DoctorSpuds Reviews Things

Cool list! Definitely some games on there I need to give a second try to. (Karate NOT being one of them... if I could actually coax a second person to play Atari games with me, I can't imagine choosing to subject them to that nonsense!) Interesting that many conventional favorites are nowhere to be found (Missile Command, HERO, River Raid, etc.) but I like that you champion many games folks never think of.

Interesting that many conventional favorites are nowhere to be found (Missile Command, HERO, River Raid, etc.) but I like that you champion many games folks never think of.

 

That's mainly because I don't like the conventional favorites all that much, yeah they're decently programmed and well thought out games that are truly iconic, but when you only hear about 5% of the total library there is so much that gets left out. Almost all of the 'best of' lists I've read contain games predominately from Atari and Activision, and if you're lucky there may be a game from Parker Brothers or Coleco, or maybe even Imagic but that's always Demon Attack or Atlantis. While all of the 'worst of' lists (with the exception of Deafsparrow's) are made up from the same few publishers, Data Age, Mythicon, Froggo, and Zimag, y'know, the ones that actually made bad games, but Atari made bad games too, so did Imagic, Coleco, and Activision, and they are all conpicuously missing from those 'worst of' lists. There's no middle ground it's all "here's the best of the system according to 1983" or "here's the worst games according to bill, our intern, who had an Atari when he was a kid", it's all the same games having the same facts being regurgitated about them over and over again. When I'm out of games to review, and believe me I'll break my rule and start reviewing games I don't own, and when I'm finally out of games then I'll review the classics, that's when I jump the shark.

I agree with sdamon, especially that last sentence...And really liked your list...I will definitely have to play some of these as the truth is there are ones on your list I've never even played (or only briefly tried out). Some of them I even have in cartridge form but haven't gotten around to

 

You are also correct that most lists leave out more obscure titles...

 

I like Condor Attack too and Communist Mutants from Space (not to mention Suicide Mission which I always thought was brilliant!)...Now BITD I played the hell out of Video Pinball which is probably why I now much prefer Midnight Magic, which I could always play no matter what...And I remember very well when my friend bought Haunted House and we all gathered around his TV to watch him play it the first time (with the lights out no less).

 

I get the Love of Kaboom, but always preferred Circus Atari and Super Breakout. Of course Warlords was Great if ya have friends over...

 

Other favorites of mine included Pifall!, Adventure, Yar's Revenge, Phoenix, Megamania, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Jr. PacMan and Demon Attack...I know..."Conventional favorites".

 

Then we get to M-Network. When they first appeared I didn't want to support them because those Intellivision attacking Atari commercials totally rubbed me the wrong way. But after some time, and maybe a sale price (who remembers? hahaa)...I bought some and Loved Tron: Deadly Discs... and Dark Cavern even more!

 

I think if I had to choose an Absolute Favorite, or 2, I'd call it a tie between Midnight Magic and Dark Cavern.

I like Thunderground and Time Pilot, but a lot of people seem to dislike each game.

 

BTW, you've listed six of my personal favs...

 

Front Line

Room of Doom

Communist Mutants from Space

Jawbreaker

Polaris

Draconian

I also have to throw in Space Rocks, because I'm such an Asteroids junkie. If you have a Starplex controller, Space Rocks brings the arcade to the 2600.