What games are generally accepted as the most fun to play for the 2600?

[orrimarrko]

I was looking at my collection recently, and it occured to me that there were a lot of games that I've never tried, or haven't played very much.

 

I've always liked a majority of the Activision library, but I was wondering what games others thought were a lot of fun to play.

 

I don't want to say "must haves", but I'd appreciate any input about what most people consider their favorites, or generally just enjoy.

 

I'm thinking about downsizing my collection to games that I want to play, and figured I'd ask.

 

Thanks,

Orri~

[jboypacman]

I enjoy most of the Activision and Imagic released games myself but most of those are no brainers to pick from but other games i enjoy that are somewhat off the beat path include..

 

Fast Food

Fast Eddie

Space Master X-7

Turmoil

Alien

Solar Fox

Jawbreaker

Thunderground

Infiltrate

Frankenstein's Monster

[chriswhit]

I'd say Lady bug or Medieval Mayhem but there's a lot of games I haven't played ether. They are home brews and great games

[BigO]

My standard answer: Circus Atari

Kaboom! is also near the top of my list.

Edited January 28, 2010 by BigO

[mbd30]

Joust - Nice two player action.

Circus Atari

Demon Attack

Dragon Fire

Yar's Revenge

Warlords

Frogger

Q*Bert

Jungle Hunt

Solaris

Skeet Shoot

Karate

[Tr3vor]

yars' revenge - as its only on the atari

adventure

donkey kong - no, never mind

[pinball22]

Some of my favorites outside of Atari/Activision/Imagic:

 

Dark Cavern

Spacemaster X-7

Towering Inferno

Tape Worm

Planet Patrol

[VectorGamer]

Frankenstein's Monster

Sea Wolf

Juno First

Millipede

Indy 500

BerZerk

Asteroids

Missile Command

Wizard of Wor

Pressure Cooker

Jr. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man

Joust

Galaxian

Galaxian Arcade

Space Invaders

Space Invaders Arcade

Defender Arcade

Stargate

Circus Atari

Warlords

Medieval Mayhem

Frogger Official (Starpath)

Frogger (Parker Bros.)

Q*Bert

Jungle Hunt

LadyBug

Fast Eddie

[Fixitguy74]

Some of my favorite games to play are two player only or games that are boring in one player mode. Like Warlords. It's kinda lame in one player mode but 2,3, and especially 4 player mode it is a riot to play. Combat is another. It is a simple game but with a worthy opponent it can blast. Some of my other favorites get bad reviews around here a lot due to bad graphics or game play as compared to the original arcade release, but when I was a kid I wasn't allowed to go to the local arcade due to rumors of drugs being sold there. So my first exposure to a lot of games was on the families trusty 2600. So in my mind Pac Man is near the top of the list.

[+SpiceWare]

Some of my favorite games to play are two player only or games that are boring in one player mode. Like Warlords. It's kinda lame in one player mode but 2,3, and especially 4 player mode it is a riot to play.

check out Medieval Mayhem

[bohoki]

i really like superman,pitfall 2,digdug,moon patrol,bump n jump,frogger2,junglehunt

[+Ransom]

Depending on your perspective, pretty much all the early Atari releases are good (before they went astray with Defender, Pac-Man, etc.), and then the later silver-label ones (Joust, Pole Position, etc.) and red-label ones are pretty good as well. Many Activision ones are good, but watch out for the ones that play exactly the same every time like Barnstorming -- they can get boring fast, depending on your gaming style. Many Imagic ones are great as well, particularly the most common ones.

 

Beyond that, you have to be pretty careful with each company's products and examine them individually, with the possible exception of Parker Bros.

 

But if someone were to get all of the above, it would take them a good deal of time and should keep their inner gamer happy for quite a while.

[+Random Terrain]

Best thing about emulation is that you can try all of the games you missed out on and see if they are worth owning. Anyway, here are some of my favorite games:

 

www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-favorite-games.html

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

Solaris

Ram It

Mr.Do

Enduro

Galaxian

Medievil Mayhem

Juno First

Fathom

Subterranea

Joust

Stargate

Adventure

[Armonigann]

solar storm

circus

galaxian

adventure

venture

pheonix

demon attack

tac scan

cobra strike

seaquest

zaxxon

moon patrol

jr pacman

worm 1

threshold

haunted house

aquaventure FB

...first ones that to come to mind at the moment

Edited January 29, 2010 by Armonigann

[retrorussell]

Must-haves: Pitfall II, Mario Bros., Adventure, River Raid, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Keystone Kapers, H.E.R.O., Demon Attack, Pitfall

Ones I like that some people may not like: Infiltrate, Cosmic Ark, Dragonfire, Commando Raid, Phoenix, Star Voyager, Spider-Man

[VectorGamer]

Ones I like that some people may not like:

 

Reactor is one I forgot to list...

[+save2600]

Midnight Magic is the one I *always* pop in when doing some 2600 gaming.

[Lauren Tyler]

For me, my favorites are:

-Jr. Pac-Man

-Space Invaders

-Defender 2/Stargate

-Pole Position

-Pitfall!

-Pitfall! 2

-Adventure

-Moon Patrol

-Battlezone

-Missile Command

-Asteroids

-Joust

-Vanguard

-Megamania

[the_hawk]

I got the Atari 2600 out last night and had an absolute blast going through the dozens of games I've picked up over the last few months but not had time to play as yet.

 

A few observations.

 

1. Activision games - bloody amazing what they could do with a 2600. I've mentioned many times that HERO & River Raid are my favourites, but I really enjoyed playing games such as Kaboom! & Keystone Kapers they are eminently playable & don't need a three hour tutorial. These are the sort of games that make me LOVE being a "retro gamer".

 

2. Jr Pac Man - Obviously the best incarnation of Pac on the 2600, but I don't remember it being so flamin' hard. I had about 20 goes at just clearing the 1st screen. It is awesome though, as I usually get bored with pacman by about the 3rd or 4th screen.

 

3. Roc'N Rope - Strange experience to play. Fantastic conversion of the arcade game that is very faithful, only trouble is the original arcade game is awful. I really wish whoever coded this had got their hands on Donkey Kong rather than this awful plodding rip-off!

 

4. Q-Bert - I keep coming back to it, I want to like it, I feel I should like it but I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE it - the only isometric game I've ever enjoyed is pacmania.

 

5. Missile Command, Berserk Space Invaders & Frogger will ALWAYS be fantastic games on the VCS. Brilliant brilliant conversions.

 

Nearly 30 years on now & playing the Atari always makes me smile.

[avanteproject]

I've only got a few games right now but my favourites are Yar's Revenge, Centipede and Asteroids.

[The Codex]

Cosmic Ark is my usual first answer, followed by Riddle Of The Sphinx. River Raid and Pitfall! are obvious additional choices, but no less excellent for that.

[famicommander]

I go for most multiplatform games on more advanced systems (5200, 7800, Colecovision), but this is my list of favorite 2600 games:

Yars' Revenge

Adventure

Pitfall!

Pong Sports

Star Raiders

Combat

Circus Atari

Air Sea Battle

Video Pinball

Warlords

Dodge 'Em

Haunted House