for all the 50 cent 2600 glory, but I got a similar taste... once....

  Love this...
The only similar thing I've experienced lately is on Steam when I find games for cheap.  I just bought Sonic All-Star Racing transformed for $5 two days ago.  Now it's up again to $19.99.

D

[blitzd]

Not my favorite but I remember playing it. No idea what the name of the game was but you were like a dune buggy or tank or something that shot tanks, jumped over craters and I think there were some mountains you had to either jump over or shoot. I sucked at it cause I was 8.

Also Frogger.

[PL1]

Was it Moon Patrol?




Scott

[blitzd]

Yep! google search confirmed and brought back my childhood! Thanks! now I'm gonna play this game and most likely still suck at it!

[yotsuya]

I ***loved*** Moon Patrol on the 2600. That and Vanguard were the two games I played the most during those final years of the system. I loved MP so much I eventually bought the arcade version. It's one of my 12 machines in my game room.

[DaveMMR]

Moon Patrol is one of my favorite arcade games. I only just recently played the 2600 version and was actually quite surprised how decent the port was.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, I played it for hours and memorized the layouts so I could beat the two levels. When I finally played the arcade version, it really helped my understanding of the game. 

[fanneyjack]

Man I loved Combat. One of the first games I remember ever loving and is the only 2600 game I remember playing a lot of.

[Cynicaster]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

I’m a proponent of emulation in general and I use it all the time (obviously), but for some reason, the Atari 2600 is a platform that I’ve never been able to enjoy much unless it’s the real thing.  I want the fuzzy CRT television, the hand-cramping joystick, the guttural noises, the whole shootin’ match. 

I agree that MAME has, for the most part, rendered most old home ports of arcade games redundant.  There are a few I still enjoy on the 2600 just for their own quirky merits (Frogger, Space Invaders, Track and Field, Bump n Jump, and a few others) but I’ve always preferred the games that originated on the platform.  Activision for the win:

Frostbite (#1 hands down)
Enduro
Pressure Cooker
River Raid
Keystone Kapers
Seaquest

Astroblast (a port of Mattel’s own INTV game “Astrosmash”, that I think the 2600 version is far superior due to the support of paddle controls)
Worm War I
Empire Strikes Back

 Some others that I didn’t discover until adulthood, but I think are awesome:

Turmoil
Beamrider
Solar Fox (a watered down port, but surprisingly addictive)

[ChadTower]

Moon Patrol had the best music on the 2600.  No question.  I can still hear the tune note for note in my head.   

[yotsuya]

Moon Patrol had the best music on the 2600.  No question.  I can still hear the tune note for note in my head.   

+1!

[yotsuya]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

What are your thoughts on the Harmony itself? I've toyed with picking one up.

[Cynicaster]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

What are your thoughts on the Harmony itself? I've toyed with picking one up.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but so far I love it.  Dead simple to get it up and running--just fill up a FAT32-formatted SD card with ROMs, plug it in the Harmony, and plug the Harmony into the Atari.  Power it up, and pick your game. 

I hemmed and hawed about getting one for a long time, and now that I have it, I can't believe I didn't get it sooner.  I mean, I think I only paid about $70 for it.  I'm not a collector at all, I just like to play the games, so it's the perfect way for me to experience Atari 2600 in 2014.  I don't need to pull out a crate full of crusty old plastic cartridges, I don't need a spot to store them.  Every game I want is right there on a single cartridge that I keep plugged into the console.   

If you still enjoy playing Atari 2600 from time to time, if you have the cash, and if you're not a collector whose fun may be ruined by flashcart, I'd absolutely recommend you grab one. 

 

[yotsuya]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

What are your thoughts on the Harmony itself? I've toyed with picking one up.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but so far I love it.  Dead simple to get it up and running--just fill up a FAT32-formatted SD card with ROMs, plug it in the Harmony, and plug the Harmony into the Atari.  Power it up, and pick your game. 

I hemmed and hawed about getting one for a long time, and now that I have it, I can't believe I didn't get it sooner.  I mean, I think I only paid about $70 for it.  I'm not a collector at all, I just like to play the games, so it's the perfect way for me to experience Atari 2600 in 2014.  I don't need to pull out a crate full of crusty old plastic cartridges, I don't need a spot to store them.  Every game I want is right there on a single cartridge that I keep plugged into the console.   

If you still enjoy playing Atari 2600 from time to time, if you have the cash, and if you're not a collector whose fun may be ruined by flashcart, I'd absolutely recommend you grab one.

