You can only pick 3. Desert Island Atari VCS/2600

[GrandAmChandler]

Desert Island VCS/2600! YOU are stranded on a desert island alone, with a console, power adapter, TV, and one standard controller. There is a crate with EVERY game imaginable inside. However you can only pick 3 cartridges. This includes homebrew games, but there are no multi-carts, compilation carts (Super Mario All-Stars, Mega Man Anthology, etc.) accessories, game enhancers, or anything else out of the ordinary present. You have 3 games to pick from for what may be the rest of your life. Which three do you choose?

Today's Desert Island is Atari VCS/2600. Pick 3 valid cartridges, and explain your reasoning for each one! Include pictures of cartridges, screenshots, or whatever else you would like to display! If this goes well, I may be doing these weekly. This thread will only be as good as you make it, so lets see some effort!

-GAC-

[RJ]

Crystal Castles
Enduro
Maze Craze

[GrandAmChandler]

GAC's Picks

Pressure Cooker - I feel like this may be my favorite single player VCS game. I love it. However I feel it may make me very hungry for a burger.




Robot Tank - I love the weather simulation, and when you die it possibly is the best death screen on the VCS.



Phoenix - Who doesn't love shooting a giant space ship at the end?

[Carey85]

Euchre (homebrew): I enjoy the game of Euchre immensely and this game cartridge would allow me to play it by myself whenever I wish... without a dumbass partner to step on all of my books.

Pressure Cooker: This game is very fun and would provide invaluable in the sense that it would provide job training in the event that I would ever be discovered.

Fishing Derby: This game would provide survival training as well as providing companionship in the form of a digital opponent and a shark. I've already named the shark Bitey and the opponent Ralph.

[Oobgarm]

[rpepper9]

Awesome idea, I don't Atari so I have no opinion on this one, so hopefully it will continue to systems I play.

Also, I assume there is electricity on the island too, you don't mention where all this would be plugged in!

[MachineGex]

Oh the turmoil! Only three games? Man that is rough!!!
I am would pick these these if I had someone to play with:
Warring Worms: The Worm (Re)Turns - This one is a must own for every Atari owner
Falldown - A fun and addictive two player homebrew
Mazecraze - This game never gets old

However, GAC says only one controller, so great two player games are worthless...
Here is my one player only list:
Missile Command
Midnight Magic
Toyshop Trouble

[k8track]

Had to think about this; I wanted to select games that had a lot of replay value.

The first game I would select is a Breakout-type game, so obviously I would pick Super Breakout. I can play Super Breakout (and other games of this sort) over and over and over again; it's very addictive. Here is a picture of Game 7, Progressive Breakout, pretty much the only one I play:



An alternate for this would be Circus Atari.

Secondly, I would pick a cerebral puzzle game that I could play against the computer to keep my mind sharp, something with a decent AI. Again, something I could play over and over again. Gonna have to go with my old favorite, 3-D Tic Tac Toe.



Finally, I would want some kind of action/arcade game that I could have fun playing for years to come. I'll go with Medieval Mayhem.



Alternates for this third choice could include Bump 'n' Jump, Turmoil, River Raid, or Wizard of Wor.

EDIT: Just now went back and saw the "one standard controller" proviso. My 1st and 3rd choices use the paddle controller, and the 2nd choice uses the joystick. What to eliminate? A Sophie's Choice to be sure. Damn you, GAC!

EDIT 2: I just realized that I could use a Sears Video Arcade II controller (or Gemni Controller) as my one controller, which combines both a joystick and paddle. Game on!

[TwinChargers]

California Games
Tapper
Yars' Revenge

No real big reason for theses choices other than they are a few of my favorite games.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Mega-Mania

Never gets old with "guided missles." Each successive wave is a different item moving in a different way. The sounds are also pleasing enough to not get on your nerves.

Demon Attack

Kind of the same as MegaMania. I don't think I've seen all the demons.

Centipede

What more is there to say about this game.

[diskoboy]

-Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (I'd want this for the game and the music)
-Yar's Revenge
-Megamania

Runners up:
-Turmoil
-River Raid
-Ram It

[tom]

Just 3? Man might as well drown myself, but ok:


Well, you gotta have a woman on that island


Based on the Star Fleet game series, this strategy title keeps you occupied for years


I was gonna chose Amidar, but Snail against Squirrel is also a 'slow' paced game. Excellent time waster

[Lady Jaye]

This thread gets the seal of approval from the 12-year-old me, circa 1987.

Solaris -- such an underrated Atari 2600 game! Love it, one of my favorite games of all time (says she who wrote the review of the game for this very site). Shooting pink flying crabs was never so much fun!




Tutankham -- for the dungeon crawler fan in me, and for all the hours spent playing it in my youth.




Keystone Kapers -- one of Activision's fun efforts (among many, as the choice was a hard one to make). Strangely enough, I didn't know this game until Activision Anthology came out.

[ssjlance]

Custer's Revenge - Hah! Not really.

Asteroids - Seriously, I can play this game forever.
Space Invaders - Does it need any explanation?
Yar's Revenge - Just a brilliant game.

[DDCecil]

Tough choice, but I'd have to go with these 3:



I could play all 3 of them forever. Adventure and Solaris are obvious choices.

M*A*S*H may be a strange choice, but I love the Operating Room variation and I never tire of it.

Other games that almost made the cut:

Yar's Revenge
Q*Bert
Crystal Castles
Moon Patrol

[Night Driver]

Asteroids
Superman
Dragster

[Lady Jaye]

Of course! Moon Patrol! Duh! How could I forget that? I loved that game on the 2600 as a kid!

[Rickstilwell1]

I mainly love Atari 2600 for the shooters, so I'd bring

Space Invaders (I got that rhythm down!)
Galaxian (more interesting but just like Space Invaders)
Millipede (fast paced action and easy to get very far into)

these 3 are very addicting. 4th place for me would be Missile Command but I like constantly shooting more than aiming before shooting.

[neuropolitique]

Adventure


Vanguard


Berserk


Mostly because these are the games I've played since the beginning.

[Lady Jaye]

Is it me, or does Vanguard look like a clone of Scramble?