21 replies to this topic

[2600dude]

I want to start buying some homebrew games to add to my collection.  Any recommendations?

[Nateo]

Well, what are you in the mood for? Arcade Shooter, I'd say Juno First; Star Fire is also very good. For an adventure game, probably Evil Magician Returns or Dungeon. Wolfenstein VCS is an incredible hack of Venture. At last look in the store, there was something like homebrew games in the Atari Age store, so you definitely have a lot of options! And new games keep coming all the time!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Go to the store and the 2600 homebrews. Then sort by most popular. This should give you a first indication.

[AtariBrian]

Lead , Toyshop Trouble, Conquest of Mars, Falldown,

[PFL]

Personal recommendations would be Juno First, Missile Command TB (which I've yet to buy myself!), Ladybug, Space Invaders Deluxe, Galaxian Arcade...

[Kurt_Woloch]

My favorites so far are: Toyshop Trouble, Pacman 4K, Omicron, Squish 'em, Colony 7. Don't know if all of them are currently available for purchase though...

[Amstari]

Fall Down is a great game, simple but addictive, and even better with 2 players.

Boulder Dash is still available. There is a pre-order topic for Halo 2600.

As well as the Atari Age store check the "Marketplace" in the forum for more homebrews.

[Random Terrain]

You could hop over to this thread and buy this guy's copy of Seaweed Assault:

http://www.atariage....-save-mary-cib/

[It has been sold. Unless somebody else sells their copy, you'll have to play it using a Harmony cart.]

[Nathan Strum]

I've reviewed most of them in my blog, and arranged them by score.

Can't go wrong with these as a starting point:

• Fall Down
  
• Juno First
  
• Lady Bug
  
• Medieval Mayhem
  
• Strat-O-Gems Deluxe

But there are many other excellent ones besides, and more on the way.

[Zach]

You can watch videos of homebrews on YouTube as well. Atariage has an official channel.

[davyK]

Thrust and Medieval Mayhem get the vote from me.....

[Cafeman]

There's plenty of awesome 2600 homebrews that are lots of fun!  I need to take time and browse the store and pick some more up one of these days.

3 recommendations from me:

1. Lady Bug - this is one of those games that would have blown me away had it been made back in the day. It's a slightly simplified but spot-on conversion of the coin-op. even the bonus round and music and various nuances all made it into this port. Graphically it is beautiful.

2.  Qb - it takes several plays to understand this early homebrew, I think. I don't know why it is named "Qb", but I take it as an allusion to Q*bert because of the similar jumping from block to block. The game is fast! Trying to avoid or destroy enemies and quickly create each screen's goal pattern is addictive fun.

3. Skeleton+  -- first-person maze adventure. Each step the skeleton takes makes an ever-loudening buzz/beep sound. There's no 3D maze scrolling (of course!) but each chunk of the corridor simply moves to its new position as you rotate or walk forward  - but it doesn't take long to visually adjust to it and get into the skeleton huntin' mood.

[trent]

Thrust. Lead. Stay Frosty.

[littleman jack]

Qb, Seawolf, Oystron, Wolfenstein VCS (a hack that's more like a homebrew), Reindeer Rescue, Hunchy II, FlapPing, and Seaweed Assault are currently my favorites.

[Andrew Davie]

Boulder Dash.  Qb.
Lol... totally unbiased recommendations!

BTW, Qb was originally (Atari 400/800) played on cubes.  Cube-y... Qb...
I'm really pleased a few people remember it.  It's a very relaxing game... It has absolutely nothing to do with Q*bert.
Cheers
A

[Nathan Strum]

But you can't buy Qb anymore, can you? Other than tracking down used copies...

[Andrew Davie]

Nathan Strum, on Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:15 AM, said:

But you can't buy Qb anymore, can you? Other than tracking down used copies...

Well that's up to Al.  I gave him permission ages ago to recommence sales.
I guess he hasn't gotten around to announcing it.
Cheers
A

[Cafeman]

Andrew Davie, on Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:49 PM, said:

BTW, Qb was originally (Atari 400/800) played on cubes.  Cube-y... Qb...
I'm really pleased a few people remember it.  It's a very relaxing game... It has absolutely nothing to do with Q*bert.
Cheers
A

It seems likely that "Q*bert" was also named based on the fact it is also "cube-y",  but in a different way (gameplay is different).   A coincidence where 2 people had a similar-sounding idea. Well still, nice game that I always play when I hook up the 2600 or 7800.

[ianoid]

Some of my favorites:
Allia Quest  -  could be Megamania II, pretty awesome. Screen moves, you don't.

2003 1k minigame compilation with Cave 1k and Splatform - two awesome quick games to challenge friends with your high scores. I ALWAYS bust out this cartridge when people come by to play classic games.

Sound Paddle - fun to play with sound!

Medieval Mayhem - updated Warlords, although the original is just as fun, this is a nice variant.

[ls650]

Ladybug, Gunfight, Seawolf, Juno First.... there are some really great releases available here at AA!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

ianoid, on Fri May 4, 2012 10:35 PM, said:

2003 1k minigame compilation with Cave 1k and Splatform

= SWOOPS!

[Liduario]

I would recommend all of them! Before I knew there were homebrews beeing released I was more than satisfied with emulators.

Now, I bought a console to play Boulder Dash! And I'm going to start somekind of a collection (just homebrews allowed)
Not only to support this huge work, but also to enjoy this incredible still alive system!

I really thanks every homebrew developer. I wish I could be one someday (dreams)...