Jump to content
IGNORED

Favorite/Top 2600 Arcade Ports


Ataricade

Recommended Posts

Hello, I am a new member at Atariage despite my frequently viewing the site

 

I would like to know other's opinions on which arcade ports are best so that I have an idea of what to purchase in the future

 

In terms of best, accuracy does not bother me too much- as long as the game is enjoyable

 

After searching online a bit, I have become interested in the following games:

 

Battlezone

Gravitar

Phoenix

Ms. Pac-Man

Crystal Castles

Joust

and of course many more =)

 

 

I own a few common ones such as Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Missile Command, and Popeye- its only that I hope to expand my library with my favorite genre of games; Arcade =D

 

I would love to hear any comments, recommendations, or any other feedback

 

Thanks in advance

Edited by Ataricade
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to Atari Age.

 

I'll make a few comments on the games in you list first, then get onto my thoughts on some other conversions, there are a lot!

 

Battlezone: Really nice game, the solid graphics work well and the scrolling landscape looks nice on the NTSC version, sadly the pal version doesn't have this just a solid ground colour.

 

Gravitar: I don't like this game at all. Ugly graphics, finnicky awkward controls and not much fun to be had. Never played the arcade game but I belive it didn't set the world on fire at release either.

 

Phoenix : Great graphics, smooth fast movement and animation. Lot of fun. The Atari did well with the "Death from above" type games for the most part.

 

Ms. Pac Man : The best Pac game until the more recent hacks/homebrews. Very playable, less ghost flicker than the original Pac Man & without the guided missile ghosts from Jnr Pac. I still play this game alot.

 

Crystal Castles : Looses most of it's appeal from the arcade with the beautiful hi-res graphics and trac ball being missing. Not one of my favourites.

 

Joust: Solid conversion, controls well and looks ok.

 

On to some others then!

 

Space Invaders : Better than the arcade, the invaders have a ton of personality and the variations make the game, two player simultaneous, invisible invaders, moving bases etc. The first killer app on the Atari.

 

Galaxian: Solid conversion much like Phoenix, again lovely graphics and smooth animation. Does have a bit of flicker but not enough to really impact the game. It's a good-un!

 

Centipede : Well worth a play, one of my favourites. The title screen still looks great too. OK the mushrooms are just bricks and the centipede flickers like a dying neon light but it keeps all the game elements and remains a playable, fun game.

 

Defender : This game has taken some real stick over the years. Well I'll come out now and say I really enjoy it. The complex arcade controls were sensibly and creatively made to work on the 1 button joystick(dropping behind the city for smart bomb) & the gut wrenching difficultly of the arcade is absent. I can actually play this game whereas I failed miserably on the arcade back in the day. You can become invincible by a programing quirk , the ship disapears when you fire and doesn't register collisions, so hammering the fire button means you never die. However just because you can doesn't mean you should or have to. Resist the temptation and the game is fun.

 

Kangaroo : I have never played the arcade game, but in screen shots it looks lovely, the Atari version does not! However I do enjoy this game. Strange because I don't like DK or other similar games on the whole. I will say though, the game is hard. Some jumps are a bl@@y nightmare.

 

Super Cobra : the sequel to Scramble with a helicopter. I love the hilarious scenario on this one. The graphics and scrolling are arse. But it plays well enough and I enjoyed the challenge. Good few hours play for the £1 i paid for the cart.

 

I only have a very small collection these days, so these are taken from what I have and played over the l;ast few months or so. I'm sure lots of others will have plenty to say. I really have only scratched the surface here. he Atari has soooo many Arcade conversions.

 

Anyhow, have fun everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To each his own, but crystal castles is one of my top 5 games for the Atari 2600. Joust is a poor conversion, poor collision detection ruins this game. Battlezone never really feels 3D to me in the Atari version, not a bad game, but just not very fun to play. You basically spin in circles trying to get the blips on the radar. Phoenix is very fun to play, but of course, not as detailed or fun as the arcade version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it :)

 

Super Cobra seems impressive, its only that there isn't much action? Enemies don't appear to fire at the helicopter or fly towards it- regardless, the terrain has me wondering how great Stargate would have been had the implemented a more 'rugged'/random terrain like the arcade- not that its' a poor game by any means

