10 Atari 8-bit Computer Games You MUST PLAY on THE400 Mini! 

Yes, yes, I know! It's called "THE400 Mini," not, "THEA400 Mini." I promise I knew that, and even said it properly at 4:36 - just rolls off the tongue! 👅 🚨 FULL GAME LIST 🚨 Here are all 25 of the games which will be included in THE400 Mini: • Airball • Asteroids • Basketball • Battlezone • Berzerk • Boulder Dash • Bristles • Capture the Flag • Centipede • Crystal Castles • Elektraglide • Encounter! • Flip and Flop • Henry’s House • Hover Bovver • Lee (aka, Bruce Lee) • M.U.L.E. • Millipede • Miner 2049er • Missile Command • O’Riley’s Mine • Star Raiders II (aka, The Last Starfighter) • The Seven Cities of Gold • Wavy Navy • Yoomp!

The Atari games I recall back in the day were Blue Max, Star Raiders, Bruce Lee, Miner 2049er.. but mostly from the C64 ports... Atari 400/800 were amazing computers for 1979.. way ahead of the pack. I remember seeing Blue Max on Atari in a local computer shop in 1983/84 and was blown away... I later got it for the C64 but that Atari moment is etched in my mind forever.

I LOVED Rescue on Fractalus as a kid! What a great game.

Rally Speedway, Miner 2049'er, Archon, Pastfinder yes, Alternate Reality the Dungeon, Beam Rider, Shamus 1 and 2. Some of my favourites.

I loved Rescue on Fractalus. And that pilot twist - absolutely scared the c**p out of me the first time it happened!

Pre-ordered mine today! I'm excited

Great selection Jon with many not being the obvious choices :-) Keep up the awesome work!

I wish the Cart slot worked. My favorite game was the first Star Raiders (not Star Raiders II)

Actually that digging chopper game looks cool.

Great video! I played a few of these on the C64 back in the day, but I don’t know all of them! I need to check out the Atari computer library now! I am certainly ordering a 400 mini too! Thanks!

Great review!! More of this please :)

Gateway to Apshai is a solid early roguelike dungeon crawler.

wow what a great line of games, some new to me. Excited to dive into the Atari 8-Bit more.

When I saw the Jumpman box in your teaser still, I was so thankful...I sometimes think I'm the only person with an over-the-top love for the game. Much Like Super Mario Brothers, It was an influence on so many 3D puzzle-adventure games that came later (Tomb Raider is a good example). I repeatedly name it as my favourite game of all time, yet it is rarely mentioned. Thanx Jon !!! Starting your video with my favourite game of all time was a shocker! If I may be so bold as to suggest another obscure title for your list... A game by Bob Connell and released through Canadian 'In-Home Software' in 1983...the one, the only, "Captain Beeble". A multi-level scrolling puzzler that might be called Shamus-meets-H.E.R.O.-on-acid. It was my first Atari 8-bit game, and remains a favourite to this day....definitely worth a review down the road, and a worthy addition to this list. Put some time aside for this one...there are mutliple scrolling playfields on each level, and the difficulty goes through the roof IF you make it to level 2 (for reasons I will not disclose here, as it is a develish surprise - but it will take several replays to get that far.) The game is a testament to the power of Player/Missile Graphics on the 8-bit Atari line. Huge moving objects and dozens of dastardly little Shamus-esque critters on screen to impede your progress. It should be rated among the 8-bit Atari's best games (it's an exclusive), but it perpetually flies under the radar. (You could fix that) Your disclaimer at the beginning of the video explains why Lode Runner is not here, but if you do a more general lists of 400-compatible games, I hope it will get a nod. It's so darned good. Bröderbund's Spelunker too...

i like that you show the box art of the games great vid thank you :-)

Don't forget, Pitfall 2 has a whole second level that non of the other systems have.

Good list, Jon! I had a 400 back in the day, and surprisingly, still have it. Always liked Floyd of the Jungle. It’s four simultaneous player Donkey Kong, in essence. Good competition with buddies in the 80s.

That pilot running up and tapping on the glass is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. No qualifiers. I can't wait to get my mini and add these and other games. This has been a blindspot in my gaming and i'm looking forward to getting into this system.

Great list! I've learned about some games I did not know before: Chopper Hunt, Flip and Flop and Lords of Conquest sound like games that I need to try on my modded XEGS :) Thanks!

Ah, Jumpman (and Jumpman Jr) really takes me back. I love the variety of challenges for each level. I played it on the C64 (never owned any Ataris except for the VCS) but respect the Atari 8 bit's capabilities. Anyway, some great games on those old systems that are still plenty of fun to play to this day. Others that pop into my mind: Lode Runner, Boulder Dash and Master of the Lamps. Great memories!

