Hope you guys enjoy the rankings. Please subscribe if you did, it helps me out so much! I'll settle for a like otherwise 😊 I deleted my old top 10 video since this felt redundant! But check out one of my first videos, the community's top 10 Atari 7800 games according to a poll I took on facebook with over 50 responses! ruclips.net/video/ZPZ4-d2XIeo/видео.html Also I used scores from atari7800forever.com and the videogamecritic.com in the bottom 3rd title cards. Check them out for full in depth reviews! To be clear, most of the games from 42 onward are ones I think are ok and games 37 and onward are ones I start to enjoy! In my opinion the 7800 has a strong library of games! Agree or disagree?
im sure other people will have commented this, but please dont use the smoothing filter on your emulator! we want to see the nice nostalgic pixelart that we grew up with!
Interesting fact - the PAL version of the 7800 console has the 7800 Asteroids game built in. So by simply turning on the console it boots up Asteroids without any cartridge required. Which actually makes it incredibly difficult to find the 7800 Asteroids cartridge in Australia. This is going to be the downside for me when replacing my 7800 system with the new 2600+
That is interesting and I never thought of that with PAL Asteroids and the 2600+. Is the 2600 plus going to be region free, I don't recall seeing anything about that. Good information!
I know this is a year later and you couldn't have predicted this, but at least now with the 7800+ about to be released, Atari are reissuing some carts as well. And Asteroids 7800 is one of them.
I remember getting Real Sports Baseball for Easter one year, we’d get a 7800 game for Easter and a couple for Christmas. My grandparents bought everything they could when Big Lots clearanced the games out for $1, and they’d give them to us on holidays, birthdays, Christmas etc. we got games for probably 4 or 5 years that’s how many they bought. But yeah, Real Sports Baseball was one of them and I kept trying to like it, but I hated it.
Pretty solid ranking. I think i agree with everything for the most part. When i was completing my 7800 collection, Tank Command was the last game i needed. When i finally found a copy, i paid way too much money for it, got it home, played it once and it's sat on the shelf untouched since. I think it still ranks at number one for me for highest amount of money spent to not play a game.
Tank Command isn't worth the money it goes for! But it's definitely a rarity thing! Congrats on the full 7800 collection! Thanks for watching the video!
Thank you! Water Ski is not that bad and the controls make complete sense! Outside of the sloppy programming and extreme difficulty I'd say it's worth checking out!
Love it love it love it! Nice job. Great list. And Asteroids is not only the best 7800 game, it's the best classic port of the game on any Atari system at least, and possibly all classic systems (I have not played every version, but quite a few)
Your review helped me to decide to take another look at Water Ski and Basketbrawl for the Atari 7800. I don’t think I would have ever played either of those games without your note about the unique control in Water Ski or seeing the wonderful sprite artwork of the characters in Basketbrawl. Thanks.
Water Ski will be reviewed on the channel either next week or the following week depending which reviews come together quicker. So we can compare thoughts there! I'm always glad when people dig into the 7800 it's definitely under appreciated!
The games for use with light gun what light going are you using did the 7800 have its own light gun or are you using a different systems like gun on the 1700s thanks for the info
The Atari 7800 technically did have its own light gun but they weren't widely available. Today you can use the XE light gun or you can create a dongle to use a master system phazer with the 7800. I use the master system gun because I feel it's more accurate. Of course you need a crt TV in order to use a light gun, but some games like Alien Brigade and Crossbow allow for joystick use instead. I love light gun games and always have so I keep a crt to play them on. I'm not sure if any other modern solutions are out there but some emulators allow you to emulate light guns. Hope that helps!
@@TheAtariNetwork hi there do you or do you know anybody that would put one of these adapters together for me as I am low vision and can’t do soldering very well but would be willing to pay somebody to do this. Thanks for the adapter. Thanks.
@@joshuaharper4439 when this comes back in stock it's probably the cheapest and easiest to get, and it works with not only the gun but most Genesis and master system controllers as well! stoneagegamer.com/mega7800-controller-adapter-for-atari-7800-retrohq.html
@@TheAtariNetwork I was like crazy obsessed with Choplifter too as a kid. That game never got old, I love rescuing games like that and OddWorld: Abe's Oddysee. =)
I dug out my family’s 7800 out of a closet and it still has Mario Bros in it. We played the heck out of that back in the day, that alone is totally worth it. In my perspective anything ranked higher than Mario bros here is definitely on my buy list.
