The 10 Worst Atari 2600 Games

[kaz321123]

I'm typing this at 3:13am, I just collected a ton of stuff from the Midwest Gaming Classic.

 

I managed to buy from vendors on friday night before the crowds...and I managed to haul in a ton of stuff. I don't know if this is impressive or not, but I'm thrilled I got a cart of Chase the Chuckwagon for atari 2600, as well as some others I had literally never heard of.

 

Ok, well onto the topic at hand...

 

I think Stan's ultimate goal has been achieved with this thread. I'll bet he secretly LOVES starship, and masterminded this whole scenario. How many people on this thread have recently fired up this game? I have no idea about the game, but I'm even tempted to try it out (tho I'm sure I've played it at one point).

 

The best way to get games played is to make a top 10 worst game list! And watch as all the collectors try to get these games (like me) hehe.

 

My wife thought the game 'I want my mommy' sounded cute-so I ordered it on ebay. How gangsta is that? Ya-yer jealous now

 

Please keep on doing game reviews, Stan, I laughed out loud several times reading what you wrote-you are quite entertaining in your writing style. I envision a young kid bringing their new cart 'i want my mommy' to school the next day-and then witnessing the ensuing chaos

 

-Alpha

Edited April 12, 2014 by kaz321123

[kaz321123]

Ya know, fire fighter's box is really cool. If I saw that cart back in the day-I would've gone bonkers to get it. When I was really young-I absolutely LOVED watching fire trucks coming out from the fire house (I don't care if that sounds silly or not-but I thought it was the coolest thing to happen in the universe).

 

I think the packaging itself would have made the game fly off the shelves (but of course I just assume other people will have the same interests/loves as me).

 

Seeing the firetruck on the screen and being even slightly associated with the action (even if it sucked), would have also been fun for me. Games of this era are often about imagination as much as the actual gameplay. The art and commercials were often FAR FAR better than what you saw on the screen. It is one of the endearing qualities of these games.

 

-Alpha

 

p.s. I guess I should get some sleep for the convention this morning. Signing off

[Rik]

I don't believe there are any bad games, it's all relative. I've seen the same games hated by some, loved by others. There sure were games released, especially for the 2600 that seemed to have been rushed to get a piece of the 2600 cash grab bandwagon that went on in the early 80's though! Every game has it's charm IMO.

[Buyatari]

ET isn't just bad..........it's the PITS!

 

Horrible game. So sick of people making excuses for this awful game which ruined many the day for so many at Christmas. Don't tell me how you can avoid the pits or how you can get out of them. Instead tell me what are they doing there in the first place. Perhaps it should be renamed ET's Lunar Adventure? ET was a major movie of that generation but ET himself wasn't much of an action hero. Elliot perhaps on his bicycle would have been a better character to focus on. As a young child who would you want to be for Halloween, ET or Luke Skywalker? Back in the 80's when parents and teachers ignored bullies this is the kid who got his ass kicked.

 

To understand why so many consider this game to be the worst of all time you have to understand the setting. This was a highly anticipated game to a very popular movie on the most loved game system we had ever known. Instead of a game anyone could play right out of the box we received a somewhat complicated game that didn't and still doesn't make much sense.

 

Was it the worst game ever made for the 2600? Probably not.

Was it the most disappointing game for any system ever made. Yes, I'd have to say it was.

[SoulBlazer]

ET isn't just bad..........it's the PITS!

 

Horrible game. So sick of people making excuses for this awful game which ruined many the day for so many at Christmas. Don't tell me how you can avoid the pits or how you can get out of them. Instead tell me what are they doing there in the first place. Perhaps it should be renamed ET's Lunar Adventure? ET was a major movie of that generation but ET himself wasn't much of an action hero. Elliot perhaps on his bicycle would have been a better character to focus on. As a young child who would you want to be for Halloween, ET or Luke Skywalker? Back in the 80's when parents and teachers ignored bullies this is the kid who got his ass kicked.

 

To understand why so many consider this game to be the worst of all time you have to understand the setting. This was a highly anticipated game to a very popular movie on the most loved game system we had ever known. Instead of a game anyone could play right out of the box we received a somewhat complicated game that didn't and still doesn't make much sense.

 

Was it the worst game ever made for the 2600? Probably not.

Was it the most disappointing game for any system ever made. Yes, I'd have to say it was.

I agree with a lot of that. And yes, it was disappointing, but I'd say the port of Pac-Man for the system was THE most disappointing 2600 game. ET was just second.

[Buyatari]

I agree with a lot of that. And yes, it was disappointing, but I'd say the port of Pac-Man for the system was THE most disappointing 2600 game. ET was just second.

Pacman was very disappointing but ET with the commercials was a more hyped product. I remember when ET was released and I don't really remember when Pacman was released. One day Pacman was there on the shelf and we bought it. For ET we waited in line.

