Your fav game, and why?

[Sayton]

Space Jockey. Now, before I start, I must say I don't play it as much as other games, but there is a reason. I can sit and play Warlords, have tons of fun. Fast Food is just awesome and keeps me on my toes.

 

But with Space Jockey, I in a sense, lose myself. It not just about the fun factor, it's about the score. I get into the zone a little and just blast away. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but I always feel the challenge to push myself and hopefully realize the world record for this game. I've played this for an hour or two straight, and let me tell you my hand was getting sore.

 

To me, it's not just a game I pick up and go "hey, I want to play and have fun". No, it's more of a "I plan on spending a few hours testing myself on one game alone". Space Jockey gives me that challenge....it gives me that test of a game I need. How well can I do this time? How many points will I get before I lose my first ship? It may not have the speed or depth of some other games that people enjoy on Atari, but to me it has that spark that most people overlook when they see or play this game. This game holds something in my heart I treasure and has more meaning to me than words could truly describe.

[SteveW]

Escape From The Mindmaster. The first time I played it, the concept of walking around a 3D maze putting pegs in pegholes and being chased by a monster that you hear more than you see, really blew my mind. It was totally amazing, and it had a depth that I was totally unused to with Atari 2600 games. And it had an ending! A good one, too, with fireworks even! It gave me a serious sense of satisfaction when i'd win. Incredible game.

 

One wish would be that someone would create a level editor or something, and generate a bunch of new levels for this game. That would be awesome.

[Shawn]

Smurfs: Rescue In Gargamel's Castle is my favorite. I have owned the game sense I was 3 or 4 years old (I got it for christmas when it was released). Totally awsome game, I love it for all reasons mentionable.

[ATARIPITBULL]

That is a very tough question and it seems to go on how I feel on a given day, but by only a small lead, I would have to say Adventure, it was on of the very first games I got as a kid and I loved it ever since.

 

[JimmydelaKopin]

Solar Fox for me.

 

A game where I can't kill anything but I can be killed? A semi-nonviolent game that was very challenging when I was a kid.

 

That and Word Zapper.

[silverpoodleman]

Wow! Someone beat me to SOLAR FOX! I can't remember the last time that happened.

 

Solar Fox looks easy but is deceivingly hard. Though the design architecture for each level is the same, each game is different and it challenges novices and experts alike. I consider myself an expert and yet there are games when I lose a ship on the first screen.

 

This game is unique in that it relies on your ability as a pilot to avoid being shot down (from a top-down view). That's it. Sound boring? Believe me, you will be hitting that Game Restar button again and again cursing yourself every time you mess up. YOU KNOW WHAT IS COMING! HOW COULD I LOSE A MAN?

 

This game also has neat features like being able to skip a rack (level) if you beat the clock, and an additional game within the game of trying to spell a "SECRET WORD" by completing six bonus courses.

 

BEST GAME ON THE 2600 - SOLAR FOX - BY A MILE!!!!!!!!

[jlh2600]

Demon Attack.

 

It has such unique images and colors for the 2600, it seems dark yet vibrant all at the same time. And the demon's movements are different than most other atari bg's. Almost a live, organic quality to how they fly. Very fluid. I like the sounds too. EVerything else is smooth swooshes, and hypnotic rhythms. The only punishing sound is when you lose, a sonic collapse into chaos and lightning.

 

But most of all I like it because it's my most fun game to play, and looks so much more sophisticated and polished than games of comparable simplicity.

[The_Laird]

For me it has to be Solaris. Not only does it have easily the best graphics on any VCS game but also, for me, its the most involved. There is so much to go and explore and the variation of levels is superb. You have all the best elements of loads of other shooters such as Star Raiders, Defender, Zaxxon and many more.

[Osmeroid]

For me it's always been a near thing between Frostbite and HERO, the latter is more involving but I guess that I'll go with the former. One of the reasons for me choosing Frostbite is that I also like to "zone-out" and I can do something like that, at least initially! Partly it is also a happy memory thing, I was playing this way back when I was 12 years old - sooooooo long ago There is also a fair amount of challenge left in this game for me too. Once I'm over a score of 150,000 this game becomes much tougher to play and you need something akin to ESP to play it beyond that point. Long-live games that cannot be "completed"

Edited November 26, 2005 by Osmeroid

[Room 34]

It's tough to pick just one; it does depend on my mood. I guess if I had to pick just one, though, I'd second the vote for H.E.R.O. (Is it just me, or was this the birth of the Metroid/Castlevania platform adventure genre?)

[mister_pal]

I would have to say Radar Lock. I always liked flying in the plane

and Immies and Aggies

[cimerians]

HERO

[Omegamatrix]

It's hard to pick a single game. Mine keep changing all the time. For now I'll say Jr. Pac-Man. I'll throw that one out there.

[ataristella]

Mine would be space Invaders.....I can play for hours on end and then some. The very first video game I ever played was a sit down S.I. down the street. When I got my first Atari S.I. was the first game I got. Played that game until that sad day the 2600 gave out.

