jhammond

Wasn't growing up in the 70s and 80s just the best? I was born in 1970 and I got to experience all of the great computer/video game achievements first hand. I think I played street racer the most on my 2600 early on. Thanks for sharing the great memories! It was the best! I still remember bringing your game carts to school (sixth grade at the time) on Fridays and swapping with friends for the weekend. Fun times to discover who had the lastest, greatest hot-new game that just came out! Oh yes, and "showing off" TV pictures to each other of High Scores too (yes, you had to have proof)! My friend Max had several Activision Patches...he was the God of video games, I swear.

wow! how many carts do you own now??

Love this game!! My second favorite of all time. My personal best is 68,300.

Christmas of 1982 (I was 12 years old). Woody 4-switch Unit. Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Missle Command had me glued at first. I owned several "bummer" games I never really played. Then, the Tutankham and Montezuma's Revenge games kept my interest a going again. After High School, this questionable working unit was sold in a garage sale, but I kept most of my games! They stayed in storage for years...until 2008 I got a working Atari unit (all Black "Vader" 4-switch) from Vintage Stock! I've been playing those old games again...fun! Now, thanks to e-bay and Atari2600.com my collection of games has grown to over 120! Discovering games I've always heard about but never tried is fun....it's like being a kid all over again.

that is the saddest gaming story i ever heard. i'm serious a game you didn't even know you won...crazy I can relate to this story too.....on Mountain King you only have 1:30 time to make it from the bottom level to the top level (31 levels total) and reach the flame at the top once you take the golden crown from the bottom tomb. All these Bats are trying to steal your crown along the way (they are very tough to avoid) and several times I made it within one second or 2 inches of screen....then that quick screen flash would go off...I thought I was "short" again. Nope, I finally found out later that meant you beat the game and the action continues right from there!! No music, No pause in the game, No nothing....what a let down after hours of mastering the jumping controls on that little guy and studying the escape route carefully...and that's the reward? That jump in 9000 bonus points is how I finally figured it out.

don't forget about Riddle of the Spinx!

Agreed, Tutankham is awesome! Also Montezuma's Revenge, Mountain King, and Riddle of the Sphinx are great too.

I finally beat this game Raiders of the Lost Ark today...but no score?? Wierd. anyone know why that is??

Yes, I finally beat game #3...that was fun! Game #1 seems kind of pointless now. The score of 15,620 was pleasing for a first time through too. Glad I finally pulled this game out and read the manuel (a MUST) and some hints online. This is a hidden gem for Atari games! The random order of needed items you collect from your digging shovel, nomad traders, and the Goddess Isis makes each game unique. Now to play again with left difficulty on A (many fast-moving theives and scorpions).

yes Gravitar is very hard. I've never "beaten" that game.

Thanks and your right. I finally made it to the top with the crown...jumping just as a bat is about to hit me allowed me to keep my crown most of the time. Also, I finally realized I had beatin' level 1 twice and didn't even know it. I thought I was one second or a couple of inches away from the fire at the top and "fell short of winning"...but that was the end of level one! No music, No pause, NO nothing ..just a flash (I thought that meant I didn't make it).....good grief. Now, after 8 hours of practice I finally got the route figured out. that was hard! reminds me of first figuring out Tutankham.

stargate!!

Mountain King...I cannot beat the game because the stupid bat keeps taking my crown before I make it out!!! Does anyone have any help tips how to make it out with the crown???

I forgot to add Jawbreaker (R5) and H.E.R.O. (R5) to my list

atari2600.com is an excellent place to buy carts and manuels. fast delivery too! excellent website with everything organized alphabetically.

E.T. II (R10+) this is the only prototype...Recently found in a back storage room in the old Atari Inc. Headquarters building in California. Howard Scott Warsaw had kept the proto a secret until Steven Speilberg released the sequel to E.T., which of course never happened. A friend of mine was hired to renovate the old building and stumbled across a box and found this game cartridge. He knew I was a big fan of Atari and mailed the game to me for my 40th birthday. This game is just like the first game except it features many many more pits to fall in. If you beat the game, you are treated to an ending with Stephen Speilberg holding a shotgun chasing Warsaw around for making such a pile of shit.

Frankenstein's Monster (R5) Montezuma's Revenge (R5) Tapper (R6) Spy Hunter (R6) all are VERY fun games and I play them a lot!! The Manuels were Harder to find than the games!! Anyway, everything was found on E-bay within the last 3 years...Except Montezuma's Revenge, that's a game I still have from my childhood (my second favorite game of all time!)

yup. I use my flashback joysticks all the time now with my 2600. Even though I heard some peice of plastic broken off inside, I just took the top off and shaked out the broken piece, put it back together and its just fine. No problems since.

the worst game would have to be a stupid game mom brought home one time when I was a kid. something called custer stand or revenge or something. I played it about 2 minutes and gave up it was so stupid. But Dad loved it. He played it for hours at a time...alone....with the door locked.

Good call, but I think we can get closer -- one might say, downright uncomfortably close: This guy is creepy...is he posing as Mario??

when I was a kid in 1982ish, I had a chance to buy either Laser Blast or River Raid (keep In mind I had no clue what these games where about...only looking at the cover) and I've been kicking myself every since. Laser Blast was so bad I only played about 3 minutes, then I went over to my friends house to play his new River Raid....we played it for days/hours at a time. FUN!

I agree, I could actually play defender for several waves and actually have some fun....unlike the arcade, or the 2600 "Stargate"( which are totally awesome games) but you get killed off so fast you can't even enjoy the game because it's so frakin hard. No matter how much i play/practice Stargate, I still suck at it after all these years. I admire anyone who can last longer than 2or 3 waves.

just played COSMIC ARK again to give it another chance.....but......it sucks!!

my top 10: 1. TUTANKHAM 2. MILLIPEDE 3. ENDURO 4. MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE 5. MOON PATROL 6. RIVER RAID 7. SPACE INVADERS 8. TAPPER 9. FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER 10. ASTEROIDS (selection #14 with difficulty on A) honorable mentions: Missile Command, Berzerk, Bump n Jump, Frogger, Stargate, Stampede, Seaquest, and Jr. Pac-Man 5.

my feelings are hurt, TUTANKHAM is awesome. You'll need the instruction manuel, patience mastering the controls and the hard parts of the chambers....and be prepared to die a lot at first. But, eventually, you'll get the hang of it and clearing all 4 chambers is a great feeling!! Don't try to comepare this game to the Arcade...they are totally different. I wish they had used a different name so people wouldn't keep doint that. Think of it as a whole new type of tomb/maze game.