 

Some of the suggestions here for worst game are spot on. Horrible games but they are ones not everyone outside of our collecting circle has ever heard of. If there was a Family Feud question "Name an Atari 2600 game" none of titles listed here as worst game would even make the board. ET and Pacman would both be there. Both were very common games that most were disappointed with. ET and Pacman may get a bad rap as worst Atari 2600 games. Instead they are two worst games that everyone owned or the 2 most disappointing games for the system.

[VectorGamer]

the 2 most disappointing games for the system.

 

I didn't buy ET when it came out, but I bought Pac-Man. Man what a major disappointment. Everything about Pac-Man sucked. When you play the arcade game you expect that the 2600 version is going to be dumbed down. But 2600 Pac-Man wasn't even in the ballpark.

[Buyatari]

With Pacman I guess I was used to it. There were some really bad ports and clones already so while I was disappointed it was less of a shock. There were official pacman watch games which were almost unplayable and some (but not all handhelds) sucked pretty bad.

 

The Coleco tabletop was pretty good and it even had a head to head game but I remember one by Tomy that was bad. On the Tomy version you could only eat in one direction. In some situations you had to back up over a pellet and then go forward to eat it.

[Master Phruby]

I remember right before E.T. the game came out, my family went to Universal Studios Hollywood. Out in the parking lot they had a huge tent promoting the upcoming game. When you entered the tent, you were in a forest. The E.T. music was playing. You walked pass displays of the communicator and Elliot's bike. You came to a clearing were a number of 2600s were setup to play E.T. They had staff running around explaining the game. I thought as a kid the game was pretty easy once told what each symbol meant. They also were promoting the Michael Jackson retelling of the E.T. story on tape. There were more props and a gift shop. It was a pretty impressive setup. It reminded me of the displays you see at conventions or E3 promoting a game.

[supercat]

It also features the first "FPS" ever to appear on a console, as far as anyone knows.

I just saw the arcade game upon which it is based. Interestingly, from the look of it, I'd say the arcade machine was using flicker multiplexing to display the two on-screen enemies at once (the enemies scaled much more smoothly than the 2600, though).

Edited April 14, 2014 by supercat

[BassGuitari]

I just saw the arcade game upon which it is based. Interestingly, from the look of it, I'd say the arcade machine was using flicker multiplexing to display the two on-screen enemies at once (the enemies scaled much more smoothly than the 2600, though).

I was thrilled to see Starship 1 at MGC this weekend. I've been wanting to try it for years!

[JacobZu7zu7]

Hahah you guys... Well, I mean, again, this is based on personal experience, primarily, having played every single game in the 2600 library, minus homebrews really. I couldn't possibly include ALL Mythicon games on there, and I mean they're essentially the SAME game anyway. The other two are just a little more like a game. STOP DEFENDING STAR SHIP, ABSOLUTE GARBAGE GAME. Yeah, I'll probably do a favorite list next. I have to move over an action figure article I did once first.

 

I thought the list was pretty good,.... many duds in there, the only one I liked was SORTA Mommy and Mr Do Castle, but both are "butt ugly" in graphics, only a mommy could love.

 

Bass Guitari list, isn't any more or less accurate... lol. They claim your list is lacking and theirs is like the same attempt!

 

I'd play Shark Attack over Fire Fighter. Sea Hunt over Space Jockey, and then to put a Slot Machine game, while he wonders about your Tic Tac Toe?? How's a slot machine an Atari game?

 

Word Zapper is it THAT bad?

 

I thought Sneak 'n Peek was sorta cool, at least in graphics....

 

Are these lists the worst games or just most hated games ?

Edited June 10, 2014 by JacobZu7zu7

[JacobZu7zu7]

Ugh. Laser Blast is zen because you can certainly lull yourself into an out of body experience with the mind numbing repetition and lack of challenge. It takes too damn long to max the score. It's still more playable than anything from Mythicon.

 

I'd say... Mythicons Sorcerer is better, less repetition then LB and a bit more challenge.

[JacobZu7zu7]

My throw together list,

 

10. Laser Blast (Repetition has been defeated by Laser Blast)

9. Deadly Duck (Deadly boring!)

8. Space Cavern (just hate it to the core, awful graphics and sound and gameplay!!!!)

7. Space Jockey (YUCK......!)

6. Gas Hog (Makes James Bond seem like a masterpiece)

5. Cruise Missle (Plays like its broken)

4. Fire Fighter (More challenge watching Firefighters on TV)

3. Mythicons Fire Fox Fly....

2. Bad Sports titles Karate, etc...

1. ???? ATARI HELL ????

 

I never played SSSSNAKE... or a couple of the other ones people mentioned. Those can fill up the top spot, or save Space Cavern

Never really played the adult games, but the couple I tried were at least funny and challenging.

