Atari 2600 games that are actually beatable

[rbudrick]

I was playing my Flashback 2 system this weekend and noticed some games on it were VERY late in the systems lifetime (1989, 1990), and they were far more advanced than the earlier titles...just shy of NES quality...almost. Hell, Yars' Return was 2005.

I got to thinking...what Atari 2600 games are actually beatable...not just games where you try to get a high score or just repeat endlessly.

Here's the ones I could think of off the top of my head:

Adventure
Pitfall!
Pitfall! 2
Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Swordquest (all of them)
E.T.
Superman (I think)
EDIT: River Raid...once you DO get the highest possible score, the game freezes and the score stays at !!!!!!, so this counts.

Can you think of any others? I think it would be cool to have a list of these.

-Rob

[GrandAmChandler]

Haunted House

[tom]

Ghost Manor by Xonox.
Ending: Win the game =re-united with girlfriend, castle sinks into ground
lose the game = you and girlfriend die with your blood sucked out of you from Dracula

[Queen Of The Felines]

Dolphin and Kaboom also stop when the score reaches high enough. Pretty much every Activision game does, come to think of it.

Edit: Add Riddle of the Sphinx too.

Kristine

[Avatard]

He-man: Masters of the Universe

[rbudrick]

He-man: Masters of the Universe

You know what? I've never even been able to figure out how to even MOVE in this game...friends have had the same issue. What am I supposed to do in this game?

Lol, my thread, my threadjack, heh heh. j/k

-Rob

[boatofcar]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51889&highlight=ending+vcs

Didn't get many replies the first go-round either.

[thehistorian]

Fathom

[davepesc]

The Swordquest titles never really end, and E.T loops forever.

I don't count games with a max score as beatable, they just have a limit to the number of digits they can display.

EDITED INCORRECT INFO!

As for other beatables, how about:

Private Eye
StarMaster
Star Raiders
Solaris(?)
Commando
Rampage (?)
Stellar Track
Pole Position
Enduro
Xenophobe(?)
Secret Quest

[rbudrick]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51889&highlight=ending+vcs

Didn't get many replies the first go-round either.

Ah, forgot about that thread. :) I guess mine is different since I specified the VCS.

As for the Swordquest tiles, I do remember reaching a very specific ending with a walkthrough on Fireworld and Earthworld. I mean, I do remember you can still move around or something like that, but there is a specific series of tasks you have to complete to get to the end, iirc. Waterworld I can't even get close to doing anything.

On He-Man, I did try the right joystick port, and got nada...same with my friends' systems...I wonder what's up with that?

And Starmaster, yes! How could I forget Starmaster?

-Rob

[davepesc]

From Atariage:

(he-man)
The right difficulty switch freezes the action. In position A, the game plays normally. In position B, the action freezes. Start the game in position A. This switch can be used to show a friend a particular screen or for a rest period


Try that, and it's the left port, not the right (sorry, been a while!)

[Slate]

Would Coke Wins! Count? (Pepsi Invaders)

I do not own a copy of it, But i have played the rom.

Sorry, i'm not sure where i downloaded it..

[Fighter17]

Would Coke Wins! Count? (Pepsi Invaders)

I do not own a copy of it, But i have played the rom.

Sorry, i'm not sure where i downloaded it..

What a joke that game was. ;)

[Slate]

Would Coke Wins! Count? (Pepsi Invaders)

I do not own a copy of it, But i have played the rom.

Sorry, i'm not sure where i downloaded it..

What a joke that game was. ;)

Indeed. That pepsi logo was interesting even though i don't like pepsi that much. (But then, i don't like ANY soda that much anymore!)

[neotokeo2001]

Wolfenstein
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/432022/wolfensteinfront.jpg

[Howie6925]

Ooops, nevermind. :embarrassed:
I put down asteroids(that game loops which dosent qualify)

[dcescott]

What about Othello, Video Chess, Video Checkers, you play the AI right? Therefore, you "beat" the game!

[evildead2099]

Yar's Revenge

[rbudrick]

What about Othello, Video Chess, Video Checkers, you play the AI right? Therefore, you "beat" the game!

True, True. I'll buy that. :-)

Neotokeo2001, isn't that Wolfenstein a fake? Or did someone really make this?

As for Coke Wins!, doen't that just have a time limit? In other words, it can't really be beaten?

As for Yars' Revenge...that ends? I thought it just kept going...

From Atariage:


(he-man)
The right difficulty switch freezes the action. In position A, the game plays normally. In position B, the action freezes. Start the game in position A. This switch can be used to show a friend a particular screen or for a rest period

Oh, that's how!? Thanks! I must have had the switch to the side...I would have never thought of that. That's cool that there's a pause feature in it....that would be cool for a seperate thread: Pre-NES systems/games with a pause feature.

Try that, and it's the left port, not the right (sorry, been a while!)


Swordquest Earthworld doesn't actually end, since you can still walk around after getting the warrior's sword.

Well, I guess getting the Warrior's Sword counts as an ending, but yeah, I do remember that.


Fireworld basically forces you to end once you get pretty far into the game (AFAIK it's impossible to do everything in one game), but like EW, it never really 'ends'.

Now that I didn't remember....I guess I have to play again! But then, once you get the final item in that game, I guess that would be the "end."


Waterworld, however, ends every time you find a clue!

Maybe that explains why I could never get anywhere in that game, heh heh.

-Rob

[shoes23]

Neotokeo2001, isn't that Wolfenstein a fake? Or did someone really make this?

