I love that you put Demon Attack in this list. I logged hours upon hours immersed in that game. The other game I think deserves some love is Wizard of Wor. That game had an absolutely epic soundtrack.
Brandon Ryder pitfall has a secret room in one of the pits that you swing over. If you jump on a vine and swing 3 times and jump off the same side you started at it will open a secret room in the pit with gold in it.
33 Years of playing Atari 2600 games, and still discovering new gems thanks to resources like this video! Indeed, there are so many good Activision 2600 titles. Some of the cartridges are cheap, but a bunch of the hits are climbing in price. So I want to mention Activision Anthology as a great way to try out most of the library in one shot. I think the GBA cart and PS2 disc can still be found for around $10 and there are about 70 titles on them. There are a few other ports too.
A friend of mine has a Atari 2600 and some games and wants pitfall 2. He complains that the game he wants pitfall 2, is too expensive at 40 dollars for a loose cartridge on ebay. I told him, your just going to have to bite the bullet on that one if you really want it because it's not going to be 20 or 10 dollars.
I still play Adventure as well. Playing game 3 will always be a challenge. The bat has to be considered the most disruptive random encounter in all of gaming. I can't count how many times I'm making it down the final corridor to the gold castle only to have the bat show up and dance in delight as he drops off a live dragon and steals the chalice.
I can't get all the hours back I spent on River Raid. In my honest opinion, this was the greatest Atari 2600 game ever. My late brother in-law and I used to play Activision Boxing and Decathalon all the time. Memories. Have to say most of the Activision sports games were pretty solid for the day. Starmaster!!...that was a fun one as well, enjoyed the warp...lol. .
Adventure looks like a game I LOVED on my dad’s IBM: Castle the Adventure. I must have been seven years old or younger trying to figure it out. I enjoy these videos! Cool to hear the memories.
How in the name of all that is holy does “Montezuma’s Revenge” never make any of these lists?!? GREATEST Atari 2600 game ever. In fact, Parker Brothers released some of the best games for the 2600: “Star Wars: The Arcade Game,” “Frogger,” “Super Cobra,” “Q*bert”… The list goes on.
Old school is the way to go. I was born in 85 but still prefer Atari over consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. Including the graphics. Although the Switch is awesome.
Totally with you on E.T. I will pop this game in once and awhile. It really is not that bad, it's pretty amazing considering it was programmed and finished within a five month period.
Gravitar, Towering Inferno, and Tac-Scan are 3 of my personal favorites. Gravitar might actually be my favorite 2600 game. It's hard as hell, but I just can't stop playing.
Well, I was going to come into these comments to say that E.T. is a game that needs more love, but you beat me to it! So refreshing to see someone other than myself that actually LIKES the game.
I remember playing and beating the game as well when I was a kid. I was the only one in the house that could beat it, too. Everyone else got frustrated at the clumsiness of getting out of the holes, but I mastered that.
I own a 2600 that still works. A lot of my owned games are on this list, but one I didn't see was Activision's Decathlon, which was a fairly simple game with the 10 events represented. 1500 meter run was the hardest with that 200 yard sprint at the end.
Yeah... :D When Atari's Adventure was out at that time, I wasn't conditioned to viewing more than 1 screen of gameplay; I was used to playing Pong with 1 screen. Adventure presented the player with multiple screens that felt overwhelming.
I recently got back into the 2600 and I am in the process of checking all the games I have accumulated over the years to see if they still work. So far so good. Most of the games featured in this video I have played in the last couple of weeks. One of my favorites that you didn't mention is "Riddle of the Sphinx". I still have my six switch console I got new back in a year I don't remember. I also liked "ET", and I have at least three copies of it.
I remember playing and liking Riddle of the Sphinx. I never knew how to get past a certain part where the game just 'stops'. I'll have to TH-cam a walkthrough.
@@JohnRiggs The game does have an ending, and I did get there when I was a kid, but it took a while and you definitely need the book that came with the game, at least I did. Thanks for the reply, and for making great videos.
Riddle of the Sphinx was good...but you need the instructions for the actual riddle and like Adventure these is one game type that is the true game and one is random.
