Everyone's Favorite Activision Game for Atari 2600

[Pressure Cooker]

Most everyone you will probably ask (other than hardcore game fans) will probably say that Pitfall! is their favorite Activision game because it is the most well-known and successful of their games.

Personally, it doesn't even rank in my Top 5 of favorite Activision games even though its a really memorable game and very fun.

What's everyone's favorite Activision game for the Atari VCS?

Mine is, of course, Pressure Cooker (which is very underrated)
I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!!
Keystone Kapers comes in at a close second.

[kainemaxwell]

Probably a tie between Chopper Command and River Raid for me.

[stonecutter]

This thread was just done about a month ago, I don't know how to link to it or I would point you there. Anyway, I think I would have to say Frostbite, but there are so many great games from them.

[Tempest]

H.E.R.O.

Tempest

[Buyatari]

I wouldn't say Pitfall!

Its a great game but its not as great as it was then. many platofrm games have come along since then.

Kaboom is the best.
To this day, it has not been surpassed. Only thing ever closely related would be arkanoid and thats more along the lines of Pong.

Why haven't paddle games been developed since?

There are very few that I can thing of but each one I do think of has done very well. You'd think they would make more of this type of game.

Adam

[congobongo]

H.E.R.O.
then Pitfall!
then Frostbite

[o2william]

Pressure Cooker is my fav also.

Then Starmaster, H.E.R.O., Beamrider, Stampede.

Also love Pitfall and Pitfall II, River Raid, and Keystone Kapers.

Activision was simply amazing back then...

[Arcade Antics]

#1: H.E.R.O.

Kaboom is a close 2nd
Frostibte a close 3rd

[autobotracing]

Keystone Kapers

[Time]

River Raid!!!

[Buyatari]

So far NO ONE has said Pitfall!

Although personally I think Pitfall 2 was better anyway.

Adam

[Gunstarhero]

Oh man, this is a really tough one. It would be easier to list the games that aren't fun from Activision.

I would have to say Kaboom! is the best game. I can't name any other game where you can be put into a trance-like state as with Kaboom(well, MAYBE Tempest 2000, but that's more of a bombardment on your senses than anything). Pitfall would not make it on my top 5 list of Activision games either.

[NE146]

Surprisingly.. I've never really dug Activision games too much. I guess it was that onslaught of "timed" games in the beginning that turned me off and I never looked back. On the other hand, IMAGIC games wowed me from day 1. ('course later Activision snagged those games too) :P

My favorite game? I guess.. hmm.. Enduro and Kaboom :)

[Britboy]

Megamania

A Space Nightmare!!!

[tom]

Bridge

just kidding:

H.E.R.O.
Beamrider
Space Shuttle
Enduro
Fishing ( 2players)
Freeway (2players)
Barnstorming (2players)

[ManekiNeko]

I'm torn between Megamania or Pressure Cooker. HERO's all right but you get a lot more detail in the ColecoVision version.
Oddly, I didn't care for Pitfall! 2... it just seemed too long and involved for a 2600 game. Then again, I loved Solaris (which is at least and long and drawn out) and tolerated Secret Quest (essentially the 2600's answer to Zelda) so you can feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

JR

[GENESISNES]

I've always liked freeway. River raid is good too

[gamingguy]

Pitfall 2 is my absolute favorite, but after you beat it, it's not replayable (the fatal flaw of most modern games). For me the most replayable game is DOLPHIN.

Time for a confession: I don't really like Activision games (the horror!). My mom bought games like Fishing Derby and Freeway for me, but I never really enjoyed them. They looked gorgeous, but as everyone knows from modern gaming... looks don't equal fun.

[NoahsMyBro]

I'd have to say Kaboom! is Number 1.

Second would be Starmaster.

Third - Ice Hockey or Tennis

THEN, as much as I'm embarrassed to say it, I always liked Laser Blast. Yes, it was a memorization drill to a degree, and yes it was dead simple once you got the rhythm down, but it could put me in a trance very quickly & easily and I just zoned out.

If 5200 games are considered in this, I liked Dreadnought Factor a lot also.

