I've been playing Atari 2600 recently. I tried the new homebrew "Plan B Escape Earth". It's pretty good. I got the free download on Atariage. There is something addictive about 2600 games. Maybe it's the simplicity of the games, but those who dismiss it as "primitive" may not understand that.
FR...wish I had this 32 years ago...I spent much of the 90s playing and stockpiling Atari 2600 games for dirt cheap, never have seen this hidden gem before! 😭😭😭
Jon, I love your play throughs. As I am a GenXer, I did not have an Atari as kid. And I am not very good at video games to begin with, your play throughs let me see more of the game. Thanks Jon.
I like to call these games “war games” not because of tanks, but for offensive and defense focused gameplay. Yars’ revenge is a great example as it has you trying to eat the shield, as offensive, as the nutural zone as the defense, and you looping the green is offensive and defensive depending on how you use it.
Games that add a little bit more complexity with each new level are the best types of games for the 2600, especially considering its extremely limited resources. Sega did a good job on this one.
Oh Wow! ThunderGround looks amazing! thanks for the review Jon, and Keith for the suggestion! adding this to my cartridge wish list, even at $20 its cheaper than new(plus inflation). reminds me of Tanks but No Tanks, Battle City(Tank Battalion) except you are on the attack, instead of defending a base. I only have 3 Sega games in my collection, TacScan, Star Trek, and Up'n Down...all of which are pretty good(minus the obnoxious music in Up'n Down)...but this might top them all! and yes, that droning sound is oddly comforting, in an ASMR kind of way, same with the tanks in Combat, or the background "white noise" of Yar's Revenge! it makes you feel safe, like you're "at home"...maybe it's a womb memory effect? 🤣
I really enjoy your Friday play videos! I have seen Thunderground (the cartridge) before but I never played it either. What a treat to discover a "new" good 2600 game. As far as tank games go, you should do Robot Tank in the future, it is my favorite 2600 game.
Watching this channel has really opened my eyes to what the 2600 was capable of doing. Back in the day you either had the games you had to play, or if you were lucky you could trade with others for games you hadn’t played. Buying them was expensive and there weren’t any rental companies to get games to try in most areas.
A brilliant game for its time. I've had the cart for about 40 years. Columnist E.C. Meade of the long dead Videogaming and Computergaming Illustrated magazine said in her 1983 review of it: "Dig-Dug" with muscle. Indeed it was and its strategy angle has real staying power! Great review! 👍
Definitely an under appreciated 2600 game. I like all of the games they released and ones they didn't like Ixion. If you're curious, there was a more thorough port of Borderline released for the SG-1000.
Forget Thunderground, there's so much electricity flying around that it should have been called Thunderstruck! Great playthrough Jon and thanks for sharing :-)
Sega is pretty underrated on the 2600. Most of their games are (with a couple of exceptions like Zaxxon) good to great. Thunderground and Tac Scan are limited compared to their arcade big brothers but are quite fun if taken on their own merits. Up n Down is hideous but surprisingly fun and playable. Buck Rogers is kinda fun. Zaxxon and Congo bongo do kinda suck, but Tapper, Spy Hunter and the unreleased Ixion are pure, unadulterated Atari bliss. Good review on this one. Nobody ever talks about this game. It’s fun.
As a huge Sega fan I’m surprised I had not heard of this one, it looks like a lot of fun and definitely looks intense once you get into 100k scoring territory. I’m going to have to find a way to play this.
Now Thunderstruck is playing in my head, that actually has lyrics that kinda fit the game... Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder Thunder, thunder I was caught In the middle of a railroad track (thunder) I looked 'round And I knew there was no turning back (thunder) My mind raced And I thought, what could I do? (Thunder) And I knew There was no help, no help from you (thunder) Sound of the drums Beating in my heart The thunder of guns Tore me apart You've been Thunderstruck
Pac-Man 4K would be great for the Friday play series (and for a separate interview with its creator!)🎉 I would help bring further awareness to this fantastic achievement and Homebrew games! 🕹️
I'd like to see you continue wi😢th these regardless of views (stemming from the discussion on your daily vlog channel). I sort of view it as the beginnings of a great catalog of the Atari library...from H.E.R.O. to Basic Math (maybe one day 😅 ). For the next video I nominate Rampage, Haunted House, and/or Frogs and Flies! Keep it up, indefinite sustainability is closer than you think!
