Good one player games from the 70s

[Spector]

There aren't many, but I'm wondering what games came out for the Atari in the ultra primitive 70s that can be played by one player and are half decent. Most seem to be two players like Combat but what single player games are worth a go? 

[Flojomojo]

I agree they're mostly for playing with friends. @Random Terrain has a super detailed list of stuff arranged chronologically you could check out. https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1978.html

 

I like 

Adventure

Superman

 

...hmmm, that's about it for single player games from the 1970s that I liked, either then or now. Can we do the 1980s instead? They're more fun. 

[+wongojack]

I assume we are sticking to Atari 2600 games only?

 

Breakout and Super Breakout must be in the conversation along with Circus Atari.  I also enjoy Night Driver for what it is.

 

Star Ship is better than it first appears, and while Sky Diver really shines as a 2 player game, it is diverting alone.

 

Finally, the 1 player pong in Video Olympics is pretty good too.

 

 

[hizzy]

Codebreaker, Basketball, Flag Capture, Bowling

[Isaiah Austin]

My favorites from the 70's are Warlords, Night Driver, Canyon Bomber, Breakout, Super Breakout, Basketball, and Star Ship.

4 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Can we do the 1980s instead? They're more fun. 

I can name plenty of my favorites from the 80's. If I had to pick one, it would be Battlezone.

[ubersaurus]

4 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I agree they're mostly for playing with friends. @Random Terrain has a super detailed list of stuff arranged chronologically you could check out. https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1978.html

 

I like 

Adventure

Superman

 

...hmmm, that's about it for single player games from the 1970s that I liked, either then or now. Can we do the 1980s instead? They're more fun. 

I've been going through the 1970s lineup in my Atari Archive youtube series! And yeah, the bulk of them do require two players to be any good/to be playable, but there's a few good single player options... (also Adventure, Super Breakout, Warlords, Night Driver, and Circus Atari are all 80s games on the 2600)

 

Superman is good, obviously, and Breakout. Video Chess if you like chess games, Bowling and Basketball are both pretty solid sports games, and I'll second Codebreaker as one that is surprisingly all right.

 

Home Run, Video Olympics, Surround and Flag Capture have okay single player options but they really shine with a second person.

Edited July 30, 2019 by ubersaurus

[BONEMAN]

No one's mentioned Brain Games. I think it's a great game.

Hunt & Score is fun too.

Edited July 30, 2019 by BONEMAN

[+wongojack]

16 hours ago, ubersaurus said:

(also Adventure, Super Breakout, Warlords, Night Driver, and Circus Atari are all 80s games on the 2600)

I guess it depends where you look:http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-2600-vcs-p_total-page-step-year_169-1-25-1978_2_G.html

 

 

[PacManPlus]

Slot Machine

[ubersaurus]

2 hours ago, wongojack said:

I guess it depends where you look:http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-2600-vcs-p_total-page-step-year_169-1-25-1978_2_G.html

 

 

I've been looking at old advertisements from newspapers and game announcements. I believe Randomterrain has done the same on his website; we have pretty similar takes on when games came out.

[roadrunner]

Indy 500

[+wongojack]

4 hours ago, roadrunner said:

Indy 500

Is definitely no fun with one player.  Did you hold a stopwatch or something?

[roadrunner]

It has 1 player game modes, i like it.

[Jim Pez]

Space invaders and Asteroids.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Jim Pez

[agb]

Best 1970s one player games imo are

breakout

basketball

bowling

home run

[BassGuitari]

It's worth noting that of the 32 titles in Atari's 1979 catalog, only Combat, Football, and Slot Racers lack any one-player games or variations (technically Sky Diver is also multiplayer only, but it can be played solo). These are some of my favorites:

 

Air-Sea Battle: lots of variety here and great gameplay, even if the CPU opponent really only serves to occasionally siphon points from you rather than actually threaten to outscore you; the submarine games might be the closest thing the Video Computer System ever got to Sea Wolf until the homebrew came out many, many years later

 

Basketball: certainly the most challenging one-player '70s Atari game, IMO (except maybe Video Chess...but I just naturally suck at chess), and perhaps the most realistic sports game to date

 

Breakout: an absolute classic, and arguably the definitive Atari game of this period; lots of extra game modes keep this one from getting monotonous

 

Canyon Bomber: Sea Bomber is the real star of this show, IMO, but Canyon Bomber is great in its own right, too; the CPU opponent is actually competitive!

 

Home Run: this one might be my favorite baseball game of any era; simple, fast, and arcadey, with a good mix of fielding and handicap options

 

Miniature Golf: imagine Pong turned into a golf game--it's exactly as awesome as it sounds!

 

Star Ship: as a port of a one-player arcade game, this is one of the few early Atari games that seems like it was designed as a one-player game rather than being essentially a two-player game with some brain-dead AI tacked on; there's a deceptive level of risk/reward depth to the gameplay; Warp Drive and Lunar Lander variations mix up the action nicely

 

Street Racer: this cartridge traditionally gets shit on pretty hard, but with its variety and fast, twitchy gameplay, I actually get a lot of mileage out of this one (*rimshot*); Slalom and Scoop Ball are standout variations

 

Video Olympics: of the 50 variations of Pong this cartridge has, only the first two (IIRC) are one-player games, but they're far and away the most compelling single-player "Video Tennis" games you'll find from this period; naturally, though, the main events are the 2-4 player games
 

 

(I've seen Super Breakout, Night Driver, and Adventure mentioned here--these didn't come out until 1980...or 1982, in Super Breakout's case!)

Edited August 8, 2019 by BassGuitari

[+wongojack]

Interpret as you will.

 

The OP has never replied to the thread, but all he said was "from the '70s."  Regardless of when the 2600 versions were released, Night Driver, Circus Atari, and Super Breakout on the VCS are most definitely versions of games that are "from the '70s."

[davyK]

Most early 2600 games are multiplayer but there is some fun to be had for solo gamers.

 

Flag Capture which is a predecessor of Minesweeper.

Breakout

Blackjack - quite a sophisticated simulation actually - reading the manual reveals its features and options.

Casino the sequel to Blackjack, drops a few options but adds a poker game and a very good poker solitaire mode.

Sky Diver is better in 2 player but still a good score challenge game in single player.

 

 

[onemoretime]

Though released in 1980, Fishing Derby. I still play that one at least once a week.

[Mr SQL]

imo the most interesting and complex one player game of the 70's is Video Chess - I still play this regularly, like the mood ring effect while the computer thinks.