The 20 Greatest Atari 7800 Games of All-Time 

The 7800 is one of my favourite consoles. The versions of Centipede, Asteroids, Galaga and Pole Position II are all great. The fact that the 7800 is compatible with 2600 cartridges is a big bonus as well. Still playing it today via my original console, the 2600+ and the GameStation Pro. In fact it's probably the console I play the most on.

Lack of a pokey on the console is an incredible blunder.

I'm always interested in videos about the 7800, because it's a system I know very little about. People keep forgetting it even existed

Full Atari 7800 Top 50 List: 50 - Sirius 49 - Planet Smashers 48 - Klax 47 - Baby Pac-Man 46 - Meltdown 45 - Touchdown Football 44 - Dungeon Stalker 43 - Title Match Pro Wrestling 42 - Motor Psycho 41 - Fatal Run 40 - Basketbrawl 39 - One-On-One Basketball 38 - Crossbow 37 - Rikki & Vikki 36 - Donkey Kong Jr. 35 - Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest 34 - Double Dragon 33 - Donkey Kong 32 - Choplifter 31 - Tomcat F14 Flight Simulator 30 - Popeye 29 - Scramble 28 - Time Salvo 27 - Kung Fu Master 26 - Scrapyard Dog 25 - Frenzy 24 - Dig Dug 23 - Tower Toppler 22 - Ikari Warriors 21 - Pac-Man Collection 20 - Alien Brigade 19 - Rampage 18 - Xenophobe 17 - Mario Bros. 16 - Desert Falcon 15 - Impossible Mission 14 - Dark Chamber 13 - Ballblazer 12 - Midnight Mutants 11 - Commando 10 - Centipede 9 - Asteroids 8 - Pole Position II 7 - Ms. Pac-Man 6 - Galaga 5 - Ninja Golf 4 - Joust 3 - Xevious 2 - Robotron 2084 1 - Food Fight

Great video, Laird! I’m somewhat surprised that 7800 Asteroids and Xevious didn’t place higher in the ratings. Those are MY killer apps, and Asteroids specifically sold me on the system. “Back in the day”, I didn’t own a 7800. I was on to the Atari 800 and 800XL at that point. But I played a 7800 with Asteroids at a Retrogaming show and was hooked. It’s a shame that some of the best carts (Alien Brigade, Midnight Mutants) are almost unobtanium in 2024. The 7800 was, and remains, a great system. Especially for those of us who aren’t fans of the NES.

I had an Atari 7800 i bought from ebay and resold it there. Loved playing Asteroids, Centipede and Ms.Pacman on it. I had matmania and never ever played it. Nice video laird. Brought back some nostalgia. thanks.

My first gaming console was the 7800. I loved it. I loved the backwards compatibility with the 2600 titles and I managed to have a cool library of games. I inevitably got an NES for Xmas of '89, but the 3 years I had the 7800, man those were golden days. Priceless memories.

He ain't wrong...best home version of Joust that exists. NOT the same as the arcade, it actually has MUCH better physics and control. However as a serious 7800 fan...I can't say I have ever understood the LOVE for Food Fight. It's fine. Just fine. But the best game? I see a lot of people say it, but simply can't agree. Also, if you want to dip into the amazing 7800 homebrew scene....buy any game by Bob DeCrescenzo. They are all pretty great.

Everyone in the retro scene makes me proud to know that all over the world people use my homemade Retro Woodgrain TV Overlay! I made this 15 years ago... when I couldn't find one on the internet back in the day!

Appreciate an actual ranking based on collected data. I get a little bored of the 'no particular order' and 'just my opinion' lists. Man im happy to see this channel still going strong!

7800 is my favorite console of all time. Underrated but also under utilized from a software perspective. I loved the controlers at the time (coming from the 2600 controllers)

The 7800 having the same audio hardware as the 2600 was a major blunder. The chip was fine for the late 70's, but not for a console going up against the NES and Master System. Music from that era is so iconic, giving us the likes of Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Castlevania, and more. Any of those games without their music just wouldn't be the same. Requiring developers to put special hardware on the cart for music meant the carts would cost more, and thus very few developers opted to do it.