-Rob

Hop on over to HERE (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66049) to check it out.

[Perkar]

KRULL is totally beatable. i used to play the crap out of it when i was a kid.

[NE146]

Lots of the recent homebrew games are beatable I'm sure. i.e. Thrust, Marble Craze, etc.

[davepesc]

I played a lot of Krull as a kid and I thought that after you rescue the princess from that giant bear-thing, the game loops back to the opening wedding scene.

BTW: Krull has 4 distinct levels: Wedding, horse, spider, horse again, final castle. Not bad for a 2600 game.

And I also think Yars' loops forever.

[kirin jensen]

I think he's thinking of the Yar's Revenge easter egg...

[kirin jensen]

Well, I tried a little experiment.


I took an old Defender cart I had lying around and beat the shit out of it with a hammer.

Based on that experiment, I'd have to say all Atari games are beatable.

[rbudrick]

Well, I tried a little experiment.


I took an old Defender cart I had lying around and beat the shit out of it with a hammer.

Based on that experiment, I'd have to say all Atari games are beatable.

That's cheating. No Game Sharks, PGP-1s, or Game Hammers allowed.

-Rob

[Slate]

Well, I tried a little experiment.


I took an old Defender cart I had lying around and beat the shit out of it with a hammer.

Based on that experiment, I'd have to say all Atari games are beatable.

That's cheating. No Game Sharks, PGP-1s, or Game Hammers allowed.

-Rob

LOL

Anyway, back on the Coke Wins! subject.. It has a 2 or 3 minute timer. But you can't lose in that game, and after you are done in a round of it, The message "Coke wins!" shows up, so, It IS virtually beatable.

[evg2000]

I believe the first version of demon attack is "beatable" as the game eventually freezes.

[izret101]

IMO that is a really shitty way to beat a game.

All i can visualize is this?
tester: Hey uhh the game just froze
programer: Um..... yea why wouldn't it.... YOU WON!... yea thats it freeze = win...

I know that probably never happened(i just think it would have been funny)

But at least any of thse games that loop i can take off my need to beat list :)

[rbudrick]

It doesn't stop. Like E.T., the game can be played indefinitely.

E.T does end...it is totally beatable and doesn't really loop at all. E.T.'s ship picks him up, whisks him off through the top of the screen, and that's it.....so I guess you could even say it has an "ending." I think if you hit a button it starts over, but half of beatable games on all systems do that, so that doesn't count.

Not that I'm saying you didn't, but most people have never beaten E.T., and don't know this.

-Rob

[rbudrick]

I thought of one more today...I believe Mountain King can be beaten, iirc.

-Rob

[rbudrick]

Very few 2600 games have a continue option (like E.T.), and most can be played indefinitely (like E.T.). When you hit the button (after a rescue), the game continues on (some variables, such as your score, are carried over). Thus, each successful rescue is considered a "round". The time between rounds aren't endings, they're pauses. Some of the Easter eggs (Yar, Indy, HSW initials) are structured around this premise. Which means the game only ends if you're killed. Same for Mountain King. Think of them as being like Donkey Kong. You can rescue the girl and dispatch of the ape, but the game only ends when you die.

Games like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Raiders have true endings - once you reach your goal, you're given your score/ranking and the game completely stops (freezes).

Yeah, I guess I see what you're saying. I'm just not sure what differentiates these games from, say, NES games that repeat after the last level is completed, or maybe have a harder second quest. Some games don't have actual endings, but have an end and then repeat...maybe the programmers get lazy or run out of time. Somewhat of a grey area, imo. Then there's games like E.T. and DK Jr. that HAVE little ending sequences and then repeat. It's kind of hard to say at this point what qualifies as a "beaten" game.

Anybody got any opinions on "rules" for this? Does a game have to completely stop to be beaten? Does it have to have an ending sequence? If it repeats after the ending (or lack thereof), does this qualify as a "beatable game?"

-Rob

[vintagegamecrazy]

How about Jungle Hunt, the game ends and you rescue your girlfriend and the game does start over on a much higher difficulty, albeit the score keeps totaling up.

[googlefest1]

dosent vanguard have an end ?

[k8track]

Tried to think of some more here that might not have been mentioned:

• Airlock (talk about a quick game with no payoff)
• Phaser Patrol? (Does this have an ending?)
• Tac-Scan (according to the instruction manual, there are 15 theoretical levels of difficulty, but at the time of that writing, only level 7 was attained by the people at Sega)
• Breakout (ends after the second board; ultimate score is 864, I believe?)
• Atari Video Cube (naturally)
• Skateboardin'
• Porky's
• Crystal Castles? (I thought the arcade had an ending; is the home the same way? Is it 12 levels or something?)
• Crypts of Chaos? (Does this have an ending?)


dosent vanguard have an end ?

After you kill the Gond, it keeps repeating (unless there are a set number of levels?)

[Lady Jaye]

Solaris can be beaten, there's even a walkthrough online on how to get to it, at http://members.tripod.com/skintigh/atari/solaris.html

How about Moon Patrol on the 2600? Can it be beaten?

[rbudrick]

How about Jungle Hunt, the game ends and you rescue your girlfriend and the game does start over on a much higher difficulty, albeit the score keeps totaling up.

I remember going through it twice, but not on the 2600 version. Is the ending any different on cosecutive wins? I can't remember.

k8track, I forgot about Porky's!

-Rob