Not a bad ranking of 7800 games. Personally, I wouldn't put Asteroids at #1, as that place is solely reserved for Food Fight. It is, however, an excellent version of Asteroids and definitely worthy of the top 5. Also, glad to see you rank Midnight Mutants so high, I think that game just doesn't get enough love!
I think Food Fight is definitely worthy of the top spot! And Midnight Mutants is a great adventure. I wish there was an affordable way to get that one today. If only Atari would start re-releasing 7800 games (and others like 5200) so that games like midnight Mutants could become more accessible! But the fact that Al Lewis is used throughout the game might make it difficult to do. Anyway thanks for checking out the video! It's appreciated!
@@splatbubble I love Solaris! Radar Lock is really good too! I will be covering the red box games and 2600 games that came out during the time of the 7800/2600 junior. Hopefully I'll get that done sooner than later!
@@TheAtariNetwork :) nice list and I totally agree on Karateka. Although I sucked at that game on the Apple IIe, I LOVED the music. Imagine my amazement when I found out I could get this game for the 7800! And then... imagine my disappointment when I plugged in the cartridge and switched on the console... di duuuuu... du diiiiiiii.... di duuuuu... ughh
It was nice to hear your take on the games. I just recently got back into the 7800;, my nostalgic connection is buying it in 1986 and playing Joust, I then returned it 2 weeks later when I discovered Super Mario on the nes. Question: where did you pick up ikari Warriors? Where do you recommend to buy these games?
Glad you've come back to the 7800! And honestly you probably made the right choice back then, but now is a good time to come back! I'd recommend www.atarisales.com/ or best-electronics-ca.com for the best deals and new sealed products. But the late release and Froggo stuff always costs an arm and a leg. If I think of anything else I'll let you know!
Thank you! Honestly midnight Mutants is probably too high for most people's taste but when you account that 7800 owners didn't have a Zelda game or any real long form adventure it was a huge plus for the console. Well except it was the last game released...
Thanks for this lovely video… As a kidi had a 2600 which i loved… just recently i’ve decided to buy myself a 7800…. i’ve ordered. mario 7800…. mario 2600( to compare and keep as a collectible) and also “Karateka” as it looked good…. ohh and in total agreement with your number one slot “asteroids “…. which is amazing because it’s built into the console!
Just found your channel via this video and subbed after watching. Excellent work and a great list! I've had a 7800 since the original run, but my collection's always been a bit small. So with the caveat that the only games I have being Double Dragon, Food Fight, Karateka, Mat Mania Challenge, Pete Rose Baseball, Pole Position II, Robotron 2084, and Xevious, I've got to go with Food Fight in a VERY close race against Pete Rose Baseball and Pole Position II. The only dud that I've played is Karateka. Your video made me want to really find some more of these 7800 games, especially Ninja Golf, Midnight Mutants, Kung-Fu Master, and Ms. Pac-Man (which looks like it blows away the 2600 version, which I love!) Thanks for the trip back in time!
Unfortunately yes. It's the same one, but the Atari 7800 does have a line on the cartridge slot that allows cartridges to have better chips for sound. Usually the pokey or the new Yamaha and Hokey chips. The sound is unforgivable by most and I get that, but not all games sound horrible!
Great list. You and ‘No Swear Gamer’ really put out some love for the 7800. Thank you. I have not played much of Tower Toppler, only through a bit of emulation, but your video convinces me I need to give it more time. Ms PacMan, Mario Bros, and Food Fight are my top three picks and most played since I first got this console 35 years ago.
I love No Swear Gamer he was a big inspiration to me! I should see if he wants to collaborate on a video sometime lol. I really enjoy Tower Toppler for the 7800. I'm not sure how that version compares to others though. All those games you mentioned are great picks! I wouldn't argue with any of them. Thanks for watching!
Lots of 7800 goodness packed into this review. I got Super Skateboard’in when I found out it was developed by David Crane. But it’s definitely a different take on a Skateboard game. Also kudos on getting the history of Dark Chambers right, very few do. Crossbow and Food Fight are ranked high for me, but I need to spend more time playing to rank my games.
Thanks for the kind words. I've done a ton of research on the 7800 (and it's games) in the last few years so I try to be as accurate as possible. Thanks for noticing! I don't think super skateboarding is bad per say. I actually like it, but it's an odd way to do a skateboarding game. I always imagine the 2600 game skateboarding is the competition he was trying to make it to. I also think maybe the equipment you have to power off could've been randomized to some point for replayability. Regardless thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!
