I popped my 2600 cherry!

[optic_85]

Well, i wasnt born till 85, so by the time i was playing video games(89, Nintendo) I had no idea what the atari was. But ever since i was about 16 when i got into retro-collecting i have wanted to play, and own this little peice of gaming history. Well, after a couple garage sale, and thrift store units not working i finally got a hold of a WORKING coleco gemini from a member of this board(thanks! max 330 mega)......and i LOVE it! i've been playing pac-man, mouse trap, chopper comand, millipede, and a few others constantly! My xbox, and saturn havent even been turned on in a while

But i have a few questions.

-I find the stick a little un-responsive. Is there a better 3rd party joystick?
-What are some good 2-player games?
-What are the essential games that i need to get?

[Graham Mitchell]

1) Find a Genesis 3-button controller. Those work really well on a 2600. Not so well on a 7800, but they'll work fine for you. (An SMS pad would work equally as well)

2) The original pack-in game for the 2600, Combat, is one of the most fun 2-player games ever, in my opinion. There's so many options for playing that you can get a couple hours out of it without getting too bored, which is kind of a feat for the 2600. Activision Tennis is one that I like, as well. 2600 Space Invaders has a 2-player simultaneous mode that looks really cool, though I haven't had anybody come over an try it with me. I remember Joust working well with the 2-player mode as well.

3) Essential 2600 titles would be anything by Activision. Most notably, I'd hunt out Pitfall, Beamrider, River Raid, H.E.R.O., Private Eye, Frostbite, Kaboom (you MUST play Kaboom, but you'll need paddles) Pitfall 2 (good luck with that), Robot Tank, Stampede, and Dolphin to start out. Almost anything by Activision is worth trying, but those are some of my favorites. As for non-activision title's, the Parker Brothers port of Gottlieb's Reactor is a must-own. Almost any game by Imagic is good (Moonsweeper in particular, along with Atlantis) Avoid Pac-Man at all costs, but Ms. Pac-Man is pretty good. (If you've got the Genesis or SNES version, it's not worth it, though.) One of the great things about 2600 was the crazy amount of third party support, most of which is pretty interesting. It's true that a lot of it is total crap, and you'll find games so bad you won't even be able to tell what you are on the screen, but that's actually part of the fun. The wierder and more obscure it is, the funnier it's probably going to be . (The MASH game was surprisingly cool, for example.)

[TRM]

Go for Super Breakout. That is one of the games that I actually got into.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Get a Wico Joystick (any) and your off to a good start.

As far as great titles

Ram It
Dragon Fire
M.A.D.
Fast Food
Mega Mania
Spider Fighter
Off the Wall
Vanguard
Crystal Castles
Planet Patrol
Q Bert
Midnight Magic
Video Pinball

As far as two players

Combat
Armor Ambush
Outlaw


If (and only if you can find these) get them as soon as you can, athough you will probably never find them outside of Ebay, and without paying a pretty penny

The Great Escape
Boing!

Both are phenomenal games.

[tyranthraxus]

Adventure, Breakout (or Super Breakout), Pitfall 1 and 2, HERO, Kaboom,
Video Olympics (for pong and its variants), Keystone Kapers, Missile
Command, Spider Man, Warlords (for up to 4 players at once!),
Asteroids and Yars Revenge. Are good games to check out, but Pitfall 2
and HERO might be tough to find the rest are pretty common and cheap.

Wico made quality 3rd party sticks but I prefer the original sticks that came
with the 2600.

[atomicthumbs]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.


*sigh*

Anyway, here are A FEW of my ESSENTIAL picks (that haven't been mentioned yet)

Air Sea Battle
Barnstorming
Basketball
Bowling
Kangaroo
Mario Bros.
Moon Patrol
Phoenix
Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back

[optic_85]

Thanks for all the help guys. Im looking into getting a few of thoes games. Some of them i already have, because the first non-working atari that i got had 30 games with it. And the sega controller works great. I had thought about using it before, but didnt try it until now. Helped me improve a couple high scores

[qbertandernie]

demon attack.

pick level 7 or 8 where the shot moves with the ship.

use the bathroom first, theres no pause button.

[briguy578]

Funny you guys should mention Pitfall II and Hero, as I have copies of both I am getting ready to put on the 'bay right now....

[Cauterize]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.

errr havent i seen you in hospital once or twice with a 2600 stuck to your manhood?

[atomicthumbs]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.

errr havent i seen you in hospital once or twice with a 2600 stuck to your manhood?

Yeah... It was the Heavy Sixer.

Hey, I remember you!!! You had the 2600 Jr. stuck on ya, right?

[Cauterize]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.

errr havent i seen you in hospital once or twice with a 2600 stuck to your manhood?

Yeah... It was the Heavy Sixer.

Hey, I remember you!!! You had the 2600 Jr. stuck on ya, right?

hahahaha actually, i keep my consoles in mint condition... not sticky! you must have mistaken someone else [/b]

[drdrew1469]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.

errr havent i seen you in hospital once or twice with a 2600 stuck to your manhood?

Yeah... It was the Heavy Sixer.

Hey, I remember you!!! You had the 2600 Jr. stuck on ya, right?

hahahaha actually, i keep my consoles in mint condition... not sticky! you must have mistaken someone else [/b]

Mint condition... so that must be you 'washing' your joystick like a cat in Hovoc's avatar hehe

[Cauterize]

Well... I opened this topic thinking that I found others with the same Atari sex fetish that I have.

errr havent i seen you in hospital once or twice with a 2600 stuck to your manhood?

Yeah... It was the Heavy Sixer.

Hey, I remember you!!! You had the 2600 Jr. stuck on ya, right?

hahahaha actually, i keep my consoles in mint condition... not sticky! you must have mistaken someone else [/b]

Mint condition... so that must be you 'washing' your joystick like a cat in Hovoc's avatar hehe

hahaha im getting flame-rized by sexual references here...


okay so you caught me drdrew1469 but keep it quiet!

[tritium]

I love Joust, and it has two player simultaneous that works really well.
I own a joust cartridge for hte 2600, even though I don't own the system, so I have a legit reason to emulate it =)


-Tritium

[drdrew1469]

hahaha im getting flame-rized by sexual references here...


okay so you caught me drdrew1469 but keep it quiet!

no flame, cauterize, just an observation

I'll keep your secret if you keep mine...about the paddles...how they roll...two at a time...one on each side...with the ribbed part gently carre...ahh, nevermind this post, I have to er, go play breakout, yeah, that's it, go play breakout right now!

[Cauterize]

hahaha im getting flame-rized by sexual references here...


okay so you caught me drdrew1469 but keep it quiet!

no flame, cauterize, just an observation

I'll keep your secret if you keep mine...about the paddles...how they roll...two at a time...one on each side...with the ribbed part gently carre...ahh, nevermind this post, I have to er, go play breakout, yeah, that's it, go play breakout right now!

hahaha i know i wasnt being flamed, im just messin around...
yeah go play breakout.. this conversation never happened....
right? x_x

[slip81]

Try and find yourself a Wico Track Ball for Missile Command and Centepede.

Oh and the track balls can also be used as great body massagers