10 BEST games for Sega Genesis - ruclips.net/video/0nAKj1AQ4rM/видео.html NES games that you didn't know were also Atari 2600 games part 1 ruclips.net/video/5nYZHzgerRU/видео.html and part 2 ruclips.net/video/UtWSz7oYtcY/видео.html
I must give my contribution for your list :) Beamrider Keystone Capers Laser Gates Pole Position River Raid Snoopy vs. the Red Baron These are very good!
My all time favorite 2600 jams: 1) Jungle Hunt 2) Dark Cavern 3) Keystone Capers 4) Berzerk 5) Plaque Attack 6) River Raid 7) Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes 8) Amidar 9) Missile Command 10) Haunted House
When people complain about flicker or frame rate or graphics in modern games I immediately know they didn't grow up playing an Atari 2600. I got Asteroids for Christmas one year. Opened the present weeks early, played the heck out of it and rewrapped it every night before the parents got home from work. Good times!
Just because modern game consoles are many thousands of times more powerful than a 2600, it doesn't mean the games themselves are thousands of times more fun. Someone playing Space Invaders back in the day was having as much fun as someone playing the latest Battlefield game today. They are very different experiences, but the overall fun is the same.
Asteroids was the best. I remember when that came out for the Atari, it was almost like a rumor. Someone at school said that so-and-so had a copy. "No way! Really? It really exists?" Not sure why we didn't know it was coming, but sure enough, it was real. Yeah, we needed to all have it after that. :-) If I was to own one old-school arcade cabinet, it would be an Asteroids cab.
My kids complain when Netflix has to buffer... I try to tell them about having to hope the TV was free at a particular time and day so I didn't miss my favorite cartoons! Haha... such basic times
The version on 2600 wasn't called "Frog Bog", that name was used for the Intellivision version. The 2600 version, same developer and basic gameplay, was called Frogs & Flies.
Yes I had long since moved on to my 5200 and apple 2e but a friend was still playing 2600, and I remember he bought pressure cooker and frostbite and I was pleasantly surprised by both. Excellent 2600 graphics and gameplay. Really the pinnacle games for the system were made then - Solaris etc. so many people think the cheating homebrews made today like galagon or donkey Kong or any of the others are superior programming lol… they ignore the monumental hardware upgrades needed….
Excellent list! I grew up with Atari. You have to respect the programmers for delivering so much with so many limitations, most of the Atari box art was amazing, and you can't go wrong with Activision games.
Two games that are still so much fun with 2 players are Combat and Freeway. Racing game that I loved also was Enduro. Most people think Pole Position with racing on the 2600, but Enduro was great at the time with the sky changing colors, and even a snow level. Still have a 2600 hooked up and ready to play on a moments notice. Priceless!
Air Sea Battle was also a blast with two players. I owned the Sears Tele-Games version of the cartridge, which they re-titled to Target Fun for some reason. lol
The Cannibals from Jungle Hunt and Evil Otto in Berserk used to scare the bejesus out of me. Two of my favorite games along with Defender and Demon Attack.
What I love about classic games is that graphics couldn't be a reason to like them. They had to be fun to play and they are! Even today I still play Atari. H. E. R. O is number 1 for me!
Joust was a pretty incredible port. Mario Bros was a lot of fun and decent too. Moon Patrol, Warlords, Star Raiders would have been on my list. Combat was a blast but you needed two people.
@Steven Wheat the game play in Pitfall 2 was a huge step forward for that platform. Even now, my teen daughters play Pitfall 2 on my original 2600 and they consider it one of their all-time favorites.
@@granderwishes you had to collect all 20 treasures (5 Gold Bars, 5 Silver Bars, 5 Diamond Rings, and 5 Money Bags (which looked very similar to the snake when you were moving fast...)
@@misterkumquat7911 Oh it's amazing. It's a cartridge that connects the 2600 to the internet (seriously) and you can go on a server and literally play hundreds and hundreds of games. All the popular ones , rare ones and the homebrew scene has a lot on there too.
Good list. My sister and I would play Frogs and Flies all the time. I would have exchanged Phoenix for Demon Attack. Didn't care for Vanguard and I'm stunned Missile Command didn't make the list. Along with Yars' Revenge & Frostbite, Missile Command was my favourite.
There's guides on the web telling you to go left or right up or down to collect them all in 20 minutes, but you have to jump like 19 scorpions. Too bad there's no reward fanfare for winning like Adventure and Haunted House. I've won it twice, once 40 years ago, and once a few years ago, so no need to play it again today. I never got Pitfall! 2.
One of my earliest and favorite memories is, watching my mom and grandma (both who are not gamers) playing Kaboom together, having a blast, yelling and laughing their heads off. Great time.
Pitfall 2 is the best platformer on the system, plus it has bgm, ahead of its time. Cosmic ark, Congo bongo, xevious, I could go on but it's been awhile.. Riggs, you're the best, man!!
@@LoroTalby It came out in 1984, and not many people bought it. So if he doesn't have it.... I liked Cosmic Ark, but whether I can beat my high score is another matter, as it was pretty fast at that level.
I can relate to your love for Pitfall II. But Pitfall is the absolute, #1 game for the 2600! Unfortunately Pitfall II and HERO came out (late) when people were coming down from their Atari ‘high’.
@d.vaughn8990 it's debatable for sure, I'm privy to my own life experience, I guess. I would love to see a game like pitfall 2 but expanded out like the granpappy metroidvania it is. That's my hope..
John, this is SUCH a great list, and judging by your entries here we're obviously very close in age. I could write paragraphs about my memories of each game, but I'll spare you the details! Thanks for the nostalgia kick! Also, I hadn't seen or thought about Dragon Fire since about 1984, so that was definitely a treat.