[Sniderman]

My favorite expected answer would be Pitfall II. Just a great adventure platformer. However, my favorite unexpected would be Ghostbusters. I loved the C64 version and I was stunned by how closely the 2600 version matched it. Great fun. Great, great fun.

[Keir]

Pitfall II

H.E.R.O. is great too, but I much prefer the C64 version.
Pressure Cooker, Megamania and Frostbite would probably make up the rest of my top 5. But then where would I put Keystone Kapers? Oh damn.

[Kid Ice]

Pitfall is my favorite. You have to commit yourself to play for the full 20 minutes, though; it's not as "pick up and play" as most of Activision's games.

Close 2nds:

River Raid
Tennis
Stampede

the kid

[Nature Boy]

I loved the C64 version and I was stunned by how closely the 2600 version matched it. Great fun. Great, great fun.

I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. I just bought a copy of this online today having only played the Atari 8-bit version of it (and I always loved it). :D

But back to the topic at hand.

River Raid is an easy choice for favourite. I like the 8-bit version better, but then again I like the 8-bit versions of *every* Activision game better.

The other ones I find myself drawn back to:
H.E.R.O., Stampede, Megamania, Frostbite, Barnstorming

Pitfall and Pitfall 2 I'd lump in with the other good Activision games that I'm just not as likely to play (like Enduro say).

[gamergary]

River Raid :hail:

[bargora]

Kaboom and...ICE HOCKEY!

[game_trek]

Pitfall II is my favorite. Of the few atari games I remember buying, I recall venturing two miles to Chidrens Palace to buy this game. Great game! I think I bought Solaris also.Tough game!

[The Unknown Gamer]

Is and still is the very first 2 I ever had,
Seaquest and
Keystone Kapers

[Lady Jaye]

Seaquest for me too!

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Pitfall rules!!!, the best Activision game for the 2600 in my opinion

[ianoid]

Kaboom! Kaboom! KABOOM! (ref: Afrika Bamaata and Johnny Lydon's World Destruction)

It's all about Kaboom for me, though I don't play too much. I guess I dont' want to get too good at it. Yeah, right.

[Cafeman]

This is a tough poll question!

My favorite is Endure. 2nd is River Raid.

[DigitalSpace]

Activision made a ton of gems for the 2600. Pitfall! is my favorite, followed by Enduro and River Raid for the top three.

(I promise this is my last post in Classic Discussions for the morning. Heh.)

[atari_wizard]

Pitfall II - Lost Caverns is my favorite. I would say that either H.E.R.O. or Keystone Kapers would be my second.

[Pantechnicon]

Pitfall II.

Very close 2nd place: Starmaster.

[ubikuberalles]

Sky Jinks - This is the very first Acivision game I played and my Dad got it brand new when it came out. I have some fond memories of this game. If my dad picked out any other Activision title at that time I probably would have listed it instead of Sky Jinks.

[Dr. Morbis]

1-Kaboom (nothing will ever top this)
2-HERO
3-Frostbite
4-Pressure Cooker.


And if you stick Atari's Adventure in there, you'll have my top 5 games for the whole VCS library :P

Too bad Activision has sucked since day one of NES, and onward.

[almostgotthemall]

Pitfall II for sure. I wish I had it right now to play!

[le geek]

It's all about Seaquest for me...

River Raid, Megamania, Enduro, Crackpots, HERO and Both Pitfall!'s are also pretty sweet...

[Night Driver]

Dragster
Keystone Kapers
Starmaster

[Griking]

Kaboom
Pitfall
Megamania
Chopper Command

[aloan]

Pitfall II is the best in my opinion too.
I don't know if you saw a review that: Bob "Dire 51" did about Pit 2. I agree with him also. In fact, I just registered in this site because of Pifall II. This is my first reply. I was really wishing to reply to Bob "Dire 51" but the reply button there kept sending me to another place. Do U know how? I wanted to let him know and now I am letting you know as well as everyone who reads, that because of my Love to the Pitfall 2 game, I am developing a sort of a Pitfall 3 (of course with another name because of copyright) and I would like to share the 3 areas I've created so far with you all.
You can download it here: www.aloan1.com (after clicking on the American flag, click on the video game creation thumbnail. Have fun, like I'm having everynight upon continuing with the development of this game and playing it to test it! Best regards...