Great list Jon! I was not familar with some of them. I had an Atari 800 growing up. Wish I still had it today. I remember playing two games I loved that loaded from cassette. Temple of Apshai, a dungeon crawler, and SCRAM, the nuclear powerplant simulator.

Got this on preorder, the 800XL with a 1050 DD was my second computer. Some excellent recommendations in this video, never seen chopper hunt. Thanks

The Atari 400 was my first computer, and I'm so happy you mentioned Pastfinder and Flip & Flop. It seems like my favorites were all particularly well made - no glitches, good artwork, smooth animation, etc. Flip & Flop was not only great fun but also flawlessly implemented. So was Pastfinder, but all Activision games had a polished feel on this platform; H.E.R.O. was another standout. My all-time favorite is Drol - utter perfection, and it was an Apple port!

I can't wait for this one! Not just a great machine, but the game list is much better than some of the other prepackaged emulation devices...

Loved Flip & Flop! Also got soft spots for Koronis Rift, Alley Cat, The Eidolon, Archon, Dropzone, Last Starfighter / Star Raiders II, Action Biker, International Karate, One Man And His Droid... the list goes on and on!

What a solid list, we mostly enjoy the same kind of games... I have another Synapse pick -Zeppelin! You fly a zeppelin through a scrolling underground fortress. Has Scramble vibes, but the difference is that you can scroll and shoot in any direction.

Unbelievable to me, you hit 10 games I know very little about! I grew up with the Atari 800 and played so many fantastic games! I loved Fort Apocalypse, not sure if you've ever played it. It's great. Thanks for a great video.

Hey there, local Jville prisoner! I’m glad you are so excited about this. I’m super excited because I could only salivate over 400 and 800. I had a Commodore 64 at the time, but wanted what looked like even more excellent games that didn’t come to this Commodore 64. I never had one and when I reached collecting computers of my 80s youth, I never stuck my toe in the 400 800 waters. I had Nari Excel so I could play the cartridges, I think that’s right. But they were few and far between, and I never found a good amount and I wasn’t willing to pay for them on eBay. It’s great to see data soft Conan on your list. I tried to play that on other platform, but the son of a bitch was so hard I had to give up on it. It hurt, because I grew up cutting my reading teeth on Howard Conan and Arnie’s Conan

I really enjoy Lords of Conquest, Zombies/Realm of impossibility, Jumpman, Conan, Necromancer…I’ve never played flip and flop. The others I’m familiar with but never really got into them. Two player Zombies is so much fun. Electronic Arts made a lot of the titles I loved growing up!

Yes, these look like fun I'm going to enjoy getting my 400 Mini.

Really enjoyed watching! I've seen many people posting Atari 400 reviews but this video caught my attention because the games were out of the ordinary...

Technically, I have never played any of these, heck, some I have never heard of. I have played plenty of The Dreadnaught Factor on my 5200, and I may have played some Rescue on Fractalus. I have it for both the 8-bit and the 5200. Awesome video and games. Keep up the excellent content.

Conan was my favourite game on the Apple II at school so when it was finally later ported to the A8 line I was thrilled.

Great video, I need to try some of those.

I grew up with the 800XL and OMVGs all these were the games of my youth 🙂 Still fun to play today and all being a still very recent-feel-like ones. All thumbs up 😙

Thanks I’m looking forward .

My family had Rescue on Fractalus! (although we pronounced it "Frac-tuh-lus") back in the mid 80s on our Commodore 64. Played it a lot when I was 8-10 years old. Good memories 🙂

The Dreadnought Factor is also one of my favourite Atari 8 Bit games. Especially the difficulty setting called "YGTBFK" (You've Got To Be F**king Kidding!) I think you could do another 10 Jon, without including arcade ports. Part 2 please!

Really good picks. Synapse really knew how to tap into the Atari.

Great looking games!

Thanks for the suggestion Jon !

Another amazing video Jon. it takes a lot of skills and dedication to come up with this high quality content. 🙌

The side scroller gauntlet was one of my favorites

Yes more Atari 8 bit computer games list please.

I liked Submarine Commander from Thorn EMI. Nice picks

Jumpman was one of my favourite games on the C64. Lords of Conquest was great too. I didn't know anyone with an Atari 8-bit, though we considered it when we were computer shopping in 1983. (We ended up going for the TI994/A that time.)

Cool stuff. I don't know anything about Atari computers, I had an Apple IIc when I was a kid

I had Rescue on Fractalus! on cartridge for the XE. One of my all time 8-bit favorites.

Pastfinder.... In a very first thought i thought it was looking at an early version of Alleykat. And Lord's of Conquest... Much played on the VC64, a great title!

Played all but Lords of Conquest. Got to try that one!

