Favorite Parker Brothers game

[+jeremiahjt]

I finished off my Parker Bros. collection a couple of years ago and was thinking about doing this.  Then I realized I probably need to spend some more time with all the games before I tried to pick my best or rank them.  After spending plenty of time with all the games I think I could probably rank them from one to twenty-one now.  As a kid the only games I had were Q*bert, Frogger, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Spider-Man, and Amidar, so there might be some nostalgia with those.

 

As a kid my favorites were Q*bert and Amidar.  I liked the other three games I had, but those two were my most played.  My favorite of the games I did not have as a kid is definitely Montezuma's Revenge.  The 2600 version is the only version I have spent any time with and I love it.  So for me it comes down to Q*bert versus Montezuma's Revenge.  I think I have to go with my childhood favorite Q*bert as I still do love to play the game.

 

Here are a couple of old threads that are about Parker Brothers' games:

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by jeremiahjt
Grammar

[Shawn]

I picked Star Wars Arcade but if I was to have the option to pick from protos also I would pick Ewok Adventure.

[TeddyBear89]

Aside from the music, I always thought that the 2600 Montezuma's Revenge was on par with Pitfall II Lost Caverns as the showcase adventure game for the VCS.  The game offers three deep and challenging levels that you'll spend lots of time exploring. 

[NE146]

Definitely Frogger for me.

 

For Montezumas I like the 8-bit versions. But I guess I should really give the VCS versions a deep dive which I've always kind of wanted to do. 

[insertclevernamehere]

Montezuma's Revenge by a country mile for me.  Frogger is great but I have the Colecovision version and even if I had it for my 2600, MR would still win.  Same goes for Q*bert.  I have the CV version.  Actually I like Q*bert way more than Frogger.  Still not as much as MR though.  Changing the subject slightly, how can you start a poll?  Can anyone do it?  I started a thread that would've worked much better as one.

 

edit:  I just figured out the poll thing by myself.

Edited September 28, 2020 by insertclevernamehere

[davyK]

I only played 2 Parker games - ESB and Super Cobra and I really enjoyed them both. Super Cobra edges it for me as it feels a bit more varied than ESB even though the scrolling is very jerky....

 

I really like the idea of navigating through caverns. Was a big fan of Scramble in the arcade too.

Edited September 28, 2020 by davyK

[Voxel]

Q*bert

[BydoEmpire]

I voted Spider Man, I always liked that game despite not generally being a fan of super heroes or having any particular love of the Spider Man franchise.

 

Very tempted to vote Tutankham, Frogger or Star Wars: ESB.

[high voltage]

Wow, so many good games from PB...

 

It is easier to list the 'bad games': Mr Do!'s Castle, GI Joe Cobra Strike/Action Force, Star Wars:Jedi Arena, Reactor.

Kid game: Strawberry Shortcake Musical Match-ups

 

The rest I really like, I actually love Amidar, played it for hours. I also like Sky Skipper, a nice Nintendo arcade game. No love for Star Wars Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle? It's a great game.

Edited September 30, 2020 by high voltage

[jhd]

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was one of the first ever games that I played on a 2600 -- at a friend's place, before I received my own 2600 -- so it holds a very special place for me. The gameplay may be lacking, but I was impressed with the theme music.  

 

Amidar never made any sense to me (and the bizarre TV commercial did not help). 

 

I just do not much care for Frogger (on any system).

 

Popeye was interesting, but the graphics are so limited.

 

I have not played anything else in the library enough to have an opinion. 

 

[Agamon]

Damn, it's really hard to pick one.  Eventually went with Empire Strikes Back, but it could have been one of another five games, too...

[zzip]

5 hours ago, high voltage said:

It is easier to list the 'bad games': Mr Do!'s Castle, GI Joe Cobra Strike/Action Force, Star Wars:Jedi Arena, Reactor.

I like Reactor! 

[+jeremiahjt]

Three votes for The Empire Strikes Back in a half of an hour has vaulted it into second and only a vote behind first place.