Technically Indy 500 is the only "racing" game; the others are just passing-traffic games. But because it came with Steering Controllers, no one ever made another game with those controllers, like a sequel or Tempest.
I got to show some love for Dig Dug and Galaxian. Spent a lot of time with those two. When it comes to fun 2 player vs the ultimate classic was Combat. For it’s time you had so many options of game play. Many’s the hours we spent on that one!
I can’t believe you left the most enjoyable game of all time for the 2600-E.T.!! Seriously though, I’m glad I discovered your channel. As a kid in the 80s, you can def appreciate how far we’ve come! As someone else mentioned, I absolutely loved Warlords with the paddle controllers, Combat for 2-player tank battles, and Activision’s Defender knock-off: Chopper Command. Keep up the great work!
Last time I played E.T. I won 5 times before running out of energy on hard. The thing with Atari (and its competitors) was that it was designed for 2-player games from 1977-1979, like Combat. By 1981 it became a 1-player game system with hits like Space Invaders, Missile Command and Asteroids. Warlords was the multi-player exception, and probably the last 4-player game released. Even though I got M-Network's Baseball and Armor Ambush in 1982, they didn't have 1-player options (the Intellivision versions didn't either, I'm told!), and other kids didn't want to learn the control, or even buy their own copies to get proficient.
For Dodge 'Em I beat the logbook challenge on difficulty b, scoring perfect game of 1080 and didn't need to play again. A few years ago I realized I'd never won the game on difficulty a's! So I did that on slow-random and fast, but haven't done it on both fast and random positions of enemy cars (both difficulty a). So I think that one's worth still playing to learn the patterns to win.
I had bought an Atari Flashback system. It was missing a few games I was interested in. Then I had a buddy convince me to just get the system and physical games. An Atari 2600 Jr. And 70 games later I owe him so much gratitude. Love the Atari 2600. I'm not sure I could narrow my choices down to 20. H.E.R.O would top any list with Yars Revenge right behind it. Burgertime, Pitfall 1 & 2, River Raid, Frogger, Keystone Kapers, Jungle Hunt, Miner 2049er, Tapper, Super Cobra, Mr..Do!, Solar Fox, Crystal Castle, Congo Bongo, & M.A.S.H, are games I always end up playing when I start an Atari session. Just glad I was able to build up a decent library before prices rose.
My favorite game was "Starmaster" by Activision. I still have it including the original box & booklet. It was way ahead of it's time in gaming, tactics & design.
Some interesting choices. Others that I've enjoyed were BMX Air Master, Dig Dug, Keystone Kapers, Missile Command, Moon Patrol, RealSports Volleyball, Secret Quest, Solaris, Tennis, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes, Venture, and Warlords. Some of them can have limited replayability, but they're fairly fun for awhile. BTW, Pitfall has an ending: get all of the treasure before the time runs out. I doubt that very many have manged to do it. I certainly never did. Never beat Solaris either.
Activision had so many great games, glad to see you include River Raid! One of my favorites that I had as a kid was Chopper Command, played so much of that game back then.
We always just called it Atari just like in the mid 80's Nintendo was just Nintendo not the NES. I have to add Combat to my list. Yes, it's two player only but there is so much variety to that cartridge. Stargate is so much better than Defender, you won't want to play the latter again. Other games I really enjoyed were StarMaster, Atlantis, Circus Atari, and Warlords.
never heard of some of these. But I grew up on the 2600 :P I didn't play the NES until the SuperNES came out lol. Until I was old enough to buy my own console, I was always stuck a console behind all the "rich kids". I loved River Raid, Lock-n-Chase, Asteroids, PitFall, and Frogger. edit... Oh, how could i forget Skydiver & Bowling!
Good list. I didn't grow up with the Atari but I've grown to like it over the years and even have a collection of my own. Fun fact, a friend of mine broke his arm a couple of months ago which rendered him unable to play most games. So I brought over my Atari 7800, paddle controllers and paddle games and we had fun playing some Warlords. He's a few years younger than me so he didn't grow up with Atari either but he enjoyed it
I don't think I ever got to the third Gond, it was just too fast to maneuver by the third level. I did see the arcade game once at a pizzeria, where the paths were diagonal. The last time I played Yars' Revenge to beat the logbook challenge high score (game 6a: 100K, 230K, 500K), I hit the line that gives the programmers initials and froze the game.
There is kind of an end to Pitfall. You have to take a certain path through all the screens utilizing both underground and above ground paths in order to get every treasure in the game. Personally, though, I never bothered with all that, and would always just run in a straight line to the right of the screen.
3 года назад
Yeah, there is definetely and ending, I watched a speedrun of it recently, you got to collect all gold treasures in the time limit
"Frogger," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Centipede" (with the Trackball), "River Raid," "Joust"... loved all of them and still have them in my collection, today. I still get the music from "Vanguard" and "Moon Patrol" stuck in my head. =) I've always been disappointed that people don't seem to remember really cool systems like the 2600, 7800, Colecovision and Vectrex. They had great games!
I would have had combat, warlords, dark chambers, and surround on my list. I probably played more mulitplayer then single player games due to growing up in a large family and needing to share the only TV.
