Rockin' games for the Atari 2600 that still hold up

[treismac]

Are there any 2600 games that ya'll still find fun to revisit 20 plus years later?

Off the top of my head there is:

Seaquest
Pitfall I & II (but mostly the original)
Yar's Revenge
Chopper Command
Cosmic Ark (I can picture this being a flash game)
H.E.R.O.
Atlantis

and as far as arcade ports that are still fun:
Berzerk
Jungle Hunt
Astroids
Moon Patrol

[Sunnyvale]

Wow, your list has my top choices (Pitfall, Cosmic Ark, Chopper Command). But I'd add Battlezone to your port list, and I also like Empire Stikes Back still, and the Star Wars Arcade is IMO the best game on the console.

[NE146]

Kaboom! for one.. since it's pure twitch which hasn't aged. The paddle controls don't hurt either as you don't see that much these days.

Circus. Another paddle game. And just as fun now as it was then.

Indy 500. Lots of fun with 2 players even today.

Jr. Pacman is another one for sure..It definitely still holds up. And I still really do enjoy 2600 Ms. Pac more than any other more-accurate port but maybe that's just nostalgia. :)

[NE146]

and as far as arcade ports that are still fun:
Berzerk
Jungle Hunt
Astroids
Moon Patrol

Definitely still fun.. however with some of the newer hacks of those games (like Berzerk with voice, and Asteroids with better asteroid movement closer to the arcade) I'd rather play the modified versions than the originals.

[exit]

I always enjoyed playing Defender as a kid, although I didn't know what the hell to do and kind of just flew into infinite space. I also enjoyed Atlantis, although it was a bit hard for me at the time, I just loved the atmosphere for it tho.

[Emperor Megas]

Boxing (Because it's HILARIOUS)
Chopper Command
Freeway (I'm not sure why, but this game is also hilarious to me)
Keystone Capers (this has to be my favorite Atari 2600 game)
Phoenix
Pitfall
Yar's Revenge

[burn_654]

I'll have to chalk one up for Missile Command. It's simplified from the arcade, yes, but the concept is still fun and it gets stimulating. I still try to get better and better at it.

[tom]

Wow a great topic, trouble is, VCS has such an excellent range of games.

all the above mentioned, and:

Spike's Peak/ Ghost Manor (with Ghost Manor being the slight better of the two)
DragonStomper
Escape from the Mindmaster
Pigs in Space
Solaris
Stargate
Kangaroo
Amidar
Sky Skipper
Frogger II: Threeedeep!
Star Wars: Death Star Battle
Pressure Cooker
Frostbite
Beamrider
Stampede
Roc n Rope
Mr. Do!
Gangster Alley
Pick n Pile
Spy Hunter
and:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/thomasholzer/VCSX-MAN.jpg
it's a blast

[Emperor Megas]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/thomasholzer/VCSX-MAN.jpg
it's a blastWait, is that two men?! Just...wow!

[Steve W]

No, that's not two men, the one on the bottom is a woman, she's just so pixelly you can't tell all that well at that resolution and from a photograph of a monitor rather than a screen grab.

Communist Mutants from Space holds up.
Track down the .bin for the unreleased Sega game Ixion. It's really good, a sort of puzzle-ish shooting game.
Frogger for the Supercharger also holds up well, better than the Parker Bros. version. That one looks ancient in comparison.


My mind is overloading, there's so many strong Atari 2600 games out there that I'm having a hard time pulling some.

[Shingetter]

Berzerk!

[Sabz5150]

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

[Sabz5150]

Wait, is that two men?! Just...wow!

Naah, that's a woman. I can tell from the pixels and having seen many women in my time.

[TurboGenesis]

there are two games I play on the 2600 (I'm more of a 5200 fellow - yes I am odd!)…

Kaboom!
and
Turmoil

[tom]

Naah, that's a woman. I can tell from the pixels and having seen many women in my time.

and the nipples flash too (can't be seen in the picture)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Some Activision love:

Megamania
Keystone Capers
Pressure Cooker

also, Montezuma's Revenge is a pretty fun & challenging platformer considering the limitations of the system.

[NE146]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/thomasholzer/VCSX-MAN.jpgit's a blast

Don't forget the other fine positions you can enjoy. :)

http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/XMAN2.jpg

http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/XMAN3.jpg

And yes I agree Missile Command on the VCS is still a fine game even today.

[treismac]

I'll have to chalk one up for Missile Command. It's simplified from the arcade, yes, but the concept is still fun and it gets stimulating. I still try to get better and better at it.

Here, here!! Missile Command for the 2600 will always reign supreme! How did that epic* game escape my list??? I actually prefer the 2600 version to the arcade version because the 2600's colors and simple graphics are just so damn pleasing to my eyes.

* By "epic," I mean the Webster dictionary definition ("...grand; majestic; imposing") and not the "epic" that the kids of today toss around to describe something as mundane as the newest addition to the Twilight movie series to finding a single lost sock in the laundry room that they didn't have any particular emotional attachment to in the first place.

[Graham Mitchell]

I'll put my votes in for Reactor and Porky's. For some reason I like Porky's.

The mere fact that someone made a Porky's video game is mind-blowing.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

MegaMania

[Leo_A]

Here's my list of 2600 favorites that I think have stood the test of time particularly well. I excluded some well known games that I just don't think are particularly great (Such as MegaMania and Demon Attack) and some games I love but I know many others wouldn't (The 2600 port of Pole Position, Miniature Golf, etc.).