[Foxsolo2000]

Adventure for it is surprisingly adictive in game 3, Solaris simply for its tough game play and HERO again for its tough play and addictive factor.

[Dr. Morbis]

Kaboom: a minute to learn, a lifetime to master. Plus the paddles provide such tight play control that I feel like I'm controlling the "buckets" directly from my mind.

[A2600]

ENDURO!!

 

oh boy!! I played this one for hours on end!!

 

Now that I sold my 2600 I have the Activision anthology for the GBA and I have to keep the SP plugged in cecause I will drain the battery playing enduro!!

 

and SOLARIS, though thast another story

Edited November 27, 2005 by A2600

[Tinman]

Starmaster was my favorite because it was the best first-person space shooter available, and that is my favorite genre. Star Raiders on the 8-bits remains my all-time favorite video game. Adventure is my second fave 2600 game.

[+HatNJ]

Mine would have to be Space Invaders in 1980 after my cousin brought his VCS over and we played his games I wanted one BADLY!!!

 

a couple weeks later my parents took me to Jamesway (Long since closed down chain) and surprised me by saying lets go to the Atari section I was Thrilled! and they said since Combat is included and is only 2 player I could choose 1 game additional and it was Space Invaders (was 32.99 then) and also they bought me 1 game a week for the next year or so til i got part time jobs to buy more. My Dad (passed away in 1996) and I played that and my 2nd fav Video Pinball tlll all hours of the night.

 

So for those reasons Space Invaders and Video Pinball are my top 2 favorites

Edited November 27, 2005 by HatNJ

[shadow460]

Escape from the MindMaster. It looks like a mental type game, where you gotta solve puzzles and stuff but there isn't any shooting (kinda like Thief). At first play, it felt a lot like Dragonstomper (mind you, I was about nine years old then).

It's not. To truly master the game, you've got to learn to finish it, which is no small task.

Once you beat it, though, it becomes more action oriented. You might beat it with a low score, then try for harder settings and higher scores, and so that requires you to solve the puzzles in rapid succession. It also requires quick thinking and quick reflexes to avoid the lone enemy, plus precise timing to avoid the force field panels.

 

At the time, I believe there were only two first person games on the 2600--Escape and Tunnel Runner. TR is good (and longer), but it lacks the depth of Escape. You simply grab the key and run off. The strategy is going double up is pretty much common sense.

Escape's graphics are a mile above TR's. I'll take smooth solid colors above blocky multiple ones any day. Escape's graphics, while simple, impress me more than many 32-bit first person games. Here I'm getting Enemy Zero in a few days, and I think about the pixelatted hallway grahpics it has. I won't miss that when I'm done with e0 and go back to Escape. There's Doom, Defcon 5, and probably a bunch of others that'll make me sick playing them from the 32 bit era.

 

Anyway, it's a challenge. There are others that are close (Most CBS titles are), but this is my favorite.

[+Wonder007]

Warlords!

 

It is one of the few games that you can play with three other players at the same time. In addition, it is very competitive and you can spend time with friends at the same time!!!

[Pipercub]

Solaris for me too. My parents got me a colecovision instead of an Atari 2600 and I felt cheated, although the coleco is closer to a 5200 the 2600 was what the world had. When the 2600 came back in the late 80's with the under $50 campaign I bought one and a rack of games. Playing the ones all my friends had like joust, space invaders etc. was about like I remembered. Then I pluged in Solaris and WOW it was like a my NES in terms of graphics and speed. Today as a serious collector I have seen few games like Solaris.

[Famicoman]

KABOOM!

[+Random Terrain]

<span style='font-size:30pt;line-height:100%'>E.T.</span>

This is why:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et.html

 

My other favorites are:

 

Lock 'N' Chase (M Network)

Laser Gates (Imagic)

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (Sega)

Solar Fox (CBS Electronics)

Subterranea (Imagic)

Frogger (Starpath) [better than the Parker Brothers version]

Spider-Man (Parker Brothers)

Marauder (Tigervision)

Circus Atari (Atari)

Carnival (Coleco)

Yars' Revenge (Atari)

Demon Attack (Imagic)

Tennis (Activision)

Beamrider (Activision)

Commando Raid (US Games)

Stargate/Defender II (Atari)

Communist Mutants From Space (Starpath)

Fantastic Voyage (20th Century Fox)

Enduro (Activision)

Golf (Atari)

Tac-Scan (Sega)

Space Invaders (Atari)

Othello (Atari)

Atlantis (Imagic)

Video Chess (Atari)

Midnight Magic (Atari)

Fishing Derby (Activision)

Edited December 17, 2007 by Random Terrain

[8th lutz]

My fav has to be Pitfall 2. Has the best sound in a 2600 game with deepest gameplay for a 2600 that I own along with it being alot of fun. When I first bought pitfall2 I was stunned by the sound and the length of the game compare to pitfall and the other games I own.

Edited November 28, 2005 by 8th lutz