82 replies to this topic

[rimciv]

So I already have a Flashback 2+, some real 2600 sticks, and 2 sets of paddles. I'm hoping to acquire a real VCS and maybe 4-5 games very soon though, because I like having real hardware to play games on. Does anyone have some recommendations on games are that not too rare and fun? A good multiplayer aspect is important to me too, but that's secondary. I figure I'll try to pick up Combat and Warlords, but I need a few ideas for what else to get. Warlords just because it's my favorite on the FB2 and one of the best multiplayer games I've played, and Combat because it doesn't seem right to own a VCS and not have Combat.

[raskar42]

Berzerk

Edited by raskar42, Wed Sep 7, 2011 5:06 PM.

[Matthew]

My favourites are

1)DigDug
2)Jr Pacman
3)Ms Pacman
4)Hero
5)Adventure
6)Space Invaders
7)Defender 2
8)Asteroids
9)River Raid
10)River Raid 2

The great thing about collecting for the Atari 2600 is that the best and most popular games are common. Only a few dollars per cart.

[FujiSkunk]

What do you like to play?  Arcade games?  Adventure games?  Old sports games?

Of course you will want to sample the indisputable classics, like Adventure, Space Invaders, Yars' Revenge, Haunted House, Pitfall!, Kaboom, River Raid.

I tend to favor arcade games, and the 2600 had very good adaptations of Missile Command, Berzerk, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede, Dig Dug, Joust, Moon Patrol, Stargate, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Millipede and Jr. Pac-Man from Atari, and Frogger and Q*Bert from Parker Brothers.

Video Olympics includes Pong, the first popular arcade game, so it's good for a history lesson.  For other sports games, the "RealSports" series by Atari is decent, particularly RealSports Soccer and RealSports Volleyball.  Avoid RealSports Baseball unless you want to be frustrated by the game's complete inability to distinguish a ball from a strike.  If you simply must have a baseball fix, check out Home Run.  It's baseball only in the most abstract sense, but it's still fun to play.

Some arcade-like originals worth checking out are Demon Attack by Imagic, Turmoil by 20th Century, Robot Tank by Activision, and Astroblast by M-Network.

There were a lot of space dogfight "simulators."  Atari's Star Raiders is the best known.  Activision's Star Master is as good or better, depending on who you talk to.  Solaris was the sort-of sequel to Star Raiders, and arguably has the best graphics of any 2600 game, at least before homebrews came along.

Most of Atari's early releases are good for some quick simultaneous 2-player or 4-player competition.  Besides those already mentioned, you might like Air-Sea Battle, Outlaw, and possibly Street Racer.

None of these are all that rare, with Turmoil possibly being the hardest to find.  The Activision titles tend to go for more because of their enduring popularity and also because it's pretty hard to find labels in good condition, but otherwise you can get most or all of these without a significant investment.

Edited by FujiSkunk, Wed Sep 7, 2011 4:32 PM.

[pixelated]

Missile Command
Yars' Revenge
Frogger
Berzerk
The Empire Strikes Back
Keystone Kapers
Kaboom!
Centipede
Pitfall!
River Raid
Ms. Pac-Man
Warlords
Enduro

[snstay]

You could get a harmony and have all the games!!!!

[AlvinKarpis]

Pretty much any Activision game

Dragster, Enduro, Barnstorming, Stampede, River Raid to name a few

[Mxyzptlk]

Adventure, an absolute must have
Space Invaders
Secret Quest
Halloween, very spendy, but worth the money
Wizard of Wor
Pitfall
Dragster

[lanatrzczka]

Cosmic Ark is my all-time favorite. Get about three planets into the game and it's really intense! To me it's a must-have. Don't break your joystick, now...

[SlowCoder]

snstay, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 4:53 PM, said:

You could get a harmony and have all the games!!!!

This is an excellent recommendation.  Harmony allows you to have the whole library of 2600 games on one cart.  Then you can use it to try different games to see what you like.
Check it out here: http://www.randomter...-cartridge.html
and here: http://harmony.atariage.com

Once you have the Harmony, you can choose whether or not to collect the actual cartridges.

Edited by SlowCoder, Wed Sep 7, 2011 5:57 PM.

[Austin]

I hear Air Raid is pretty cool.

[2600dude]

If it's multiplayer your looking for, Warlords is the best.  But for the others it all depends.

Some of my favorites are :

-Haunted House

-Yars Revenge

-Outlaw

-Any Activision game

-Air-Sea Battle

-Breakout/Super Breakout

-Demons to Diamonds

-Dodge 'Em

-Midnight Magic

-Night Driver

-Raiders of the Lost Ark

-Bowling

and that's just the tip of the iceburg.  The Atari 2600 also has a great selection of classic arcade conversions

Some of my favorites are :

-Berzerk

-Centipede

-Crystal Castles

-Dig Dug

-Donkey Kong Junior

-Missile Command

-Space Invaders

-Pole Position

-Ms. Pac-Man

-Moon Patrol

Anyway I'm sure once your out hunting you'll find a ton of games to enjoy.

[SlowCoder]

Austin, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 6:32 PM, said:

I hear Air Raid is pretty cool.

Unless you're a rich man, or VERY lucky, you can forget that.

[littleman jack]

I'd start with Adventure, Berzerk, Yar's Revenge, Enduro, Cosmic Ark, Ms. Pac-Man, and Phoenix.
Then go for genres like post #4 stated.