Great list. I started playing the 2600 in the early 80s at my cousins house and at my friends house. I eventually got a 7800 in 1988 and was able to get about a dozen 2600 games for that. Played it quite a bit until I ‘upgraded’ to the SNES (my favorite console of all time). My top 20 would be: 20) Kaboom. A neighbor gave me this one along with the paddles and I was addicted. 19) Keystone Kapers. Another ACTIVISION gem. 18) Combat. Old school. Must play as 2P. 17) Defender. A lot of folks disparage this one, or prefer the second one, but I’m with you Riggs, I liked this defender. Had a lot of fun back in the day. 16) Dig Dug 15) Yars Return/Yars Revenge (yup, lumping both together) 14) Commando. This one got a huge boost with the 7800, but the 2600 one plays really well. 13) Galaxian. Honorable mention to Phoenix and Demons attack. 12) Dig Dug. Pretty solid port. Not nearly as good as the NES version, but was available well before. 11) Toyshop Trouble. Another great homebrew. 10) Space Invaders. It’s the killer app of the 2600. 9) Ms Pac-Man. Big boost when it went to 7800, but this is a solid port. 8) Berserk 7) Missile Command 6) River Raid 5) HERO 4) Frogger 3) Wizard of Wor. Huge fan of this game. Probably spent more time playing this with my friend in the early 80s than any other game 2) Pitfall/Pitfall 2 . I realize these are completely different games, but I wanted both on here... 1) Mario Bros.
Pitfall does have an ending... it ends when you get all of the treasures (32 of them). In order to do so, you need to sort of memorize when to go underground, though... because each underground screen counts as three above ground screens, if I remember correctly... so you need them to move you quicker through the jungle to beat the 20 minute clock. Also, as good as Pitfall was, Pitfall II was possibly the best game on the entire system! Sooooo good! It was so expansive and demanding for the system that they even had to add an extra chip to the cartridge to boost the Atari's abilities. Amazing game for the time.
@@JustMe99999 Yeah... the new chip gave it 4-channel sound, instead of just 2. Also, it improved the visuals some. David Crane apparently designed the chip. Pretty cool stuff! :-)
Star Master was always one of my favorites. I think it holds up really well today. It was really ahead of it's time when it came out. I would have to say it really stretched the Ataris hardware for all that you could do in that game.
We got an Atari 2600 Christmas of 87 when I was 5 and I loved it.. The fact that I could go to the local 99 cents store and they had a HUGE bin of brand new 2600 games for a buck each was epic as a kid.. A couple of Saturdays a month I would come home with like 10 new 2600 games.. By the time I got an NES in like 1990 I had around 70 2600 games.. My all time favorites Ms. Pacman, Combat, Astroids, Journey, Joust, Donkey Kong, Q-Bert, and my all time favorite 2600 game is and always will be Moon Patrol.. Me, my mom(who wasnt a gamer), and my sister were literally obsessed with Moon Patrol.. Lol.
Great list! Kudos for mentioning Kangaroo, Space Invaders, Frogger, Vanguard, H.E.R.O.and Jungle Hunt. I would also add Ms. Pac-Man, Pitfall II, Circus Atari, and Q-bert. Now, if you were to include homebrews made over the last 20 years, the list would be very different because there are so many great homebrews as good as or better than the ones from back in the day!
I use to go to my cousins house on Saturdays all the time and played her Atari 2600 all the time. My favorite was a tank game. I think it was called Tank.
Probably called “Tank Plus”. This is the Sears Telegames ‘version’ of Combat. So, it’s Combat with a different name. Sears bought products, from manufacturers, and placed their own name on the product. For example, Sears Kenmore appliances were manufactured by Whirlpool.
Man, I almost forgot about these great games! But for my personal list, Joust is definately missing! It made so much fun flying around with these birds by flapping the wings while fighting against a friend trying to hit them from above. So easy gameplay but so great.
There is an end to Pitfall. You have to get all the treasure before the time limit. And you need to memorize the underground because it isn't 1:1 with the over world. If it were my list Combat, Joust and Warlords would be on and possibly Breakout. The 2600 was a great multiplayer system.
Tac-Scan is really fun and unique for a vertical shooter. You control a squad of 5 ships and can lose/regain them as you go. It also uses the paddle controllers.
Out of your list, my faves were; Adventure, Kangeroo, Demon Attack and Asteroids (which I would clock the score on) and Frogger. Some not mentioned here are Moon Patrol, Pole Position, Combat, the Pac-Man games, OutLaw, Kung Fu Master, War Lords and Moon Patrol to name a few.
Love me some H.E.R.O.. Keystone Kapers, Megamania, Plaque Attack, and Moonsweeper are definitely up there for replayability. And Combat was great for 2 players.
I definitely agree with some of these. Demon Attack might be the best 2600 game ever. But I played Haunted House a ridiculous amount too. Pitfall is a classic, and so is Defender... But I think Ms PacMan deserves a place on the list, as does Raiders of the Lost Ark. We had an absolute blast trying to solve that game!
Pretty nice, I didn't know a bunch of those. My favorites are there though. There was also a really cool and addictive shooter called Spider Fighter, probably one of the few I'd still play to be honest.
Man..., I played so much River Raid, Moon Patrol and Frostbite when I was a child... I still love these games and play occasionaly using the Stella Emulator, but seeing how much games evolved in things like Mass Effect or The Elder Scrolls (my new favorite games) is incredible.
I love the 2600! My cousin had a friend who had one in the trunk of his car and when I was over he would bring it out. Even though I had experience with the NES and shortly after, Genesis, I still loved playing Atari. The sounds, the games, just so much fun; even with one button and a joystick. This was around '92. Good times ❤
I still remember the excitement of beating Adventure just as multiple dragons are closing in and that game never got old no matter how many times you played it. In Pitfall I always thought I beat it once in all the hundreds of times I played it but to be honest I don't know, it's been nearly 40 years lol
Personal favorites were... Moon Patrol. Keystone Kapers. Stampede. Cosmic Ark. Missile Command. Threshold. As far as 2 player games my favorite was Combat... Great list you got as well....
