Posted by Jeurja on December 26, 2023 at 12:07:38 EST.
I got an Atari 2600+ for Christmas. I've been playing Centipede, Asteroids, Berserk, and Dragonfire! I'm finding it more and more difficult to put any significant time aside for video games, so something like 2600 games are perfect for me right now. What are some of your favorite 2600 games?
n/t
Follow Ups:
whoa! I had wondered who these were for, ha ha. I have a hard time connecting with those games, so I wouldn't say any of them are my favorites, but some games I'd consider playable today would be Warlords, yars revenge, demon attack, beamrider... maybe worth trying the homebrew ports of games like zoo keeper too. (n/t) (exodus) (16:29:05 12/27/23 EST)
Yeah, ha, I guess it's for weirdos like me! (n/t) (Jeurja) (18:26:27 12/27/23 EST)
what would you say you find compelling about these experiences? are you into score attacks and find simpler graphics appealing? Trying to figure what advantage the 2600 has over say an egret II with relatively newer arcade games in it. for me I've been unable to play a 2600 game more than a couple times because it just can't hold my interest, so I'm curious what keeps you coming back! (n/t) (exodus) (13:56:52 12/28/23 EST)
I have an Egret II (mini one), too, and love it! I just ordered the volume 2 of the expansion cards.
Anyway, Atari! I think first and foremost it reminds me of my youth, as the 2600 was my first system and I was REALLY into it. Long story short: my sister had sold my Atari and all the games, so a lot of what I'm playing seems fresh after all these years. But it's fun to play something that is very twitch, score-based, and charming to look at and listen to knowing all the limitations the programmers had. For instance, Demonfire is killer! That treasure is so fun to collect and the games last a handful of minutes for me -- at this point, anyway. Maybe I'll get better and they'll last longer.
Short version: The games are snappy to play, charming in their presentation, and bring back good memories of being a kid. :)
For modern games, I think these reasons are similarly why I like Splatoon online play so much. The matches are 3 minutes, fast, fun, and essentially score-based. Splatoon doesn't remind me of my youth, per se, but it feels like the short bursts of games I enjoyed in my younger years. I also love the Arcade Archives releases and look forward to seeing what hits the eShop every week.
Not sure if I'm making sense with this...? But today is my last work day of 2023, and I'll be enjoying some coffee after work tonight and playing games in my "Bunker" (cellar) this evening. I have Centipede, Demonfire, and Asteroids set out to enjoy until I move on to playing Switch. (n/t) (Jeurja) (20:29:38 12/28/23 EST)
One of my favorite 2600 games that seems to be pretty obscure is Fast Eddie. Just awesome pacing and almost rhythmic gameplay.
Other than that, I don't have any very unique recommendations. Almost everything from Activision is great, but my favorites are probably MegaMania, Enduro, and Boxing. (n/t) (Hamburgers and Opa Opa) (17:55:35 12/27/23 EST)
Enduro is my favorite, but I've long mapped brake to a second button on a gamepad (haven't played it with a stick for decades; however, it might be good with what you have by default). It has a relatively engrossing atmosphere (changing weather, warm engine sounds) with challenge and reward (can you get the trophy?). Enduro also isn't too time consuming for a worker. I just love it. And I also second MegaMania, where you shoot down radial tires, hamburgers and sandwich cookies, and each game lasts like 3 minutes. I have this sparkly memory of playing Journey Escape with the song "Don't Stop Believin'" *included on the cartridge*. Pole Position was also very good (and did you know the series was a precursor to Final Lap??). I liked to play stuff like Smurfs and Mario Bros. and pretend my garage sale 2600 was an NES. Mario Bros. is seriously great (the best version?); nothing besides the GBA port seems to compare, for some reason. Smurfs is way too simple, but if you suspend disbelief, it's Super Mario Bros. Joust is maybe the most perfect arcade port of the 2600 titles. Skateboarding on the ramp in California Games is surprisingly cool and didn't seem dated in the late '80s. (n/t) (Mike Chicago) (15:09:12 01/04/24 EST)
When I was a kid I knew a lot of people with 2600s and by 1985 or so I had a Coleco with the expansion module for 2600 games and a large collection of them thanks to the crash. I bought Star Control at K Mart for $2 with the pad. Most games were $1 by then and soon the NES would come out making them worth maybe $0.10.
Really good 2600 games are really good. This is a short list though…Warlords has been mentioned and honestly anything that uses the paddles is usually better than most joystick games. This is partly because of the devices themselves (really good paddles, really horrible sticks) but also due to the way analog controls work with games of this era and most paddle games being 2 if not 4 player. Combat is fucking great, Breakout, Kaboom, whatever. Joystick games not only have you getting an arm workout on that bastard stick but also suffering through horrible joystick code. It would be interesting to see the math on exactly how many watts a human generates to clear the first stage of Donkey Kong, the arcade version’s little ball stick versus the 2600 stick that feels like you’re rowing a 50’ yacht when you change direction. We also had a C64 around that time so the 2600 really seemed like the shittiest thing.
Most 2600 games aren’t very good at all. I’d say all but about 7 are utter crap. The arcade ports in particular are just…garbage. Garbage. My true place was the arcade and it was painful seeing and paying for those horrible ports. Before the crash 2600 games were $45, man! When gas was $0.45 a gallon! Expensive, bad ports are why I played more Coleco than NES or 2600. The Coleco is more often found doing things that it’s actually good at instead of fucked up unplayable garbage like Pac Man or Donkey Kong on 2600 or Ikari on NES. Man…I still remember driving 40 minutes each way to help a friend pay $50 for the NES version of Renegade only to learn that it was one of the worst conversions ever and TRU had stopped taking returns on games.
I don’t have any nostalgia for it or anything Atari other than their arcade machines which were often excellent. I pretty much just played Coleco and sometimes other people’s NESs until the 16-bit era got underway. Honestly 16-bit was the thing I was waiting for and I still play more of it than any other era.
If you were the kid who wanted Pac Man 2600 because of the Saturday morning cartoon then the 2600 wasn’t so bad but if you wanted Pac Man because you liked Pac Man you would be unhappy. If you paid for it with your own money you’d just turn into an asshole like me. (n/t) (SignOfZeta) (21:22:10 01/04/24 EST)