I would love to play MULE, Ball Blazer, DROL, Preppie, Archon and Blue Max!

Necromancer is so amazing. Pastfinder is excellent. Rescue on Fractalus is a feat of engineering. Great selection of games.

Strangely, I have been in Retrogaming for the past 25 years, but never thought about Atari (other than my full Atari Race Drivin cabinet in my home) and it was my first console. Now i bought 4 different atari consoles this month. Including flash cart Harmony for my new 2600+. I am so eager to re discover Atari and discover the 8 bit computers. Still waiting for a Jaguar Mini, my favorite console.

I played the heck out of Realm of Impossibility on the Commodore 64 back in the day. That game can get intense! I loaded it up about a year ago and I made the mistake of using a Hyperkin Trooper joystick. I snapped the handle off at around the fifth dungeon…

I loved Lords of Conquest, though my experience with it was on the C64. A really great game.

Chopper hunt is loads of fun. Brilliant game, even today. But of course.

I have not tried anything Atari 400.looking forward to trying this

Not sure if it’s mentioned in the comments but the music in Conan was so atmospheric and epic. Played it on the 800 as a kid. Never beat it though

BallBlazer! Especially multiplayer. Oh and Archon.

I can't tell you how many hours I spent playing Jumpman (on my c64). Something about it was very addictive! I'd pick up the A400 Mini just for that game! Thanks for your videos!

I LOVED Lords of Conquest when I was a kid. Played on an Apple IIc 👍

I didn't pick one of these up back in the day but looking forward to check it out upon release. Neat little emulation box with a usb CXStick that I'm really interest in.

As a Commodore lover these games look amazingly fun

Ordered my 2

Rescue on Fractalus is best remembered for being the first videogame with genuine jump scares, and it did put the zap on me many times. A funny bit of trivia: the programmer responsible for the fractal graphics in this game also created the fractal visuals for the CGI "Genesis" sequence in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. That was the work of the Lucasfilm Computer Graphics department, which was later sold to Steve Jobs in 1985 and became Pixar. Small world!

I was also a computer nerd in the 80’s, sir. 👍

what a list!!!!

It's really crazy that nobody took the fundamentally original ideas demonstrated in _Chopper Hunt_ further: a game along those lines (filling in caves with water, destructible terrain, etc.) could have been amazing on the Sega Genesis or any 16 bit hardware.

Jumpman! So underrated because of the simplistic graphics. But such a fantastic game! I grew up with the C64 version, but recently had the chance to check out the Atari 8-bit version, which is equally great.

Chopper Hunt looks like 2600 graphics but wow, that seems like pushed graphics and gameplay. The way that helicopter bombs the tunnels, how smooth that is. Fantastic

I had the "Zombies" version of "Realm of Impossibility" playing on my Atari 400 with 48k memory upgrade soldered into place...loved that game...especially with 2 players.

Wow, I've been thinking of _Realms of Impossibility_ recently... always loved its Escher-like worlds. And played _Rescue on Fractalus_ way too many hours XD

I adore Flip & Flop, but when it comes to less mainstream favorites, I can't get enough of Fort Apocalypse, Rainbow Walker, and Serpentine.

So wild to see Necromancer getting some attention. Every time I explained the game, even to my other gaming friends, they had no idea wth I was talking about. Lets not forget the XEGS had a most excellent port of Mario Bros.

Heh - that list was a blast from the past - I had totally forgotten about Chopper Hunt, absolutely loved the digging mechanic! And a few of those were new to me, gotta try them out. More in this vein would be awesome - Spelunker and Mountain King both came to mind, but I'm not sure they fit the "mostly Atari" restriction. I'm also wondering what the overlap will be in terms of functionality between the 400 mini and the gamestation pro, which does play 5200 games. I may have to mess around.

Dreadnaught Factor looks really fun! So does Realm of Impossibility. I've never played either one of those.

Some interesting titles there. Despite being an Atari 8-bit owner since '85, the only one of those I've ever owned is Rescue on Fractalus. Haven't played any of the others. There are two must play games missing, though. Dropzone and Alternate Reality: The City (people often prefer The Dungeon but I'm a bit of an oddball with that). I borrowed a copy of The City and played it solidly for months before eventually giving it back.

My tops - Eidolon, Koronis Rift, Kickstart, Bruce Lee, Ballblazer, Fitfall, International Karate, Montezumas revenge, Alley cat ( probably the best version at all ), Zybex, Capture the flag, Agent USA and .. Prince of Persia ;)

I played a TON of Lords of Conquest!!! That game is a blast. Quick and easy. But tons of fun. The rest are new to me. Dreadnaught and Realm look like some great games that I would like.