I bought an Atari 2600 jr. It's been like 30 years since I've had one. Amazing feeling to turn on the old CRT tv and then have to seach the analog channel of the Atari... The moment the game pop'ed up. It took me back 30 years instantly.
Asteroids!! I remember I was in HS and I built my own Asteroids controller (5 button wing formation) from parts I got from ETCO (mail order surplus electronics house). It also worked OK for Decathalon, but I built a separate mercury switch (off the shelf from The Shack) controller with a foot pedal button for that (can't get those anymore). I still have one of my 2600s but those custom controllers got lost somewhere over the years.
10 BEST games for Sega Genesis - ruclips.net/video/0nAKj1AQ4rM/видео.html
NES games that you didn't know were also Atari 2600 games
part 1 ruclips.net/video/5nYZHzgerRU/видео.html and part 2 ruclips.net/video/UtWSz7oYtcY/видео.html
I must give my contribution for your list :)
Beamrider
Keystone Capers
Laser Gates
Pole Position
River Raid
Snoopy vs. the Red Baron
These are very good!
"2600", hi Riggs, the old Atari great system did you ever pick up the Atari VCS the new one?
I loved the video, except for that it is lacking 60 fps, that hurts a lot for 2600 games.
@@IuriFiedoruk can i download atari 2600 games on a Xbox One or do you know i bet it would have 60 fps then
@@rioncitylife1917 it is a matter more of video encoding than where the games was running.
If you hold down the reset button when powering up the system with Space Invaders, you can double fire.
PFFT; **NOW** you tell me!! Where were you 40 years ago?? lol
I heard the FF1 save music in my head when I read this comment.
Exactly the same as cuphead rapid fire glitch
I didn't need it.
Im going to try this right now
Update: it works 😏
Moon patrol was one of my favorite games for the 2600
That is hands down my favorite game for the 2600.
Another great one! He could have done a Top 50 list, probably. heh :-)
Never played it on the 2600, but I still play it to this day at a local arcade.
I almost forgot about Moon Patrol. Another great one!
I was looking for that one guy who would say Moon Patrol, and, lo and behold!
My all time favorite 2600 jams:
1) Jungle Hunt
2) Dark Cavern
3) Keystone Capers
4) Berzerk
5) Plaque Attack
6) River Raid
7) Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes
8) Amidar
9) Missile Command
10) Haunted House
omg keystone capers, i forgot all about that one. great freakin game - the AI cheated so much though
Juding by that list you would also like Megalomania and Demon Attack.
Excellent choice!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Missile Command and Plaque Attack. Spent a lot of time on those
When people complain about flicker or frame rate or graphics in modern games I immediately know they didn't grow up playing an Atari 2600.
I got Asteroids for Christmas one year. Opened the present weeks early, played the heck out of it and rewrapped it every night before the parents got home from work. Good times!
Just because modern game consoles are many thousands of times more powerful than a 2600, it doesn't mean the games themselves are thousands of times more fun. Someone playing Space Invaders back in the day was having as much fun as someone playing the latest Battlefield game today. They are very different experiences, but the overall fun is the same.
We did this with our Nintendo we played Pro Wrestling and Zelda weeks before Christmas.
Who cares about them? Atari 2600 is the best
Asteroids was the best. I remember when that came out for the Atari, it was almost like a rumor. Someone at school said that so-and-so had a copy. "No way! Really? It really exists?" Not sure why we didn't know it was coming, but sure enough, it was real. Yeah, we needed to all have it after that. :-) If I was to own one old-school arcade cabinet, it would be an Asteroids cab.
My kids complain when Netflix has to buffer... I try to tell them about having to hope the TV was free at a particular time and day so I didn't miss my favorite cartoons! Haha... such basic times
The version on 2600 wasn't called "Frog Bog", that name was used for the Intellivision version. The 2600 version, same developer and basic gameplay, was called Frogs & Flies.
I thought that sounded off!
I wrote the same response - but deleted after I saw you beat me to the punch!
OHH i remember that i played that a good bit pretty simple but still fun
The strange black cartridges
5 Retro Geek Demerits for Riggs
The inclusion of Frostbite made this list legit, well done! Far too many forget about or don't even know about it. My all time favorite.
Yes I had long since moved on to my 5200 and apple 2e but a friend was still playing 2600, and I remember he bought pressure cooker and frostbite and I was pleasantly surprised by both. Excellent 2600 graphics and gameplay. Really the pinnacle games for the system were made then - Solaris etc. so many people think the cheating homebrews made today like galagon or donkey Kong or any of the others are superior programming lol… they ignore the monumental hardware upgrades needed….
Excellent list! I grew up with Atari. You have to respect the programmers for delivering so much with so many limitations, most of the Atari box art was amazing, and you can't go wrong with Activision games.
Two games that are still so much fun with 2 players are Combat and Freeway. Racing game that I loved also was Enduro. Most people think Pole Position with racing on the 2600, but Enduro was great at the time with the sky changing colors, and even a snow level. Still have a 2600 hooked up and ready to play on a moments notice. Priceless!
Air Sea Battle was also a blast with two players. I owned the Sears Tele-Games version of the cartridge, which they re-titled to Target Fun for some reason. lol
@@KabukiKid Agreed! Atlantis was fun too. So many games that could make a top 20 list.
My favorite two player games are slot racers and outlaw.
No Combat!? That was such a good multi player.
I just made a version of this on game builder garage. My kids have a blast playing it
@@dokka3785 I'm planning on getting GBG this weekend and have been thinking about remaking some 2600 games.
The Cannibals from Jungle Hunt and Evil Otto in Berserk used to scare the bejesus out of me. Two of my favorite games along with Defender and Demon Attack.
