What are some good versus games (5 minutes tops)

[Tjoppen]

Background: Our student union house is hosting a multi-game challenge of 12 3-person teams tomorrow.

I've offered my Atari 2600 Jr for the event, but I'd like some input what would be decent games to choose from.

At the moment I only have one joystick and one pair of paddles, but I'm trying to arrange for an extra joystick.

Each round shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes - preferrably 5 minutes tops.

 

Current ideas:

Combat

Medieval Mayhem

[sqoon]

Slot Racers

Kaboom!

Warlords

[tremoloman2006]

In addition to the titles you already selected:

 

Air-Sea Battle

Bowling

Demons To Diamonds

Fall Down

Frogs And Flies

Ice Hockey

Maze Craze

Tennis

Surround

Video Olympics

Warring Worms: The Worm (Re)Turns

 

All these games can be played easily without any struggle.

[NE146]

Maze Craze! Can't go wrong with that.. good competitive fun for 2 players. Other than that I'd say Indy 500.. but of course you'd need the driving controllers.

 

Air Sea Battle, Activision Boxing, Outlaw, Freeway, Surround, and Space War are other "challenge each other" games.. but I prefer the top 2 above.

[maibock]

Warlords is always raucous fun..

[+SpiceWare]

Medieval Mayhem

You'll probably want to drop menu option To Win down to 3 instead of the default 5. You could also trigger the No Man's Land easter egg to play without any castle walls

 

Warlords is always raucous fun..

Medieval Mayhem's better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR_B857oJo4

[Goochman]

Maze Craze with the blinking Maze is loads of fun - Also second Warlords/Homebrew variation

[StanJr]

Boxing. Get those Activision crabs swinging!

[maibock]

Medieval Mayhem

You'll probably want to drop menu option To Win down to 3 instead of the default 5. You could also trigger the No Man's Land easter egg to play without any castle walls

 

Warlords is always raucous fun..

Medieval Mayhem's better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR_B857oJo4

 

oh man.. that's awesome!

[PitfallHarry2600]

one word: BOXING

[Deteacher]

One of my favorite vs. games is Armor Ambush. Probably takes longer than 5 mins to play a full game, but it's a great strategy game.

[davyK]

In terms of time some of the recommended games may put you over -

 

Warlords and Medieval Mayhem would - though you can set the number of wins in Medieval Mayhem which would sort that out. You could of course just pick first to get 1 win in Warlords too (it keeps going until someone gets 5 wins before a game over which could last some time. These games would be better with 4 players though. (havign said that I think the original Warlords has an option to control 2 castles with one set of paddles)

 

Combat lasts just over 2 mins. Think the likes of Air Sea Battle and Freeway are the same. Space War games are first to 10 or highest score after 10 minutes.

 

Surround is first to 10 which should be OK - but if I remember right Video Olympics is first to 21 so games could go on a bit.

 

Maze Craze is really short - first to 3 wins maybe (the 2600 won't keep score though).

 

I suppose at the end of the day you can make up your own rules and ignore the 2600's rules re target scores..

 

I think Fishing Derby and Sky Diver are great 2 player games if you are looking for something quirky.

Edited May 8, 2012 by davyK

[raskar42]

wizard of wor is ostensibly co-op, but there's some opportunity for betrayal.

[littleman jack]

Flap Ping!

Dodge 'Em

[littleman jack]

And a few seconds, been mentioned above: Outlaw, Freeway, Fishing Derby.

 

And then there's always Combat with all its variations, Space Invaders, M*A*S*H*, and Gunfight.

Edited May 8, 2012 by littleman jack

[+Nathan Strum]

Some homebrews with excellent 2-player modes:

 

Fall Down

Medieval Mayhem

Bee•Ball

GunFight

Incoming!

[Lentzquest]

Demons to Diamonds was the first to pop into my mind.

 

Also a good one for taking turns is Warplock. Since there's only one life, the games are short and high scores low. The rounds go quick to determine a victor.

[Tjoppen]

Thanks for all the tips guys

[Pioneer4x4]

I think Fishing Derby and Sky Diver are great 2 player games if you are looking for something quirky.

Thumbs up for Sky Diver! Great simultaneous play.

[Crazy Climber]

As mentioned Fall Down, great in short bursts and crazy competitive.

[Crazy Climber]

Also a good one for taking turns is Warplock. Since there's only one life, the games are short and high scores low. The rounds go quick to determine a victor.

I didn't think of that, would be really good for a quick "high pressure comeback" feeling

[NE146]

There's obviously different kinds of "versus" too. i.e. games like Combat, Space War, or Boxing where you're actively trying to compete and defeat the other player, and other games where you're doing an action simultaneously and trying to get the better score (Sky Diver, Freeway). It's just all preference.

[+SpiceWare]

havign said that I think the original Warlords has an option to control 2 castles with one set of paddles

Yep, it's called Doubles. I implemented that option in Medieval Mayhem as well.

[raskar42]

Background: Our student union house is hosting a multi-game challenge of 12 3-person teams tomorrow.

I've offered my Atari 2600 Jr for the event, but I'd like some input what would be decent games to choose from.

At the moment I only have one joystick and one pair of paddles, but I'm trying to arrange for an extra joystick.

Each round shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes - preferrably 5 minutes tops.

 

 

So what did you finally decide on?

[ntavio]

Don't forget Dragster!