Question: The worst 2600 games other than Pac-Man or E.T.

[jaybird3rd]

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.bl...-m-network.html

Good write-up! I agree that the M-Network 2600 releases were quite good overall; I can even appreciate the merits of 2600 BurgerTime, despite its obvious limitations. 20th Century Fox is another underrated third-party publisher: they produced almost the same number of 2600 titles as Mattel, with roughly the same hit-to-miss ratio (at least in my opinion). Anyone looking for something new for their 2600 beyond the usual Atari/Activision/Imagic trifecta would do well to start with either of these companies' libraries.

 

(And yes, the unusual shape of the M-Network cartridges was a cost-cutting measure. Plastic tooling is quite expensive, so instead of tooling new cartridge cases for each system they intended to develop for, Mattel simply used their Intellivision shells and designed simple snap-on "adapters" for each target system.)

[shadow460]

Well, there are a few complete duds here and there. I actually like ET, but that's a different subject. Right now I'm thinking of terrible 2600 games and looking directly at Squeeze Box (after a few rounds of Ram It, no less). SSSnake was pretty bad, too. I loved o hate Exocet when I was a boy, particularly since there was this sense of adventure to it but it got so dang tough it was unplayable.

 

No Escape almost hit my dislike list after playing it in the HSC a few years back, then another forum member was kind enough to explain that the score did start to increase faster as the game went on.

[jaybird3rd]

This may be off-topic, but welcome back, shadow460! Glad to see you've returned.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Very yes! WELCOME BACK!

[high voltage]

I love Pac-Man but then I never seen the arcade game and I don't care for the arcade game. Played VCS Pac-Man for hours.

ET is a fun game, it's difficult, and you gotta know what you're doing. People quick get fed up because they fall into the wells. Play, learn, master, then it's a good adventure game

[PitfallHarry2600]

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.

Maybe i'm a masochist, but I actually enjoyed Lost Luggage

[AtariLeaf]

I love most MNetwork games in fact Bump N Jump is one of my favorites of all time. Great version on the 2600, I actually prefer it over other ports despite the graphical limitations.

 

Someone mentioned Barnstoring as the worst. Its a decent game IMO. Playable at least.

 

I can't think of any ONE bad game - as others have mentioned, once you get to the bottom of the barrel there's just so many to choose from - but my one nominee would be Vulture Attack. I had two copies at one time which is two too many. At least they made me some money so it had that going for it

Edited May 3, 2012 by AtariLeaf

[Skylark68]

I actually liked ET and Pac-Man when I was a kid and didn't know any better. Heck I still like them both now that I do know better!

 

I'm sure there are worse games out there, but regarding the ones that I've played, Swordquest Fireworld takes the cake.

 

Apollo gets a lot of hate, but Space Cavern was always pretty fun.

[SoundGammon]

My biggest disappointment was Donkey Kong by Coleco. Only had 2 levels but could have been more using 4k roms. But since the ColecoVision version only had 3, my only guess is that they wanted their version to be the best. Will we ever see a hack with ALL the levels?

Edited May 3, 2012 by SoundGammon

[davyK]

I can remember Apollo's Skeet Shoot getting really bad reviews back in the day - has to be a contender.

[rolenta]

Definitely Sssnake, the worst-looking, most unplayable game on any system!

[Rom Hunter]

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-bi-bi_12329.html

 

Because it literally is unplayable (you get stuck in the second level due to a programming bug).

 

[+save2600]

Hmmm... I'll go with Raft Rider. I don't like games with controls that have you guessing like that. Never been fond of Blue Print or Mountain King either.

[Ataritard]

Superman... If there is a game in there, I haven't found it.

[sqoon]

From the looks of the posts so far, and if there were a poll attached, Sssnake would win by a wide margin.

[+thegoldenband]

http://www.atarimani...i-bi_12329.html

 

Because it literally is unplayable (you get stuck in the second level due to a programming bug).

 

Ha, I was thinking of that one too. I think Bi! Bi! gets the crown for PAL regions, then -- though since it's a copy of an original release (Skindiver) that's at least playable, it's sort of an edge case.

 

From the looks of the posts so far, and if there were a poll attached, Sssnake would win by a wide margin.