 

I hope somebody votes for Amidar. It is my third favorite Parker Bros. game and I hate to see it without a single vote.

[zzip]

I think Empire Strikes Back was the first Star Wars video game ever?

 

It was cool to have a SW game back then,  but the gameplay of that thing got old pretty quickly :)

[high voltage]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

I think Empire Strikes Back was the first Star Wars video game ever?

 

 

Earlier:

 

RCA Studio II: MG-203 Star Wars 

 

 

and this thing:

 

 

perhaps this as well:

Edited September 30, 2020 by high voltage

[glazball]

Voted for Frogger as well.  It's just a classic game and even though there are better ports on other systems (or even on 2600!), I just have so much nostalgia for it.  Gyruss, Amidar and Tutankham are personal favorites too but I had to go with the iconic classic.

[zzip]

42 minutes ago, high voltage said:

 

Earlier:

 

RCA Studio II: MG-203 Star Wars 

 

 

and this thing:

 

 

perhaps this as well:

I don't really consider electronic standalone games to be the same thing as video games,  but I wasn't aware of the RCA Studio II game..   Thanks! 

[+jeremiahjt]

Here is my list from 1 to 21 that I know all of you have been anxiously awaiting.

 

1. Q*bert

2. Montezuma's Revenge

3. Amidar

4. Frogger

5. Star Wars: The Arcade Game

6. Popeye

7. Gyruss

8. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

9. Sky Skipper

10. Spider-Man

11. G.I. Joe-Cobra Strike

12. Star Wars: Jedi Arena

13. Frogger II: Threeedeep!

14. Tutankham

15. Reactor

16. Strawberry Shortcake Musical Match-Ups

17. James Bond 007

18. Q*bert's Qubes

19. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle

20. Super Cobra

21. Mr. Do!'s Castle

 

The biggest gaps are from 3 to 4 and 15 to 16.  Hopefully this bump will also catch the eye of an Amidar fan so they can vote.  There has to be one, right?

[Cebus Capucinis]

I think you all know what mine is.

[+jeremiahjt]

3 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I think you all know what mine is.

Strawberry Shortcake? I can honestly say I did not expect anyone to vote for Strawberry Shortcake. Now Amidar is losing to Strawberry Shortcake Musical Match-Ups. Poor, poor Amidar.

[Jaden (JRH)]

I voted for Gyruss.

[adamchevy]

My favorite is Gyruss followed closely by Qbert and Reactor.

[Lord Thag]

Montezuma for sure, though that's closely followed by Gyruss, Jedi and Reactor.

Never understood the love for Empire though. Sure, everyone had it but even back in the day, I found it very repetitive.

[zzip]

1 hour ago, Lord Thag said:

Montezuma for sure, though that's closely followed by Gyruss, Jedi and Reactor.

Never understood the love for Empire though. Sure, everyone had it but even back in the day, I found it very repetitive.

For me it was just the novelty of having a Star Wars game, especially one based on my favorite SW movie (of the two movies that had been released by 82 ? ).   But you are right, it wasn't much fun, it was repetitive.   Not one of my favorites in retrospect

[Lord Thag]

36 minutes ago, zzip said:

For me it was just the novelty of having a Star Wars game, especially one based on my favorite SW movie (of the two movies that had been released by 82 ? ).   But you are right, it wasn't much fun, it was repetitive.   Not one of my favorites in retrospect

I somehow ended up owning Jedi first back in the day, which nowadays is quite a bit less common. I always found it the better game. It was tougher, had multiple stages and was more fun

 

I ended up with Empire a couple of years later, which I traded from a friend. I liked it ok then, but increasingly less so over the years. While I wouldn't put any of the PB Star Wars games on my A list (though the unreleased Ewok Adventure is probably closest), I definitely liked Jedi better than the others at the time. Empire was too repetitive, The lightsaber game was just odd (though decent with two), and the Arcade Game was a valiant attempt to port something that should never have been ported. Star Strike was a better Star Wars game, just minus the license.