I hate how kill screens are considered to be how you beat a game not designed to be beaten. It doesn't make sense to me. The games without endings don't need endings. It's how they were designed.
Moon Patrol--- on the 2600--- hooked up to a 13" B&W TV. Don't remember much from back then but I do remember enough of that to think Moon Patrol in color looks weird.
@@nehemiahpouncey3607 you can get a score/mileage so high in night driver that it resets to zero...just bug through the barrier and you get stuck for awhile racking up points (i always assumed it's your car rolling down the mountain, hahah) the cars didn't even actually move, they would sit there if you stopped, sometimes the road gets so narrow you cannot even pass them, and you get knockex off the road, down the mountain. it really needed something else to be better...maybe deer jumping out ahead of you, since it is night.
I would say that this is a pretty solid list. Though there are a few that I feel like you left out. Sea Quest, Pitfall II, Blueprint, Haunted House, and my personal favorite... Journey Escape.
Brings back such memories. Played Adventure the most. Hours and hours on that one. Had the invisible mazes memorized. Played Yars revenge with friends while on lunch break during middle school. *** Pitfall had an offer in the instruction booklet where you could take a picture of a high score and mail it in for some prize. I think I even sent it in but don't remember what I got. Loved the 2600. I remember playing space invaders and Kaboom all Christmas day when I first got it. Before that, all I had was Telstar Pong.
Pressure Cooker is one of the most underrated Atari 2600 games and one of my favourites; It's a game where you build burgers as per the toppings the customers want and then package them and send them out. I think it gets overlooked because it starts out very simple and slow paced and if you don't know how to bounce burger toppings back (holding the fire button when touching them) then you just end up failing hard, but once you know what you're doing it can get pretty intense! :B
No Beam Rider? Snoopy vs Red Baron? Dark Chambers? Ms. Pac-Man? Jr. Pac-Man? Joust? Midnight Magic? Dig Dug? Haunted House? Plaque Attack? Rampart? Maybe Earth Dies Screaming and Freeway, too...
@@nehemiahpouncey3607 - My particular favorite, which wasn't mentioned, was "Starmaster" I reached the point where I coped the ranking from the instructions, and attached it to the cartridge, so I'd know where I was at the end of the game. As it uses the switches from the actual console, it's kind of difficult to play on a emulator.
F-14 Tomcat, Kung Fu Master, Star Raiders, Road Runner, Rampage, California Games, Winter Games, Jr. Pac-Man, Popeye, Kangaroo, Midnight Run, Klax, Pitfall 2, Enduro, RealSports Tennis, Aqua Adventure, Plaque Attack
When people nowdays hear 2600, all they ever think of is ET, the bad Pac-Man port, and shovelware. They fail to realize that there were a ton of great games on that system that hold up today. One title I'd add that you missed was Beamrider. Beamrider, Enduro, River Raid, and HERO are probably my favorites from the system. Even though my parents had an Odyssey 2 and a C64, I'd go to my friends place to play Enduro. The rest were done on the C64 as well.
Activision's StarMaster. Definitely a 5-star game. I never thought anybody could make a Star Raiders (Atari 8 bit computer version) clone on the 2600 and make it every bit as good, but Activision pulled it off!
Cosmic Ark looks like a sequel to Atlantis. The little ship flying away at the end of the latter is the same model as in CA I think. I thought that was cool back in the day.
it pretty much is the sequel...after Atlantis is destroyed, the little ship flies off, and now you go around like Noah, collecting 2 of each kind of creature to repopulate the world..hence the name Cosmic Ark.
@@edwardmclaughlin719 Your profile picture totally matches your personality. Game was fantastic as you were racing to pick up patients in the field and then operate on them. Was absolutely a great idea for a video game.
Great video, you mentioned a lot of awesome games! These are some others that I spent a lot of time playing: E.T. (not even close to the worst video game ever!!!). Activision Decathlon (destroyed many joysticks playing this game). Video Chess (this game taught me how to play). Superman, Maze Craze (awesome multi-player game, that is always overlooked).
I think the only ones not mentioned that were on my list were ms. pac-man (far better port than the original, obviously) and fast food! just watch for those purple pickles it's easily one of my favorite 2600 games ever.
My favorite game is centipede but I have so much nostalgia for pole position because it was the one game my dad would play all the time with me. Even when we got up into later consoles with better graphics if there was a pole position game my dad always wanted to play it. I miss my dad and I guess that's why Pole Position probably means more to me than even my favorite games like centipede.
I've found the games that hold up the best for me were the multi-player ones. Usually not particularly complex, but a lot of fun with a friend. I still had an Atari hanging around in the 90s and remember putting in stuff like Sky Diver to goof around with my neighbors to kill an afternoon.
really enjoyed playing both centipede and millipede on the 2600. the limited graphics were ok cause they played smoothly and felt like the real versions. pole position was pretty close to top tier as well.
I like this list. A lot of good pics. One I would add is Seaquest by Activision. I love that game. As a side note. If you like Combat, the game Armored Ambush is like a more "Realistic" version. It is just the tanks, but there is trees, roads, rivers, and they affect weapons fire differently. It is a lot of fun.
That was a fun game. Only one kid I knew had it, so we always had to go to their house to play it. Funny how games used to be difficult to get back then.