Good to know. I was going to build an emulation machine, but I have a perfectly working Atari 2600, and I might just go this route. I assume you got the basic version and not the deluxe?

[MKFan4Life]

pressure cooker - was probably my favourite as a kid
keystone capers - running away from the pigs was GTA back in the day
starmaster - poor mans elite
snoopy and the red baron - flying around on a doghouse,  nuff said
combat - is still a fun multiplayer game that i bring out occasionally
indy 500 - ditto
the empire strikes back - the reason i wanted to own 2600 after oogling over at a friends house
vanguard - great shooter complete with flash gordon music

Starmaster was the only game I knew that used the B&W switch on the 2600 as a game control. Awesome stuff.

Howard, you're getting angry spittle all over my rose-colored glasses! 

I think there were more games that may have used the B&W switch, but did you ever try Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space by Activision for the Atari 2600?  It used that switch for Primary engines and even used the difficulty switches for the Backup engines and activating landing gear and cargo doors.  Pretty much every switch on the console was used and the game was sold with overlays for both 2600 4 and 6 switch consoles.  I died hundreds of times in my early teens trying to land that damned thing since I had no game instructions or overlay when I got the game from a friend.  Still managed to somehow dock with that satellite in space, but probably landed with gear up and engines shut down half the darned time, lol!  Great game for that time though!

Oh yeah and here's a list of SOME of my favorites (own about 300+ original carts for the 2600):

Adventure
Venture
Cosmic Ark
Riddle Of The Sphinx
Millipede
Dragonfire
Atlantis
Starmaster
Missile Command
Warlords
Jungle Hunt
Crystal Castles
Yar's Revenge
Super Breakout
Defender
Lock 'N Chase
Frogs 'N Flies (I know, but the animation was cool, the difficulty switches allowed more control over your frogs, & how many games on the 2600 cycled from day to night?  Lol!)
Commando Raid
Gopher
Shark Attack
Kaboom!
River Raid
Frogger

Too Many To LIST!

[CraftyMech]

Pitfall
Asteroids
Kaboom!

Those are my top 3 that come to mind, I played a lot of games at friend's houses that I liked and are probably mentioned in this thread as well. But my brother and I only had a handful of carts, and the 3 above are the ones we played the crap out of.

[Cynicaster]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

What are your thoughts on the Harmony itself? I've toyed with picking one up.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but so far I love it.  Dead simple to get it up and running--just fill up a FAT32-formatted SD card with ROMs, plug it in the Harmony, and plug the Harmony into the Atari.  Power it up, and pick your game. 

I hemmed and hawed about getting one for a long time, and now that I have it, I can't believe I didn't get it sooner.  I mean, I think I only paid about $70 for it.  I'm not a collector at all, I just like to play the games, so it's the perfect way for me to experience Atari 2600 in 2014.  I don't need to pull out a crate full of crusty old plastic cartridges, I don't need a spot to store them.  Every game I want is right there on a single cartridge that I keep plugged into the console.   

If you still enjoy playing Atari 2600 from time to time, if you have the cash, and if you're not a collector whose fun may be ruined by flashcart, I'd absolutely recommend you grab one.

Good to know. I was going to build an emulation machine, but I have a perfectly working Atari 2600, and I might just go this route. I assume you got the basic version and not the deluxe?

Yes, I got the basic.  I'm pretty sure the only difference is the deluxe comes with an SD card and the mini USB  (micro USB?) cable that allows you to connect the Harmony to your PC.  I've got plenty of both just sitting around in drawers so I went with the basic.  Really, you don't even need the cable; it's just so you can update the firmware on the Harmony.  I haven't done that yet (not sure if there are even any updates) but the thing works as is, so I don't really care. 

I emulate several retro consoles and it's great for the most part, but for whatever reason, I could never get into 2600 emulation.  Not that Stella is bad at what it does, but the 2600, for me, needs to be experienced with the old joystick on CRT.  Plus, I love to play games with the paddle controllers (Kaboom! and Super Breakout FTW), and you really need the real deal for those games. 

 

[danny_galaga]

Relevant:



I have a hard time finding anything on the 2600 worth playing.  I like some of the ones you guys have already mentioned like Combat! and Pitfall  but honestly those 70 era consoles were merely prototypes for the superior 80's consoles.  Back then I enjoyed them, but most of the good games were crappy ports of arcade titles...that I now play in mame... so there you go. 

It's a problem with a lot of consoles actually... if the majority of your games are arcade ports then they are no longer relevant.

So yeah, the Nes era is about as far back as I'll go anymore and even that is finally starting to show it's age a little gameplay wise.