Dude pitfall absolutely has an ending it's possible to collect all the treasures and less than 20 minutes and win but you gotta know all the teleport spots
Demon Attack was/is a legendary Galaga/Galaxian/Space Invaders genre shooter It was an amazing display of graphics and sound production for 2600 hardware when released and for years after. Pitch perfect example of how gameplay makes the game, not just raw console tech features and CPU/GPU horsepower. The greatest thing about the 2600 WAS its limited hardware design, which FORCED developers to be creative and focus on GAMEPLAY quality vs flashy CGI/gfx
Loved Pitfall. I remember waking up early for school to get some Pit Fall in. Something no other game ever did. Had Demon Attack for the 2600 - great game. Bought it for my TI-99/4A computer - blew me away.
You picked some really good ones. I go back and play adventure and haunted house pretty regularly. Here are a few more of my favorites, another vote for Fast Food, Warlords was a lot of fun, Sky Diver, Canyon Bomber and I enjoyed Barnstorming too. Oh one more Kool-aid Man.
I'm totally with you on the Activision games for the 2600, it was usually a quality game. Keystone Kapers is a brilliant game & graphically good for the machine. I have a few I'd like to add to your list which I have in my own atari collection... Midnight Magic (awesome pinball) Gangster Alley (shooting) Galaxian (invaders +) Spider Fighter (invaders ++) Skate Boardin (Tony hawks 🙄, with a brilliant soundtrack)
It’s interesting to think of Adventure as being underrated when many consider it to be the best game on the system. It really is a brilliant game engine though, so maybe calling it the best game in the system is an understatement.
I'd forgotten about Vanguard. Loved that game. One of the only games I grew up with that I didn't see on here was Yar's Revenge; almost every other one of my favorites were already on here!
My favorite Atari 2600 games: Adventure ET Atlantis Yars' Revenge Pitfall Pitfall 2 Berzerk Enduro Pole Position Defender H.E.R.O. Keystone Kapers Dig Dug Robot Tank Turmoil Those are the games I play most often. And yes, ET is one if my top games on the list.
Pick up Atari Vault; not only does the collection contain the rare 2600 titles but the rare and popular Atari arcade titles. There are even a few prototypes of unreleased Atari titles in that collection, too.
I love the Atari 2600 games, and how simple, yet fun, they are to play -still today. That "Ecco the Dolphin"-game looked so good and fun. My favs are: H.E.R.O Seaquest Jungle Hunt Vanguard Yars revenge Gyros Stampede Bermuda triangle Joust There is one that I cant remember the name of (it had two different names), and almost plays like Freedom Fighter on the Oddessy/Videopac
My personal favorites as a kid was: 'Maze Craze', 'Megamania', 'Space Cavern', and 'Yars Revenge' (Mostly because the comic book built this whole world in my head lol). My Other favorites growing up If you like more depth in your Atari Gaming might I suggest: 'Riddle of the Sphinx', 'DragonStomper', 'Stellar Track' :)
Pitfall is one of my favorites. It was fun watching a video of David Clark explaining how he made the game work. I also loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, never could finish the game. Wish I had my system to play today. I do have 2 Atari 800 computers and 40 carts. Funny how those carts were called tapes. One of the things I loved about those games is that the cart came in a box and there was a paper manual.
Thanks for the heads up on the Visual Compendium. I also grew up with the 2600, my favorites are Robot Tank, Battlezone, Enduro, Moon Patrol, and Solaris
Pitfall 2 is an amazong game, more like a NES than a 2600 game. You know, Nintendo gets more credit tuan deserved sometimes, Zelda is just based in Adventure, but they will never admit.
Kangaroo, Dark Chambers, Space Invaders, Yars' Revenge, and Private Eye are my top 5 go to Atari Games. I have such fond memories of them as a kid and they still hold up today for some great fun.
Spoiler alert in adventure take a little tiny dot and take it to a secret place and you will get a bonus content. Many of those games I didn't play they look fun.
Just wanted to thank you John for so much good coverage on retro games and especially Atari! I will take a look at your newest video properly later as this desktop PC has zero volume! I typically watch on my Roku but can only comment off my PC!
Cool list of games. You included several games that were my favorites as well, but also a few games I've never played before...will have to check them out.
Another great video Big JR 👍 blown away by the parallax effect on that jungle game on the vine swinging level. Didn't know the little 2600 had it in it!
Question for everyone, did any of you play Space Shuttle on the 2600? And if so, did you ever land the darn thing?!? I played and played that game, but was too young to understand pitch and yaw, LoL.