I've been playing Atari 2600 recently. I tried the new homebrew "Plan B Escape Earth". It's pretty good. I got the free download on Atariage. There is something addictive about 2600 games. Maybe it's the simplicity of the games, but those who dismiss it as "primitive" may not understand that.
Where was this game all my life?? This looks quite fun. Thanks, Jon!
Thinking the same thing
FR...wish I had this 32 years ago...I spent much of the 90s playing and stockpiling Atari 2600 games for dirt cheap, never have seen this hidden gem before! 😭😭😭
I did not realize Thunderground was based on an arcade game. Or at least part of one.
And knowing is half the battle!
Jon, I love your play throughs. As I am a GenXer, I did not have an Atari as kid. And I am not very good at video games to begin with, your play throughs let me see more of the game.
Thanks Jon.
Man I absolutely love thunderground. Such a fun game.
This is absolutely one of my favorite Atari games and one I come back to again and again.
Thanks for showing us this, Jon. I didn't even know Sega made games for the 2600
Wow, what a great game that I never knew existed. It actually put a smile on my face while playing. Thanks for sharing this.
The sounds of the explosions of the reactors sound so satisfying.
Never heard of this one. I could see how awesome that would've been if I had that game as a kid.
I like to call these games “war games” not because of tanks, but for offensive and defense focused gameplay. Yars’ revenge is a great example as it has you trying to eat the shield, as offensive, as the nutural zone as the defense, and you looping the green is offensive and defensive depending on how you use it.
Games that add a little bit more complexity with each new level are the best types of games for the 2600, especially considering its extremely limited resources. Sega did a good job on this one.
Watch Battle Beneath The Earth (1967) to really appreciate this game.
Oh Wow! ThunderGround looks amazing! thanks for the review Jon, and Keith for the suggestion! adding this to my cartridge wish list, even at $20 its cheaper than new(plus inflation). reminds me of Tanks but No Tanks, Battle City(Tank Battalion) except you are on the attack, instead of defending a base.
I only have 3 Sega games in my collection, TacScan, Star Trek, and Up'n Down...all of which are pretty good(minus the obnoxious music in Up'n Down)...but this might top them all!
and yes, that droning sound is oddly comforting, in an ASMR kind of way, same with the tanks in Combat, or the background "white noise" of Yar's Revenge! it makes you feel safe, like you're "at home"...maybe it's a womb memory effect? 🤣
This game is awesome.
I really enjoy your Friday play videos! I have seen Thunderground (the cartridge) before but I never played it either. What a treat to discover a "new" good 2600 game. As far as tank games go, you should do Robot Tank in the future, it is my favorite 2600 game.
Watching this channel has really opened my eyes to what the 2600 was capable of doing. Back in the day you either had the games you had to play, or if you were lucky you could trade with others for games you hadn’t played. Buying them was expensive and there weren’t any rental companies to get games to try in most areas.
GAMEPLAY > GRAPHICS
Always has been.. and always will be
I just bought this game a few months ago, and it's fun it's even more fun when you use the right controllers
This is a very fun game for Atari. Borderline for the SG 1000 has some similar gameplay
Yeah, this is based on parts of Borderline, which was an arcade game from 1981, predating even Dig Dug!
A brilliant game for its time. I've had the cart for about 40 years. Columnist E.C. Meade of the long dead Videogaming and Computergaming Illustrated magazine said in her 1983 review of it: "Dig-Dug" with muscle. Indeed it was and its strategy angle has real staying power! Great review! 👍
That game looks cool! I woulda loved it if I'd ever seen it...
