Lesser-known favorite games

[Nebulon]

I'm fairly new to the Atari 8-bit games catalog (and I really like what I'm seeing so far).

 

Anyone have any favorite games for these machines that are a little less well-known than the Dig Dugs and Pac-Mans of the world?

 

They don't necessarily have to be obscure... just things that people sometimes overlook.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Marius]

Well these are my favorite games, but I am not sure whether they are unknown or not. I leave out the very known games.

 

1. Nerm of Bemer (basic)

2. Spy's demise

3. Drelbs

4. Stampede

5. Ocean Detox

6. Oils well

7. Panther

8. Flip and Flop

9. Jewel Bits

10. Cropky

11. Eckn+ (this game is brilliant!)

12. Dodger (basic)

 

You really should check them out!

[+therealbountybob]

Ixion

Trolls and Tribulations

Gumball

Bug Attack

Whistler's Brother

Frogger II: Threedeep

M.U.L.E.

Nibbler

Frisky Tom

Diamonds (ESC)

Desmond's Dungeon (ESC)

Lunar Leeper (OSB)

Ataritris II

Dredis

Thank God It's Friday

Mr TNT

Aquatron

Gwobby's Adventure (BAS)!

Shamus Case II

Zone X

"Budget games"

Ninja

Ninja Master

Tanium

Transmuter

Kik-Start

Scooter

[kenjennings]

Shamus

[Level42]

Just rediscovered Drelbs a week or two ago, such a fun, original and hard game....and weird

[Level42]

Unexpected fun: Pinhead

 

 

This is a clone of Kick or Kick-Man arcade game by Bally-Williams.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8298

 

 

 

Turn off the terrible music though....

Edited February 20, 2014 by Level42

[hitchcock4]

 

The Return of Heracles had to be my favorite.

 

Combination adventure/combat and if you knew some Greek mythology, it helped you move along the storyline quicker. I would love to play it again.

 

[Paul Westphal]

Survivor by Synapse. Pretty cool concept...kind of like Sinistar but with stationary bases you have to take out. Pretty simple graphics but solid game play. Needs a remake.

[erichenneke]

Necromancer

[Rybags]

Some probably appear in Top 25 lists, but of the games that aren't high profile, some of the ones I recommend:

 

Captain Beeble, Mr Robot and his Robot Factory, The Final Legacy, Rally Speedway, Wargames, Sea Dragon, Whirlinurd, Snokie, Stealth/Landscape, Monster Smash, Pharoah's Curse, Aquatron, Red Max, Canyon Climber.

[adam242]

The Great American Cross Country Road Race is the best racer, bar none.

[MrFish]

Druid

[MrFish]

Druid

 

Speaking of which... Does anyone have or know where to get a digital copy of the instructions? I don't think I've seen them anywhere online yet.

Edited February 21, 2014 by MrFish

[MrFish]

 

Speaking of which... Does anyone have or know where to get a digital copy of the instructions? I don't think I've seen them anywhere online yet.

 

Actually I know how to play it. I have the C64 manual and I know all the Atari keys. But it would be nice to have the Atari version of the manual.

[xzerix]

My favourites were the the classic Missile Command, Pac-Man, Qix and Choplifter - all of which I had on cartridge rather than casette so It's easy to like instant loading times.

 

My more obsure favourites were Action Quest and Alien Storm (both of which I had on tape), plus the more common Rockford, Boulderdash and Ghostbusters.

 

I really wish someone would write an updated (and expanded) version of Alien swarm

[fox]

Little known, but very playable for two players:

- Polar Pierre (when bored playing standard levels - which doesn't happen quickly, use the built-in editor, much like Mr Robot's)

- Dyna Killers

- Major League Hockey

[snicklin]

Survivors from Atlantis, simple looking game with great gameplay

[Reaperman]

For some that haven't yet been mentioned:

 

• I'm a big fan of Getaway! It's a maze game, but I've always liked it over pac man games for its added complexity. This is probably my favorite A8 exclusive.
• I've also recently gotten back into Upward which is a slick little platformer that I can't get terribly far in.
• There was another game called 'Oil Game' or 'Gusher' that I really liked. There's also a modern(?) 'deluxe' one but I can't get that to work on my hardware for some reason. (this is a business sim, not for everybody)
• DungeonLords really does well for me too.
• His Dark Majesty is probably really popular the community, but it's modern so I wouldn't consider it well-known.

 

I've been looking around for the same kinds of titles since I'm 'rediscovering' atari right now, so I'm pretty interested in how this thread turns out.

I think I'm pretty good all the way up through 1987 or so, but there's a lot I missed 88' and later.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Reaperman

[+Ripdubski]

Getaway was good, but it was a pretty popular APX game. This may have been popular as well, though I don't recall too many friends playing it: Pharaohs Curse

[+therealbountybob]

...I really wish someone would write an updated (and expanded) version of Alien swarm

I think there are two versions of Alien Swarm, one is too easy?

 

- Polar Pierre (when bored playing standard levels - which doesn't happen quickly, use the built-in editor, much like Mr Robot's)

If you (or anyone) has any levels you have created please post an ATR

 

 

Can't believe I didn't give the High Score Club a plug; so this season we are playing games from A to Z - which leads to each round's poll and suggestions becoming interesting in themselves as we plough through the alphabet. Join in at any time guys, just a bit of Atari fun

[Sikor]

Many, many games...

Alley Cat - best of the best

Ghostbusters

Włóczykij

Tanks (You must try it - in two player mode)

Hans Kloss

Trix

Qix

Moon Patrol

Tekblast

Tempest X-treme

HERO

Submission

Preliminary Monty (Utopia unofficial version)

The Eidolon (3D fractal generated caves)

Cavernia

Plastron

Inside (Chip War on Atari)

Tales of Dragon & Cavemen

Shanghai

Tapper

Tiger Attack (but with simply enemy algorithms)

Operation Blood (Operation Wolf for Ataris)

Inspektor (sorry, Polish only)

Ixion

One on One

and many, many more...

[+slx]

Shamus ('2nd Person Maze Shooter, very fast')

Spelunker (cave exploration, multi-level, vertical scrolling, going ever deeper)

Fort Apocalypse (Helicopter in underground maze rescuing people)

M.U.L.E. (Best multiplayer ever)

Archon (magical action chess type game)

Bruce Lee

[MrFish]

Hans Kloss

 

I always thought this looked pretty cool, but I'm yet to find any English instructions.

[MrFish]

Perplexity

[Wrathchild]

Diamonds (English Software Company) and Sun Star / Solar Star (CRL in U.K. and Microdaft in U.S.)

Edited February 21, 2014 by Wrathchild