Ataricade Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 (edited) Hello, I am a new member at Atariage despite my frequently viewing the site I would like to know other's opinions on which arcade ports are best so that I have an idea of what to purchase in the future In terms of best, accuracy does not bother me too much- as long as the game is enjoyable After searching online a bit, I have become interested in the following games: Battlezone Gravitar Phoenix Ms. Pac-Man Crystal Castles Joust and of course many more =) I own a few common ones such as Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Missile Command, and Popeye- its only that I hope to expand my library with my favorite genre of games; Arcade =D I would love to hear any comments, recommendations, or any other feedback Thanks in advance Edited April 30, 2013 by Ataricade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 (edited) Kung Fu Master is a good port. Welcome to Atari Age. Edited April 30, 2013 by Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Welcome to Atari Age. I'll make a few comments on the games in you list first, then get onto my thoughts on some other conversions, there are a lot! Battlezone: Really nice game, the solid graphics work well and the scrolling landscape looks nice on the NTSC version, sadly the pal version doesn't have this just a solid ground colour. Gravitar: I don't like this game at all. Ugly graphics, finnicky awkward controls and not much fun to be had. Never played the arcade game but I belive it didn't set the world on fire at release either. Phoenix : Great graphics, smooth fast movement and animation. Lot of fun. The Atari did well with the "Death from above" type games for the most part. Ms. Pac Man : The best Pac game until the more recent hacks/homebrews. Very playable, less ghost flicker than the original Pac Man & without the guided missile ghosts from Jnr Pac. I still play this game alot. Crystal Castles : Looses most of it's appeal from the arcade with the beautiful hi-res graphics and trac ball being missing. Not one of my favourites. Joust: Solid conversion, controls well and looks ok. On to some others then! Space Invaders : Better than the arcade, the invaders have a ton of personality and the variations make the game, two player simultaneous, invisible invaders, moving bases etc. The first killer app on the Atari. Galaxian: Solid conversion much like Phoenix, again lovely graphics and smooth animation. Does have a bit of flicker but not enough to really impact the game. It's a good-un! Centipede : Well worth a play, one of my favourites. The title screen still looks great too. OK the mushrooms are just bricks and the centipede flickers like a dying neon light but it keeps all the game elements and remains a playable, fun game. Defender : This game has taken some real stick over the years. Well I'll come out now and say I really enjoy it. The complex arcade controls were sensibly and creatively made to work on the 1 button joystick(dropping behind the city for smart bomb) & the gut wrenching difficultly of the arcade is absent. I can actually play this game whereas I failed miserably on the arcade back in the day. You can become invincible by a programing quirk , the ship disapears when you fire and doesn't register collisions, so hammering the fire button means you never die. However just because you can doesn't mean you should or have to. Resist the temptation and the game is fun. Kangaroo : I have never played the arcade game, but in screen shots it looks lovely, the Atari version does not! However I do enjoy this game. Strange because I don't like DK or other similar games on the whole. I will say though, the game is hard. Some jumps are a bl@@y nightmare. Super Cobra : the sequel to Scramble with a helicopter. I love the hilarious scenario on this one. The graphics and scrolling are arse. But it plays well enough and I enjoyed the challenge. Good few hours play for the £1 i paid for the cart. I only have a very small collection these days, so these are taken from what I have and played over the l;ast few months or so. I'm sure lots of others will have plenty to say. I really have only scratched the surface here. he Atari has soooo many Arcade conversions. Anyhow, have fun everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennybrooks Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 To each his own, but crystal castles is one of my top 5 games for the Atari 2600. Joust is a poor conversion, poor collision detection ruins this game. Battlezone never really feels 3D to me in the Atari version, not a bad game, but just not very fun to play. You basically spin in circles trying to get the blips on the radar. Phoenix is very fun to play, but of course, not as detailed or fun as the arcade version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I would say reactor would be on this list, even though never played the arade but this has to be one of the best arcade ports for the 2600 and frogger (the starpath version) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataricade Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 (edited) Thank you for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it Super Cobra seems impressive, its only that there isn't much action? Enemies don't appear to fire at the helicopter or fly towards it- regardless, the terrain has me wondering how great Stargate would have been had the implemented a more 'rugged'/random terrain like the arcade- not that its' a poor game by any means and as for crystal castles, it seems to be a game enjoyed by some but not others- honestly I think that with a trackball (regardless of whether there is true trackball support) crystal castles may be an enjoyable game to play on an afternoon Oh and thanks for the great post BSA Starfire, I now have a clearer approach of which games to get Edited April 30, 2013 by Ataricade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Reactor Stargate hit up the AtariAge store for Pac-Man Arcade, Sea Wolf and Space Invaders Arcade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Crystal Castles, Berzerk, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Phoenix, Centipede and Space Invaders are some of my favorite 2600 arcade ports. There are more faithful ports of each out there for other systems, but many times 2600 ports are the most playable to me. In particular, Dig-Dug and Berzerk are excellent on the system, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProperRogue Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 (edited) I enjoy Venture and Solar Fox, and they're both pretty faithful to their arcade counterparts. Edited April 30, 2013 by ProperRogue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 (edited) It may help to have a comprehensive list of arcade titles.. there's older threads with lists e.g. