Suggestions needed for A8 Two-Player games for modern teenagers

[Jetboot Jack]

Xenophobe?

[+therealbountybob]

Tutankham(un) is another with dual controls for firing....

 

Can't believe I didn't give Flickin' Footballs a plug! Despite the mind blowing visuals it's a fun game. Basically it's a penalty shootout, one player is the striker and one is the goalie you have the winner is the first to score or save 10. Best to swap over and the net scores can be used. Fun game as you can control the ball while it moves too!!!

I did later add paddle controls too but they are a bit too slow as it's in BASIC. Check it out on the gwobby web site: http://www.freewebs.com/gwobby/morekendallsoftklassics.htm (scroll down!)

 

[Android8675]

Asteroids.

 

It looks awful, but the more players you add the more fun it is. It becomes SpaceWar with a lot of extra obstacles. Even in college (up to 1988) this was still a favorite party game in the dorm even though several people had newer, "better" game systems.

There's an emulator version of Asteroids, plays just like the arcade. I forget the ram requirements, but you'll need a modded 8-bit to play it 256kb maybe? Though like the arcade, only 1 person on the screen at a time.(Take turns)

 

I'd put in a vote for MULE, if they are willing to take the time to learn the game, playing with more human players makes the game a lot more fun.

 

Archon and Archon II are always challenging, BallBlazer.

 

I'd take Rally Speedway off the list, it's too hard to keep 2 cars on the screen (This game needs a network version, hint hint, someone)

 

Bristols is fun for up to 4 people, who can paint the walls fastest. Great party game.

 

MIDI Maze, better for STs, but the 8-bit version looks good, though I've never tried to link 2 consoles to play it.

 

i'm sure there are others. That's just the ones I remember playing with friends.

[bbking67]

I always go with the same favorites it seems, but for me the funnest party games are:

 

Wizard of Wor

Lords of Conquest

MULE

Bacterion (a rip off clone from Analog Magazine--its awesome)

Hard Ball!

Ballblazer (of course)

 

Honorable mention to Trivia Quest--a great fun game, but I expect the Trivia content to be a bit dated. Loads of fun though and great graphics and sound for what it is.

[+MrFish]

Honorable mention to Trivia Quest--a great fun game, but I expect the Trivia content to be a bit dated. Loads of fun though and great graphics and sound for what it is.

 

I'd forgotten about this one. Nicely done trivia game with some personality. There are a few things I don't like though. For instance it doesn't show the correct answer when you miss a question. It just lets you know you're wrong and moves along. This should be a basic requirement. How can anybody learn and progress if they're not corrected? Nevertheless one of the best trivia games on the Atari.

 

I like the Atari version of Trivial Pursuit too. They did a pretty nice job on it. The questions can get pretty difficult, even frustrating. But that's Trivial Pursuit; it makes you think and even learn. Can't fault it for that. That guy with the long nose is kind of weird though. Where in the world did they come up with that idea? Luckily you can turn him off.

Edited August 1, 2014 by MrFish

[Chilly Willy]

I'd put in a vote for MULE, if they are willing to take the time to learn the game, playing with more human players makes the game a lot more fun.

With at least two players, you can drive the prices up. This is especially important in the last round. Prices are set at the last value sold at in the previous round. In the final round, have one player with at least one unit sell, and have a player with money buy. Drive the price as high as you can before time runs out, and the final scores will be much greater. Especially if you stockpile on the last few rounds. Of course, doing that carries the risk that you'll fail for some reason... pirates, quake, etc. But you can't touch the scores otherwise.

 

Archon and Archon II are always challenging

Yep. If they're into chess or the like, Archon I and II are the games to go with.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Chilly Willy

[Bryan]

1) It needs to be two player head-to-head (being played on a 130XE).

2) I would like to avoid Karate/Beat 'em up's if possible since they have played that genre to death on other systems.

3) Co-op and/or competitive like Joust are ok, but probably best if it's pure competitive like Ballblazer, Archon.

 

 

Castle Crisis is my game so I'm biased, but I wrote it because the arcade version of Warlords was such a good multi-player game. It can be played with 1-4 players, but you will need paddles.

 

[bbking67]

 

I'd forgotten about this one. Nicely done trivia game with some personality. There are a few things I don't like though. For instance it doesn't show the correct answer when you miss a question. It just lets you know you're wrong and moves along. This should be a basic requirement. How can anybody learn and progress if they're not corrected? Nevertheless one of the best trivia games on the Atari.