I like lists like these. So many memories. I didn't have a lot of these games but Tower Toppler, Double Dragon and F14 spent a lot of time in my console. I never understood Karateka at the time and never got great at it. I think the best I ever did was getting to round 3 or w/e.
I had a whopping five or six 7800 games growing up along with some 2600 stuff. I dreamed of the day I would have this many games to play! Double Dragon and Rampage were definitely my favorites because in my mind I had stuff as good as the NES. When I was a young kid I used to make lists all the time. Idk why but I enjoyed doing things like I did in this video. I'm glad so many others seem to enjoy it. Thanks for watching!
Awesome list, Love your opinions! I had thought about getting Real Sports Baseball but the reviews out there said the controls were confusing, so it wouldn't be very pick up and play with friends. Also the word is the 5200 version is better. So I passed on it. Btw I do also have a 5200, "which was amazingly given to me by an old neighbor friend shortly after I got into 7800." So if I get that game I'd go with the 5200 ver. I hear its analog control gives for a unique batting experience. The 7800 version might be a step backwards. As far as favorite games, I'd put Xevious in my top 3. I've become good at it, but like most Atari games the challenge is always there to try and get further. So it keeps me coming back. Xevious is one of my favorite shmups in general so makes sense I'd rank it so high. 7800 is one of the best ports, surpassing NES imo. I look forward to making a personal favorite list too. I've only played maybe half the library but for the most part agree with your list. :) All good points!
I can't wait to see your list! Yeah if I ranked the games based on which was technically superior or based on the general consensus of the internet I think Xevious would've gone a bit higher. I still love it but the fact that I'm not very good keeps it down on my list. Thanks for watching!
Back during the consoles life this is all there was. But today there's more than double this in homebrews. I'm going to be ranking all the homebrews I can find and post that video in a few weeks time. Mind you it doesn't have any of the cool works in progress like Ghouls n Ghosts, pengo, Bernie and the Tower of Doom, Harpy's Curse, etc but it'll give you an idea of what people have been creating since the early 2000s.
@@JohnSegerclucka yeah but again not only have homebrew games been using pokey chips for a long time but recently they've created a cheap replacement called hokey. Not to mention that Yamaha sound chips like the one in Rikki and Vikki produce excellent sound. Of course not every game utilizes enhanced sound. It's not for everybody and that's ok.
Excellent list and video! My list would differ most likely, top five being something like Food Fight, Ninja Golf, Robotron, Alien Brigade, Ms PacMan... But we all have different preferences. :)
@@SoulforSale that's a brilliant idea! I'm going to do that over the next few hours! Thank you so much. And I hope whatever you're going through, it passes quickly. Always remember Hard work pays off, dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but BAD GUYS do. And we're all bad ass!
Thanks for posting this video. The Atari 7800 is severally under-rated. Asteroids for the 7800 is wonderful, but my favorite 7800 game would have to be Food Fight! The game is so much Fun!! I have noticed a trend. The BEST Atari 2600 and 7800 games also seem to be the cheapest to purchase.
This past weekend I picked up Donkey Kong Jr for 7800. If released in 1984, this would have been a fantastic game and very relevant. However, in 1988, when the game was released, it was probably laughed at as being a relic. Amazing what 4 years can bring.
Oh yeah I think you're right. I played on original hardware but I remember hearing somewhere that Tower Toppler emulates horribly. Good point thank you!
I liked Meltdown a lot after getting a Mega 7800 adapter and using the Sega Phaser. It's just much more accurate and maybe a bit easier on your trigger finger than the XE.
I think most people would agree with you honestly. But I wanted this list to be true to my experience with the console so I ranked the games in a way that reflects that. I've played more Asteroids on the 7800 than anything else. But do I think it's the most impressive game? No. If the criteria had been different I don't think there is any scenario where asteroids would get first again. Again, I feel any time somebody says "this is the best game" it's got to be at least somewhat subjective. And I love hearing how people would've done a list like this differently. Really gets me thinking about these games in a different way sometimes.