 

I can hardly think of a more deserving recipient for such a prestigious award. Seriously, Sssnake is the game that, as a kid, made me go "OK, now this is getting ridiculous." I could believe in the Swordquest games, and convince myself that it was something worth figuring out. But when I played Sssnake, I understood something about the industry that I never forgot.

[esplonky]

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!

 

well it is the whole concept of how a programmer could turn out a product like that in 6 1/2 weeks. it's like laser blast, people only hated it because it took more effort to be good at it.

[2600Lives]

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!

 

well it is the whole concept of how a programmer could turn out a product like that in 6 1/2 weeks. it's like laser blast, people only hated it because it took more effort to be good at it.

 

But Defender, especially the arcade, took a HUGE amount of effort to be good at, and you'll likely not find many people who hate that game. It's not about how hard the game is to become good at, it's about how hard you have to fight the controls and bad game programming to get good at it. When a game is difficult or unplayable due to either shitty controls or just bad programming, then that's unacceptable. When a game is difficult because it's simply something you have to work at to play well, then that's another story.

 

For the record, I don't think E.T. is the worst game on the system. Not by a long shot. For the time he had, HSW did an amazing job at cobbling it all together. If he'd had another month of time to make it, I'd say it would have been an excellent game. It's just that there are other, far superior games on the system, and I'm not going to waste my time on playing a game that I have to try incredibly hard to squeeze even a modicum of fun out of when I could be playing something incredible like Yar's Revenge or Ms. Pac-Man.

[+Nathan Strum]

Quest For Quintana Roo. One of the worst games I bought back-in-the-day.

[DeusVult]

The worst game EVA! was Star Raiders. When I was little I managed to sneak past my all seeing eye dad and bought the game at the flea market. Carefully camelflaging it on the way home. I tried to play it that night but found out I didn't have the right controller. Noooooo!

[Torr]

When I was little I managed to sneak past my all seeing eye dad and bought the game at the flea market. Carefully camelflaging it on the way home.

 

Were video games against the rules at your house or something? You makes it sound like buying a video game was like sneaking a beer or cigarette from your parents...

[Rom Hunter]

http://www.atarimani...i-bi_12329.html

 

Because it literally is unplayable (you get stuck in the second level due to a programming bug).

 

Ha, I was thinking of that one too. I think Bi! Bi! gets the crown for PAL regions, then -- though since it's a copy of an original release (Skindiver) that's at least playable, it's sort of an edge case.

True.

 

But the original Skindiver is hellish to play in the first place.

 

Just like Pac-Kong, btw.

 

What pain in the butt to play.

 

For NTSC, I agree: Sssnake it is.

 

Can't think of anything worse.

 

[DeusVult]

When I was little I managed to sneak past my all seeing eye dad and bought the game at the flea market. Carefully camelflaging it on the way home.

 

Were video games against the rules at your house or something? You makes it sound like buying a video game was like sneaking a beer or cigarette from your parents...

 

Exactly!

 

Let's just say I was finally allowed to play casually when my little brother got a PS1 for Christmas!

[esplonky]

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!

 

well it is the whole concept of how a programmer could turn out a product like that in 6 1/2 weeks. it's like laser blast, people only hated it because it took more effort to be good at it.

 

But Defender, especially the arcade, took a HUGE amount of effort to be good at, and you'll likely not find many people who hate that game. It's not about how hard the game is to become good at, it's about how hard you have to fight the controls and bad game programming to get good at it. When a game is difficult or unplayable due to either shitty controls or just bad programming, then that's unacceptable. When a game is difficult because it's simply something you have to work at to play well, then that's another story.

 

For the record, I don't think E.T. is the worst game on the system. Not by a long shot. For the time he had, HSW did an amazing job at cobbling it all together. If he'd had another month of time to make it, I'd say it would have been an excellent game. It's just that there are other, far superior games on the system, and I'm not going to waste my time on playing a game that I have to try incredibly hard to squeeze even a modicum of fun out of when I could be playing something incredible like Yar's Revenge or Ms. Pac-Man.

 

a lot of people who talk about defender won't have much good to say about it. a lot of people say the 2600 defender was a terrible game..

[esplonky]

The worst game EVA! was Star Raiders. When I was little I managed to sneak past my all seeing eye dad and bought the game at the flea market. Carefully camelflaging it on the way home. I tried to play it that night but found out I didn't have the right controller. Noooooo!

 

So you couldn't have video games, but you could have camels?