 

Basic Math, Tic Tac Camel Toe, Slot Machine etc...are pretty much the top spots, ahead of the ones above... but these aren't real games just THINGS, it would be typical and boring to list any of these.

 

I wont put Star Ship on there it was made in 1977... that's impressive for the time.

 

Swordquest was a game contest and not a real Atari game effort.

[keithbk]

Yeah, I think I would have to say Ssssnake, Karate, Miniature Golf, and Star Ship should be on the list (even if you think Star Ship is historic, it simply is not fun).

 

The Swordquest games may look good, but they absolutely suck as far as games go (they need an on-screen objective; something to really play for...not just clues in a comic book). I put them down as disappointing more than simply awful.

 

I'm one of those people who despises Spike's Peak. There are other games I typically rank low, but don't know if they qualify for the 10 worst games ever: Slot Machine, Desert Falcon, Ghost Manor, Demons to Diamonds, Fun with Numbers, Laser Blast, Zaxxon, Picnic etc.

 

While I admit Firefighter is simplistic, it does pull off the graphics in an amazing way. For this reason alone, I can give it kudos. I remember it coming out back in the day and thought it was pretty cool for what it pulled off.

Edited June 11, 2014 by keithbk

[Atari2600Lives]

Very good article

[JacobZu7zu7]

Yeah, I think I would have to say Ssssnake, Karate, Miniature Golf, and Star Ship should be on the list (even if you think Star Ship is historic, it simply is not fun).

 

The Swordquest games may look good, but they absolutely suck as far as games go (they need an on-screen objective; something to really play for...not just clues in a comic book). I put them down as disappointing more than simply awful.

 

I'm one of those people who despises Spike's Peak. There are other games I typically rank low, but don't know if they qualify for the 10 worst games ever: Slot Machine, Desert Falcon, Ghost Manor, Demons to Diamonds, Fun with Numbers, Laser Blast, Zaxxon, Picnic etc.

 

While I admit Firefighter is simplistic, it does pull off the graphics in an amazing way. For this reason alone, I can give it kudos. I remember it coming out back in the day and thought it was pretty cool for what it pulled off.

 

Mini Golf I actually had fun with, but it's been some years since I last played it.

 

Fire Fighter has awesome graphics and controls.... but there's no game challenge at all, unless you're 3-6 yr old.

 

Ghost Manor I find pretty fun, and really enjoyed when I first got it.

 

I actually like 2600 Zaxxon, despite the limitations it's very playable if you give it a chance.

 

Demons and Spikes Peak became much better when I read the manual.

 

Picnic I thought I liked... but it gets worse or more shallow the more I play lol.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Ugh. Laser Blast is zen because you can certainly lull yourself into an out of body experience with the mind numbing repetition and lack of challenge. It takes too damn long to max the score. It's still more playable than anything from Mythicon.

 

Nope... it's just Activision illusion clouding the senses... its all the same repetition... the only difference is Laser Blast makes a noise when it hits the object. lol

 

I would actually say now that Laser Blast might be even worse then Mythicon games, because for gosh sakes it's David Crane and Activision here! Pitfall programmer... and this Laser Blast is how it all started?!

 

Just like Mythicon 3 enemies show up on the screen at a time, and Mythicons zig zag and move into you, and you have to shoot down in one hit, while Laser Blast you shoot one by one and the lasers and tanks are even easier to hit.

 

I played Fire Fly.... on emulation, setting Player/Diamond. got 1,500 at least the challenge put me out of my misery? Not the worst game for me...

Edited June 13, 2014 by JacobZu7zu7

[Chris++]

ET isn't just bad..........it's the PITS!

 

Horrible game. So sick of people making excuses for this awful game which ruined many the day for so many at Christmas. Don't tell me how you can avoid the pits or how you can get out of them. Instead tell me what are they doing there in the first place. Perhaps it should be renamed ET's Lunar Adventure? ET was a major movie of that generation but ET himself wasn't much of an action hero. Elliot perhaps on his bicycle would have been a better character to focus on. As a young child who would you want to be for Halloween, ET or Luke Skywalker? Back in the 80's when parents and teachers ignored bullies this is the kid who got his ass kicked.

 

To understand why so many consider this game to be the worst of all time you have to understand the setting. This was a highly anticipated game to a very popular movie on the most loved game system we had ever known. Instead of a game anyone could play right out of the box we received a somewhat complicated game that didn't and still doesn't make much sense.

 

Was it the worst game ever made for the 2600? Probably not.

Was it the most disappointing game for any system ever made. Yes, I'd have to say it was.

 

So somebody whose tastes aren't the same as yours is "making excuses?" Odd angle.

 

Perhaps you're a teenager. One learns, over time: Everyone's different, and this is a good thing. What's especially strange is that you actually seem angry at the game, as if there's something deeper going on.

