Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 In your opinion, what do you think was the worst game ever made for the Atari 2600 other than Pac-Man and E.T.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vocelli Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Spikes Peak. But I don't hate Pac-man. I was just disappointed in the final product compared to the arcade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em -- not realistic enough. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Snnnnnnake...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 As with many consumer products, you should usually avoid anything that didn't come from one of the established "brand names". Sure, the more obscure publishers occasionally produced a hidden gem, and the bigger publishers had their occasional missteps, but in general, you'd do best to avoid anything from publishers like Froggo, Apollo, Mythicon, or any of the other players who were in the market solely to make a few quick bucks selling crap to an unsuspecting, game-crazed public. I have a hard time calling any one game "The Worst", because once you get down to a certain level, you can't distinguish different degrees of "badness", because they're all so bad. That applies to homebrews as well: for every great homebrew like Medieval Mayhem, there are plenty of duds like N.E.R.D.S. and The Last Ninja. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoGamer Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 As with many consumer products, you should usually avoid anything that didn't come from one of the established "brand names". Sure, the more obscure publishers occasionally produced a hidden gem, and the bigger publishers had their occasional missteps, but in general, you'd do best to avoid anything from publishers like Froggo, Apollo, Mythicon, or any of the other players who were in the market solely to make a few quick bucks selling crap to an unsuspecting, game-crazed public. I have a hard time calling any one game "The Worst", because once you get down to a certain level, you can't distinguish different degrees of "badness", because they're all so bad. That applies to homebrews as well: for every great homebrew like Medieval Mayhem, there are plenty of duds like N.E.R.D.S. and The Last Ninja. Jaybird is right on the money, most of the worst games for the 2600 were from the smaller 3rd party companies who were just out to make a fast buck back in the day on a very hot system, on the other hand some of the best 2600 games came from Activision, parker brothers and others., many of the rare games are among the worst as far as play quality goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Lives Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Uh-oh. Here comes the E.T. defenders. Random Terrain, get in here! One of my least favorite games EVER for the 2600 was Airlock. It was serious poo poo. I mean shit. Chuck Norris Superkicks is also a hunk of crap. Most of the double ender carts were bad, though. Seriously, though, you could write a book about the bad games in the 2600 library. Stuff from Atari, Imagic, and Activision were usually quality, with a few exceptions, but the smaller companies either tried WAY to hard to make something different and compelling and failed, or like Mythicon, just tossed some pixels together and tried to make some quick cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Uh-oh. Here comes the E.T. defenders... Just to clarify, I'm not defending E.T. nor am I defending Pac-Man. I asked people to named bad Atari 2600 games other than E.T. and Pac-Man because those two games are usually the first ones that come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PitfallHarry2600 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Pac-Kong...'Nuff said 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2600Lives Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Uh-oh. Here comes the E.T. defenders... Just to clarify, I'm not defending E.T. nor am I defending Pac-Man. I asked people to named bad Atari 2600 games other than E.T. and Pac-Man because those two games are usually the first ones that come to mind. Never said you were defending them, but usually, whenever someone badmouths E.T. around here, the thread gets flooded with posters defending it as some sort of "misunderstood gem". 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Never said you were defending them, but usually, whenever someone badmouths E.T. around here, the thread gets flooded with posters defending it as some sort of "misunderstood gem". I see. Why on earth would anyone say that game is good anyway? I had the misfortune of playing that game on my uncle's VCS and it gave me nightmares! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 From Atari - I'll go with the SwordQuest Series. So much marketing, so little value. Activision - for me this is Barnstorming Imagic - Fire Fighter. My mom and I searched everywhere for this game. I thought it would be great to be a firefighter and save trapped people. It has some nice graphics but the gameplay is a stinker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvgs Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 SwordQuest: FireWorld is probably the worst 2600 game I've played. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldgamesrule Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 I say kool aid man omg that game sucked, I saved up for it and when it came in the mail 6 to 12 weeks later I was total upset with it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 There are a lot of stinkers out there...WAY worse than Pac-Man or E.T. At least those two games are playable. I actually like Pac-Man and Anything by Mythicon is awful and Karate is virtually unplayable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 In and of themselves, it's probably the Swordquest series, which really are meaningless without the contest(s) -- and even then, the basic idea was still a bad one. Otherwise, I think I have to go with Sssnake. At least Karate was trying to do something ambitious, even if it failed. Sssnake is just awful on every level, and feels downright cynical. And from PAL-land, there's Walker / Clown Down Town / Schussel der Polizistenschreck. It's the video game equivalent of a re-education camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Sssnake. Nothing else compares to its wretchedness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Chuck Norris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Sssnake. Nothing else compares to its wretchedness. Agreed. Ssssnake ssssucks on every level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I say kool aid man omg that game sucked, I saved up for it and when it came in the mail 6 to 12 weeks later I was total upset with it, I'm not claiming Kool-Aid Man is a good game but it's better than the Intellivision version which is a completely different type of game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Chuck Norris Superkicks is also a hunk of crap. Most of the double ender carts were bad, though. Chuck Norris? Huh, I'm surprised to see two people mentioning CNS. I really like that game, though the lack of an ending is disappointing. Back in the 1980s (and before the NES), I really appreciated a VCS game that had special moves, tactics, something like a leveling-up system (since you don't have the jump kick at first), and a clear-cut goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorTat-G Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I say kool aid man omg that game sucked, I saved up for it and when it came in the mail 6 to 12 weeks later I was total upset with it, I'm not claiming Kool-Aid Man is a good game but it's better than the Intellivision version which is a completely different type of game. Kool-Aid Man is one of my favorite 2600 games. But my least favorite would have to be Shark Attack, Nothing is worse than terrible collison detection. Anything from Apollo is trash IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I say kool aid man omg that game sucked, I saved up for it and when it came in the mail 6 to 12 weeks later I was total upset with it, That's crazy talk. That game is super fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Sssnake really has no point at all. Airlock is insulting but might be playable with 10 more levels and some freaking character animation But of the big companies, the Swordquest series was unforgiveable. Unplayable games disguised by a contest to get you to buy that garbage. You can almost forgive a fly by night company for pushing something out the door to make a quick buck but Atari really dropped the ball with their crap. And the last game in the series never even made production. Just awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 My stock answer here is Firefly/Sorcerer. Just total reprehensible dogshit. I'm not claiming Kool-Aid Man is a good game but it's better than the Intellivision version which is a completely different type of game. Not 20 minutes ago, I posted an entry on my blog about M-Network games, which I thought were generally quite good (although I know that is not a universally held opinion). http://cynicaster.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ballad-of-m-network.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.