22 replies to this topic

[trent]

Subject says it all - which 2600 title has the best attract mode?

[Rex Dart]

Reactor makes fart sounds.

[thegoldenband]

Man Goes Down is pretty nice IIRC, though it blurs the line between "fancy title screen" and "attract mode" -- I don't recall whether it actually features any gameplay.

[Philflound]

Indiana Jones on a pedestal with the Raiders music playing is pretty cool.

[Trinity]

Ms Pac Man is cool.

[Joe Musashi]

Centipede has a very impressive title.

[GideonsDad]

Journey Escape has a pretty cool opening.

[thegoldenband]

GideonsDad, on Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:26 PM, said:

Journey Escape has a pretty cool opening.

On the Data Age tip, so does Airlock.

[retrorussell]

Yars Revenge is amusingly odd: the screen color pattern changes at times to absolutely putrid hues, and your ship simply moves up and down for no reason, as the enemy ship fires a shot that goes through its shield and the wall and nails you.  Weird.

[Matthew]

hero

[Lord Helmet]

Most of the silver label era Atari games have pretty cool attract screens. Ms. Pac-Man, Joust, Battlezone, Dig-Dug, Centipede...to name a few.

As far as homebrews go...I gotta go with Star Fire simply for the great music.

Edited by Lord Helmet, Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:16 PM.

[littleman jack]

Desert Falcon!

[Lentzquest]

Galaxian will get your attention, may even cause a seizure or two.

[godzillajoe]

So, stupid question that has probably been asked before, if the attract screen for Centipede could look like that, why didn't the game?

[Nathan Strum]

Because the title screen is carefully crafted to look like that. In a real game, there would be too many objects to pull off that look without massive amounts of flicker.

In the title screen (below) the yellow mushrooms are all Player1. The Centipede is all Player0. There are never more than three mushrooms (equally spaced) on a horizontal line.

[bomberpunk]

Vanguard. it shows vertical and horizontal stages IIRC.

[Rom Hunter]

H.E.R.O.

Very well made.

[wolfpaw1966]

Trinity, on Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:06 PM, said:

Ms Pac Man is cool.

I'd have to second that. My vote is for Ms. Pacman.

[Liduario]

Boulder Dash is great in the attract mode too!

[NE146]

Lord Helmet, on Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:15 PM, said:

Most of the silver label era Atari games have pretty cool attract screens. Ms. Pac-Man, Joust, Battlezone, Dig-Dug, Centipede...to name a few

Agreed. When those arcade versions started coming out that were actually decent it really gave you a feeling back in the day that quality was stepping up.

And I'll put in another vote for Ms. Pacman. It was really the FIRST game that looked to me like it was trying to emulate an arcade attract screen. If anyone can think of an earlier one let me know.

[littleman jack]

Solar Fox is also very arcade like, and early 80s.

[Official Ninja]

Jr. Pac-man

[Gorfy]

Skeet Shoot