I really appreciate the time you spent on this review. The quick synopsis on each game is great. While I have not played all of these games, my pick order would in general be similar to yours. Asteroids, however, would not be my number one choice. While Alien Brigade was a much better game than Planet Smashers, I love how they play off one another in the end. I only bought Planet Smashers because of this. I don't own Karateka because everyone usually murders it over the controls and the delay in response. You may be the only one that I've seen be somewhat kind to it here. Yet, in your video on beating it, I would have thought you would have rated it at the bottom. Is the latency really that bad? Does it play better with a different controller? And merely as a gamer (not a collector) would you buy it again? I hope others will feel free to respond to my questions as well, but based on your other video, I think I will likely pass on purchasing it. No one likes an exercise in futility. 😄
I would love to hear your top game! Or maybe top five if you can't pick just one! On Karateka in my other video I was fresh off of beating it and boy is it frustrating to beat! Yes the latency is just as bad as you hear and no, I can't recommend buying it. I haven't found any controller that makes it better. As a gamer and not a collector I don't know that I would buy it again. But I will say I have fun now that I learned it and have given it time to grow on me!
Well, maybe if I come across Karateka dirt cheap, I'll give it a shot. As far as my top five, that may be a difficult choice, but here's my choice in this moment and in no specific order: Alien Brigade, Ninja Golf, Ball Blazer, Desert Falcon, and Robotron 2084. I don't own a lot of Homebrews, but you may want to consider creating a favorites list for this category as well. Many homebrews for me are just meh, but some are really very, very good. Such a list might also inform others of their existence. Now whether they are still available and affordable is another matter altogether.
Oh ranking all the homebrew is a good idea. It's so hard to review homebrew because it's not just a job but people put their heart and soul into this stuff. Even so I plan on fairly reviewing them on the channel and I think I might do a homebrew ranking video. I better get started lol
Resist the temptation. We got an Atari 7800 for Christmas 1988. Yeah, I know, quite late, but my parents weren’t made of money. One year later I BEGGED my mom to get me Karateka for it. Christmas morning 1989, I got it! Put it in the console and decided I would play it until I beat it! Have never beaten it. Most disappointing game I ever received or bought; based on my pre-obtaining hype and the actual gameplay. Now, I didnt have most of the 7800 library--but of the games I had owned, I would have put it dead last, even behind ‘Crack’d’. I have since played most of the library (Evercade and Super COnsole X Cube), so it’s not dead last anymore. But I think that speaks more about some of the shovelware Atari put out for my beloved console than how good Karateka is underneath. Don’t do it!
@@mrp4242 ouch that's rough. Maybe I was too easy on it? But honestly at this point I don't mind it until the bird shows up. Maybe I got Stockholm syndrome after spending so much time trying to beat it!? Oh my God help me guys!
Way back, i bought a bunch of 7800 games, think 8 or 9 in a bundle in a charity shop, only paid £3. Thought about buying a console to play them on but since all but 2 were sealed i decided to sell them as a bundle and made a tidy profit!! 👌
I enjoy playing my Atari 7800 Pro System and obviously there are some good games and some bad games for it. Most of the better games are actually the homebrews that came out in the early 2000s through the AtariAge online store, such as Space Invaders which is a genuine depiction of the original arcade game and Pac-Man Collection which has a true Pac-Man arcade game maze as well as the characters and fruit/icons as they originally were.
Well it might be a fools errand but I'm ranking all the homebrew in a separate video soon. Keep an eye out for that! Because I'm sure that won't be even more subjective lol
Please do! Over at AtariAge they have a lot of resources including a 7800basic and utilities to help make it easier for people not familiar with assembly. Of course it's all Greek to me. I do have a video coming out Thursday where I rank all the homebrews I could play so you can see what other people are doing there too! I hope to play something you've created some day!
I did not realize there was a 7800 port of Kung Fu Master - I love the NES version. Went to eBay to see if I could snag a copy for the 7800, and my goodness - it's so expensive! I guess very few copies were made.
Yeah it's somewhat hard to find. It's essentially a beefed up 2600 version as far as I can tell. I'm sure that's incorrect but it's how I explain it. Overall the NES version plays a bit better in my opinion.
It's widely believed when they started porting the 7800 versions of the 3 Nintendo arcade ports they used the NES versions as a base. It's been floated around that because Atari was approached with the possibility of releasing the NES as their own console maybe they were presented with early builds of some NES arcade games and they used that as a basis. Even though it was weaker in some ways, the 7800 was on par with or even stronger than the NES in some other ways.
No regerts indeed. I was too young back then to be picking up anything. My parents, on the other hand, made the right call. My mom got me an Nes and my dad a Master System in 1986 for Christmas. I didn't even know the 7800 existed. I was 6 years old and man, did I get a crash course on great games that holiday. I have been a gamer ever since.