I've successfully "finished" the mission, but I don't think I rendezvous'd with the satellite more than 3 or 4 times. Judicious use of all the switches was necessary (basically requiring the manual) which makes playing on a 4-switch unit almost pointless. Not a very easy "game" but technically very impressive. Garry Kitchen's brother Steve (well, one of his brothers!) made it after going through a real NASA simulator. (Garry did Keystone Kapers and Space Jockey among others!)
i love my atari 2600 i remember my family getting it for christmas in 1982 & it also sparked my love of video games.adventure e.t. haunted house congo bongojungle hut spiderman & pitfall were great & i still play adventure regularly today but i also loved centipede dark cavern demons to diamonds warlords yars revenge mrs. pacman & so many more
I saw your post saying you like Atari E.T. and just wanted to go out of my way to say thank you for not just agreeing with everyone that it's the "worst game ever". It's honestly better than a lot of Atari games and I personally don't know how anyone who actually takes the time to play it thinks it's THAT bad
I have only played 4 of those games. I woud add Gremlins, Frankenstein, Dig Dug, Defender, Front Line, Yars Revenge (one of my favorites), Sworquest and Space Attack. I' m glad that you included E.T. I have very good memories playing that game.
I agree with Kangaroo and Missile Command, but I thought the official conversion of Defender was mediocre at best. Activision did a much better job with their clone Chopper Command, IMHO
Beam rider. Warlords. Yars revenge. Star master. megamania. crystal castle. rampart. desert commander. missle command. River raid is such a great game, also river raid 2.
"Megamania" is another personal favourite of mine - you have a starship-Enterprise looking guy at the bottom, and enemies scroll side to side or from top to bottom - clear the screen of enemies to proceed to the next level. Enemies change colour, patterns and speed over time - a fun game for fans of shooters!
Here are a few more recommendations: Fast Food - Eat lots of junk food while not eating purple pickles Road Runner - Avoid Wily E Coyote Planet Patrol - Sidescrolling shooter with Day and night sequences Halo 2600 - It's exactly as the name says it is. Ghostbusters - I don't know how they got a game with so much going on, on a 2600 cart. You also need the manual to know what to do
The hours and hours spent with two older brothers playing adventure are memories that I will cherish forever as a kid.
I love that you put Demon Attack in this list. I logged hours upon hours immersed in that game. The other game I think deserves some love is Wizard of Wor. That game had an absolutely epic soundtrack.
Pitfall does have an end. you can get all the treasure pieces within the 20 minutes
True.
Brandon Ryder pitfall has a secret room in one of the pits that you swing over. If you jump on a vine and swing 3 times and jump off the same side you started at it will open a secret room in the pit with gold in it.
@@cptannoyu2death834 Is this for real?
@@john2001plus it’s true and to be completely honest I found it by accident.
@@cptannoyu2death834 How about a way to reproduce it?
The ones I played most were Enduro, Keystone Capers, Plaque Attack, Seaquest, Mouse Trap, Millipede, Mario Bros., Dig Dug, and Moon Patrol.
Enduro was surprisingly fun to play. Especially with the environmental changes as the player coasted along the highway.
+1 Keystone Kapers. Fun platformer.
What are other Atari 2600 games I'm leaving off the list? I already know I forgot a few that will have me making a Part 2 eventually.
Deadly Duck
Radar Lock, Road Runner
To challenge yourself, make the list WITHOUT games made by Activison of Atari themselves.
@@jeffdavis6657 Deadly Duck, Miner 2049er, Artillery Duel,
Plaque attack. Frontline. Pressure cooker.
33 Years of playing Atari 2600 games, and still discovering new gems thanks to resources like this video! Indeed, there are so many good Activision 2600 titles. Some of the cartridges are cheap, but a bunch of the hits are climbing in price. So I want to mention Activision Anthology as a great way to try out most of the library in one shot. I think the GBA cart and PS2 disc can still be found for around $10 and there are about 70 titles on them. There are a few other ports too.
Star Gunner is a good obscure game that nobody talks about. It's like defender, but fast paced.
A friend of mine has a Atari 2600 and some games and wants pitfall 2. He complains that the game he wants pitfall 2, is too expensive at 40 dollars for a loose cartridge on ebay.
I told him, your just going to have to bite the bullet on that one if you really want it because it's not going to be 20 or 10 dollars.
