Atari 2600 games that have aged well

[celerystalker]

After the SNES thread like this, I thought it might be more interesting to discuss an older, less refined system to discuss games that hold up well. Sure games that you still enjoy due to nostalgia, but more importantly games you'd recommend to someone today who's never played them that you believe would make a believer out of them.

The biggest for me is Warlords. I get that game out at parties and it becomes the party. Everyone gradually makes their way over to see what all the noise is about, and it ends up with a crowd waiting to play and enjoying watching.

Another is Track & Field. It has surprisingly good graphics for a 2600 game, and the special controller gets the kind of button mashing fervor that the arcade cabinet does.

What are some others that are timeless and break through their limitations with a pure, outstanding experience?

[wizardofwor1975]

H.E.R.O. and Berzerk have aged pretty well. I'd recommend these two classics too someone who has never played the Atari 2600.

[Flojomojo]

Activision games in general still look and play pretty well to me. Simple and clear concepts, bright and bold colors, good control, and no flickering. Most of the graphics look like their box art, which is neat. I still think someone should remix/remake them with rainbow trails so they look just like the box art. Bit Trip Runner is a step in that direction!

[bb_hood]

H.E.R.O. and Berzerk have aged pretty well. I'd recommend these two classics too someone who has never played the Atari 2600.

H.E.R.O. is a good example. In my opinion there are not many atari games that have aged well, but HERO is a good one.

[XYXZYZ]

The first game I think of is Kaboom! That's a game anybody can play, and stick to for a little while. Even non video game players can enjoy Kaboom.

[Niku-Sama]

Battlezone.

For me it seems to hold up, plus that quasi 3d looking graphics on a 2600 floors me still

[Leo_A]

While there are several dozen excellent candidates for inclusion in this thread even after disregarding numerous homebrews that have appeared in recent years and often shame what was created back in the day, I'll stick with nominating two.

River Raid by Activision, which is the perfect VCS game as far as I'm concerned. As great as Warlords is, it's not much of a single player game and thus often can't be fully enjoyed by many of us.

And Solar Fox by CBS is another one that is a fun and well rounded package that offers challenging gameplay, good control, variety, and attractive graphics and pleasant audio.

[Emperor Megas]

Keystone Kapers is my favorite 2600 game, and I think it's held up pretty well.

[Tanooki]

Pitfall isn't so bad still, and I do like River Raid and Wizard of Wor I think it was I enjoy too. I've had those Flashback devices in the past (2nd one that could be hacked to use real carts) and some of the titles on there were just fun but a good many were sorry one try dated wonders. I think Adventure was ok for what it was too.

[wizardofwor1975]

H.E.R.O. is a good example. In my opinion there are not many atari games that have aged well, but HERO is a good one.

H.E.R.O. is definitely a great game. I think I would also recommend Montezuma's Revenge for the 2600. I've always thought Montezuma's Revenge really showed what the 2600 could do. It has colorful graphics, almost no flicker, and very crisp controls.

[Gamevet]

I'd say Solaris and Yar's Revenge hold up pretty well. Omega Race looks pretty good too, but I don't think that the gameplay would be very appealing to a lot of people.

[retroman]

I think Road Runner for the 2600 has aged very well.

[Gamevet]

I think Road Runner for the 2600 has aged very well.

Really?

[Steve W]

Pretty much most of the Starpath Supercharger games. Crossbow was pretty damn impressive back then, it captured the arcade game better than nearly all other 2600 ports.

[Atarileaf]

Quite a few have aged well - for me - your mileage may vary but I still love and play so many of these games today. This is my go to system when I want some quick and fun gameplay. Asteroids, Space Invaders, Berzerk, Spider Fighter, Solar Fox, Centipede and Millipede, Stargate, Robot Tank, so many others. Hell I even enjoy Donkey Kong and Pacman.

[MachineGex]

My favorite Atari games are 2 player games.
So games I think still hold up well are...
- Indy 500 (love playing the tag variation)
- Maze Craze
- Slot Racers

[davidbrit2]

Marauder. Really, really good overhead shooter like Berzerk, but it's much faster paced, has a clear goal for each level (find and destroy the reactor), and implements a simple line-of-sight ststem. Watch out coming around blind corners. It starts off too easy and takes too long to ramp up on the default game selection, and I think that's probably why it's often overlooked. Choose one of the higher difficulties to start off with more intensity.

[Trebuken]

Dmon Attack

Was just playing this for the first time in a long time...

[mailman187666]

I saw Kaboom was already mentioned, so I'll +1 that. Also Pitfall 2 seems to almost be a precursor to Prince of Persia type games. Not saying they are exactly the same, but almost as if it were the template for those kinds of games. Pitfall 2 was a lot better than Super Pitfall on NES that's for sure. Another cool thing about the game is that it actually has in game music that plays through during gameplay. I'll admit it does get a bit annoying after awhile but I don't know many other games from the era that has actual music, and not just a melody that plays when you start a level. Journey Escape is the only other that comes to mind, but can't think of others at the moment.

[wizardofwor1975]

Really?

Seconded, I was absolutely floored when I saw the reviews for Road Runner on the 2600.

http://videogamecritic.com/2600rr.htm

http://www.8-bitcentral.com/reviews/2600roadRunner.html