What was the first Atari 2600 game you bought?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

It's been about 14 years since someone asked this question around here, so I thought it might be a fun topic to revisit. What was the first video game you bought for your Atari 2600 after acquiring the system?

 

When I bought my Atari 2600 on eBay a few years back it came with quite a few popular games bundled in (Pitfall!, Asteroids, Space Invaders, etc.), but the first game I bought after picking up the system bundle was actually a homebrew title. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It only took me 15 minutes or so to beat it, but I've still gone back to replay it and search for secrets half a dozen or so times since then. The manual was hilariously funny to read too.

 

So how about you? What was the first game you bought for your Atari 2600?

[Keatah]

Surround

[Schizophretard]

I can't recall which game/s with my own hard earned money but my earliest memory of picking a game to be purchased with my parents' money for any system was Taz for the Atari 2600. It was at Toys "R" Us. I remember one big row full of Atari games, my dad said I could pick just one, and Taz caught my eye because I liked the cartoon and the red box looked fancy. I made the right choice because when I got home I loved the game. I also remember that same row always being the video game row. It was all Atari, then NES, then SNES, sometimes a mix of consoles, etc. It was also the first place I was introduced to the Atari Lynx. I remember being confused by that because it had a very small section of the row with a few games which gave me the impression that it was going out of style as soon as I discovered it but I couldn't understand why because it looked superior to me than the Game Boy. I thought it had a cooler design and it was in COLOR! That blew my mind. That Toys "R" Us was our main place to get video games and pretty much anything for Christmas growing up. The same Toys "R" Us exists today but back then it was nice and today it is so ghetto that it looks like Biff went back with the DeLorean to completely screw up what it is like in 2015. Biff needs to make like a tree and get out of here!

[mikey.shake]

Once I'd finally bit the bullet and ordered a Sixer online, I knew I'd need games to play. I came across a dusty old "comics 'n' video games"-type store in a small New England town, and picked these up:

 

 

I was pretty happy with my choices as a "first game" -- kept me busy for quite a while. Beyond that? I had to separately order Kaboom!.

 

I was not going to have a 2600 and not have Kaboom!.

[kennybrooks]

Space Invaders at JC Penney in Fours Seasons Mall, Greensboro NC

[IHATETHEBEARS]

Space War, followed by Slot Racers, Space Invaders and Asteroids.

[tep392]

It's been a long time but I think it was Defender.

[copper20]

Yars Revenge or Missile Command.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

I first bought mine online a long time ago. It was a Vader with a 35 game bundle. It was mostly commons (Combat, Space Invaders, Pitfall!, Pac-Man, etc). First lone game. It would be Mr. Do.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Well I bought a couple game lots with my Atari to jump start my collection in 2012. My first AA homebrew purchase was Stella's Stocking, an early Christmas present to myself in May... Now I've got over 50 'brews across multiple systems from AA and elsewhere!

Edited August 5, 2015 by stardust4ever

[BassGuitari]

I got my first 2600 in 1999 and a friend borrowed me Pac-Man, Breakout, Super Breakout, Donkey Kong, MASH, Space Invaders (red label), Chopper Command, Combat, and I think Warlords. He forgot about them, I forgot I was only borrowing them, and 16 years later I still have them (except the Donkey Kong which I upgraded for a better label, and Space Invaders which I gave to a friend and later replaced). I guess legally they're mine now.

Not long after, I bought Grand Prix and Missile Command from a thrift store that randomly had them. IIRC an orphaned manual for Football was mixed in there too.

[Lord Innit]

I bought my first Atari back in 78 when I had just turned 14 and was doing paper rounds to save up for one. I paid half towards it with my parents paying the rest for a christmas present. So I suppose Combat first. But if we're talking separate purchases then it would be Air Sea Battle. Still have them today.

[AtariTexas]

Missile Command

[+SpiceWare]

We got our Atari as a family Xmas gift with a few games. For additional games my brother, sister and I scoured the neighborhood for cans & bottles to turn in. First game we bought was Adventure.

[jarreboum]

I got mine less than a month ago, and apart from the four bundled games (Bowling, Pitfall, Enduro, Missile command), my first order was to get a bunch of homebrew games: Medieval mayhem, Lead, and Juno first. Actually I bought and received the games before even getting the console on eBay, so I guess they truly are the first 2600 games I ever owned. I regret nothing.

[Rybags]

I think 1982... Got Missile Command & Defender with it.

MC - good choice, not as good as the computer version but still worthwhile.

Defender somewhat a disappointment.

 

I remember getting Demon Attack at a later time - i think i actually took it back as it was so monotonous & boring.

[zylon]

Battlezone and Galaxian.

[high voltage]

1984, Bought one Atari 2600 (Vader) with Phoenix (pack-in), Ms Pac-Man, Enduro, Super Cobra. So my first game were 4 games.

[Age-of-Atarius]

I bought my first 2600 in 1980 when they dropped the price down to under $100, and got myself frogger. My large 25 color TV console had just blown a tube so I was playing it on a tiny 14" black & white in the bedroom. Even with the limited picture and basic sounds I thought it was just fantastic. I was in heaven ever since that monent with the simple ease and enjoyment of playing your own Atari favorites at home. I became an avid collector and eventually started my own buying/selling/trading video gaming business.

[WolfAmongWolves]

Haunted House, at KMart in 1983. I returned it after a week or so because my 10-year-old self thought it was boring. I just bought it again about two years ago. It took me 30 years to realize what a good game it is.

[AW127]

"Pac-Man" came together with my Atari in a pack. First games i get then on christmas 1982 and this was "Yars Revenge" and "Venture". But i was only 10 years old, so i dont bought them by myself, i get them as a christmas-gift.

[Yoss]

We got our Atari 2600 in '83 as a family Christmas present. I think we had something like 5 games right away and acquired 5 or so more over the next year. As far as I can remember my parents never actually asked any of us kids what games we wanted. Judging by the games they ended up picking out I think they bought whatever was cheap. Still, family finances were always pretty tight so even having that was kind of a minor miracle.

 

By the time I had any money of my own, the 2600 had already pretty much run its course. It wasn't until I was in my first year of college in '97 that I stumbled across a batch of games in a junk shop. That's what got me interested in Atari again. The first games I picked out were Yars' Revenge and Defender. Yars' because I remembered playing it at a cousin's house. Defender because I remembered the artwork from one of my old game catalogs and always wanted it.

[+save2600]

Not sure if I bought Golf at Sears or Street Racer at TRU first... but I believe it was one of those two that I purchased with my own money after receiving a 2600 for Christmas BITD.

[+DrVenkman]

In 1980, we got a Light Sixer VCS for Christmas. It came with Combat of course, but our parents also bought us Space Invaders (the first console "killer app!") I seem to remember my brother and I cajoling our parents to get us out to a store within the next fews days, as soon as places were open again for post-Christmas returns and clearance sales. We took our gift money from grandparents and such and bought a few more games right away - I seem to remember Missile Command and Night Driver coming in fairly short order, probably that day. Asteroids, Adventure, and Activision Skiing came along in the next six months - my brother wanted that one for some reason , along with Outlaw.

[toiletunes]

Hazy memories, but I think Star Raiders, Space Attack, and/or Taz. This would have been at Venture or Zayre, maybe 1984? I remember thinking Star Raiders was a great deal, since it had a larger box and was only $5.