What was the worst 2600 arcade conversion?

[vdub_bobby]

The only 2600 game that was better than the original was Super Breakout.

Some folks would say Battlezone is better than the arcade.

[NovaXpress]

Some folks are silly.

[Cootster]

What are some VCS ports that you think are BETTER than the arcade original?? I vote for Joust!  Maybe Joust is the only game what was better in the home version?

1004318[/snapback]

 

No to Joust, although it's great and better than any other home port ever.

 

Breakout/Super Breakout and Battlezone would both definitely qualify in my book, and of course Combat since there was no plane mode in Tank. Solar Fox is dead even with its arcade counterpart, but I wouldn't call it better.

[BrianC]

I disagree on Joust in a big way. The only 2600 game that was better than the original was Super Breakout.

 

I disaggre that Joust is better than the original, but it's still a fine port to the 2600. I also disagree that Super Breakout is the only 2600 game better than the original. The original Breakout is also better than the original arcade game and has features that the arcade game lacks like the awesome Breakthru mode. I actually prefer the 2600 Breakout over Super Breakout. Super Breakout is awesome, but it doesn't have any new features like Breakout does. Seawolf and Star Fire are also better than the originals, though those probably don't count since those aren't official arcade conversions.

 

I don't like the 2600 Battlezone better than the original, but I think it's a fine version of the game. Missing stuff from the arcade like barriers to hide behind keep it from being as good as the original IMO. I actually prefer Robot Tank over both games with the added stuff like weather conditions.

 

Some of the games chosen for the poll confuse me. Gyruss, Battlezone, Missile Command, and Centipede have no business being on that poll. I think Mouse Trap, Donkey Kong Jr., Sky Skipper, and Mr. Do's Castle should have been on the poll.

 

Edit: I can't believe I forgot about the 2600 DK Jr. That is a real stinker. I can't believe that Atari actually re-released that game as red label cart.

Edited May 23, 2006 by BrianC

[Vic George 2K3]

As I said before, so I say again: 2600 Donkey Kong Jr. was the worst. It makes 2600 Donkey Kong look like a masterpiece in comparison.

[spikey911]

Wow.. I had to vote Zaxxon ONLY because it looks nothing like the arcade.

Every other game on the list I consider fantastic. I guess its just that I remember the excitement of playing the game for the first time...

 

I only used to get games on my birthday or Christmas, so I treasured the games that I got..

[ZylonBane]

No to Joust, although it's great and better than any other home port ever.

If you're not going to be serious, why bother posting?

[Jacob Rose]

I'm not sure why Battlezone and Missile Command made the list; they're both great 2600 games. Battlezone is the only 3D 2600 game I know of with reasonably accurate geometry...anybody know better?

[A.J. Franzman]

What are some VCS ports that you think are BETTER than the arcade original??

1004318[/snapback]

Combat since there was no plane mode in Tank.

I disagree - the Tank games series (Tank, Tank II, Tank III, Tank 8, Ultra Tank, and the copycat Tankers) were definitely better, with land mines, more players, more complex mazes, etc. The "plane modes" in Combat are based on other arcade games of the time - BiPlane and Jet Fighter. Those games were also better in their arcade versions.

Edited May 24, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[BrianC]

Combat since there was no plane mode in Tank.

I disagree - the Tank games series (Tank, Tank II, Tank III, Tank 8, Ultra Tank, and the copycat Tankers) were definitely better, with land mines, more players, more complex mazes, etc. The "plane modes" in Combat are based on other arcade games of the time - BiPlane and Jet Fighter. Those games were also better in their arcade versions.

 

Ultra Tank actually came out after than the 2600 Combat, so nothing in Combat was ported from it. All arcade Tank versions have more complex mazes than the 2600 Combat, though Ultra Tank has smaller mazes than the other arcade Tank games. What makes BiPlane and Jet Fighter arcade better than the modes based on them in the 2600 Combat? Do they also have the 2 on 2 BiPlane, 1 on 3 BiPlane, 3 on 1 jet, or 2 on 2 jet variations?

Edited May 23, 2006 by BrianC

[Vic George 2K3]

I don't see how adding Biplanes and Jet Fighters to Combat really does the Tank game a total disservice -- just because neither game variations appear in any arcade iterations of Tank. If anything, Biplanes and Jet Fighters are just additional games thrown in with a home version of Tank.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Vic George 2K3

[BrianC]

I don't see how adding Biplanes and Jet Fighters to Combat really does the Tank game a total disservice -- just because neither game variations appear in any arcade iterations of Tank. If anything, Biplanes and Jet Fighters are just additional games thrown in with a home version of Tank.