@@Sinn0100 The thing that shocked me was the 7800 outsold the Sega Master System. I assumed the Sega was 2nd to the NES. Globally it was but in the US the 7800 outsold it.
@user-or6yn8pm3c Oh, no doubt about it. Do you know who I blame for all of this? Nintendo. Had they not been running an illegal, predatory licensing scheme, the race would have been damn close. We know that both the Master System and 7800 (minus the sound) were stronger machines. Without the terrible constraints, Nintendo forced everyone under....I believe the Pokey Chip would have been utilized quite a bit. As more licenses open up, more games are made, increasing the consoles numbers. Basically, Nintendo bound the entire US market up. If it wasn't for Atari suing (thereby exposing), Nintendo, who knows how long it would have gone. Sega sure wasn't saying anything or trying to fight them over it. However, once the market truly opened, Sega took Nintendo to school. Nintendo wouldn't regain majority marketshare again for almost 6 years. Thank you, Atari, for doing what no one else would, and then for reverse engineering, Nintendo's NES-10 Lockout Chip. Paperboy and Guantlet were recipients of that little endeavor. ;)
@@Sinn0100 Nintendo had the idea to get third party companies to make games. Sega didn't like the idea. Yeah Nintendo did shady things to keep their number one position. They eventually picked a fight with Sony and ever since became a niche player. If it wasn't for the Switch Nintendo would be out of the console business.
Right, it was an old arcade game even in 1986. But it should not be taken that the rest of the library was bad. Quite contrary I find most of the library to be enjoyable. Now I'm not saying all the games are perfect, and there's a few that are God awful, but I think the 7800 has a strong library on the whole. So Asteroids taking the first spot is a testament to the great job GCC did porting it, along with the brand new 2 player simultaneous play modes. And I doubt many others would rank it as number 1 but to me, it's the top game.
I hate to say it but I'm not using an emulator at all. It's all real hardware but I'm using a line doubler into a clear click. RCA into the line doubler and then that runs into the clear click via HDMI and then the clear click runs into the computer via USB. I also have a splitter before the line doubler so I can see it on my 32 inch CRT TV. I know nothing about settings on the line doubler so if I have something turned on I'll have to try and figure it out but Im just trying to get the footage to look nice for y'all! So every game was played off of the cartridge too. I'll show it all off in a set up video later this year...
I love them too. Be sure to keep an eye out for "every" Atari 7800 homebrew game ranked. Well every one that I can find but that's too long of a title lol
My list of the games I've played is: 1. Joust 2. Xevious 3. Asteroids 4. Ballblazer 5. Pole Position II 6. Centipede 7. Donkey Kong 7. Donkey Kong, Jr. 8. Dig Dug 9. Kung Fu Master 10. Winter Games 11. Summer Games 99. Impossible Mission 100. Karateka I especially disliked Impossible Mission and Karateka.
Honestly most people would agree with your list more than mine. Solid games there! Thanks for your input I love seeing what other people's lists look like.
I wonder how difficult it would be to homebrew a decent wrestling game. Obviously we couldn’t use any licensed material. But it seems something better could be made.
As number 1 was about to be announced, I thought, “He didn’t have Asteroids in the list. Oh no…number 1 can’t be Asteroids can it?” Lol. Why not? It was good. 👍🏼
I love the video but you should've called "spoiler alert" on scrapyard dog when you announced the end boss... Lol haha As for me, I still prefer the arcade conversions with Ms. Pac-Man topping my list.
Oh shit I didn't even think of that! Well hopefully people will be ok knowing that little secret 😉 Yeah I love the arcade conversions especially the ones GCC did which was most of them I guess. But the crazy stuff from the end of the 7800s life has a soft spot in my heart too. It's just a great console to me!
@@TheAtariNetwork since you made a list of games from your least fav to your fav, how about a top ten for sound? See I can personally tell you that the music in the cut scenes of Karateka is really nice imo! I suggest this since sound was one of the biggest issues players of the pro system had/have with it. Maybe do a top ten best and a second video with the top ten worst. Just thinking out loud. Have a great day and weekend my friend! Keep those vids coming!
That's a great idea! It's going on the list of video ideas! Maybe I'll do the top 10 best and worst sounds on one video or something. Once again that's a great idea, thank you!