 

Hmmm. Were you harassed by an alien Muppet as a child?

 

The game is certainly a lot better than the corny movie/Reese's commercial from the same year. If you've played the game for more than ten seconds and you still don't like it, then there's probably a simple reason, besides simply "It sucks! That's simple, isn't it? Hyuk hyuk hyuk...":

 

1. You don't like exploration adventures with the random element being integrated nicely. Fair enough; taste is subjective. But that's all it is.

 

2. You don't like reading manuals. This would suggest, again, that you're a young man/woman who's used to having everything handed to you on "training" levels. It's not really your fault, but you might want to try reading manuals -- it can be the fun part of the experience of getting/trying out a new game.

 

3. You like what are commonly referred to as "twitch" games, rather than having to think while playing (or use your imagination to enjoy the abstract graphics...in which case, what are you doing in an Atari forum? ).

 

4. You're impressionable, as we all were as youngsters, and like to parrot the party line towed by other young people who weren't around when the game came out, and repeat things they've heard over and over -- basing their own opinions on those of others. This is actually impossible, as nobody can change your personal tastes in games any more than in food, but gullibility can be pretty resilient.

 

Baffling as the possibility is, the latter seems the most likely, considering this statement: "To understand why so many consider this game to be the worst of all time you have to understand the setting..." The setting? So the impact on the public is more significant to you than your own game-play experiences? What others think matters to you, regarding your taste in games? That's some strange sociological imposition on something that's ideally personal.

 

The game wasn't "disappointing" to myself or several of the other kids on the block around my age; we enjoyed it (especially Game 3, since the annoying enemies weren't around), and saw it as an addition to the look-for-stuff games that had been kicked off by the great Adventure and Superman, along with the equally awesome Raiders of the Lost Ark game.

 

If you're actually not a teenager, then why the weird vitriol? You should know better. It's confounding to me when others try to get people to agree with pure negativity. Like, do you win a prize if you change someone's mind? Perhaps you finally get the lost Swordquest prizes?

 

And for anyone who has a problem avoiding (or levitating out of) the wells in the game...man, you must be terrible at video games. It's incredibly easy to avoid the wells. It's more likely, however, that you played the game once, briefly, without learning how to play it, and basically just wanted to verify what you'd heard others say, perhaps to rationalize not purchasing the game.

 

EDIT: Upon proofreading, I think the above wound up appearing to be a lot more personal than I meant it. Sorry about that. That's not cool. I just wonder about the motives involved, when people actually get furious that others don't agree with what come off as kill-joy statements. But you're certainly not alone in making them; I guess I intended on a general inquiry into the hoped-for outcome of anyone's attempted bubble-bursting about any game. Uh...Go Browns.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Chris++

[JacobZu7zu7]

These lists of 10 worst whatevers seem to be made to be disputed.

At some point, will we see the List of 10 worst 10 worst lists?

 

 

LOL ! Then a list of the 10 worst, 10 worst lists disputes ...

[kaz321123]

Eventually, one of these 'worst' lists will have pitfall/pitfall 2 on them.

 

At that point, I shall say: "stop disliking what I like!" But in my picture-I'll be playing "Go" instead of "Chess".

 

 

ATARI!

[kaz321123]

I remember right before E.T. the game came out, my family went to Universal Studios Hollywood. Out in the parking lot they had a huge tent promoting the upcoming game. When you entered the tent, you were in a forest. The E.T. music was playing. You walked pass displays of the communicator and Elliot's bike. You came to a clearing were a number of 2600s were setup to play E.T. They had staff running around explaining the game. I thought as a kid the game was pretty easy once told what each symbol meant. They also were promoting the Michael Jackson retelling of the E.T. story on tape. There were more props and a gift shop. It was a pretty impressive setup. It reminded me of the displays you see at conventions or E3 promoting a game.

 

 

Do you by chance have a youtube link of this event? I'd love to see it!

 

oh wait...

Edited June 14, 2014 by kaz321123

[+Gemintronic]

It looks like the guys worst pick Fire Fly could have been something with a little more effort. Nothing wrong with a boss rush type game. Can't imagine why they thought continuous music on the Atari 2600 would work..

[accousticguitar]

Miniature Golf is one of my favourites. The main problem I had with it are the graphics are among the worst ever for 2600 games. The playfield blocks are huge! With Nukey Shay's help I hacked it and put in some nicer graphics. That made the game much nicer for me. The link to the hacks are in my signature.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Miniature Golf is one of my favourites. The main problem I had with it are the graphics are among the worst ever for 2600 games. The playfield blocks are huge! With Nukey Shay's help I hacked it and put in some nicer graphics. That made the game much nicer for me. The link to the hacks are in my signature.

 

 

Hey I liked Miniature Golf, it was interesting to see how the shots would end up. I'll have to try the hack out.