I'm slightly amused that, of my small collection of 7800 games, all but Dig Dug made the top 20. 5 out of 6 isn't bad. I ironically voted only for one title in my collection toward the top 20, proving I have a wide gap in my collection to fill.

So glad to have pre-ordered Food Fight 7800 (I have the 2600+) on Amazon the new physical version, never played that game.

Fancy keeping the same sound chip as the VCS. Nuts.

never got the retrograde step in audio on this machine, the 5200 had way better sound but they went back to the TIA with this? what were they thinking...

Pole Position II for me.

Thanks! I got a Flashback 7800 Mini a couple of years ago and was disappointed to find that a lot of the games were 2600 games. I was hoping to find graphics superior to what I had on my old Atari 8-bit computers. I found I liked Centipede and Millipede the best on that unit. Last week I got my Atari computers and other stuff back from my sister after my brother-in-law took them all after I moved to California thirty years ago. Along with that stuff I also salvaged a 7800 with joysticks and a dozen or so cartridges. After I saw that the 7800 was designed to also use 2600 cartridges I understood the inclusion of 2600 games on the Mini. Unfortunately I didn't find the power adapter for it and I'll have to look again at the cartridges. A Lot of the titles you mentioned sound familiar. Asteroids and Joust look like what I was expecting as they are clearly superior to the versions I have on my Atari 8-bit computers. I'm still not into Food Fight, but that does seem to be all the rage these days.

If only this console hadn't had C64-level pixels as large as cats, it might have been able to compete. It looks like playing a CPC but fast.

My First System, Still Have it.

Thanks!

7800 Donkey Kong & DKJr are both great. Probably the games ive enjoyed most on the system. 7800 Asteroids is good, the pacman titles too. Had fun with those for RetroAchievements. Food Fight. Arghhhh Food Fight. On RA theres an achievement to complete level 50 without throwing food. I took it as complete 1 - 50 without throwing food. Some of the levels were nearly impossible and took forever and really lucky attempts (using savestates) - finally get to 50 and its easy to do without throwing food. Go to RA to complain and realise it meant 50 only 😂 i was fuming 😂 This video very much explains why the system failed, unfortunately. Im absolutely stunned the DK titles are not on this list 😮😮😮 7800 DK is one of the best ports. Wow.

About NInja Golf: some voices say that it was created due to the disappointment that "Lee Trevino's FIGHTING Golf" made on all kids during the eighties! 🤣 If it's true, that was the best choiuce ever for a videogame! 😁 The 7800 has a certain appeal today: the fact it was marketed "downpowered" in the audio department makes it as a weird, upgraded version of 2600! When I was a kid I had a 2600 but the 7800 always had also some charm on me. Some games are not that great (I've always disliked Planet Smashers, a lot) but some other ones turned out to be really great, like Commando which was better than the NES counterpart, Dark Chambers, Midnight Mutants, Centipede, Asteroids, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Ms.Pac-Man (another effort better than the NES one), Ninja Golf, Xevious, Robotron 2084, Food Fight (one of the most addicting games ever made) or the amazing Ballblazer.

I only had a 2600 from about 83 to 87 and don't feel I missed much with rhe 5200 and 7800. NES was next followed by a 386 pc and then a Genesis, PSX, and thats about as far as I go. Own. PS2 and a see event game collection but only played DQ8.

Very surprised not to see Ikari Warriors, Dig Dug and Donkey Kong in the top 20!

Days without mentioning Xevious: 0 Sorry! Wrong channel! 😆 God this makes me wish I still had my 7800. Had a few of these. Though the one I always wanted, and even without having a systems still want, is Midnight Mutants. But my God that is an expensive game!