I'll be honest, its makes me so happy to see the old games and systems of my childhood are just as popular if not more so now.
Wow! Spider fighter on the book! For decades I remembered this image in my mind! Love this game!!!
You blew my mind with A LOT of these games!! (Dragon Fire) ❤️🤯
used to sit Indian style for days playing these at my best friend’s house. 80s, man!
I still play Adventure as well. Playing game 3 will always be a challenge. The bat has to be considered the most disruptive random encounter in all of gaming. I can't count how many times I'm making it down the final corridor to the gold castle only to have the bat show up and dance in delight as he drops off a live dragon and steals the chalice.
That damn bat is the reason I have trust issues lol
Love that you're giving the 2600 some love John. Give a try to fast food. Fun obscure game. Avoid the purple pickle 😁
AtariLeaf I need to look this one up. Never heard of it.
You're getting FATTER
Fun game
finally someone who says ET was not that bad. it has more content than most 2600 games
I can't get all the hours back I spent on River Raid. In my honest opinion, this was the greatest Atari 2600 game ever.
My late brother in-law and I used to play Activision Boxing and Decathalon all the time. Memories. Have to say most of the Activision sports games were pretty solid for the day. Starmaster!!...that was a fun one as well, enjoyed the warp...lol. .
Enduro, Midnight Magic, Crystal Castles, Mr Do's Castle! So many to name indeed
Adventure looks like a game I LOVED on my dad’s IBM: Castle the Adventure.
I must have been seven years old or younger trying to figure it out.
I enjoy these videos! Cool to hear the memories.
I think the reason we loved Pitfall was because we imagined we were Indiana Jones.
How in the name of all that is holy does “Montezuma’s Revenge” never make any of these lists?!? GREATEST Atari 2600 game ever.
In fact, Parker Brothers released some of the best games for the 2600: “Star Wars: The Arcade Game,” “Frogger,” “Super Cobra,” “Q*bert”… The list goes on.
2 of my favorites for the 2600 are Atlantis, and it’s pseudo sequel, Cosmic Ark.
Cosmic arknis my favorite atari 2600 game...
Got them both for Christmas back then. They were really awesome for that day and time!
You know, anyone answering this question are dating themselves.
cosmic ark was fun. i liked picking up the alien creatures on the planet surface
Atlantis, yes!
Thank you for including Vanguard!!! I played the hell out of that as a kid. Really underappreciated game. Solid list, and another awesome video!
yeah, probably my 2nd most played after Berserk
Old school is the way to go. I was born in 85 but still prefer Atari over consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. Including the graphics. Although the Switch is awesome.
Ahh I love Keystone Kapers!! You know what game doesn't get enough love is Moonsweeper!!
Totally with you on E.T. I will pop this game in once and awhile. It really is not that bad, it's pretty amazing considering it was programmed and finished within a five month period.
I think it was programmed in a 5 WEEK period.
@@MrEduedu123 agreed. It was 5 weeks. Howard Scott Warshaw was bold trying to get this done.
Gravitar, Towering Inferno, and Tac-Scan are 3 of my personal favorites.
Gravitar might actually be my favorite 2600 game. It's hard as hell, but I just can't stop playing.
Towering Inferno.....good call. Forgot about that one but I remember playing the heck out of it.
Great video man! I loved Crystal Castles and Enduro Race on 2600 when I was a kid, also Dig Dug played well on the 2600.
Dude. Crystal Castles & Dig Dug were my childhood. I still play both, too. Great games!
Well, I was going to come into these comments to say that E.T. is a game that needs more love, but you beat me to it! So refreshing to see someone other than myself that actually LIKES the game.
Probably the same reason I don't like Raiders of the Lost Ark or those Swordquest games. Super unplayable without a guide.
I remember playing and beating the game as well when I was a kid. I was the only one in the house that could beat it, too. Everyone else got frustrated at the clumsiness of getting out of the holes, but I mastered that.
I own a 2600 that still works. A lot of my owned games are on this list, but one I didn't see was Activision's Decathlon, which was a fairly simple game with the 10 events represented. 1500 meter run was the hardest with that 200 yard sprint at the end.
The only game I wish I could play again is Cosmic Ark. Those silver Imagic carts put a smile on my face :)
yas! i rarely see any love for cosmic ark! i would play that one for hours on end.