What I love about classic games is that graphics couldn't be a reason to like them. They had to be fun to play and they are! Even today I still play Atari. H. E. R. O is number 1 for me!
Yippee!
44 years after it came out they are still selling Atari 2600 consoles in the form of the retron 77, and people still make games for it.
Pitfall 2 was easily the best game for the 2600. Also very good were Starmaster and Enduro
It's amazing that they were able to create something like Pitfall 2 on the 2600.
Phoenix was better on the 2600 than the arcade
Exactly!!! 😃
Joust was a pretty incredible port. Mario Bros was a lot of fun and decent too. Moon Patrol, Warlords, Star Raiders would have been on my list. Combat was a blast but you needed two people.
Joust was a game we played all the time as well as California Games (Motorcross)
Warlords! Best party game on the Atari 2600
Bobby is Going Home is also great
Pitfall has an end. Just like Pitfall 2.
Yep, I believe it's collecting 20 golden bricks
@granderwishes Pitfall ends when the 20 minute timer runs out. 2 ends when you find the cat thing.
Pitfall 2 was way better for me.
I was dazzled on how the levels were..
AND YOU COULD SWIM?!
@Steven Wheat the game play in Pitfall 2 was a huge step forward for that platform. Even now, my teen daughters play Pitfall 2 on my original 2600 and they consider it one of their all-time favorites.
@@granderwishes you had to collect all 20 treasures (5 Gold Bars, 5 Silver Bars, 5 Diamond Rings, and 5 Money Bags (which looked very similar to the snake when you were moving fast...)
I recently got an Atari and I appreciate the video.
Long live the king of game consoles!!!
If you arw just getting into ut I can strongly recommend getting a Plus Cart - best purchase of 2021 for me.
@@Zaphod-ef9yz Can ya explain what a plus cart is for me?
Cool thing is that most of the great games are cheap to pick up ;-)
@@misterkumquat7911 Oh it's amazing. It's a cartridge that connects the 2600 to the internet (seriously) and you can go on a server and literally play hundreds and hundreds of games. All the popular ones , rare ones and the homebrew scene has a lot on there too.
Frog bog was also called frogs and flies. I loved the setting where you could free jump and land in the water..
Oh yeah, I remember it now, it was one of those weird "chisel tip" shaped cartridges.
Yup I have it as the frogs and flies version. Great game
I love Frogs and Flies, never heard it called Frog Bog before.
It was called Frog Bog on the Intellivision
@@bonemasterd1 an Intellivision game on an Atari 2600 video?!?! The nerve! 😝
Good list. My sister and I would play Frogs and Flies all the time. I would have exchanged Phoenix for Demon Attack. Didn't care for Vanguard and I'm stunned Missile Command didn't make the list. Along with Yars' Revenge & Frostbite, Missile Command was my favourite.
Phoenix was really easy. Demon Attack however…
Keystone Kapers is my all time favorite!
Mine too!
Same here!!
Yes i hsve it on my phone to ...yars revenge is awesome to
Totally agree! Awesome game!!!!!
I was just about to say that when I saw you're comment haha. Also, I really like Phoenix.
Warlords with two sets of paddles and four people is still a blast.
Absolutely, also the paddle game Demons to Diamond was the only game me and my siblings literally played it until it burnt out.
Pitfall, in fact, has an end, when you collect all the treasures in time, which is really challenging.
There's guides on the web telling you to go left or right up or down to collect them all in 20 minutes, but you have to jump like 19 scorpions. Too bad there's no reward fanfare for winning like Adventure and Haunted House. I've won it twice, once 40 years ago, and once a few years ago, so no need to play it again today. I never got Pitfall! 2.
One of my earliest and favorite memories is, watching my mom and grandma (both who are not gamers) playing Kaboom together, having a blast, yelling and laughing their heads off. Great time.
I have similar memories lol so cool
Pitfall 2 is the best platformer on the system, plus it has bgm, ahead of its time. Cosmic ark, Congo bongo, xevious, I could go on but it's been awhile.. Riggs, you're the best, man!!
How, how, how is Pitfall 2 not on this list. Makes no sense.
@@LoroTalby It came out in 1984, and not many people bought it. So if he doesn't have it....
I liked Cosmic Ark, but whether I can beat my high score is another matter, as it was pretty fast at that level.
I can relate to your love for Pitfall II. But Pitfall is the absolute, #1 game for the 2600!
Unfortunately Pitfall II and HERO came out (late) when people were coming down from their Atari ‘high’.
@d.vaughn8990 it's debatable for sure, I'm privy to my own life experience, I guess. I would love to see a game like pitfall 2 but expanded out like the granpappy metroidvania it is. That's my hope..
John, this is SUCH a great list, and judging by your entries here we're obviously very close in age. I could write paragraphs about my memories of each game, but I'll spare you the details! Thanks for the nostalgia kick! Also, I hadn't seen or thought about Dragon Fire since about 1984, so that was definitely a treat.
Dude how could you not include Enduro. It had to be the best racing game on the Atari 2600.
He could probably make a list just from Activision games. (Back when Activision was a game-changing, innovative company!)
Technically Indy 500 is the only "racing" game; the others are just passing-traffic games. But because it came with Steering Controllers, no one ever made another game with those controllers, like a sequel or Tempest.
Superman was my all time favorite Atari 2600 game. I still have the cart today. Great video sir!
Superman was my favorite N64 game. Look how far they came from the 2600 Superman to the N64 Superman. Tremendous improvement.
I got to show some love for Dig Dug and Galaxian. Spent a lot of time with those two. When it comes to fun 2 player vs the ultimate classic was Combat. For it’s time you had so many options of game play. Many’s the hours we spent on that one!
