2600 Games with Best "Attract Mode"

[wiseguyusa]

Not all of my 2600's are fully functional. What I want to do is put carts like Pac Man Jr that have coin-op style "Attract mode"in the partially functional systems for the display. Any suggestions?

Edited July 1, 2014 by wiseguyusa

[+FujiSkunk]

Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man are among the best, I think.

[retrogoober]

IMO, homebrews have the best attract screens, especially if music is part of the 'attract' as it is usually on loop, I would suggest:

 

Toyshop Trouble

Lady Bug (no music though)

Thrust (beautiful text effect with one of the best 2600 tracks EVER)

[retrogoober]

Oh, & Juno First, & Lead, & Go Fish!

Edited July 1, 2014 by retrogoober

[Bodyshots]

Frogger is another, every so often the music cues up to grab your attention

[sloth-machine]

Kangaroo is so bad that it's good. The main player is just jumping and moving to the right even when blocked by the wall, until death. This is repeated infinitely.

 

Visually impressive is Moon Patrol, Dig Dug, and Centipede. All of these are very 'arcade-like' in their attract mode.

Edited July 1, 2014 by sloth-machine

[supercat]

Not to be overly vain, but in Strat-O-Gems is used with an AtariVox or other EEPROM device in port 2, the attract mode will show the play which resulted in the deepest combination and the play which yielded the most points. One day I left my nephew alone with that cartridge, and when he told me he'd gotten a 7-deep combination I might not have believed him except that the attract mode showed his amazing play.

[Osbo]

Back in the day? Activision always had some good attract modes IMO.

[Serious]

I am partial to the Centipede title screen.

 

Juno First is also a favorite of mine.

[cvga]

I'll second Ms. Pac-man

 

I also like Double Dunk's attract mode

[Atari Punk 78]

Jungle Hunt!

[wiseguyusa]

No-one mentioned ET, which although the worst game of all time, had one of the best attract modes.

[wiseguyusa]

I don't know that I have ever seen Gravatier or Desert Falcon, mine are still sealed.

 

I would assume that they would have decent ones just based on other Atari games at that time.

[Lentzquest]

Journey Escape works pretty well for an attract mode. Joust, Galaxian and Taz aren't bad either as far as vintage games go. As previously mentioned, Juno First is really great if you have any modern releases.

[Britishcar]

Adventures of Tron: great opposite flowing color rainbows

Atlantis: flying spaceships

Battlezone: autoplay, very colorful, lots of motion

Bugs Bunny: title / brief game play

California Games: scrolling text, lots of rainbow colors and playfield animation, repetitive music

Carnival: gameplay

Cosmic Ark: gameplay

Decathlon: running man with torch, scrolling infinite stadium

Demon Attack: game play

Dig Dug: "arcade" mode

Enduro: driving through the scenery

Fast Food: game play

Laser Gates: game play

Millipede: game play/arcade title look

Miner 2049er: screen tour

Moonsweeper: moving sprites

Night Driver: drivin' at night!

Phoenix: game play

Pooyan: game play with color shifting

Quickstep!: game play

Rampage: arcade attract mode

Realsports Boxing: game play

Realsports Tennis: game play / title

Solar Fox: game play (sort of) / title

Spacemaster X-7: game play

Spaceshuttle: lazy orbiting

Spider Fighter: game play

Sword Quest: Earthworld: cool sword

Tapper: game play

Time Pilot: flying around with color shifting

Track and Field: game play / title

Trickshot: balls moving on table

Turmoil: game play

Vanguard: game play

Worm War 1: noisy game play

[Lentzquest]

I'll second Ms. Pac-man

 

I also like Double Dunk's attract mode

I decided to spend some time with Double Dunk today and for whatever reason remembered this thread. The attract mode on this guy is awesome! The music is good without being too overbearing, and the little guys dancing to it really push it over the top. Wish I'd have given this game more love sooner.

[Army Of 2600]

I like Fantastic Voyage, because it starts playing the demo mode right away complete with sound effects.

[+SpiceWare]

Stay Frosty 2 has an attract mode. After sitting at the menu for a while it'll start up one of 4 levels, selected to show off key elements of the gameplay, while playing supercat's awesome tune.

[roadrunner]

Road Runner

[high voltage]

No-one mentioned ET, which although the worst game of all time, had one of the best attract modes.

It was never the worst game of all time, you're mistaken.

[high voltage]

X-Man (left difficulty switch must be set to "A"): Excellent introduction of characters (naked blonde, X Man with hard on, plus the three enemies), with some great noises.

Edited January 12, 2015 by high voltage

[+Random Terrain]

Seaweed Assault has a soundless attract mode:

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/173190-seaweed-assault/

[mos6507]

It was never the worst game of all time, you're mistaken.

 

I think there would be less semantical arguments about this if people just replaced the word "worst game" with "worst failed game". It's just like Ishtar isn't the world's worst movie but it's probably right up there as one of the worst failures because of its backing and the hype. That's pretty much why ET has the reputation it does, because it was such a high profile property. There are plenty of 2600 games that have worse gameplay than ET, especially if you include the early titles like Basic Math or Street Racer.

[Rhomaios]

HERO. Also: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/201327-which-2600-title-has-the-bestmost-interesting-attract-mode/

[sloth-machine]

 

I think there would be less semantical arguments about this if people just replaced the word "worst game" with "worst failed game". It's just like Ishtar isn't the world's worst movie but it's probably right up there as one of the worst failures because of its backing and the hype. That's pretty much why ET has the reputation it does, because it was such a high profile property. There are plenty of 2600 games that have worse gameplay than ET, especially if you include the early titles like Basic Math or Street Racer.

 

Not to change the subject, but Shenmue wins for worst failed game, at least from what I read. The budget was speculated between 50-70 million, and returned less than 1/4. I remember reading they would have to sell 2 copies to every Dreamcast owner to start turning a profit. Sega in the 90's had 'Atari logic' and it was their downfall.