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/23336-arcade-titles-on-atari-2600/?do=findComment&comment=256430 however that list from 2003 has since grown with the various homebrews since then (e.g. Ladybug, Crazy Balloon, Star Fire, etc.). Maybe someone more able than me can come up with a good current list. Edited April 30, 2013 by NE146 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I personally thought Pole Position was good. Despite the lack of colors and roadside obstacles, it still worked very well for an Atari 2600 title. The gameplay speed was actually faster than I expected (in fact, the fact it went faster than Enduro really got me at first,) and the overall challenge and gameplay was replicated well. Amazing for only an 8k game. Other favorites include Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids, Kung-Fu Master, Commando, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, and Galaxian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MH_Warrior Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I've always loved Battlezone, and even though there may not be as much of a sense of depth in the 2600 version, it's still to this day impressive how well it turned out. One of my favorite arcade and 2600 games... and anyone who hasn't played the Xbox 360 revamp needs to. I'll second the others listed and I'd like to add a special mention to Missile Command. The 3 button control scheme was always frustrating for me, so I find the 2600 version a lot more playable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algus Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Battlezone is pretty technically impressive for a 2600 game IMO. Most 2600 games that really dazzle me are homebrews from 2000+ so Battlezone is the real deal. Asteroids - but they practically give that baby away so if you have a 2600, you probably have like 5 copies of it already lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataricade Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 I appreciate the comments and feedback and @Algus , I have two copies of Asteroids - oddly enough, one has no copyright screen where as the other does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Robot Tank is the best arcade port for the VCS. Joust and Jr. Pac Man rank up there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) I would say reactor would be on this list, even though never played the arade but this has to be one of the best arcade ports for the 2600 and frogger (the starpath version) Totally agreed. I did play the arcade Reactor via MAME and the 2600 version stacks up well. You never can turn off the energy shield, but that's OK. For an even better experience, set the difficulty to A and use an actual track ball. Starpath easily has the best home port of Frogger on any system, bar none. Asteroids holds up well, too, but it's a tad too easy on default settings. Space Invaders is madly addictive and dirt common, so it should be in everybody's collection. Edited May 1, 2013 by shadow460 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohoki Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 moon patrol,dig dug,frogger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 My opinions.. Best arcade conversion: Berzerk. I actually enjoy it more than the arcade version. I highly recommend the version that adds voice (Berzerk VE, under hacks in the Atari Age store), which is the only thing I felt was missing. You have to play on game 3, though, or it just isn't the real thing. I never get bored with this game. Best homebrew arcade conversion: Lady Bug. Incredibly fun. Most under-rated: Defender. This does not have the beauty or complexity of the arcade game, so it is easy to dismiss at first, but it is damn fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lentzquest Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I agree with most of the games listed in this thread so far. I'd also highly recommend getting your hands on Juno First. It's a modern 2600 game but it's a port of an old Konami arcade shooter. One of the most enjoyable 2600 games ever made IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Berzerk. I actually enjoy it more than the arcade version. I highly recommend the version that adds voice (Berzerk VE, under hacks in the Atari Age store), which is the only thing I felt was missing. The other thing that's missing is the robot's diagonal shots.. if they could shoot diagonally that would make the game 100x different as far as difficulty. But it is what it is, I do agree it is one of the top 2600 ports as is though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataricade Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 Once again I appreciate the suggestions, I hope that this Atari community continues to thrive Juno First has appealed to me for some time, it is only that the cost is not affordable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Just played a bunch of Pole Position, just go a copy again after many years today! Yep this is an cool game, fast responsive and the car looks great. Why the other cars are colored like scrambled egg though is kinda odd, bit of variety would have been nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) The other thing that's missing is the robot's diagonal shots.. if they could shoot diagonally that would make the game 100x different as far as difficulty. But it is what it is, I do agree it is one of the top 2600 ports as is though. I'll be resuming work on Frantic towards the end of the month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRxdl2T8nlQ The video is from an older build, the "1 humanoid, 3 robot shots" is now "2 humanoid, 4 robot shots". Edited May 1, 2013 by SpiceWare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari_Warlord Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 In addition to all the excellent suggestions so far, I would add Warlords and Vanguard. Vanguard I loved as a kid because of the variety of gameplay. Warlords is still one of the best multiplayer games on the Atari. Pretty much every forum I belong to my handle is Atari_Warlord accept here, because it was already taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadZiontist Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 (edited) One that hasn't been mentioned, that's a great 2600 arcade game, is Mario Bros.. Edited May 2, 2013 by MadZiontist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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