EmuDan

Atari800 is probably your best bet for 8-bit emulation. https://github.com/atari800/atari800/releases

I agree! I'm usually partial to arcade ports, but Knight Guy on Board is loads of fun.

I just got a c64 mini a couple weeks ago, and I'm happy to see that the quality of these nominated atari games is at least as good, if not better than those c64 classics. Also, the included joystick works fine with retropie on my RPi 4, so I'm having a blast testing these games!

Thank you! I had a very difficult time getting this to run with even the lr-atari800 emulator. Now it works like a charm with the non-libretro version!

Wow! So many great arcade ports that are WIP! It's very hard to choose a winner in this category. Can't wait for all of these to be completed!

Oscar, I love your work and CoolCV is an absolutely brilliant emulator. It works like a charm with retropie on my Raspberry Pi 2. However... I also recently upgraded to a Pi 4, and the lr-bluemsx emulator is a disappointment. It won't open zipped files, or sgm games. I managed to get CoolCV running outside of Retropie with TwisterOS and its awesome BoxX86 wrapper program, but it runs slowly. I also managed to compile ColEm and get it running outside of RetroPie, but it also won't open zipped files or use gamepads. If you have the time in the near future, can you please try to re-compile CoolCV for the Pi 4, and get it included in an upcoming version of Retropie?

Well, looks like I got here too late for the vote, but I really liked Assembloids, Nutmeg, and YNXA. Really hard to pick a top one, since all three are fun. I also would give an honorable mention to Growing Ties

Pac-man collection is also gone from the store in the 7800 section. Is Namco upset or something?

All of them! Plus the homebrews! That would make a great portable system.

James, someone on Facebook just reminded me of what a great game Activision's Spider Fighter is. Another good idea for your patch challenge!

Another easy (and cheap) way to improve the video quality is to hook the console up to a VCR, using that little RF adapter plug. Use the video-in on the VCR, then run composite cables for the video out from the VCR to the TV. And, in theory, I suppose if you are lucky to have an S-VHS VCR you could do S-video out to the TV bumping up the quality even more.

Is there any way to tell with the older Atari games, whether the cartridge in the box will have a text label or a picture label from looking at the outside of an unopened box? Dan

I wish I still had those. It was a great controller!

My vote goes to Mappy for music and sound, because it's spot-on, despite the slow-down I'm getting with the emulator. On a faster machine or real 2600, it would be awesome. I also really liked the music in Stripes of Terror, and I found Beeware to be a fun little game that should've been nominated in a few more categories.

Tyre Trax has some really nice backgrounds and sprites, so it gets my vote in this category.

David Weavil fit all of Dungeon 2:Solstice in only 4k {drops the mic}.

Mappy is the first Atari 2600 game that I actually had trouble emulating. Using retropie on a raspberry pi 2, and I found that it won't work with the lr-stella. You have to switch to the standalone Stella emulator. There is some music slow-down, but the game is still playable!

Horizon flip was definitely a challenge! Did you know it's based on "Horizon Switch '81" for the Nintendo Switch? I want to play that one!

M by Flush is pretty amazing, so it got my vote but it was close with Alpha Cucks by Dentifrice (that scaling and rotation!!!). I still can't believe the 2600 is capable of demos like this!

Scott Dayton has a lot of great hacks nominated here. I chose Alf because it has some nice looking sprites and it's a lot of fun to play. I also liked the Moon Patrol hack and the Stargate (River Raid) hack.

Tough call between Sword of Surtr and Space Game. Two completely different genres. I have to go with Surtr though, because it looks like a cross between Adventure, Zelda, and a touch of FF1 (the boat that takes you to other lands). Tyre Trax is also a fun one with nice graphics.

Looks like 2019 is going to be a banner year for homebrews! A lot of these look amazing.

I love the old school Atari-styled packaging, so for me it was a tough choice between Astronomer and Space Game, but I have to go with Space Game.

My vote for best homebrew has to go to Mappy. It's a fun, spot-on arcade port. The graphics, sounds, and music are all outstanding.