[The 1 2 P]

That would be a tie between Pitfall 2 and Spider Fighter. Too bad both are unplayable in this day and age.

[slapdash]

Put me down for Kaboom, and Enduro for #2.

Dolphin... Oh, that was fun too, but mostly we were trying to see if we could push our cheat to getting "Amazing!" a "second time in one game" (not exactly, but past really hard levels).

[Lady Jaye]

Oooh boy, I don't think I have played that many Activision games when I first replied!

Here are my current fave games (can't just pick up one). Now, why did I ever get rid of Activision Anthology (both GBA and PS2)?

1. Pressure Cooker
2. Seaquest
3. Beamrider
4. Keystone Kapers
5. Megamania
6. River Raid

[vivaeljason]

Pitfall! was my all-time favorite Atari game, so it's got to be that. River Raid is in a close second, though.

[purenergy]

Keystone Kapers, a game that always brings a smile to my face!
:)

[PC-ENGINE HELL]

Pitfall and River Raid tie for me.

[BetaWolf47]

Activision is to Atari 2600 as Rareware is to Nintendo 64. Without either, the consoles wouldn't have been such fondly remembered. I haven't played that many, but from what I played, Pitfall! is the best.

[Oldskool]

Enduro - the speed is just awesome! Don't think there is a faster racing game to this day, and the weather effects are awesome. I love firing it up once in a while.

[Dire 51]

Pitfall II is the best in my opinion too.
I don't know if you saw a review that: Bob "Dire 51" did about Pit 2. I agree with him also. In fact, I just registered in this site because of Pifall II. This is my first reply. I was really wishing to reply to Bob "Dire 51" but the reply button there kept sending me to another place. Do U know how? I wanted to let him know and now I am letting you know as well as everyone who reads, that because of my Love to the Pitfall 2 game, I am developing a sort of a Pitfall 3 (of course with another name because of copyright) and I would like to share the 3 areas I've created so far with you all.
You can download it here: www.aloan1.com (after clicking on the American flag, click on the video game creation thumbnail. Have fun, like I'm having everynight upon continuing with the development of this game and playing it to test it! Best regards...
Very interesting... didn't see this until almost a year later. Oh well.

Anyway, since I apparently never replied to this thread in the first place: Pitfall II all the way, followed closely by H.E.R.O. and Megamania.

[DDCecil]

It's a tie between with Spider Fighter and Keystone Kapers.

[The Shawn]

Chopper Command.

[Steve W]

You know, I can't think of any Activision games that I really got all that much enjoyment out of. I have a few, but I never cared for them as much as others have. The one I like the most I'd have to say was Pitfall II, although I've never played the game in real life, just through emulation in those Activision collections for modern consoles. I have two or three copies of Pitfall II, but they will not work at all, even after a good cleaning.

[treismac]

I'd have to go with Seaquest if I had to choose a favorite from Activision. I loved it as a kid and I love it today.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Pitfall!

[TwinChargers]

Put me down for Ice Hockey.

[Nz17]

There are too many good ones for me to choose just one, so I choose these!

Pitfall!
River Raid
Kaboom
Fishing Derby
Laser Blast

H.E.R.O. and Tempest are good from what I've seen, but I don't own them. I really wish I owned H.E.R.O.!

[SegaMasterMonster]

A tie between Spider Fighter and H.E.R.O.

Spider Fighter was the Atari 2600 game I played the most back then, and I stiil play H.E.R.O. nowadays, but prefer the SG-1000 version :rocker:

[mkenyon2]

I actually liked Kangaroo and (dare I say it) E. T. I'm not saying I'd play E. T. for hours, but it entertained me.

However, it seems from this list, I have a lot to catch up on and try!

UPDATE: Sorry, just re-read the title. Activision games.

I would have to say Kaboom!