There are a ton of good games in each genre. My favorite is the arcade genre(Centipede, Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Berzerk, Ms. Pac-Man, Phoenix, Galaxian, Solar Fox, Crystal Castles, etc.). But there are a lot of other good ones as well. In the adventure genre, there's Adventure, Montezuma's Revenge, H.E.R.O., Pifall and Pitfall II, Venture. There are a bunch of good driving games like Bump n Jump, Spy Hunter, Enduro, Night Driver, Pole Position. There are a bunch of great space games like Solaris, Star Master, Star Fire, Star Wars Arcade. And there are so many great shooter games like Chopper Command, Spider Fighter, Space Invaders, Defender II/Stargate. And there are a ton of great new homebrew games available in the store here on Atari Age. So many games, so little time.

[BadHornet]

Red Sea Crossing

[AlvinKarpis]

Austin, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 6:32 PM, said:

I hear Air Raid is pretty cool.

[littleman jack]

Seaquest, Joust, and Frogger are also great titles, and much cheaper than Air Raid.

EDIT-added Joust

[cobracon]

Pitfall
Adventure
Kaboom
Enduro

All great games!

[BigErn]

There are so many great suggestions already posted.  I really like Paddle games, and I agree that the arcade conversions are some of the most fun games you can find on the 2600.  They also cost very little, and most have the classic Atari graphics and sound effects that make them so memorable.  Most of the common carts from Activision are really fun too.  It's tough to just pick about 5 titles, but you really can't go wrong with a bunch of arcade classics and Activision games.  Some really fun games to choose from are:

Asteroids
Berzerk
Centipede
Cosmic Ark
Defender
Dig Dug
Gravitar
Missile Command
Moon Patrol
Ms. Pac Man
River Raid
Solar Fox
Space Invaders
Super Breakout
Yar's Revenge

[2600Lives]

My personal list.

Adventure - Absolute must have. One of the all time greats. Adventure Plus is an EXCELLENT homebrew that adds even more fun and challenge.
Yar's Revenge - Possibly the best game ever made for the system. Seriously.
Berzerk - Very like the arcade. There's even a homebrewed version with voice samples!
River Raid - Classic in every way, and very, very hard.
Pitfall 1 and 2 - Both are essential to any 2600 collection.
Solaris - If for no other reason than it's easy to acquire and shows off the capabilities of the system.
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Find the instructions online first. This games shows just how deep and complex a 2600 game could be. Some love it, some hate it. I personally love it now that I know how to actually PLAY it, since I never had the manual as a kid.
Dig Dug - Excellent port. Lots of fun.
Star Raiders - Make SURE you get it complete, though, with the add-on controller and overlay. Otherwise, you won't be able to play it. It's excellent, though, and again, a good showcase for the system's capabilities.
Haunted House - Once you figure out how to play, it's like an early prototype of the Survival Horror genre. Plus it's fun!
Stampede - Classic arcade style game.
Robot Tank - This one will absolutely blow your mind. It's superior to Battlezone, and is VERY complex for it's time.
Megamania - My personal favorite "Space Invaders" styled game for the system. I spent HOURS playing this as a kid.
Jungle Hunt - Very good port of the arcade Jungle King game. Love this one.

That's pretty much my short list of the must haves. Once you get into actually collecting, you'll find all sorts of crazy stuff, from the Supercharger, to the porn games, to some of the hardest to find and most expensive games in the whole of gaming. Have fun!

[rimciv]

Wow, so many great recommendations...Thanks everyone!

My list at the moment looks like this:

Combat
Warlords
Berzerk - this just looks fun
Adventure - another of my favorites from the FB2 and as everyone pointed out its a classic
Yar's Revenge - another one that most people recommended
Cosmic Ark - this has what looks to be a good multiplayer aspect as well as solid singleplayer gameplay


I do like the idea of the harmony cart so that may be next...

[Brian O]

You may want to try some of the homebrew games as well. Some of them are really good.

Here's a few of my favorites:

- Allia Quest
- Bee Ball
- Colony 7
- Conquest of Mars
- Juno First
- Lady Bug
- Lead
- Man Goes Down (even though it's unfinished)
- Medieval Mayhem
- Thrust
- Toyshop Trouble

And definitely download Nukey Shay's version of Pac-Man!

Check out the AtariAge store for more: http://atariage.com/...oduct_list&c=24

-B

[kroogur]

there have been many good solid choices mentioned already     but there is one i haven't seen.
  

E.T. The extra terrestrial  yes... i'm serious. You will likely fall into one of two categories with this game: Like the game for what it is, an understated action/adventure/puzzle game. Or hate the game because of the possibly skewed perception that the game is somehow bad because of what reviewers and such say. Either way it's a cheap and easy conversation piece to own.

[Atarian7]

Kaboom! is addictive especially after you learn how to play the top levels 7 and 8.
When I started playing it took me 2 or 3 days to get to 10,000.  Now I'm working on getting to 999,999.

[Chris++]

Adventure
E.T. (read the manual)
Joust
Berzerk
Jr. Pac-Man
Yars' Revenge
H.E.R.O.
Seaquest
Frostbite
River Raid II
Tutankham
Montezuma's Revenge
Venture
Flash Gordon
Fantastic Voyage
Marauder
Wolfenstein 2600 (and definitely take a look at the other homebrews -- there are some amazing games available at very reasonable prices)

Those are the essentials, in my opinion. The list should be informed by the fact that the games I prefer either offer the freedom to explore (I left out Raiders of the Lost Ark and Riddle of the Sphinx, as they're only among the best if you share my tastes), or change a lot and feature a few twists. I don't really like the "shoot the same things over and over while avoiding a bunch of dots flying around the screen" sort of game.

Edited by Chris++, Thu Sep 8, 2011 11:57 AM.