Atari 7800 was actually the only console I’ve owned that stopped functioning, so I was unable to build up much of a collection. And a lot of these games I’ve never even heard of, so there’s plenty here that I’d like to give a try someday. I actually like Pole Position II as much as you like Asteroids. Especially the Seaside track; I just feel that’s the most fitting for my skill level, while all 4 tracks are enjoyable in some way. A bit surprised at the collectively mixed reviews that game has received. Food Fight and Ms. Pac Man are as good as advertised. I’ve never understood Ballblazer…just can’t get a read on what’s happening. Hat Trick is indeed a blast to play on 2P mode. Karateka is probably the worst game I’ve ever played in my life, but I was still determined to solve the last boss. I never did-only made it that far once or twice though.
It's a shame that your 7800 stopped functioning. I had to replace my power supply and the switches on mine before. Pole position 2 is great. As a kid I loved that game! Outside of Asteroids I probably played Pole Position 2 more than any other. Karateka is bad but after I finally beat it I realized I enjoyed the first half of the game and I guess that counts for something. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody though! Thanks for watching the video!
In terms of Ballblazer, it's amazing. It may take a little getting used to since whenever you get the ball, the game automatically orients you in the direction of the goal you shoot in. Over time the goal shrinks, making it more difficult to score. Once you understand that, it's great. Plus, the amazing music!
The 7800 failed for many reasons but sprite pushing was not one of them. For # of Sprites on screen nothing of that generation could compete with Atari!
Oh yeah, the 7800 was a sprite pushing beast! A lot of the games are really impressive once you start to realize how many individual sprites there are on screen, and even on the same scan lines! Fantastic stuff! I wish Atari could've capitalized on its amazing hardware more...
I was a big 7800 fan back in the day but I've never heard of midnight mutants until RUclips. While the game is short it certainly shows the potential the 7800 had for adventure games if it had not been for Jack Tramel gimping cart size anong other dumb decisions.
Good old uncle Jack. He did many questionable things during his tenure and I agree with you all the way. I don't know why you wouldn't do all you could to support and succeed with the console if you go to the trouble of releasing it. Well I sort of understand his point of view from researching him but it's not a good one at all! Anyway thanks for checking the video out!
@@TheAtariNetwork welcome thanks for posting the vid! I personally think the 2 biggest goods Jack did were not having the POKI sound chip put in the 7800; retroactively if needed since the 7800 was in warehouses for a few years over the rights. (at least I think that was his call) and gimping cart size. The 7800 really was built as an 80s arcade game player but as it came out at the time if big game design change (going from largely single screen games to scrolling. Simple concepts like Donkey Kong to story driven games like Zelda) those 2 factors really hurt the 7800. A 3rd, but easier to fix issue, was the joysticks. I kninda liked them but they could cramp ones hands & for longer play sessions they just were not the best. But the PAL reasons did get a better control so clearly that could be easily addressed.
@@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145 wow you know your stuff! Yeah Jack could've capitalized on a lot of things while waiting to push the console out. I personally would've kept GCC on to make games and push software for the console, but Jack loved to sell things cheap and pinch pennies. I'm glad we have been getting some great homebrew lately that really shows off what the console could do!
@@TheAtariNetwork agreed. It's a fun "what if" to consider had the 7800 come out when originally planned or if someone other than Jack was in charge, but life is as it is.
@@TheAtariNetwork as for knowing I've had an amateur interest in early video games since I was a kid. While many played Street Fighter II I'd be off playing something like Empire City 1932 lol Im 49 so I had a 2600 when very young (maybe 1980 0r 1981?) and was a big fan. When the 7800 came out I just assumed Atari would destroy Nintendo as the 2600 had destroyed it's competition...oops 😂 But the 7800 was the 2nd console I ever owned & certainly enjoyed it. But there was no denying the NES games were getting better fast & just blowing Atari away.
A fun list-:I wish more people allowed personal bias to factor, instead of trying to "objectively" measure how each game achieves it's genre goals, only to end up ranking everything by popular consensus in the top 10. I think you're insane, of course, but that's a sign of quality as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing as disappointing as a list that leaves me exactly where I was when I began watching. That said, your reviews are often vague and lack useful details. Why do you rate Ballblazer comparatively low, for example? Sure, it's still a glowing review, but that's the problem. It's a simple game that limits the control you have over your player...even those of us who'd place it top 5 know why it's been left in the past.