Definitely an under appreciated 2600 game. I like all of the games they released and ones they didn't like Ixion.
If you're curious, there was a more thorough port of Borderline released for the SG-1000.
I'd read about that!
I loved this game! I played the heck out of it when I was a kid, and I still enjoy it.
My Friday Plays idea - do Activision's Decathlon while the Summer Olympics are going on this summer in real life!
I'm trying this game at this very moment....thanks
Hope you enjoy it!
Forget Thunderground, there's so much electricity flying around that it should have been called Thunderstruck! Great playthrough Jon and thanks for sharing :-)
Thanks for sharing great stuff Jon 👍
My pleasure!
I never saw this game before and have to say that most of the youth today would find this much too difficult.
That was fun!
A+ for your very descriptive narration. I am a 6502 programmer, at least I try to be, And I love all of these 8-bit games.
Sega is pretty underrated on the 2600. Most of their games are (with a couple of exceptions like Zaxxon) good to great. Thunderground and Tac Scan are limited compared to their arcade big brothers but are quite fun if taken on their own merits. Up n Down is hideous but surprisingly fun and playable. Buck Rogers is kinda fun. Zaxxon and Congo bongo do kinda suck, but Tapper, Spy Hunter and the unreleased Ixion are pure, unadulterated Atari bliss.
Good review on this one. Nobody ever talks about this game. It’s fun.
Great video! I played Thunderground for the first time today, and quickly added it to the favorites list. 👍👍
One of my favourites VCS games. I played it until I hated it.
As a huge Sega fan I’m surprised I had not heard of this one, it looks like a lot of fun and definitely looks intense once you get into 100k scoring territory. I’m going to have to find a way to play this.
The box art was amazing
Now Thunderstruck is playing in my head, that actually has lyrics that kinda fit the game...
Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
Thunder, thunder
I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track (thunder)
I looked 'round
And I knew there was no turning back (thunder)
My mind raced
And I thought, what could I do? (Thunder)
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you (thunder)
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been
Thunderstruck
Never heard of this one back in the day, but it actually looks like a really good game.
I've never seen this game either, that I can remember. Game definitely looks like some fun. Great Content Jon!👍🏻🇺🇲
Nice run!
Thanks!
I've never played this game, despite having the ROM. Definitely going to check it out now!
Cool. Let me know what you think.
Pac-Man 4K would be great for the Friday play series (and for a separate interview with its creator!)🎉
I would help bring further awareness to this fantastic achievement and Homebrew games! 🕹️
I'd like to see you continue wi😢th these regardless of views (stemming from the discussion on your daily vlog channel). I sort of view it as the beginnings of a great catalog of the Atari library...from H.E.R.O. to Basic Math (maybe one day 😅 ).
For the next video I nominate Rampage, Haunted House, and/or Frogs and Flies!
Keep it up, indefinite sustainability is closer than you think!
Was this even released? Great high score chaser!
It was! 😁
looks fun; i will check it out, thanks!
Interesting ❤
This game is a live stream staple on my channel. This is such a fun game.
Oh, yeah? You must have a sick high score!
@GenXGrownUp Honestly, Jon, I don't know. Haha I just play and chat. Hardly look. Now you have me wondering. Haha 😄
Interesting!
I have spent hundreds of coins if not thousands in borderline
... Cool game... I think I will have a try with thunderground
Cool. Let me know what you think.
Jon can you please do a tier list on the Bally/Midway+Sega games on the Atari 2600?
Too bad the tanks can't shoot or slow each other somehow. It would add some strategy.
Current Atari 2600 Thunderground World record: th-cam.com/video/MXzDFroFvF0/w-d-xo.html
I have enjoyed this one myself, the SEGA VCS games are areally good. Try out Sub can and Tac Scan, two fun games.
I'll check it out!
🕹️💜