Atari 2600 games that have aged well

[tom]

Parker games.
Still great: Frogger 2, Super Cobra, Q Bert, Amidar, Gyruss, Death Star Battle, Sky Skipper.
Super Cobra on 'fast' setting, great challenge.

[davidbrit2]

Parker games.
Still great: Frogger 2, Super Cobra, Q Bert, Amidar, Gyruss, Death Star Battle, Sky Skipper.
Super Cobra on 'fast' setting, great challenge.

Amidar would be a lot better if it weren't so slow. It's pretty good aside from that. There's a hack (by Thomas Jentsch, I think) that speeds up the game, though I think it goes maybe a bit too far in the other direction. Seems a lot harder than even the arcade version. Still worth checking out, especially if you've got something like a Harmony cart.

[MetalFRO]

It's never been a great looking game, but the 2600 port of Donkey Kong still plays really well and is lots of fun. The 2600 conversion of Mario Bros. also still holds up.

[wizardofwor1975]

The 2600 conversion of Mario Bros. also still holds up.

Good pick, its definitely one of the better 2 player co-op games for the 2600.

[Tanooki]

Mario Bros and DK my friend had back when I was a kid and ended up playing it half the night at a sleep over. They were well above the bar of the usual 2600 stuff I was even aware of back then. I never much cared for a lot of the games, but a few activision games and mainly the arcade ports were easy draws where they may have looked primitive then even in the 80s but the play was still solid and not overly basic.

[wizardofwor1975]

Mario Bros and DK my friend had back when I was a kid and ended up playing it half the night at a sleep over. They were well above the bar of the usual 2600 stuff I was even aware of back then. I never much cared for a lot of the games, but a few activision games and mainly the arcade ports were easy draws where they may have looked primitive then even in the 80s but the play was still solid and not overly basic.

Its kinda like H.E.R.O., sure there are prettier versions out there but the 2600's version is still a great game with solid game play. Another example is the SMS version of Montezuma's Revenge. The Master System's version of Montezuma's Revenge is head and shoulders above the 2600's port from a graphics point of view but I still prefer the 2600's version. The controls and game play on the 2600's port of Montezuma's Revenge are just more appealing to me. Admittedly, my preference is probably due in part to nostalgia considering I played the 2600 version as a kid in the early eighties whereas I never played the Master System version as a kid.

[Tanooki]

Maybe or maybe not. I'd think a game designed for a joystick ported over to a mediocre d-pad would feel not so slick or responsive as intended.

[wizardofwor1975]

Maybe or maybe not. I'd think a game designed for a joystick ported over to a mediocre d-pad would feel not so slick or responsive as intended.

Good point.

[Leo_A]

I never understood the hatred for Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr.

DKJr. especially seems to get a bad rap, but I thought that Coleco did a decent job at it.

[celerystalker]

I never understood the hatred for Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr.

DKJr. especially seems to get a bad rap, but I thought that Coleco did a decent job at it.

It's all because of the better ports that came later. I played the hell out of both of those on Atari, but after the NES versions, I had trouble going back. Especially Donkey Kong Jr. My uncle had a Donkey Kong Jr in his basement for years that I always played at family get togethers, and the NES version is very accurate. Playing the NES version allowed me to be able to put up scores in the hundreds of thousands on the cabinet. The 2600 version was just obselete to me at that point.

[Gamevet]

It's all because of the better ports that came later. I played the hell out of both of those on Atari, but after the NES versions, I had trouble going back. Especially Donkey Kong Jr. My uncle had a Donkey Kong Jr in his basement for years that I always played at family get togethers, and the NES version is very accurate. Playing the NES version allowed me to be able to put up scores in the hundreds of thousands on the cabinet. The 2600 version was just obselete to me at that point.

The Colecovision version existed at that time. It was pretty close to the quality of the NES game. I much prefer the Atari version on the C-64; it has all 4 levels from the arcade.

[celerystalker]

The Colecovision version existed at that time. It was pretty close to the quality of the NES game. I much prefer the Atari version on the C-64; it has all 4 levels from the arcade.