Cosmic arc has its spot in my sat morning rotation!
oh yeah! forgot all about that one. I had that one, too.
Circus Atari is a pretty fun game you need to try it out, it’s a paddle game but worth it
I never got the E.T. hate! My brother and I beat that game when we were kids back in the '80s. It's one of my favorites as well, Mr. Riggs!
Just like,raiders of the lost arc.Loved that game also
@@udojanssen51 Yep, that one as well, even more so.
The Smurfs: “features several screens of fun.”
Oh to be back in a simpler time when that line was enough to sell me a game.
Yeah... :D When Atari's Adventure was out at that time, I wasn't conditioned to viewing more than 1 screen of gameplay; I was used to playing Pong with 1 screen. Adventure presented the player with multiple screens that felt overwhelming.
I recently got back into the 2600 and I am in the process of checking all the games I have accumulated over the years to see if they still work. So far so good. Most of the games featured in this video I have played in the last couple of weeks. One of my favorites that you didn't mention is "Riddle of the Sphinx". I still have my six switch console I got new back in a year I don't remember. I also liked "ET", and I have at least three copies of it.
I remember playing and liking Riddle of the Sphinx. I never knew how to get past a certain part where the game just 'stops'. I'll have to TH-cam a walkthrough.
@@JohnRiggs The game does have an ending, and I did get there when I was a kid, but it took a while and you definitely need the book that came with the game, at least I did. Thanks for the reply, and for making great videos.
Riddle of the Sphinx was good...but you need the instructions for the actual riddle and like Adventure these is one game type that is the true game and one is random.
I had dragon fire for the Tandy! Wow, I had forgotten all about that game until seeing it, thanks for the quick memory jog 😆
Very nice, played a lot of Smurfs and Frostbite way back when. Among my other 2600 favs were Enduro, Popeye, and Squeeze Box!
Maze Craze was a favorite along with most of the Activision games like Dragster, Kaboom and River Raid.
Dude pitfall absolutely has an ending it's possible to collect all the treasures and less than 20 minutes and win but you gotta know all the teleport spots
Demon Attack was/is a legendary Galaga/Galaxian/Space Invaders genre shooter
It was an amazing display of graphics and sound production for 2600 hardware when released and for years after.
Pitch perfect example of how gameplay makes the game, not just raw console tech features and CPU/GPU horsepower.
The greatest thing about the 2600 WAS its limited hardware design, which FORCED developers to be creative and focus on GAMEPLAY quality vs flashy CGI/gfx
Loved Pitfall. I remember waking up early for school to get some Pit Fall in. Something no other game ever did.
Had Demon Attack for the 2600 - great game. Bought it for my TI-99/4A computer - blew me away.
Pitfall 2: Lost Caverns is an excellent game. It could easily be compared to an early NES game in design, game play, and graphics.
SeaQuest was one of my favorites
My grandmother loved playing Kaboom with me when I was a kid.
You picked some really good ones. I go back and play adventure and haunted house pretty regularly. Here are a few more of my favorites, another vote for Fast Food, Warlords was a lot of fun, Sky Diver, Canyon Bomber and I enjoyed Barnstorming too. Oh one more Kool-aid Man.
LOVED Vanguard! Loved Smurf on Colecovision.
Colecovision is one of the greatest consoles ever in my opinion
I don't have personal nostalgia for the 2600, but I appreciate it. Plus, I enjoy your content!
I'm totally with you on the Activision games for the 2600, it was usually a quality game.
Keystone Kapers is a brilliant game & graphically good for the machine.
I have a few I'd like to add to your list which I have in my own atari collection...
Midnight Magic (awesome pinball)
Gangster Alley (shooting)
Galaxian (invaders +)
Spider Fighter (invaders ++)
Skate Boardin (Tony hawks 🙄, with a brilliant soundtrack)
It’s interesting to think of Adventure as being underrated when many consider it to be the best game on the system. It really is a brilliant game engine though, so maybe calling it the best game in the system is an understatement.
Haunted House was such a great game. Played it so much back in the day.
And you play,d as meat ball man
Vanguard was one of my top 10 2600 games.
I'd forgotten about Vanguard. Loved that game. One of the only games I grew up with that I didn't see on here was Yar's Revenge; almost every other one of my favorites were already on here!