Dig Dug is a top 20 Atari game for sure 👍
Playing Combat with anyone in my family was great fun, It was my free game that I got with the console and there were SO many options..........
I can’t believe you left the most enjoyable game of all time for the 2600-E.T.!! Seriously though, I’m glad I discovered your channel. As a kid in the 80s, you can def appreciate how far we’ve come! As someone else mentioned, I absolutely loved Warlords with the paddle controllers, Combat for 2-player tank battles, and Activision’s Defender knock-off: Chopper Command. Keep up the great work!
Last time I played E.T. I won 5 times before running out of energy on hard. The thing with Atari (and its competitors) was that it was designed for 2-player games from 1977-1979, like Combat. By 1981 it became a 1-player game system with hits like Space Invaders, Missile Command and Asteroids.
Warlords was the multi-player exception, and probably the last 4-player game released. Even though I got M-Network's Baseball and Armor Ambush in 1982, they didn't have 1-player options (the Intellivision versions didn't either, I'm told!), and other kids didn't want to learn the control, or even buy their own copies to get proficient.
E.T. is a lot more fun than some 2600 games.
Excellent choice of Atari 2600 games. Chopper Command, Dodge 'em and Carnival are 3 of my favorites for that system.
For Dodge 'Em I beat the logbook challenge on difficulty b, scoring perfect game of 1080 and didn't need to play again. A few years ago I realized I'd never won the game on difficulty a's! So I did that on slow-random and fast, but haven't done it on both fast and random positions of enemy cars (both difficulty a). So I think that one's worth still playing to learn the patterns to win.
I had bought an Atari Flashback system. It was missing a few games I was interested in. Then I had a buddy convince me to just get the system and physical games. An Atari 2600 Jr. And 70 games later I owe him so much gratitude. Love the Atari 2600. I'm not sure I could narrow my choices down to 20. H.E.R.O would top any list with Yars Revenge right behind it. Burgertime, Pitfall 1 & 2, River Raid, Frogger, Keystone Kapers, Jungle Hunt, Miner 2049er, Tapper, Super Cobra, Mr..Do!, Solar Fox, Crystal Castle, Congo Bongo, & M.A.S.H, are games I always end up playing when I start an Atari session.
Just glad I was able to build up a decent library before prices rose.
2:09 Grandma's Boy 🤘🤯
I used to spend hours playing Kangaroo at the arcade punching the monkeys always made me laugh
Great list! Berzerk is one of my favorites.
I was always in awe of Evil Otto, fascinating every time he popped up on the screen and started chasing you :O
I wanna remake it in Game Builder Garage for Switch.
Beamrider is tops on my list
Obviously one of my faves!! See my name?
I made my own text alert it says, “Intruder Alert”.
I used to love Plaque Attack for the 2600
Seaquest would be in my top 5.
Heck yeah man I loved that game too! An absolute classic! That game never gets the recognition it deserves.
I still play that one to this day. It is amazing in every way.
That game and Moon Patrol.
My favorite has to be Megamania. Still enjoy playing it today!
Great choice
This is a pretty solid list. Glad to see some Maze Craze love. I would add Pitfall II and Keystone Kapers as honorable mentions.
Pitfall II pushes the 2600 so hard, it doesn't feel like it even belongs on that console.
My favorite game was "Starmaster" by Activision. I still have it including the original box & booklet. It was way ahead of it's time in gaming, tactics & design.
Played for hours, loved it!
Activision made a lot of great games for the Atari 2600.
Some interesting choices. Others that I've enjoyed were BMX Air Master, Dig Dug, Keystone Kapers, Missile Command, Moon Patrol, RealSports Volleyball, Secret Quest, Solaris, Tennis, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes, Venture, and Warlords. Some of them can have limited replayability, but they're fairly fun for awhile. BTW, Pitfall has an ending: get all of the treasure before the time runs out. I doubt that very many have manged to do it. I certainly never did. Never beat Solaris either.
Cosmic Ark (Imagic) is one I always play whenever I have the 2600 out.
Imagic turned out a bunch of Good to Great games.
I still remember seeing the commercial for this game when watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Snoopy and the Red Baron. It’s my favorite game and someone needed to say it. Never gets any mention.
Activision had so many great games, glad to see you include River Raid! One of my favorites that I had as a kid was Chopper Command, played so much of that game back then.
Chopper Command, Barnstorming, and Stampede.
I think I prefer The Empire Strikes Back to Chopper Command the last time I played Atari.
We always just called it Atari just like in the mid 80's Nintendo was just Nintendo not the NES.
I have to add Combat to my list. Yes, it's two player only but there is so much variety to that cartridge.
Stargate is so much better than Defender, you won't want to play the latter again.
Other games I really enjoyed were StarMaster, Atlantis, Circus Atari, and Warlords.
The main 2600 game that I enjoy is River Raid.
never heard of some of these. But I grew up on the 2600 :P I didn't play the NES until the SuperNES came out lol. Until I was old enough to buy my own console, I was always stuck a console behind all the "rich kids". I loved River Raid, Lock-n-Chase, Asteroids, PitFall, and Frogger.
edit... Oh, how could i forget Skydiver & Bowling!
For the best top score game its Tapper!
Good list. I didn't grow up with the Atari but I've grown to like it over the years and even have a collection of my own. Fun fact, a friend of mine broke his arm a couple of months ago which rendered him unable to play most games. So I brought over my Atari 7800, paddle controllers and paddle games and we had fun playing some Warlords. He's a few years younger than me so he didn't grow up with Atari either but he enjoyed it
Vanguard was also one of my top favorites. Good call on Yar's Revenge, too. I loved the super grim sound effects on that one as a young kid.
