It's 1986..Which would you choose?

[armonigann]

O.K. another senseless thread.

Imagine: It's 1986, and you know then what you know now (only about video games. Anything else would be a whole different story).

You are in the toy/electronics store and in front of you on the shelf are brand new Consoles and behind the counter are all the games.

For some odd reason you can only purchase a complete console and 4 games.

Remember it's '86 so your choices are:

Atari 2600 jr.
Atari 7800
NES
Sega Master

What console would you purchase and what 4 games do you choose?

[Xtincthed]

NES with the 4 rarest black box games.. leave them all sealed

[buzz_n64]

1986 huh?

NES

Super Mario Bros.
Mario Bros.
Gradius
Balloon Fight

[Oldskool]

The NES of course, knowing what I know now, and even not knowing what I know now.

[Atarileaf]

I'd go with the 7800 but I'm not sure which games were available in 1986. Many games have 1987 copyright dates but I don't know if they're accurate or not.

With that in mind I'd go with the NES since I'm not sure if I can choose the 7800 according to the rules of the question:

Balloon Fight
Pinball
Kung Fu
Popeye

HOWEVER, assuming some of those 1987 release dates must be wrong unless there were no 7800 games when the system was released (would seem stupid, even Pole Position II, the pack in game has a 1987 copyright date) I'd go with the 7800 and

Food Fight
Ms Pacman
Galaga
Centipede

[j_factor]

If it were 1986, I'd be a computer gamer. I don't think either NES or SMS would have 4 games that I'd find compelling (yet). And 7800 is just dreck.

[Graham Mitchell]

NES with Super Mario Bros., Gumshoe, Balloon Fight and Mario Bros.

[mrmark0673]

An NES with:

Ghosts 'n Goblins
Commando
1942
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt

GnG is a no brainer, still gets more play than 99% of the NES library at my place. The others would just be a cool bonus

[armonigann]

The NES of course, knowing what I know now, and even not knowing what I know now.

Hahaha..Gotta strong felling NES will be king of this thread.

[Nescollector]

Well this is just what I did (in 1987) Bought a 7800, galaga, asteroids, choplifter, xevious, not all the games at once

[NerdXCrewWill]

I'd go with the 7800 but I'm not sure which games were available in 1986. Many games have 1987 copyright dates but I don't know if they're accurate or not.

This is what I had to say too. I guess I will proceed by answering with 7800 games that say they're from '87 since it's uncertain was to which games (other than Pole Position 2) were released in 86.

For the games, I'd go with:
Food Fight (The best game available for play at home at the time in question.)
Robotron 2084
Warlords for the 2600
Kaboom for the 2600

The NES proved to a better system, but the library available to the 7800 in 1986 was just plain better.

EDIT: This anecdote about Christmas 1986 seems to suggest that at least Food Fight and Robotron were available in 1986 too.

[Baloo]

NES with:

Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong
Mario Bros.
Kung Fu

[Steve W]

I did buy a bunch of systems in 1986. The NES had come out, but instead I bought an Atari 2600 Jr. to replace my original six-switch VCS that didn't work anymore. I later bought an NES close to Christmas that year. It wasn't until 1987 that I bought an Atari 7800, and slowly transferred my gaming time over to it. I bought my first Sega Master System at a big street sale around 1998. Wasn't impressed. Played the dozen games that came with it for all of half an hour, then put it in a storage box. I've rarely played it since, even though I've bought several games for it over the years and even the 3D glasses.

[NE146]

Well heck, in 1986 I was a high school senior with a new bootleg Famicom so I remember it pretty well.

I guess I wouldn't change too much but if I knew then what I knew now, I probably would've grabbed up a bunch more Jap Famicom games on the cheap (which were plentiful around me), and never thrown out any boxes. But really that's about it.

I also would have mentally prepped myself to pick up and preserve all those "Stadium Events" I would see every day at Woolworths when I graduated and went to college in the Bay Area during my freshman year.

[armonigann]

EDIT: This anecdote about Christmas 1986 seems to suggest that at least Food Fight and Robotron were available in 1986 too.[/QUOTE]


Check out GATO, Star Fox, and Demolition Depot for 14.99. would've been cool for those to actually been released, along with Night of the Ninja.

[jcalder8]

If I know then what I know now?

Then I'd go with:
Air Raid
Video Life
Gauntlet
Eli's Ladder

Then I guess I'd buy an NES and sell it to buy more copies of those games.

[ShinobiMan]

In 1986? Definitely the Sega Master System. IMHO the NES hadn't completely hit it's stride... yet.

Action Fighter
Alex Kidd In Miracle World
Fantasy Zone
Space Harrier

And of course the system came with Hang On / Safari Hunt. :-)

But this IS a tough one for me. This is what I would pick had I chose the NES:

Metroid
Castlevania
The Legend Of Zelda
Super Mario Bros

ALL GREAT GAMES! CLASSICS!

[NerdXCrewWill]

Check out GATO, Star Fox, and Demolition Depot for 14.99. would've been cool for those to actually been released, along with Night of the Ninja.

Yeah, tell me about it. That was a fun little list of games. A fun read, too. I like the idea of a magical Christmas where the 7800 was the best thing ever to a little kid for 5 weeks. He ended up picking up Galaga, Food Fight, Dig Dug, Asteroids, Joust, and Robotron. He also mentions Ms. Pacman. That's a really great first year lineup if you ask me.

[skaar]

NES.

Super Mario Bros.
Clu Clu Land
Balloon Fight
Kung Fu

[Tommittaja]

Well NES ofcourse... tho games are abit harder D

shiet! super mario bros 3 was in 88! and megaman 2....
well:
super mario bros. 2
The legend of zelda
gauntlet

this blows, all the good games hadn't been invented yet!
megaman, 3d worldrunner, super mario bros 3, panic restaurant (lol), startropics...