Dragster would make my list. It was a great two-player competitive game. It had serviceable graphics and sound. Its control scheme was excellent for the simple controller, and the simulation of engine torque vs. the mechanical advantage of each gear vs. track speed vs. overrev (blown engine) was simply brilliant, particularly on the primitive hardware. And it had a simple way to measure success and "best score." It was also the ONLY videogame my father ever played -- and he was excellent at it.
Growing up we only had Intellivision II and Colecovision, but it seems a lot of the games on these systems were also available on the Atari systems, so I guess I didn't miss much.
I would say Kaboom and River Raid were my two favorite Atari 2600 games growing up. I played Adventure, Amazing Spiderman, and Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) a lot, but wouldn't say they were the best on the console. Obviously the staples, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Pitfall, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Frogger, Jungle Hunt, and Millipede were always great.
2600 is the only retro system that I am firm on my top five titles. You mentioned all but one. Pitfall, River Raid, Frostbite, Adventure. The fifth is Phoenix, certainly one of the Space Invaders type games you mentioned with Demon Attack.
Stargate (Defender II) and No Escape! from Imagic are two of my all-time favorite 2600 titles that are often overlooked. I have a lot of nostalgia for the 2600. I agree with every title you've mentioned. I'd probably just add a small handful more.
I didn't see Gyrus or Atlantis. I prefer the NES version of Gyrus, though. But it's still different enough from most space sh**t*r games (had to censor it in case the algorithm punishes me for a naughty word).
The Atari 2600 was my first system I grew up with it. Man you're showing some games I know but couldn't remember the title. Like the fireman one, Cosmic Ark, the one in the Artic with the polar bear. Bro so many great ones! But what happened to Phoenix, Congo Bongo, Donkey Kong, Popeye and Mario Bros.? Other games I enjoyed but didn't finish were Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Sword Quest games and Krull(as infurating as it was). Also had the Xonox double enders they were O.K. And what about Mountain King? Those wild long jumps brought many laughs among my friends. Anyway good list and cool video John!👉🙂👈
It was not a surprise that most of these were by Activision. I had the same experience that you had with Vanguard,and similarly with Spy Hunter.Had quite a bit of fun with Smurfs,Pitfall,Yars Revenge,Berzerk,and some of the Imagic games.
HERO is probably mine, but I'm not super familiar with the Atari library. I was around during the Atari era, but didn't get into video games until we got our NES in 1987; I THINK I might've played the Buck Rogers (or was it Flash Gordon? I always get those two mixed up...) game somewhere around that time.
Someone actually remade Adventure, with 16 bits graphics, for windows. Pretty fun actually. EDIT: also, a very unknown game, but my very favorite from back in the day is Bobby Is Going Home.
H.E.R.O. was always the best, saving the bound and gagged miners trapped underground. You never found the villain responsible, though, just like in Pitfall.
Missle Command 2600 is the best version even without tracking. Best 2600 game in my opinion Breakout and night driver, 2 great paddle games. Wizard of wor, top 5 Atari games, better than Bezerk. Chopper Command best Atari shooter The original pacman, still my favorite. Asteroids better than arcades
Kaboom! was the original Tetris. I will never forget waking up early as a little kid (~4) and finding my mom at the Atari after pulling an all nighter on it! The one issue I have with it is it must be played with the paddle. So it was utterly impossible to play on those throw back compilation packs (looking at you PS1 disc!). I'd also add Star Master to the list. It was one of the later games released on the system and felt so much bigger and more advanced than all those classic arcade ports. It was also the only (?) Atari game we'd go back and play AFTER having the NES, because it just held up.
I would have also included Pitfall II, Stargate, Spider Fighter, Freeway, Atlantis, and Demons to Diamonds in that list, but otherwise lots of good ones noted.
Activision was actually a great company during the Atari 2600 era. Imagic also had great games but two 5 star games I'll offer are Montezuma's Revenge and my favorite game from then, Tunnel Runner
Great list. It's also amazing to me how good the VCS version of Jungle Hunt is - graphics and gameplay. Just about the only thing they missed was the uphill running on the boulder stage, but it's otherwise close to perfect. Loved it as a kid.
Pitfall II is the most obvious omission and I’m stupified it wasn’t included. You had in game music. Several different enemies. It was challenging too! There was one part I couldn’t get past, and had my dad help me before I took back over.
This guy doesn't know the 2600 but he finds fun pitfall has an ending. Adventure without mentioning the Easter egg. And kaboom being included along with combat both were 3 star at the time.
3 games that I loved for the Atari 2600 but cant remember the name of 1: You are a submarine collecting items from the sea floor 2: You are a diver. I don't remember the goal of this game, but it was good 😄 3: Sea Quest. This time you are a sub again, saving the divers... I start to see a pattern here 🤔
I know it was limited technology but man, still can't help but wish games like Jungle Hunt or Pheonix or any of those types of games were a little bit longer instead of just repeatable 2-3 levels.
Hadn't heard about the game where you plunder a dragon's hoard before. Are you able to turn invisible in that game, or is it just a glitch in the recording? Because if they invented a game that is just Bilbo stealing from Smaug but with the serial numbers filed off, that's a game right up my alley.
I acknowledge that Adventure is a historically important game, and a game that was ahead of its time, but for whatever reason, I just don't find it to be that fun to play.
Good list, but firefighter needs to be off and tapper added. Also " need me some" is cute if your a 16 year old valley girl. Noone over 20 needs to say that.
Pretty sure yars' revenge's random color rectangle thing is just a bug showing active memory as an image that was passed as part of the game because there was no time left to fix it.