I don't think I ever got to the third Gond, it was just too fast to maneuver by the third level. I did see the arcade game once at a pizzeria, where the paths were diagonal.
The last time I played Yars' Revenge to beat the logbook challenge high score (game 6a: 100K, 230K, 500K), I hit the line that gives the programmers initials and froze the game.
I loved the Activision titles; a few not mentioned: Spider Fighter, Megamania, and Chopper Command. Non-Activision, Centipede was a good port
There is kind of an end to Pitfall. You have to take a certain path through all the screens utilizing both underground and above ground paths in order to get every treasure in the game. Personally, though, I never bothered with all that, and would always just run in a straight line to the right of the screen.
Yeah, there is definetely and ending, I watched a speedrun of it recently, you got to collect all gold treasures in the time limit
Once you collect all 32 treasures the game does end by freezing. Still an ending though.
Nice to see vanguard get some love.
Darn right John.. My experience with gaming in the 80's was about the same brother 😎
Love these old atari 2600 games John I play them still on my 7800 once in awhile and bought the carts 1 and 2 for my Evercade hand held system
Maze Craze was fun back in the day and still is. I played it a few weeks ago on my Atari VCS I think.
"Frogger," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Centipede" (with the Trackball), "River Raid," "Joust"... loved all of them and still have them in my collection, today.
I still get the music from "Vanguard" and "Moon Patrol" stuck in my head. =)
I've always been disappointed that people don't seem to remember really cool systems like the 2600, 7800, Colecovision and Vectrex. They had great games!
I would have had combat, warlords, dark chambers, and surround on my list. I probably played more mulitplayer then single player games due to growing up in a large family and needing to share the only TV.
Great list. I started playing the 2600 in the early 80s at my cousins house and at my friends house. I eventually got a 7800 in 1988 and was able to get about a dozen 2600 games for that. Played it quite a bit until I ‘upgraded’ to the SNES (my favorite console of all time).
My top 20 would be:
20) Kaboom. A neighbor gave me this one along with the paddles and I was addicted.
19) Keystone Kapers. Another ACTIVISION gem.
18) Combat. Old school. Must play as 2P.
17) Defender. A lot of folks disparage this one, or prefer the second one, but I’m with you Riggs, I liked this defender. Had a lot of fun back in the day.
16) Dig Dug
15) Yars Return/Yars Revenge (yup, lumping both together)
14) Commando. This one got a huge boost with the 7800, but the 2600 one plays really well.
13) Galaxian. Honorable mention to Phoenix and Demons attack.
12) Dig Dug. Pretty solid port. Not nearly as good as the NES version, but was available well before.
11) Toyshop Trouble. Another great homebrew.
10) Space Invaders. It’s the killer app of the 2600.
9) Ms Pac-Man. Big boost when it went to 7800, but this is a solid port.
8) Berserk
7) Missile Command
6) River Raid
5) HERO
4) Frogger
3) Wizard of Wor. Huge fan of this game. Probably spent more time playing this with my friend in the early 80s than any other game
2) Pitfall/Pitfall 2 . I realize these are completely different games, but I wanted both on here...
1) Mario Bros.
When I was a kid with an nes and saw an Atari I would think, who would buy that? Now I’m here spending $100 for a 2600 with games lol
Lol! Just made the same decision for the same price today.
Pitfall does have an ending... it ends when you get all of the treasures (32 of them). In order to do so, you need to sort of memorize when to go underground, though... because each underground screen counts as three above ground screens, if I remember correctly... so you need them to move you quicker through the jungle to beat the 20 minute clock. Also, as good as Pitfall was, Pitfall II was possibly the best game on the entire system! Sooooo good! It was so expansive and demanding for the system that they even had to add an extra chip to the cartridge to boost the Atari's abilities. Amazing game for the time.
The extra chip was for the sound.
@@JustMe99999 Yeah... the new chip gave it 4-channel sound, instead of just 2. Also, it improved the visuals some. David Crane apparently designed the chip. Pretty cool stuff! :-)
Star Master was always one of my favorites. I think it holds up really well today. It was really ahead of it's time when it came out. I would have to say it really stretched the Ataris hardware for all that you could do in that game.
I played the heck out of EggoMania and Breakout. I know EggoMania is not a big hit but man that dirty bird got me every time
Great list. I still have most of those games. A couple of my other favorites were Shark Attack, Entombed and Quick Step.
John I;m a big fan, keep up the good work, I started following you after I saw you in some Metal Jesus videos
I agree with Pitfall being the best. I love maze craze too. It’s rarely mentioned but I love Bowling too. It’s so simple but so much fun
We got an Atari 2600 Christmas of 87 when I was 5 and I loved it.. The fact that I could go to the local 99 cents store and they had a HUGE bin of brand new 2600 games for a buck each was epic as a kid.. A couple of Saturdays a month I would come home with like 10 new 2600 games.. By the time I got an NES in like 1990 I had around 70 2600 games.. My all time favorites Ms. Pacman, Combat, Astroids, Journey, Joust, Donkey Kong, Q-Bert, and my all time favorite 2600 game is and always will be Moon Patrol.. Me, my mom(who wasnt a gamer), and my sister were literally obsessed with Moon Patrol.. Lol.
Great list! Kudos for mentioning Kangaroo, Space Invaders, Frogger, Vanguard, H.E.R.O.and Jungle Hunt. I would also add Ms. Pac-Man, Pitfall II, Circus Atari, and Q-bert. Now, if you were to include homebrews made over the last 20 years, the list would be very different because there are so many great homebrews as good as or better than the ones from back in the day!