 

I think you misunderstood. A.J. Franzman didn't say that Biplanes and Jet Fighters gave Combat a disservice. He was saying that he felt that all of the modes in Combat are inferior to the arcade versions they are based on. Since I haven't played much of the arcade ones, I don't know if I agree or disagree, but considering how Ultra Tank came after Combat and not all arcade versions of Tank are based on Tank 8, I think some of what he said may have been a bit unfair. My previous post was an attempt to figure out if Combat was really as inferior to the arcade as A.J. Franzman was trying to say. As I said, I don't know if Biplane or Jet Fighter arcade have the awesome 3 or 1 or 2 on 2 variations like the 2600 versions. However, I do know that the arcade Biplane has extra barriers that coun't as a point for the oppoent when you touch them. I just tried Ace in MAME and you can't go to one edge of the screen to the other side of the screen like in the Biplane modes in Combat. I'm not sure what the case is with Jet Fighter, though.

 

Personaly, I'm glad that Combat has modes based on other arcade games. Missing mines and smaller mazes from the arcade are somewhat disappointing, but Combat has a wide variety of Tank variations alone and some cool variations for the plane modes too and does play very well.

Edited May 24, 2006 by BrianC

[telengard]

I voted Defender because I was sooo looking forward to this game and it's was just the biggest dissapointment (didn't keep me from playing it though), moreso than Pac-Man which is quite poor also (headache inducing flickering and those harmonious sound effects). I actually really like Missle Command on the 2600 although it can't compare to the arcade version. Battlezone isn't so bad either.

 

~telengard

[jpfalcon2003]

Tie between Defender and Pac-man

[Paranoid]

I went with Congo Bongo as well...

 

Just thinking about Pac Man I can hear that opening sound in my head, followed quickly by the rubber-band sound of eating the dots... er... dashes... and, well... I think the thing with Pac Man was that the initial disappointment as a kid opening the box, popping the cart in and seeing it was *crushing*, but you know... you soon overcame that and went, "Well, it ain't what I wanted it to be, but it doesn't TOTALLY suck". I mean... there were a lot of games back then that you WANTED to be good, and still couldn't bring yourself to play for more than 5 minutes. Pac Man, it grew on you. But that initial WTF has stuck with Pac Man... and the idea that they could have done better, even then, has stuck, and so Pac Man has become kind of a poster-child for the BAD 2600 game. It was also highly anticipated, hyped, and bought. A lot of worse games exist, but they just never had the critical mass that Pac Man had... so, Pac Man is the very common game that people know.

 

Defender, it seems to me most of the people who dislike it today didn't play it back in the day... it really seems a lot of them weren't a twinkle in their father's eye when Defender was released. I remember back in the day a lot of debate about Defender versus Chopper Command, with Chopper Command getting most of the positive press. I play today, and Chopper Command doesn't hold me, while Defender can. Back then it was similar, although Chopper Command definetly had more wow in the graphics and illustrated that Defender could maybe have been better, graphically. Anyhow, I agree, Defender, especially for 1981, was an excellent home port.

 

Congo Bongo... Zaxxon, 2600 Q*Bert... things just started getting beyond the ability of the 2600 to render, and they shouldn't have tried. When a unique graphic perspective IS the sale point of a game (and all three of these titles were pretty much unique for their graphic perspective), and a piece of hardware just can't DO that... you lose the game mechanic, so why bother..

 

In this case, I think Congo Bongo was the WORST of the three. Q*Bert did as decent of a job as it could, and Zaxxon at least tried a novel approach at re-tooling the play mechanics to work on a 2600. Congo Bongo just didn't have a chance.

[Foxsolo2000]

I have been rethinking this question. Is everyone voting on their impression of the game at the time of release or are they comparing it by todays standards? I ask for I do recall enjoying Pac Man when my friend had it bought on his birthday and it is only now that I look at it and question what Atari was smoking at the time. The same was true for Defender when I played it for the first time back in 82 in a Debenhams in Sheffield on one of the Atari kiosks they had and belioeve me there was a huge que standing behind me to play it. The only game I ever felt cheated on at the time was Amidar for I loved it in the arcade and rushed out to rent it from a local video store only to take it back after 10 minutes to get something better. So i ask again if all those who have posted are talking about when the game was brand new or have they allowed time to dull their initial impressions as a whole?

[Paranoid]

I think it is a little of both. How true to is it to the original, how enjoyable was it in its own right, and how has it held up over time...

[Ferris]

DON - KEY - KONG~! Ugh... Donkey Kong.

[NE146]

I have been rethinking this question. Is everyone voting on their impression of the game at the time of release or are they comparing it by todays standards? So i ask again if all those who have posted are talking about when the game was brand new or have they allowed time to dull their initial impressions as a whole?

 

At it's release! I never judge 2600 stuff by todays standards or with time-tainted lenses I remember my impression of the game in it's day and age when it was new baby and how close it came to the arcade games I liked

 

Although I'm coming to realize that for a lot of posters here, they were too young to be hitting the arcades too much in the early 80's to really make a good judgement ..

[jpfalcon2003]

I went with Congo Bongo as well...

