new to 2600

[dlopez9069]

Alright I just bought a 2600 and i've never played one before so i was wondering what are the best games and what should i expect(it should arrive in the next week or so).

[PingvinBlueJeans]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1481

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62626

...or go to any 2600 site that has reviews and read them.

[jwm2]

I'd recommend ms pacman, centipede, missle command, bump 'n' jump, frogger. Just stay far away from ET, hehe.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Just stay far away from ET, hehe.
:roll:

If you think E.T. is bad, you haven't played any BAD 2600 games.

[NCN]

There are so many great 2600 games out there....These are all a matter of personal opinion, but they are the ones I have the fondest memories of:

Keystone Kapers
Haunted House
Freeway
Frogger
Pitfall
Ms. Pac Man
Donkey Kong

...the list goes on and on, but these are the titles that stick out to me the most. I just landed a 2600 yesterday myself, so I'll be picking up carts as well. Good luck to you, and make sure you keep in touch!

[7th lutz]

Pitfall 2
solaris
Midnight Magic
Jr. Pac-man

I recommand to go to http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21_85_24 to look at the homebrew section for 2600 games like getting Ladybug.

[MrRoboto19XX]

A solid place to find some A-list 2600 reviews is The Videogame Critic (http://www.videogamecritic.net/), also check out AtariAge as others have reccomended. Hope you enjoy the system!

[InsaneDavid]

Grand Prix (the first game I ever played) and Enduro are solid racing entries from Activision.

[Sparkster]

I always went through phases with the 2600 - I'll only really play certain games, and then when I pick up a different one, I'll abandon the previous one.

Games that made it into my rotation:
Missile Command
Centipede
Joust
Midnight Magic
Adventure
Human Cannonball (that one's pretty fun when you start missing the target!)
Maze Craze

E.T. is ok if you know what you're doing. Start with setting 3 to figure out what to do... that way you don't have the agents chasing you. Those pits that you will fall into many times, you need to find telephone pieces in those pits. Also collect the little dots in the middle of those screens - if you still feel like playing, they can replenish your energy, or increase your point totals.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Just about all the games in the Activision catalog are still very playable and fun. So, if it's an Activision game (and very few of them are so ultra rare that they'll break your bank) it's probably worth picking up.

That's my most general advice for 2600 games ...

... though, if you're asking me for my specific favorites and/or quality 2600 games, I'd say that the 2600 versions of the following titles are fun, relatively accurate versions of their arcade counterparts.

(And, I'm sticking to ARCADE games, since if you've never owned an Atari 2600 there's a chance you'll have played these games in other forms on other systems or in the arcades of old...whereas many 2600-console-only games never really made it off the console)

Missile Command
Crystal Castles
Defender
Bump N' Jump
Asteroids
Pole Position
Centipede / Millipede
Joust
Q*Bert
Popeye
Pooyan
Jr. Pac-Man (one of my favorite versions!)
Mouse Trap
Mario Bros.
Mr. Do
Super Break-Out
Amidar
Frogger
Kangaroo
Berzerk
Zaxxon
Moon Patrol
Crossbow
Gyruss (A 2600 arcade port with accurate music all the way through? WOW!)
Spy Hunter (Oh, wait, I just remembered another one!)
Congo Bongo
Crazy Climber (this one will cost you, it was a mail-away only and it's pretty rare ... but damn is it good)
Road Runner
Roc N' Rope
Wizard of Wor
Space Invaders

So, yeah, there are tons of other 2600 titles that are "good", and as far as my list goes - there are some obscurities in there, even for a classic arcade lover ... but for the most part, you're getting the closest a home-gamer could get to the "arcade experience" on the Atari 2600 with those titles.

Now, it certainly won't set you back more than a dollar, but I'd strongly recommend staying away from the regular "Pac-Man" game ... in an era where you can play a pretty damned good version on cellphones, and flash sites ... the 2600 version will just make you feel dirty. Ms. Pac-Man is SLIGHTLY better, and certainly less of a complete mess, but, if Pac-Man is your thing, check out Jr. Pac, it's the best Pac experience on the console.

Hope that helps.