Lots of good ones on your list. For me I would add Pressure Cooker, Keystone Kapers, Space Jockey, and yes.. Krull. Also the Star Wars games.
Adventure is my go to 2600 game. Glad to see it on the list. Surprised you didn’t mention the Easter egg.
The "transmolecular dot!" heh That is what everyone used to call it, at least.
@@KabukiKid oh funny, never heard that
I use to go to my cousins house on Saturdays all the time and played her Atari 2600 all the time. My favorite was a tank game. I think it was called Tank.
Was it really called tank? Not Combat or BattleZone? Combat rocked!!
Probably called “Tank Plus”. This is the Sears Telegames ‘version’ of Combat.
So, it’s Combat with a different name. Sears bought products, from manufacturers, and placed their own name on the product. For example, Sears Kenmore appliances were manufactured by Whirlpool.
Man, I almost forgot about these great games! But for my personal list, Joust is definately missing! It made so much fun flying around with these birds by flapping the wings while fighting against a friend trying to hit them from above. So easy gameplay but so great.
There is an end to Pitfall. You have to get all the treasure before the time limit. And you need to memorize the underground because it isn't 1:1 with the over world.
If it were my list Combat, Joust and Warlords would be on and possibly Breakout. The 2600 was a great multiplayer system.
Loved the Atari! Brought back some great memories
Thanks for showing this classic console some love.
This is a great list. QBert is my favorite game that you didn't mention.
I had a Q-bert watch, I forgot all about that until now. Lol
That's still worth playing today.
Pitfall II, one of the greatest games of all time.
See! I'm not the only one who says this! lol
Tac-Scan is really fun and unique for a vertical shooter. You control a squad of 5 ships and can lose/regain them as you go. It also uses the paddle controllers.
Out of your list, my faves were; Adventure, Kangeroo, Demon Attack and Asteroids (which I would clock the score on) and Frogger. Some not mentioned here are Moon Patrol, Pole Position, Combat, the Pac-Man games, OutLaw, Kung Fu Master, War Lords and Moon Patrol to name a few.
Out of your list, Hero was and still is absolutely incredible.
My all time favorite: River Raid by Activision! Could go on forever. All the "even" levels actually changed. You felt like you were getting somewhere.
John, good list...yet where's Private Eye, Warlords, Space Shuttle and Roc'n' Rope?
Wow Hero looks awesome. So bummed I missed this back in the day!
Love me some H.E.R.O.. Keystone Kapers, Megamania, Plaque Attack, and Moonsweeper are definitely up there for replayability. And Combat was great for 2 players.
I completely agree with you about Moonsweeper. It was one of my favorites.
Rusty Griswold: “…….You got “Asteroids”?”
Cousin Dale:”Nah but my dad does, he can’t even sit on the toilet somedays.”
Great list John so many great memories so much of my childhood was spent on the 2600 playing ghostbusters mario bros and jungle hunt.
I definitely agree with some of these. Demon Attack might be the best 2600 game ever. But I played Haunted House a ridiculous amount too. Pitfall is a classic, and so is Defender... But I think Ms PacMan deserves a place on the list, as does Raiders of the Lost Ark. We had an absolute blast trying to solve that game!
Pretty nice, I didn't know a bunch of those. My favorites are there though. There was also a really cool and addictive shooter called Spider Fighter, probably one of the few I'd still play to be honest.
That game is hella fast!!
Man..., I played so much River Raid, Moon Patrol and Frostbite when I was a child... I still love these games and play occasionaly using the Stella Emulator, but seeing how much games evolved in things like Mass Effect or The Elder Scrolls (my new favorite games) is incredible.
Dude, you gotta upload at 60fps if you're doing 2600. It's chaos otherwise.
I love the 2600! My cousin had a friend who had one in the trunk of his car and when I was over he would bring it out. Even though I had experience with the NES and shortly after, Genesis, I still loved playing Atari. The sounds, the games, just so much fun; even with one button and a joystick. This was around '92. Good times ❤
I still remember the excitement of beating Adventure just as multiple dragons are closing in and that game never got old no matter how many times you played it. In Pitfall I always thought I beat it once in all the hundreds of times I played it but to be honest I don't know, it's been nearly 40 years lol
Personal favorites were... Moon Patrol. Keystone Kapers. Stampede. Cosmic Ark. Missile Command. Threshold. As far as 2 player games my favorite was Combat... Great list you got as well....
I'm 20 years old and even though the 2600 came before my time, I can't help but love it!
I enjoyed playing Demon Attack, Haunted House, and Berzerk.
Megamania is the premier shooter on the 2600 IMO.
Megamania is my favorite game on the system. Also, leaving Warlords off the list is criminal. And Planet Patrol was a great game, too.
I bought an Atari 2600 jr. It's been like 30 years since I've had one. Amazing feeling to turn on the old CRT tv and then have to seach the analog channel of the Atari... The moment the game pop'ed up. It took me back 30 years instantly.
I’m glad my two favourite 2600 games are included frogger and jungle hunt, definitely still fun to play. Along with most of the games on this list.
I don't know how you left out Warlords. That game was amazing. I remember playing 4 players and the games got pretty intense.
These Atari videos bring back some deep memories ... but I can't say I miss playing these games.
The NES was my turning point.
Asteroids!! I remember I was in HS and I built my own Asteroids controller (5 button wing formation) from parts I got from ETCO (mail order surplus electronics house). It also worked OK for Decathalon, but I built a separate mercury switch (off the shelf from The Shack) controller with a foot pedal button for that (can't get those anymore). I still have one of my 2600s but those custom controllers got lost somewhere over the years.
12:36.... who dropped a pan? Another great video! Thank you.