 

I like the Atari version of Trivial Pursuit too. They did a pretty nice job on it. The questions can get pretty difficult, even frustrating. But that's Trivial Pursuit; it makes you think and even learn. Can't fault it for that. That guy with the long nose is kind of weird though. Where in the world did they come up with that idea? Luckily you can turn him off.

 

I think the reason that Trivia Quest doesn't show you the correct answer is that the game has a fairly limited database of questions, so this kind of extends the re-playability of the game. The questions do repeat fairly quickly. I never thought is detracted from the game (and I played it a lot with friends). It always went over well. As for Trivial Pursuit, in the day I never actually knew it existed! Looks like a PAL release... but for a major Canadian board game you'd think a Canadian Atari fanatic would have been all over it, but it was not the case. I'll have to try it out!

[+MrFish]

 

I think the reason that Trivia Quest doesn't show you the correct answer is that the game has a fairly limited database of questions, so this kind of extends the re-playability of the game. The questions do repeat fairly quickly. I never thought is detracted from the game (and I played it a lot with friends). It always went over well. As for Trivial Pursuit, in the day I never actually knew it existed! Looks like a PAL release... but for a major Canadian board game you'd think a Canadian Atari fanatic would have been all over it, but it was not the case. I'll have to try it out!

 

That makes sense. I haven't played it enough to know how deep the question database is. I was assuming it was of decent size, since the game spans four disks. I don't find it a big deal though; just something I'd prefer done differently.

 

I also haven't played Trivial Pursuit enough to know how big the database is there. I don't remember the question repeating much when I've played it. The base set of game disks is three, but it has a question editor. So there's some room to expand, if one has the patience and time to spend with it.

[+therealbountybob]

Not sure about Archon being like Chess!! my niece and nephew battled to the death was amazing to watch (whilst at the same time praying the joysticks survived)

 

Talking of Trivia games on the Page 6 archive there's one called Michael Jones' Battle Trivia (DS#35) - again the questions are out of date but the game has 3 or 4 head-to-head mini arcade games for when a players piece is about to be taken plus the end of game is a launch projectile, set power and angle jobbie at your opponents castle

[kogden]

My kids (one of them a teenager) like Joust and Castle Crisis. Yoomp! is a big hit with them too, they just take turns.

 

My 11 yr old son and I play Star Raiders and one of us will handle the keyboard while the other pilots and when we die, we switch. It's pretty entertaining.

[Marius]

Blip is a fabulous modern pong version with great graphics, nice game controls and a very nervous but appropriate tune.

 

Sexversi is a great reversi that has no adult content when played as a player vs player game.

 

Nibbler is cool too (simultaneous play though). Only problem is that on my atari it crashes from time to time.

[Wrathchild]

Claim Jumper for 2 players is great!

[+pboland]

It's been stated a couple times already, but I feel the need to have it stated again,

 

Wizard of Wor

 

​This game is very well done on the Atari 8-bit. I use the disk version. It makes for a great two player game.

[Britishcar]

Wow! These are great suggestions. Many of these I have never played before. Question: Ghosthunter dies on a 130XE with a purple screen but runs on an 800...correct? I'm limited to an actual 130XE for this project so OS-B only games and 4 joystick port games are out.

 

If you have any other suggestions, please do so...I'm compiling a list of these posts.

[Irgendwer]

If you have any other suggestions, please do so...I'm compiling a list of these posts.

 

* Race in Space (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2739)

* Highway Duel (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2033)

* Tigris (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=3267)

* Quick Step (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2730)

* Light race (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=5468) (there are many more 'Tron' clones...)

* Perxor (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2580)

* Panzerschlacht (http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-panzerschlacht_3882.html)

* Cuttlemania (?) (http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=cuttlemania&butt_details_x=)

 

and Dropzone (http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1734) - yes, if played co-op, this

is a very entertaining two player title: Assistant cares about cloaking and use of smart bombs...

 

Just noticed: You may like to inspect also this list:

http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-400-800-xl-xe-1-vs-2_player_6_8_G.html

[Fres]

I don't play simultaneously with others often anymore, but in the old days we had quite a bit of fun playing Zombies / Realm of Impossibility in two player mode. It's much more fun than one player mode.

 

I'll second Goonies too. It's very playable in one player mode, but even more fun for two.

 

Both are co-op only, if I remember correctly.

[Britishcar]

Thank you, guys! I've also just remembered that Demon Attack has a weird alternating 2-player co-op mode where the ship control switches back and forth every 4 seconds between P1 and P2. Kinda fun and goofy.