 

Just thinking about Pac Man I can hear that opening sound in my head, followed quickly by the rubber-band sound of eating the dots... er... dashes... and, well... I think the thing with Pac Man was that the initial disappointment as a kid opening the box, popping the cart in and seeing it was *crushing*, but you know... you soon overcame that and went, "Well, it ain't what I wanted it to be, but it doesn't TOTALLY suck". I mean... there were a lot of games back then that you WANTED to be good, and still couldn't bring yourself to play for more than 5 minutes. Pac Man, it grew on you. But that initial WTF has stuck with Pac Man... and the idea that they could have done better, even then, has stuck, and so Pac Man has become kind of a poster-child for the BAD 2600 game. It was also highly anticipated, hyped, and bought. A lot of worse games exist, but they just never had the critical mass that Pac Man had... so, Pac Man is the very common game that people know.

 

Defender, it seems to me most of the people who dislike it today didn't play it back in the day... it really seems a lot of them weren't a twinkle in their father's eye when Defender was released. I remember back in the day a lot of debate about Defender versus Chopper Command, with Chopper Command getting most of the positive press. I play today, and Chopper Command doesn't hold me, while Defender can. Back then it was similar, although Chopper Command definetly had more wow in the graphics and illustrated that Defender could maybe have been better, graphically. Anyhow, I agree, Defender, especially for 1981, was an excellent home port.

 

Congo Bongo... Zaxxon, 2600 Q*Bert... things just started getting beyond the ability of the 2600 to render, and they shouldn't have tried. When a unique graphic perspective IS the sale point of a game (and all three of these titles were pretty much unique for their graphic perspective), and a piece of hardware just can't DO that... you lose the game mechanic, so why bother..

 

In this case, I think Congo Bongo was the WORST of the three. Q*Bert did as decent of a job as it could, and Zaxxon at least tried a novel approach at re-tooling the play mechanics to work on a 2600. Congo Bongo just didn't have a chance.

I actually thought qbert was done quite well, as well as Qbert's Qubes which I own also.

[johannesmutlu]

I think donkeykong jr is (one) of the worst most lazy most untested port i,ve ever played,stiffy sticky controls,no fruits you can throw on those aligators or electrical particles,the first 2 levels are also different in design with little to no referense to the layouts of those original,the graphics and sound are just a joke,i only like the music and walking sound effects and it’s AI but the graphics are berally recognizible,

and the 3th level despites being close in design layout to the original,but it’s mechanics are unfair, leading to cheap death’s because theres no way to tell whether a electrical part will go to the most left or to the most right and you also cannot move to the most left or most right vine and you alpatude on the vune is also limited so theres no way to tell whether an upcoming electricle particle will kill you whether or not because you cannot dodge them on top ,that’s just sooo unfair, what i learned if that you have to follow those electricle particles at a certain pattern to be in line with in order to get trough the whole level but even then 1 mistake or miss jump and you die,and how many often times i made it to the last vine but because of the stiffy controls i just couldn’t get in time to dodge the last electricle particle thus leading to my death,i just almost broke my atari controller because of it’s stiffyness,man if this game just used more ram and bankswitching along with smart clever programming tricks,it could,ve be waay more close to the arcade version,look at frogger for the super charger addon,it looks and sounds closer to the arcade version,it absolutely blows my socks off,in fact i wish that both pac man,donkeykong,dkjr ,mario bros,pac man and popeye etc,,, appeared on the super charger because then they probably would,ve been sooo much better in every way!

[MrTrust]

34 minutes ago, johannesmutlu said:

man if this game just used more ram and bankswitching along with smart clever programming tricks,it could,ve be waay more close to the arcade version

 

 

[+LS650]

PacMan, simply because it could have been much closer to the arcade original with only a bit more effort.

[Zonie]

Although there were a lot of bad ones, Like Zaxxon and Donkey Kong, Pac Man was the most hyped and anticipated by the masses and it was a total turd. The gameplay and AI was easily in the VCS's capabilities, back in the day, as has been proven later with Ms Pacman, but it was just a rushed turd. It turned me off to the game entirely.

Some people hated Defender, but like Space Invaders, brought its own charm to the game. I played the hell out of that and even built a proper controller for it when I was a kid.

[johannesmutlu]

1 hour ago, Zonie said:

Although there were a lot of bad ones, Like Zaxxon and Donkey Kong, Pac Man was the most hyped and anticipated by the masses and it was a total turd. The gameplay and AI was easily in the VCS's capabilities, back in the day, as has been proven later with Ms Pacman, but it was just a rushed turd. It turned me off to the game entirely.

Some people hated Defender, but like Space Invaders, brought its own charm to the game. I played the hell out of that and even built a proper controller for it when I was a kid.

I can live with the atari 2600 version of pac man but i don’t like that flicker and theres no warning when the timer of your invincibility will run out as hose ghoasts don’t flashing at all ,thus leading to an unfair death,but other then that it’s playible,but am surely gonna put the 8K homebrew version on my harmony cart once i will recieve it soon among other games?