 

and as for crystal castles, it seems to be a game enjoyed by some but not others- honestly I think that with a trackball (regardless of whether there is true trackball support) crystal castles may be an enjoyable game to play on an afternoon

 

Oh and thanks for the great post BSA Starfire, I now have a clearer approach of which games to get

Edited by Ataricade
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crystal Castles, Berzerk, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Phoenix, Centipede and Space Invaders are some of my favorite 2600 arcade ports. There are more faithful ports of each out there for other systems, but many times 2600 ports are the most playable to me. In particular, Dig-Dug and Berzerk are excellent on the system, IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It may help to have a comprehensive list of arcade titles.. there's older threads with lists e.g. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/23336-arcade-titles-on-atari-2600/?do=findComment&comment=256430 however that list from 2003 has since grown with the various homebrews since then (e.g. Ladybug, Crazy Balloon, Star Fire, etc.). Maybe someone more able than me can come up with a good current list. :P

Edited by NE146
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally thought Pole Position was good. Despite the lack of colors and roadside obstacles, it still worked very well for an Atari 2600 title. The gameplay speed was actually faster than I expected (in fact, the fact it went faster than Enduro really got me at first,) and the overall challenge and gameplay was replicated well. Amazing for only an 8k game.

 

Other favorites include Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids, Kung-Fu Master, Commando, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, and Galaxian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always loved Battlezone, and even though there may not be as much of a sense of depth in the 2600 version, it's still to this day impressive how well it turned out. One of my favorite arcade and 2600 games... and anyone who hasn't played the Xbox 360 revamp needs to.

 

I'll second the others listed and I'd like to add a special mention to Missile Command. The 3 button control scheme was always frustrating for me, so I find the 2600 version a lot more playable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Battlezone is pretty technically impressive for a 2600 game IMO. Most 2600 games that really dazzle me are homebrews from 2000+ so Battlezone is the real deal.

 

Asteroids - but they practically give that baby away so if you have a 2600, you probably have like 5 copies of it already lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say reactor would be on this list, even though never played the arade but this has to be one of the best arcade ports for the 2600

and frogger (the starpath version)

 

Totally agreed. I did play the arcade Reactor via MAME and the 2600 version stacks up well. You never can turn off the energy shield, but that's OK. For an even better experience, set the difficulty to A and use an actual track ball. :thumbsup:

Starpath easily has the best home port of Frogger on any system, bar none.

 

Asteroids holds up well, too, but it's a tad too easy on default settings. Space Invaders is madly addictive and dirt common, so it should be in everybody's collection.

Edited by shadow460
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My opinions..

 

Best arcade conversion: Berzerk. I actually enjoy it more than the arcade version. I highly recommend the version that adds voice (Berzerk VE, under hacks in the Atari Age store), which is the only thing I felt was missing. You have to play on game 3, though, or it just isn't the real thing. I never get bored with this game.

 

Best homebrew arcade conversion: Lady Bug. Incredibly fun.

 

Most under-rated: Defender. This does not have the beauty or complexity of the arcade game, so it is easy to dismiss at first, but it is damn fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Berzerk. I actually enjoy it more than the arcade version. I highly recommend the version that adds voice (Berzerk VE, under hacks in the Atari Age store), which is the only thing I felt was missing.

 

The other thing that's missing is the robot's diagonal shots.. if they could shoot diagonally that would make the game 100x different as far as difficulty. :lol: But it is what it is, I do agree it is one of the top 2600 ports as is though. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The other thing that's missing is the robot's diagonal shots.. if they could shoot diagonally that would make the game 100x different as far as difficulty. :lol: But it is what it is, I do agree it is one of the top 2600 ports as is though. :)

I'll be resuming work on Frantic towards the end of the month.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRxdl2T8nlQ

 

The video is from an older build, the "1 humanoid, 3 robot shots" is now "2 humanoid, 4 robot shots".

Edited by SpiceWare
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In addition to all the excellent suggestions so far, I would add Warlords and Vanguard. Vanguard I loved as a kid because of the variety of gameplay. Warlords is still one of the best multiplayer games on the Atari. Pretty much every forum I belong to my handle is Atari_Warlord accept here, because it was already taken.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...