My Top 5 ⬇ 1. Rikki & Vikki 2. Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest 3. Impossible Mission (PAL edition) 4. E.X.O. 5. A.R.T.I. Next 20 (Top 25 Overall): HONORABLE MENTIONS: Attack of the PETSCII Robots, 1942, Commando, Ballblazer, Alien Brigade, Popeye, Joust, Xevious, Robotron 2084, Ninja Golf, Centipede, Donkey Kong PK, One-on-One Basketball, Pac-Man Collection, Ikari Warriors, Food Fight, Plutos, Asteroids, Midnight Mutants, Mario Bros. *** What the 7800’s original library did best was classic arcade ports done right like Asteroids, Joust, Xevious, Centipede, Food Fight, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Robotron 2084, etc). It’s collection of “second wave” arcade ports unfortunately was what got compared to the NES and Master System library, mostly unfavorably (Double Dragon, Ikari Warriors, Rampage, Kung Fu Master, etc), though we’re a few notable exceptions that held their own (Commando, Xenophobe, Alien Brigade aka Operation Wolf). Then there were the computer ports, which were widely varying in quality from great (Ballblazer, Impossible Mission [PAL version], One-on-One Basketball) to good/decent (Summer/Winter Games, Tower Toppler, Choplifter, Hat Trick, Mean 18, Pete Rose Baseball), to outright bad or broken (Karateka, Fight Night, Jinks). Finally, there are the 7800 Originals, and that’s where the unique personality of the 7800 begins. (Midnight Mutants, Ninja Golf, Basketbrawl, Desert Falcon, Dark Chambers, Fatal Run, Motor Psycho, Scrapyard Dog). The rest of the library was mostly middling to bad light gun games or bad flight sim games. BUT THEN came what are, imo, some of the very best games on the system and continue to complete the true personality of the ProSystem - The Homebrews! Originals like Rikki & Vikki, Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest, E.X.O., A.R.T.I., Knight Guy: Castle Days, and then incredible arcade ports like Popeye, 1942, Pac-Man Collection, B*nq (Q-Bert), Froggie (Frogger), Beef Drop (Burger Time), Donkey Kong PK, Moon Cresta, Arkanoid, Keystone Koppers (Kapers), Space Invaders, Galaxian, etc. There are a LOT of great games on the 7800, and the homebrew continue to add to it’s legacy.

Asteroids highlights my biggest problem with this system. If you close your eyes, it is almost indistinguishable from its 2600 brother. Open your eyes and it’s only a slight visual upgrade. Cheaping out on that sound chip was a real mistake.

For a moment there I was thinking Food Fight didn't make the cut and it ended up being number 1 haha

Three of my picks made the list. I'd thought about Commando too, but I'd went with Ikari Warriors instead. It has a bit more variety of scenery and drivable tanks.😁Both are decent ports and great games for the system.

Food Fight is the epitome of game crash games. I saw it once in a chuck e cheese clone pizza place and never saw it again

Very cool thanks 🧡🙏🏼

IMO, the 7800 port is the best port of Asteroids.

I still have a 7200 and a bunch of carts but it wont work with modern TV's as the PAL RF out is crap. Nice system.

It still blows my mind that they didn't put a POKEY in the 7800.

My very first console (that I regretted enough asking for I got an NES the following Christmas) 😅 I’ve always had a soft spot for as flawed as this machine is. It might have had a chance if it came out in 84 as intended and included the pokey chip. The latter choice just crippled It, and left the system feeling far less capable than it was It has the superior version of Ballblazer if nothing else

I’m surprised Toobin’ and Smash TV weren’t released on the 7800

I had an atari 400, but not the 7800. Ball blazer was great. So was archon.

I would argue that Centipede on the 5200 (with arcade perfect sound) is better than the 7800 version. I think Donkey Kong was better too. A bunch of others are.... close.