Adventure
Asteroids (Turn the color off on your tv and select the game variation with more arcade like behavior for the asteroids, and you have a very nice adaptation. Or better yet, download the vectoreseque hack of it)
Atlantis
Battlezone
Beamrider
Berzerk
Bump 'n' Jump
Centipede
Circus Atari
Combat
Chopper Command
Dig Dug
Enduro
Frogger (Both the Parker Brothers and the Starpath versions)
Frostbite
H.E.R.O.
Indy 500
Jr. Pac-Man
Jungle Hunt
Kaboom
Keystone Kapers
Maze Craze
Millipede
Missile Command (Especially the modern hack that adds in track-ball support)
Ms. Pac-Man (Especially the modern hack that made some minor adjustments to it to get it closer to the arcade game)
Night Driver (Other than the awful graphic for your vehicle, it's a great time)
Phoenix
Pitfall II (Pitfall might be a landmark game that was expertly programmed and revolutionary, but it's just not especially fun to play and gets repetitive quickly)
Pressure Cooker
River Raid (The greatest 2600 game of all-time, Carol Shaw was a genius)
Robot Tank
Solar Fox (My first videogame and still a favorite decades later)
Space Invaders (Expertly programmed with tons of interesting variations that significantly increase it's longevity compared to the arcade original)
Spider Fighter
Super Breakout (Breakout's good, but why bother with it when there's a sequel that was better in everyway)
Tac/Scan (I won't get much support on this, but I think it's an overlooked gem on the 2600)
Tapper
Time Pilot
Video Olympics (Overlooked gem, but if anyone has a friend that's open minded enough to overlook the basic nature of it, it's one of the best single screen multiplayer experiences out there)
Warlords (I prefer Combat, but this is probably most people's favorite multiplayer game on the VCS)

[Rob2600]

Here's my list of 2600 favorites that I think have stood the test of time particularly well. I excluded some well known games that I just don't think are particularly great (Such as MegaMania and Demon Attack)

I still think Demon Attack is great.

[tom]

Don't forget the other fine positions you can enjoy. :)

http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/XMAN2.jpg

http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/XMAN3.jpg

And yes I agree Missile Command on the VCS is still a fine game even today.

Not to forget of course Beat 'em & eat 'em (good game actually)

[Leo_A]

I still think Demon Attack is great.

I'm not out to claim that games like Demon Attack and Yar's Revenge aren't great. They just never quite captured the same level of excitement for me that they apparantly did for many others, so they didn't get on my list.

[Cobra Commander]

It's all about those Frog's and Flies!
I also loved Carnival, Astroblast, and for purely nostalgic reasons Word Zapper. My dad and I used to go dig through the game bins at a local drug store, we would get a game like almost every Friday. I can't figure out why we picked up Word Zapper, looked at it, and said, "Looks fun!" I mean games were still like $35-$40 back then.
Oh well. Good times.

[Leo_A]

I enjoyed Word Zapper as well.

None of their games made my list, but U.S. Games released some interesting games for the 2600. I especially enjoy Commando Raid, Eggomania, and M.A.D.

The only one of the bunch I can't stand is Picnic. I even enjoy Squeeze Box, which I know many people didn't care for.

[Drixxel]

I was just going through my 2600 library a week or two ago after having not touched it for months so the appearance of this thread is quite conveniently timed. Most of my favourites from years ago are still favourites today but a handful that stand out to me as being notably time tested are: Mouse Trap, Adventures of Tron, Berzerk, Pheonix, and Gravitar. These are all the best of their respective genres on 2600, IMHO, and remain fully playable and fun.

[Compute]

I have to agree with pretty much every entry so far. It amazes me how well some of the arcade ports were done. Even if the sound and gfx were wrong, the feel was there. I'm thinking specifically of Berzerk and Defender, and there are many others just can't think of the titles atm.

Also, River Raid. There are better ports (C64), but I like RR on any platform.

I like Gravitar, but only on the 2600. The arcade version never felt right to me.

[MachineGex]

I always felt the reason the 2600 was so fun was the fact it had great head-to-head games. I still love playing Maze Craze, Slot Racers, Indy 500, Entombed and Space Invaders(2 players). Also, Warring Worms 2(upadted homebrew) is a blast to play with a buddy. Any other 2-player games I am missing???

As far as 1 player games, Missle Command and Gravitar get most of my playing time.

[tom]

Arcade conversions...gotta love Galaxian and Moon Patrol

Film conversions: Krull, excellent game

[thom_m]

Keystone Capers, Enduro, River Raid, Freeway, Turmoil. Dragonfire. Pac-Man, out of nostalgia (few people knew the arcade back then in Brazil, so it was pretty fun for us). I LOVED Yar's Revenge when I was a kid, but never played it again on a console...but I bet it's still fun.

Damn, I gotta get my 2600 fixed...

[Emuaust]

River Raid, the only reason you need to own a 2600.

[jammajup]

I love the Atari 2600 and still like to play the games,the multiplayer games are always worth playing and Warlords still is a wicked trash talking party game even today 8-).The many others i still like to play today are Asteroids,Phoenix,Adventure,Berzerk,Raiders Of The Lost Ark,Riddle Of The Sphinx,Ms Pacman,Tutankham,Hero,Haunted House,Pitfall II and Frogger.
I recently completed Haunted House on all 9 game levels and it was quite satisfying,for some reason i seemed to struggle with game level 7 and i completed it last of all.

[BydoEmpire]

Oh man, tons of them. I still play a lot of 2600.

75% of the Imagic and Activision catalogs are great fun today. Lots of the Atari's games are a blast. I'd say there are at least 2-3 dozen 2600 games I'll cycle through regularly. Some favs off the top of my head:

Yar's Revenge
Phoenix
Berzerk
Circus Atari
Ms. Pac Man
Moon Patrol
Joust
Adventure
Demon Attack
Cosmic Ark
Solar Storm
Dragonfire
Megamania
River Raid
Pitfall
Kaboom!
Aliens
Ghost Manor
...