For times sake I did leave things vague. But the only criteria is would I rather play this game more than the other. If yes it goes up a rung on the list and I do it again and again until I say no. There will be long form reviews on this channel of pretty much the whole library eventually. But if I were to base things on technical prowess and what the general public thinks, the list would definitely be much different. Hopefully that clears things up a bit. Most of all thanks for the comment and watching!
@@TheAtariNetwork I trust you to never make a list that soulless. And as someone who'd rate Xenophobe as one of my favorite games for the system...and regarding all other versions as annoyance simulators due to the game simply spamming a ton of the surprise bullet sponges at your slow crouch walking hero...you can trust I'd never make a list by popular consensus either. (People actually prefer the Lynx port?) That said, slightly more detailed reviews needn't be long. Your reviews of Xevious, Impossible Mission, and Galaga were very informative...
You know I actually considered that. And I tried to use as little scenes with flashing as I could and I used the joystick in games that supported it. But meltdown I probably could've done better. Sorry hope everyone is ok lol
What!? This ranking is way different than mine! Therefore I dont like it! Cmon guys lets flood the comments with our favorite 7800 games so he has to read them all! That'll show him!
I never had a 7800, nor did I even know of its existence until the "Under 50 Bucks" and "Pro Gamer Says 7800 is Best" advertisements. No, I got an Nes and Master System on Christmas of 1986 (between two houses). My mom got me the Nes, and my dad not to be upstaged got the Master System. What a crash course that was into modern gaming. I don't know what my take on the 7800 would have been in 1986. If it was my first, I probably would have enjoyed it but after being exposed to the Nes and Master System... I don't know. Atari really committed a cardinal sin when they made the 7800. It was as if they were still stuck in the second generation where music and sound were almost optional. Nintendo and Sega essentially set the bar or gold standard for what a retail game should be. Atari's optional approach, no matter how much cheaper was the wrong move. That's my take on this. Great list and thank you for showing us everything the 7800 had to offer. They may not be my games but they're still neat and a part of our shared gaming history. Addendum- I know the Atari 7800 launched at a smaller price ($140) than the Nes ($200) and Master System ($200). I wonder how much the Pokey Chip cost and were it implemented what would the retail price be? I truly believe a 7800 with a proper sound chip could have really been something.
I don't understand the scoring here? Games you like you seem to give low scores like Water Ski 2 out 5 vs Centipede 4.5 out 5 where you say it wasn't your favorite and should be higher (while it's already at 4.5 and there is NO 5s on your list!). Or Food Fight "only" 4 out 5 and calling it Best reason to own 7800. Then #1 Game, Asteroids you scored 3.5 out 5! I mean C'mon.
I didn't score any of those games. Those were scores from Atari7800Forever.com and videogamecritic.com as explained in the beginning of the video so that you would get a sort of second opinion. Go back to the intro where I say I'll include scores from atari7800forever and the videogamecritic so you can see how other people score the games.
@@TheAtariNetwork That is embarrassing as hell. That is the part I actually had my headphones down! It even crossed my mind that maybe you're reviewing someone else's video and I even looked into description towards the end of the video, unfortunately by then I forgot I didn't see the beginning. I'll leave that useless comment as a warning to others! 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣
TL;DR Having never owned an Atari 7800, I am not able to voice my opinion on which games were the most enjoyable, for I have no such knowledge. After starting my video game experience with the Fairchild Channel F video game home console in the '70s, it was shortly followed up by the Atari 2600 whose games were overall much more enjoyable, and the library of games available was much more extensive! After experiencing a friend's Atari 400 computer, and its awful flat membrane keyboard that made typing impossible, I knew I wanted nothing to do with such a system, even at such a young age! Never realizing that Atari ditched the flat membrane style keyboard on subsequent models, somehow I managed to remain ignorant about later computer models, and even their gaming consoles. I had thought the Atari 5200 was one of their computers, and then sometime after the 7800 was released, I realized they had two gaming console releases since the 2600. Atari must have had some piss-poor advertising campaign for me to have remained largely ignorant regarding their consoles and computers. Anyway, I had moved on to the Colecovision home gaming console, and managed to acquire their 2600 Atari adapter module for it. I had no interest in the Intellivision console, although I was impressed that a few games had limited speech functionality, but their controllers were useless to me. Worse controllers I had ever experienced! After Colecovision, in came the Nintendo NES 8-bit system, which was incredible for its time, just like the Atari 2600 and the Colecovision were. Not long after NES, I gain several other hobbies outside of video gaming, plus I finally had a PC decent enough to run some modern games, so my video gaming experience, although reduced somewhat in the