Love the commercials 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

I had impossible mission for 8088 pc - it was very hard

The 7800 is a fun console and being backwards compatible was a great move, but not having the Pokey chip in the console to cut costs was a pretty bad move. I had Mario Bros as a kid and while it honestly played better than the NES version it sounds heinous lol sticking with the same sound chip as the 2600 led to some awful sounding games more often than not.

Food Fight and Dark Chambers are my favourites on this system. Not a fan of Xevious either.

Am surprised donkeykong didn’t hit the top 20 list bit mariobros from that top 20 list is definitely my favorite game for it😁👍

Yay im in another video! ❤

By the time this system came out, the NES had changed games from being point based to goal based. This type of gaming was no longer interesting to most people.

You'd probably see more homebrews getting placed if the roms were sold and people actually had a chance to play them...

What is the digital lady saying in the intro? "Welcome gun runner"??

Love Rampage!

Thought commando would of been near the top. The version you are playing is missing the music. obviously not being played on an atari 7800 console. Certainly not how i would rank my top 20

the writing over the game play then only showing a few seconds of game play clear ruined it for me mate

Its such a shame Atari never realised 2600 games with enhanced graphics wasnt going to be sufficient. 😢 Not having games with characters and world building in the early days that established their IP stable doomed Atari, as it meant games had nowhere to go but remakes of the original simple arcade games. Donkey Kong, with character and an obvious world beyond the game allowed games to be created that were not just DK arcade with better graphics every gen until the company went bankrupt.

As a 7800 fan i have to say Ninja Golf is a fairly bad game. It seems to get lots of attention due to obscurity but in reality it's very overrated.

I feel sorry for kids in the 80's who had to play this crap..only if we could send an ps5 or Xbox series X back in time..

4 minutes of bs before any real content.

My Top 5 ⬇ 1. Rikki & Vikki 2. Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest 3. Impossible Mission (PAL edition) 4. E.X.O. 5. A.R.T.I. Next 20 (Top 25 Overall): HONORABLE MENTIONS: Attack of the PETSCII Robots, 1942, Commando, Ballblazer, Alien Brigade, Popeye, Joust, Xevious, Robotron 2084, Ninja Golf, Centipede, Donkey Kong PK, One-on-One Basketball, Pac-Man Collection, Ikari Warriors, Food Fight, Plutos, Asteroids, Midnight Mutants, Mario Bros. *** What the 7800’s original library did best was classic arcade ports done right like Asteroids, Joust, Xevious, Centipede, Food Fight, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Robotron 2084, etc). It’s collection of “second wave” arcade ports unfortunately was what got compared to the NES and Master System library, mostly unfavorably (Double Dragon, Ikari Warriors, Rampage, Kung Fu Master, etc), though we’re a few notable exceptions that held their own (Commando, Xenophobe, Alien Brigade aka Operation Wolf). Then there were the computer ports, which were widely varying in quality from great (Ballblazer, Impossible Mission [PAL version], One-on-One Basketball) to good/decent (Summer/Winter Games, Tower Toppler, Choplifter, Hat Trick, Mean 18, Pete Rose Baseball), to outright bad or broken (Karateka, Fight Night, Jinks). Finally, there are the 7800 Originals, and that’s where the unique personality of the 7800 begins. (Midnight Mutants, Ninja Golf, Basketbrawl, Desert Falcon, Dark Chambers, Fatal Run, Motor Psycho, Scrapyard Dog). The rest of the library was mostly middling to bad light gun games or bad flight sim games. BUT THEN came what are, imo, some of the very best games on the system and continue to complete the true personality of the ProSystem - The Homebrews! Originals like Rikki & Vikki, Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest, E.X.O., A.R.T.I., Knight Guy: Castle Days, and then incredible arcade ports like Popeye, 1942, Pac-Man Collection, B*nq (Q-Bert), Froggie (Frogger), Beef Drop (Burger Time), Donkey Kong PK, Moon Cresta, Arkanoid, Keystone Koppers (Kapers), Space Invaders, Galaxian, etc. There are a LOT of great games on the 7800, and the homebrew continue to add to it’s legacy.