Coolest paddle controller Atari game

[BONEMAN]

Kaboom then Astroblast. Warloads is awesome if you have 2 to 4 players.

[shadow460]

Astroblast and Solar Storm.

[BassGuitari]

Some of my favorites:

Night Driver - a classic, and my favorite of all Atari racing games.

Video Olympics - tons of great Pong variations; I'm partial to Basketball and Volleyball.
Breakout - another classic; for some reason this one gets me in a way Super Breakout somehow doesn't.

Street Racer - good twitch game(s) with a lot of variety.
Canyon Bomber - Canyon Bomber is so-so, but competitive; "B-side" Sea Bomber is the real reason to play this one.

Circus Atari - no explanation needed.
Astroblast - this game is proof that shooters are perfect for paddle controllers (Commando Raid was a missed opportunity in that regard).


Honorable Mentions:

Demons To Diamonds - I feel like this one gets overlooked; I overlooked it myself for years until I decided to rediscover it recently.
Steeplechase - not being big on horse racing, this was more fun than I expected; I could see this being a good party/drinking game.
Warplock - I know deep down this is a pretty mediocre title, yet I find myself saying "one more game..." every time I play it. (Does anyone think the title reads like "War-Plock?")
Eggomania - another pretty unheralded title; sort of a poor man's Kaboom!, only weirder.
Solar Storm - a pretty good game stymied somewhat by its brutal difficulty.

Edited September 25, 2014 by BassGuitari

[karokoenig]

Super Breakout and G.I. Joe Cobra Strike. That one is vastly underrated, because hardly anyone tries it in two player co-op mode.

[Cynicaster]

As far as I'm concerned there is Kaboom... and then, everybody else. It is arguably one of the best games on the system, regardless of control type.

 

I've always liked Circus, but I feel it could use a bit more "tuning". I sometimes find that my guys just bounce back and forth in the same pattern without hitting anything, which makes the game feel tedious at times.

 

Astroblast with paddles is my stock answer for "most underrated game" on the 2600.

[BigO]

I've always liked Circus, but I feel it could use a bit more "tuning". I sometimes find that my guys just bounce back and forth in the same pattern without hitting anything, which makes the game feel tedious at times.

When stuck in the doldrums like that, I find it helps breaks the cycle to flip the teeterboard end-for-end by pressing the fire button.

I think you can also break that pattern by adjusting the point where the clown hits the board, but that's a bit tougher to do. I've killed many a stick clown trying to fine tune the landing point.

[BassGuitari]

G.I. Joe Cobra Strike. That one is vastly underrated, because hardly anyone tries it in two player co-op mode.

 

I'm inclined to agree, considering I'd forgotten all about G.I. Joe myself! I'll have to give it another play one of these days (I doubt I've played it for more than 30-45 minutes in the 10-odd years I've owned a copy).

[karokoenig]

I'm inclined to agree, considering I'd forgotten all about G.I. Joe myself! I'll have to give it another play one of these days (I doubt I've played it for more than 30-45 minutes in the 10-odd years I've owned a copy).

 

Get a buddy to play with you. It feels hard and unappealing in single player at first, but together with another player it's good stuff. We played hours and hours back in the day - once we found out there's more than game 1 :-).

[godzillajoe]

Not counting home brews, Kaboom, Super Breakout, Warlords

 

Then everything else.

[Cynicaster]

Encounter at L5 hasn't been mentioned of all the paddles games out there - it is one

After seeing this thread earlier today, I fired up the 2600 with the Harmony cart and started playing some paddle games. This one is pretty cool! Never heard of it or played it before. The way the controls work is really weird but original. I like it!

[glazball]

My vote goes to Warlords. Even now, after all this time, gaming just does not get any better than 4p Warlords. For 1p only, Kaboom! gets my vote.

[bohoki]

my favorite paddle game was that one where you drive a wheelchair avoiding crayons and this angry looking blue guy that pops up every now and then and beeps twice

[Unbeliever]

I'm going to cast my vote for Kaboom, because I never have anyone else to play Warlords with.

[flashbackmatt]

Kaboom! (no surprise there from my user photo).

 

My light sixer is connected to a Video Game Brain with these paddle games:

• Kaboom!
• Astroblast
• Solar Storm
• Circus Atari
• Pong Sports
• Warlords

I also have a copy of UltraSCSIcide sitting next to it.

 

Out of all of those, Kaboom! is the one game that keeps me hitting the reset switch, when I should be powering the 2600 off to get some sleep.

 

I can't get into Breakout/Super Breakout, because the ball won't collide with another brick after boucing down off the first one.

 

Also, I know this is the 2600 sub-forum, but don't forget Castle Crisis for the 8-bits.

[rgr1973]

Warlords

Super Breakout

Circus Atari

Breakout

[Torr]

I really am the only person that like Star Wars: Jedi Arena, aren't I?

[WolfAmongWolves]

I really am the only person that like Star Wars: Jedi Arena, aren't I?

 

Nope. I love that game. I was going to mention it, but I came to this thread late and you beat me to it.

[BigO]

Aside from Circus Atari as I mentioned earlier, I play Kaboom and Tac-scan.

I don't have a lot of time to play lately, but it's looking like I have a few paddle games to try out that I've never played. I need to get that PaddleGames directory on my Harmony fully populated.

Edited September 29, 2014 by BigO

[R.O.T.S]

For me personally Warlords is by far the best and I would say Kaboom and Breakout are the worst.

[BassGuitari]

I really am the only person that like Star Wars: Jedi Arena, aren't I?

It's not a bad game. I hardly ever play it though, so I keep forgetting about it.

[Lynxpro]

Love Warlords. LOVE Warlords.

 

With that said, Kaboom kicks ass. I hope to get a working copy on the 5200 soon…and a paddle controller conversion.

 

Jedi Arena deserves so much more love. I wish there was a 5200 or 7800 version. I have many great memories of my Dad and I playing it together.

[telengard]

Warlords, then Circus Atari. I did play Kaboom on the 8 bit tonight, nice port.

[Bill Loguidice]

From the original releases, I was always partial to Warlords and Circus Atari. Kaboom is fun, but overrated due to its extreme lack of depth and the way the difficulty ramps up.

[davidbrit2]

I really like G.I. Joe. That game gets INTENSE. The inclusion of both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes is pretty sweet too.

[BigO]

From the original releases, I was always partial to Warlords and Circus Atari. Kaboom is fun, but overrated due to its extreme lack of depth and the way the difficulty ramps up.

What don't you like about the difficulty ramp up? Too fast, too slow? Just curious because I've never really thought about how to make it better or what I do or don't don't like about Kaboom!

 

I'm working on a version for a different, extremely limited platform. Is there any gameplay that you think could be added in a platform that's extremely limited in resolution, i.e. a microcontroller based discrete LED array sorta simplistic interface?

Edited October 6, 2014 by BigO