Try Indy 500 with a friend. That is great. Not on an emulator though, the controllers use rotary encoders.

[knightrdrx]

1. Dark Cavern...
2. Seaquest
3. Circus Atari..love the sound when the guy gets stuck up there and pops a bunch of balloons
4. Q-Bert
5. Blueprint
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark
7. Pitfall
8. River Raid

if you didn't grow up playing these  chances are you won't care to play them now unless you discover a really good exciting Atari game you haven' tried...such as Pitfall 2.

[SavannahLion]

I just picked up a Harmony Cartridge 2 weeks ago, so I’ve been playing a lot of 2600 lately.  For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a cartridge into which you insert an SD card loaded up with ROMs.  This allows you to play the entire library on real hardware without having to change cartridges.  Freakin’ awesome. 

What are your thoughts on the Harmony itself? I've toyed with picking one up.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but so far I love it.  Dead simple to get it up and running--just fill up a FAT32-formatted SD card with ROMs, plug it in the Harmony, and plug the Harmony into the Atari.  Power it up, and pick your game. 

I hemmed and hawed about getting one for a long time, and now that I have it, I can't believe I didn't get it sooner.  I mean, I think I only paid about $70 for it.  I'm not a collector at all, I just like to play the games, so it's the perfect way for me to experience Atari 2600 in 2014.  I don't need to pull out a crate full of crusty old plastic cartridges, I don't need a spot to store them.  Every game I want is right there on a single cartridge that I keep plugged into the console.   

If you still enjoy playing Atari 2600 from time to time, if you have the cash, and if you're not a collector whose fun may be ruined by flashcart, I'd absolutely recommend you grab one.

Good to know. I was going to build an emulation machine, but I have a perfectly working Atari 2600, and I might just go this route. I assume you got the basic version and not the deluxe?

Yes, I got the basic.  I'm pretty sure the only difference is the deluxe comes with an SD card and the mini USB  (micro USB?) cable that allows you to connect the Harmony to your PC.  I've got plenty of both just sitting around in drawers so I went with the basic.  Really, you don't even need the cable; it's just so you can update the firmware on the Harmony.  I haven't done that yet (not sure if there are even any updates) but the thing works as is, so I don't really care. 

I emulate several retro consoles and it's great for the most part, but for whatever reason, I could never get into 2600 emulation.  Not that Stella is bad at what it does, but the 2600, for me, needs to be experienced with the old joystick on CRT.  Plus, I love to play games with the paddle controllers (Kaboom! and Super Breakout FTW), and you really need the real deal for those games. 

 

I'm still heehawing. Has the price gone down, I thought it was higher than $70??

I'm quite mystified as to why there is nothing that allows even simple sorting leveraging the ARM7 that's on there. I always found that somewhat irksome.

[ark_ader]

$69 + Shipping for the Standard.  This is a rip ( )  considering you can do the same on any smartphone.  Most 2600s are toast anyway.

Besides its still a PITA to sort though the games on any emulator.

[SavannahLion]

Most 2600s are toast anyway.

No ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. That's along the same lines of saying that most Model T's are toast anyways. 

[bkrownd]

I didn't have a large number of 2600 games.  My favorites over the long term 1982-1990 were Kaboom!, Omega Race, Super Breakout and Chopper Command.

[mgb]

$69 + Shipping for the Standard.  This is a rip ( )  considering you can do the same on any smartphone.  Most 2600s are toast anyway.

Besides its still a PITA to sort though the games on any emulator.

My 7800 still works fine (though I haven't been playing it)
to me, the 2600 games are still best on a dedicated machine with original controllers.
by original controllers, I mean Atari Paddles and Genesis game pads.
Main problem to me is that its not as good on my flat screen.

[lilshawn]

My 7800 still works fine (though I haven't been playing it)

I skipped the 7800 and held out for the Atari XE Deluxe. It was my first "computer"...wrote many a basic program on that puppy. Mom ordered it off the home shopping channel back in 1980 something. IIRC it was about a 250 buck system at the time. Upgraded to an "Apco" computer (Apple ][e clone) a time after.

[rawbe]

Me and my cousin had some epic battles playing Decathlon. Joysticks were shredded! 

[lilshawn]

Me and my cousin had some epic battles playing Decathlon. Joysticks were shredded! 

the click dome contacts of those sticks were TERRIBLE. used to have to take them apart all the time and clean/or replace the domes. I had an old TV remote control (wired type of course) that had click dome style buttons on it that no longer worked, luckily the click domes where compatible so i had a butload of replacement domes.