Gen Xer as well here…my first game console was a hand me down Telestar. Cause Atari 2600 came out, so a friend gave me their old system…I believe it only had 4 carts for it. First Lightgun game, and steering wheel in those early times. Then in order, i got the 2600, 5200, but instead of Atari Computer, I went Commodore 64. But yes, some of those cross ports of the computer games were great. Jumpman, Jumpman Jr., I remember most Electronic Arts games were fun…there were a few movie title games like Alien (strategy type), and Aliens (Arcade like but a little deeper). Wouldn’t mind a good “Rom build” of those computer games. Alot of the 5200 and up games aren’t as straight forward for system emulation because of the button configs…but im sure theres a way.

Conan was great! I have it for the Apple II

Necromancer? Even the trees walk in that game! 😆

Let's not forget Dimension X, Sealth, Rainbow Walker and Pole Position...so many great titles!!!

So this is what I missed on the Apple II. The Activision games look fantastic!

Was playing Rescue on Fractalus on my 65XE earlier this week, it is an amazing game that whenever I put it on just sucks hours out of the day.

I remember when I was growing up and we would go to Sears and I could play with the computers that were on display including the Atari400. These games were awesome, but I particularly remember fondly the text-based games I would play. Do you think you'll ever make a Top 10 video of the text-based games of the 80's?

Wow! Chopper Hunt was written by Tom Hudson! I knew him from the Atari ST. He sold a cartridge that would allow ST users who had actual Macintosh ROMs to basically turn their ST into a Mac! He also wrote the premier 3D graphics modeling and animation package on the ST.

dang son, I'd love to see your music lists - those are some sweet deep cuts.

Jumpman is still one of my favorite games, ever! Some others I’d recommend: Drelbs Cyclod Bandits Clowns and Balloons Encounter Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory Preppie 1&2 Marauder Ollie’s Follies The Pharaoh’s Curse

Rescue on Factalus looks quite impressive for its time and I would love to play it!

Realm Of Impossibility and MULE multiplayer… we had very similar childhoods!

Jon @GenXGrownUp. Are you planning on doing a video on how you add games to the Atari 400 mini via the USB stick? Where can games be downloaded and how to put them on the stick? That would be great and very helpful.

I played the heck out of Jumpman (and Bruce Lee, briefly mentioned early).

In Russia, Poland and, I think, all of Eastern Europe, 65XE/130 was very popular. River Raid, International Karate, Monty (Montezuma's Revenge) were biggest hits. Aslo, Panthera with it's isometric gameplay is awesome, and Zeppelin games software games are awesome : Zybex, Ninja Commando and Draconus. Love them all. Oh, and my favorite is Dan Strikes Back - worth to check this game out. And polish "Robbo" is a masterpiece, totally recommend it!

I TOTALLY FORGOT about Realm of Impossibility!!! It was so good!!!

Gauntlet , Dig Dug , The Goonies + 20 Others ;)

Flip and Flop - The upside-down levels can be disorienting, but with a little practice, you can train yourself to see them as rightside-up, just with the edges on the wrong sides. It's a little weird in that it looks like your monkey is crawling on them, but it kind of works. The Dreadnaught Factor - I was always disappointed that this was never ported to the C64. Rescue on Fractalus - It should be noted that while each map might be randomly generated (I don't know that for sure, I'll take your word for it), the terrain doesn't appear to be generated as you fly around. In other words, if you pass a ship, you can turn around, retrace your path and the ship will still be there. It appears to me, that once each level is generated, the map is constant until you leave it. I'm not sure if it wraps around though. Usually there are enough forced turns that I quickly lose my way. Some other recommendations: Lode Runner - 150 levels of action puzzle solving. I have to admit that I didn't get very far until I learned that it has built in cheat keys to give yourself extra lives, and to jump to any level you want. It's not as much of a cheat as you might think, since each level still has to be completed with a single life. You just get unlimited retries, and can pick up where you left off. It even has a level editor. There's also a sequel, Championship Lode Runner with 50 harder levels. No cheats though. Stealth - A game by Broderbund where you fly toward a tower, shooting enemies, avoiding obstacles, flying through positive energy fields to refuel your ship, and eventually destroying the tower. It's not a deep game, but it's fun with nice visuals. Trolls and Tribulations - By Creative software. You start by shooting lizard like enemies and then knocking them into the water. When all of them are taken care of, you can enter the maze, which is a side-view platform game where you collect bonus items and just have to avoid the enemies. Fortunately the collision detection is quite generous. Unfortunately, the control can be a little slippery at times. Still fun though.

I like this geezer

My Conan story-Got this game with my brand new 130XE in 1985. I faked a stomach ache so I could stay home from school and play it. Lol. I loved this game back in the day and I super highly recommend it!

Great games.