I've heard that the Colecovision version is superior, but I haven't played it first-hand, so I didn't want to act like I knew that for sure. There are definitely a lot of Donkey Kong ports that beat the 2600 over the head. Donkey Kong Jr, though, I believe was best on NES. The 2600 version of that one is pretty rough, and the spongy Atari joystick is definitely not my preferred controller for that game, as I was too used to the Nintendo 4 direction joystick from my uncle's cabinet. My little brother and I used to throw up 500,000 points on that thing. It was the arcade game I was best at for many years. I should pick up a pcb to put in my Popeye cabinet when I'm in the mood. I suck at Popeye. I like it, but I can only hit barely 100,000 at my best. After the first loop, it gets pretty tough for me, and I've never cleared 3 loops. The 2600 version of that was one I used to play with a buddy, but it also had a superior NES port. Unlike DK JR, though, I find that NES skill did not translate when I got a cabinet.

[Th3 hoff]

I still like the spiderman game. But thats just me

[Emperor Megas]

I still like the spiderman game. But thats just me

I like Spider-Man as well. Everyone I knew who had a 2600 owned or played it a lot. I didn't realize that it was considered a bad game until I was an adult and retro games were being discussed on the Internet.

[Tanooki]

I've come to learn that stories like that amount to 100% pure internet bullshit. It's like since the whole old game review, discussion, and praise thing is played out as everyone has done it in text and youtube you need to do something edgy or new to get people to care. What better way to find an old game, better yet a more aged or obscure title, and drag it through the mud. If you can get the hatred to catch on and others start to agree blindly or from false memory, or even from a legit bad experience, then the hell begins.

I've seen a good share of games get dinged on the 2600, the NES, SNES, Gameboy and so on for sucking, but they really don't, maybe mediocre at best but when actually played and understood they're fine. Perhaps Spiderman isn't a turd, but some turd got the story started it does.

[wizardofwor1975]

I like Spider-Man as well. Everyone I knew who had a 2600 owned or played it a lot. I didn't realize that it was considered a bad game until I was an adult and retro games were being discussed on the Internet.

+1, Spiderman isn't a bad game. I looked at some of the reviews and the Video Game Critic gave it a B+ rating which I thought was more than fair. You guys are right about the reviews. The Video Game Critic admitted in his review that he had underestimated Spiderman prior to reviewing it. BTW, great thread celerystalker.

http://videogamecritic.com/2600snr.htm?e=35948#rev397

[Leo_A]

It's all because of the better ports that came later.

I doubt that.

I'm talking about Atari 2600 fans that are fully able to not only respect this system, but enjoy it. And that includes arcade conversions that are far from arcade perfect, that can easily be found in arcade accurate form these days.

That a kid that liked Donkey Kong turned their back after getting a much closer representation of the arcade game, doesn't really surprise me nor explain the disdain these this pair of titles gets. Many 2600 fans consider them nothing but a disaster.

[celerystalker]

I doubt that.

I'm talking about Atari 2600 fans that are fully able to not only respect this system, but enjoy it. And that includes arcade conversions that are far from arcade perfect, that can easily be found in arcade accurate form these days.

That a kid that liked Donkey Kong turned their back after getting a much closer representation of the arcade game, doesn't really surprise me nor explain the disdain these this pair of titles gets. Many 2600 fans consider them nothing but a disaster.

It was my first system, so I'll always have a soft spot for the 2600. It's been fun hearing about games other people enjoyed, as it seems like there is more disparity in experiences with those early systems than NES and on, where it seems like people largely played a heavily overlapping cross-section of games. That said, while those games were serviceable at the time, I don't feel like they've aged great. Original Donkey Kong is much better than Jr to me, and is pretty playable. Jr, though, I think is pretty lousy, and has aged worse less because of graphics and more from clunky control. I do agree, though, that they don't deserve to be ridiculed, and that Donkey Kong is downright playable.

[JeremiahJT]

Both Pitfalls. Both Breakouts. I actually prefer Breakout to Super Breakout, but they are both games I can spend a ton of time on. Video Olympics and Warlords for their great 4 player action. Both are good for 1 to 3 players, but they excel in 4 player battles. I think Mario Bros. controls great.

Asteroids and Centipede are fun arcade ports, but I prefer them on the 7800. There are some other games I really enjoy like Amidar and Double Dragon that I think don't hold up as well to most people.

[gameofyou]

I still really like Yars Revenge, Star Trek, Ms Pacman, Demon Attack, and Cosmic Ark. So many games for the Atari 2600 are still so playable.

I recently picked up an Atari 7800, which is nice because of it's backwards compatability with the Atari 2600 games.