Most unique ideas in 2600 games?

[godzillajoe]

I think Starpath's Communist Mutants from Space is pretty unique, Galaga looks to have been influenced by it.

 

How is Communist Mutants not a Galaxian knock-off?

[godzillajoe]

Freeway, surely a unique concept, David Crane said the idea came to him seeing people trying to cross a busy road.

 

But it plays like Frogger. It may have been first but there are other games with similar gameplay.

[Miss 2600]

ET?

 

Space Shuttle?

[high voltage]

 

But it plays like Frogger. It may have been first but there are other games with similar gameplay.

David Crane insists he never knew of Frogger when designing Freeway

[Christophero Sly]

Superman doesn't get near the recognition it deserves for having what were at the time of its release novel game elements.

 

-Multiple game-world screens

-Multiple independent actors

-Persistent world

-Warp screens

-Multiple game objectives (that work cross-purposely!)

 

Among others.

 

Can't think of a game on the 2600 that was more pioneering.

[Rex Dart]

Demons to Diamonds - The first game to mix alchemy and laser cannons.

[godzillajoe]

Just to beat this into the ground, it wasn't meant to be who did it first, once someone else did it, it's not unique. Freeway, Frogger, the second screen of Congo Bongo. Similar. Disqualified.

 

E.T., Superman, RaidersOTLA. (run around finding pieces of stuff to complete a mission)

 

Adventure, Haunted House (find the treasure while avoiding bad guys)

 

Pac-Man, Alien, Dodge'em, Lock N Chase etc (clear the dots from the maze)

 

Commie Mutants, Spider Fighter, Galaxian (shoot the attacking bunch of whatevers)

 

Enduro, Pole Position (behind the car racing)

 

I would even say Barnstorming and Grand Prix are the same game

 

Also isn't something like Sky Jinks just Skiing with an airplane

 

There have a been a few mentioned here that truly seem to be outside the box of "here's another variation of Pong or Breakout or Space Invaders" but the rest, not so much. Maybe the old 2600 just did certain things well and programmers stuck with what worked.

 

I mean ANY Galaxian/Space Invaders clone probably sold more than a game about a kid having to eat pancakes until he explodes.

Edited December 30, 2013 by godzillajoe

[JacobZu7zu7]

ET?

 

Space Shuttle?

 

E.T. I'd say is very unique... isn't this the first game where you can warp onto another screen, using the symbol indicator ? Walk... or run at two different speeds?

 

This game was sophisticated for 2600 and probably ahead of its time.

 

I think the fact you have to read the manual and the lack of time for Warshaw to design, was the games shortcomings.

Soooo glad it wasn't a pac-man clone. Alien did that well enough already.

 

Space Shuttle for 2600 is that the first simulator ?

[JacobZu7zu7]

I have a couple more unique ones,

 

Dolphin, sort of a tag and run gameplay, seems pretty original.

 

GI Joe Cobra Strike... a game that controls with 3 different methods with a paddle that only has 1 button and a disc. 1. You can move a shield to protect your GI Joe guys running below, 2. fire at a snake above and 3. move/adjust where your shots go! That's a great paddle game.

Edited December 31, 2013 by JacobZu7zu7

[jhd]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned Kaboom -- it has a unique concept and it is one of the few third-party titles to use the paddle controllers.

[GrizzLee]

Dragon stomper ... 1st and only game of its type on the 2600.

 

Same could be said for Survival Island

[high voltage]

Kaboom is from an arcade original.

 

Freeway I think is still unique , crossing the street without getting killed, otherwise Stampede is just a side scroller, instead of shooting you rope

[JacobZu7zu7]

Kaboom is from an arcade original.

 

Freeway I think is still unique , crossing the street without getting killed, otherwise Stampede is just a side scroller, instead of shooting you rope

 

 

Freeway is unique if it was made before Frogger hit the arcades.

 

Also, Stampede I'd say is not a shooter because you're not gonna get HIT by anything, and the goal isn't to remove/destroy. It's about bumping them forward, keeping them doggies movin' and roping them for points.

[high voltage]

Actually, besides arcades, Atari was the first mass market console to come up with unique gaming themes.

[RJ]

Stampede has the Black Angus calf & skull, which dont technically "shoot back", but they can trip you up enough to end the game.

[+bcombee]

Activision's Freeway shares a lot of characteristics with Atari's 1973 coin-on Space Race. Both involve moving from the bottom to top of the screen, with only vertical controls, while dodging horizontally moving obstacles. Unfortunately, there's no emulated version of Space Race as it was done with discrete components. It wasn't until 1975 that you got the first games using CPUs.

 

Kaboom is certainly inspired by Avalanche, a 1978 Atari game, although it used the Mad Bomber character instead of having a wall of rocks. I think that was a clever way to work around the 2600's RAM limitations. There was an Atari 8-bit computer version of Avalanche published through APX but written in-house by Dennis Koble who later left Atari to form Imagic.

Edited January 3, 2014 by bcombee