My favorite Atari 2600 games:
Adventure
ET
Atlantis
Yars' Revenge
Pitfall
Pitfall 2
Berzerk
Enduro
Pole Position
Defender
H.E.R.O.
Keystone Kapers
Dig Dug
Robot Tank
Turmoil
Those are the games I play most often. And yes, ET is one if my top games on the list.
Adventure, E.T., Oink!, DragonFire, Haunted House, FrostBite, CongoBongo, KeystoneKapers, Alien, CrackPots, DemonAttack, RiverRaid, Fathom, NoEscape, JungleHunt, Smurfs, Vanguard, Spiderman, JourneyEscape, Taz, BugsBunny, Kaboom!, Pitfall!
Really like your content in this format lately.
Yeah man, I loved playing Smurf when I was a kid! But here's one for ya that I don't think gets any love at all. Fishing Derby!
I liked Grand Prix, Chopper Command, Missile Command, Asteroids, and Defender.
Great list. I would say Seaquest, frogs and flies, demons to diamonds, and Mountain King.
FANTASTIC list. my two faves growing up were cosmic ark and the earth dies screaming. played the hell out of those!
Those Bitmap Books are awesome. I have 3 or 4 and they are very well done and informative. I would recommend them 100%.
got into atari collecting again last month.. most of it isn't too bad.
Pick up Atari Vault; not only does the collection contain the rare 2600 titles but the rare and popular Atari arcade titles. There are even a few prototypes of unreleased Atari titles in that collection, too.
I love the Atari 2600 games, and how simple, yet fun, they are to play -still today.
That "Ecco the Dolphin"-game looked so good and fun.
My favs are:
H.E.R.O
Seaquest
Jungle Hunt
Vanguard
Yars revenge
Gyros
Stampede
Bermuda triangle
Joust
There is one that I cant remember the name of (it had two different names), and almost plays like Freedom Fighter on the Oddessy/Videopac
Thanks for the recommendations! I got a 2600 for Christmas! Really enjoying Chopper Command at the moment :)
My personal favorites as a kid was: 'Maze Craze', 'Megamania', 'Space Cavern', and 'Yars Revenge' (Mostly because the comic book built this whole world in my head lol). My Other favorites growing up If you like more depth in your Atari Gaming might I suggest: 'Riddle of the Sphinx', 'DragonStomper', 'Stellar Track' :)
Hero, River Raid and Enduro. These are the 3 best games.
Pitfall is one of my favorites. It was fun watching a video of David Clark explaining how he made the game work. I also loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, never could finish the game. Wish I had my system to play today. I do have 2 Atari 800 computers and 40 carts. Funny how those carts were called tapes. One of the things I loved about those games is that the cart came in a box and there was a paper manual.
David Crane
Thanks for the heads up on the Visual Compendium. I also grew up with the 2600, my favorites are Robot Tank, Battlezone, Enduro, Moon Patrol, and Solaris
Some of my favorites, that were not mentioned were Pressure Cooker, Seaquest, and Dig Dug. Also, Jungle Hunt and Pitfall, but they were mentioned.
Pitfall 2 is an amazong game, more like a NES than a 2600 game.
You know, Nintendo gets more credit tuan deserved sometimes, Zelda is just based in Adventure, but they will never admit.
Kangaroo, Dark Chambers, Space Invaders, Yars' Revenge, and Private Eye are my top 5 go to Atari Games.
I have such fond memories of them as a kid and they still hold up today for some great fun.
DirectorCM Yars' Revenge! Forgot about that one, excellent game!.
Adventure w left on more difficult, right easy. Dragons run from sword. Game 3. Get all items back to castle 1.
mario bros was pretty sweet.
there's also a game called gorf(not golf, gorf). it was also awesome....
I really like dark chambers, demon attack, space invaders and stargate!
Kool-Aid Man is definitely underrated AWESOME. Will definitely take you back to summer '83, and an hour flies by instantly playing it over and over.
Spoiler alert in adventure take a little tiny dot and take it to a secret place and you will get a bonus content. Many of those games I didn't play they look fun.
Great vid. A lot of my favorites were in it. Did you ever play Plaque Attack? thats a good one.
Just wanted to thank you John for so much good coverage on retro games and especially Atari! I will take a look at your newest video properly later as this desktop PC has zero volume! I typically watch on my Roku but can only comment off my PC!
So sad to not see Megamania, but totally understand you can't mention every game. Man I played that game so much back in the day.
yeah, I loved ET
I only found out a few years ago that it was so much hated by so many
and I was like ??? huh? you probably didn't know how to play it
I always loved Adventure. It took me awhile to find the "transmular dot" up in the black castle. I really enjoyed it
"Transmolecular."
Kaboom was my #1 back then. Really addictive once you got into it.
Adventure, Kaboom and Pitfall are all popular classics and far from underrated. Not sure why they appear on this list.
Wow Fathom looks so good!
I really don't remember if it was good but I played a lot Montezuma's Revenge... and Karateka. Good times.
Cool list of games. You included several games that were my favorites as well, but also a few games I've never played before...will have to check them out.
This is awesome because most of these I've never heard of. Great job!
Another great video Big JR 👍 blown away by the parallax effect on that jungle game on the vine swinging level. Didn't know the little 2600 had it in it!
8:12 like freeway also.
Btw, nice channel!!! See you
Question for everyone, did any of you play Space Shuttle on the 2600? And if so, did you ever land the darn thing?!? I played and played that game, but was too young to understand pitch and yaw, LoL.
I've successfully "finished" the mission, but I don't think I rendezvous'd with the satellite more than 3 or 4 times. Judicious use of all the switches was necessary (basically requiring the manual) which makes playing on a 4-switch unit almost pointless. Not a very easy "game" but technically very impressive. Garry Kitchen's brother Steve (well, one of his brothers!) made it after going through a real NASA simulator. (Garry did Keystone Kapers and Space Jockey among others!)
i love my atari 2600 i remember my family getting it for christmas in 1982 & it also sparked my love of video games.adventure e.t. haunted house congo bongojungle hut spiderman & pitfall were great & i still play adventure regularly today but i also loved centipede dark cavern demons to diamonds warlords yars revenge mrs. pacman & so many more
I saw your post saying you like Atari E.T. and just wanted to go out of my way to say thank you for not just agreeing with everyone that it's the "worst game ever". It's honestly better than a lot of Atari games and I personally don't know how anyone who actually takes the time to play it thinks it's THAT bad
I would still say that Superman 64 is the worst game ever. E. T. was never bad to me, just a little cryptic.
More potholes than a street in NJ... As a life long resident of New Jersey... I can say you are absolutely correct! Lol.
Nice list. My favortites are Phoenix, Keystone Kapers, and Radar Lock.
I have only played 4 of those games. I woud add Gremlins, Frankenstein, Dig Dug, Defender, Front Line, Yars Revenge (one of my favorites), Sworquest and Space Attack. I' m glad that you included E.T. I have very good memories playing that game.
Planet Patrol, Wordzapper, Eggomania, Berzerk, Kangaroo, Journey Escape, Grand Prix, M.A.D. and Homerun was the ones I kept coming back too.
Journey’s Escape is probably my favorite underdog game for the system. For the 2600, the music was great.
Berserk, some of the space invaders, tank,
You missed Star Raiders and Star Wars the Arcade Game! GOD I LOVED THOSE GAMES! THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON YOUR LIST!!!!
Even as a kid, I felt (and still feel) that the death in Atari 2600 Spider-Man is the most gruesome in video games
I personally like Defender, Kangaroo, and Missile Command.
I agree with Kangaroo and Missile Command, but I thought the official conversion of Defender was mediocre at best. Activision did a much better job with their clone Chopper Command, IMHO
Just got an Atari 2600 today! So excited to find out which games I should buy 😁
Pitfall has an ending...the game ends when you collect all 32 items
Beam rider. Warlords. Yars revenge. Star master. megamania. crystal castle. rampart. desert commander. missle command. River raid is such a great game, also river raid 2.
"Megamania" is another personal favourite of mine - you have a starship-Enterprise looking guy at the bottom, and enemies scroll side to side or from top to bottom - clear the screen of enemies to proceed to the next level. Enemies change colour, patterns and speed over time - a fun game for fans of shooters!
My neighbor had that one. Super fun!
Here are a few more recommendations:
Fast Food - Eat lots of junk food while not eating purple pickles
Road Runner - Avoid Wily E Coyote
Planet Patrol - Sidescrolling shooter with Day and night sequences
Halo 2600 - It's exactly as the name says it is.
Ghostbusters - I don't know how they got a game with so much going on, on a 2600 cart. You also need the manual to know what to do