amount of time spent on gaming, was now focused more on PC games, more along the lines of adventure games such as Might & Magic, and even the text variety of adventure games, such as the classic Zork. Those are types of games that you didn't just pop in to play for a few minutes with your friends, but typically involved much longer gaming sessions to become immersed within the storyline and environment. That's where I was until college came and went. After college, I had acquired a true multi-media PC, and discovered games such as the incredible Return to Zork, and The 7th Guest! I was hooked, and had no interest at that time in acquiring the latest home video gaming console. It wasn't until several years later upon playing the original Playstation apropos titled game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, a bizarre, to say the least, 2D puzzle scroller that incorporated flatulence into its gameplay that I had gained a sincere interest in home video gaming consoles again. I researched pricing for a new Playstation, and perused its game library to determine what games I would like to start my experience with, Oddworld being at the top of the list. It wasn't long after that when I had met a lovely, voluptuous, free-spirit girl who not only found me highly attractive, but also had a preference for a certain activity that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'm not talking video gaming, butt that is beyond the here and now. Anyway, upon discovering that I possessed above average intelligence, she used that as a ploy to get me to come over to her place to play some puzzle game on Playstation in which her and her roommate had advanced so far, and then became stuck on some puzzle. I agreed to help, of course, butt stated that I make no guarantees that I will be able to solve the puzzle. The puzzle turned out to be relatively easy, but the game itself blew me away. It was Silent Hill, and I simply had to have it. I think it was the very next day I went out and purchased a brand new Playstation original, Silent Hill, Oddworld, and The Legend of Dragoon, with it being an adventure game, I thought I would enjoy it, but all it did was introduce me to the world of turn-based combat games, which I discovered I thoroughly hated! They bore me to death. Perhaps if the game had less combat and more exploration, I could have enjoyed playing it to some degree. This is the reason I never got into the Final Fantasy game series, turn-based combat blows big chunks!!! From there, I moved on to the PS2, the PS3, and the PS4, while also delving into the new XBOX, followed by the XBOX 360 (POS), XBOX 360 (a more advanced POS), and the XBOX One. I didn't bother with the XBOX Series X because of several factors, main one being that I could not go and purchase one off the shelf. I had wanted one, but I could not manage to find one to buy until somewhere around a year and a half after its original release. By then I had lost my interest and became disenchanted for several reasons. One reason being how they released a new product without being able to satisfy customer demand for somewhere around 18 months, that is absolutely unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. Add to that the way in which they managed to handle the scalper issue, which I believe they put zero effort into stopping it or even trying to reduce it. There was no way I was going to pay full price for a system that I wanted to purchase on day one, had the financial ability to do so, but could not find one to purchase, and for a system now that was almost nearly halfway through its lifespan, and they want me to pay full price after missing out on so much gaming!!! The day Microsoft makes a product that does not suck will likely be the day upon which they begin to manufacture vacuum cleaners!!! Besides the issues with a previous console, and the unmentioned nightmarish experiences I had on the phone with customer support, I would say the same thing about why I didn't purchase a PS5 . . . I simply could not, and by the time it was available on the shelf, I had felt the same way about Sony's gaming console. They really screwed up this generation of home gaming consoles for me, and as they push to try to make their next console systems all digital, purely out of greed, if successful (which they are likely to be given that the majority of their customers are of younger generations who don't realize the implications of switching to all-digital systems, and just selfishly want to play video games), they will have killed this home video-gaming console gamer. I will no longer have any interest in playing any of the new consoles, and will limit my video-gaming to PC games, which I believe to be far superior anyway, and once and awhile, for nostalgia sake, I will occasionally play a few games on my older home gaming consoles, the ones that weren't all digital!!!! So, I never owned an Atari 7800, therefore, I can not comment upon which games I preferred.
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Hope you guys enjoy the rankings. Please subscribe if you did, it helps me out so much! I'll settle for a like otherwise 😊
I deleted my old top 10 video since this felt redundant! But check out one of my first videos, the community's top 10 Atari 7800 games according to a poll I took on facebook with over 50 responses!
ruclips.net/video/ZPZ4-d2XIeo/видео.html
Also I used scores from atari7800forever.com and the videogamecritic.com in the bottom 3rd title cards. Check them out for full in depth reviews!
To be clear, most of the games from 42 onward are ones I think are ok and games 37 and onward are ones I start to enjoy! In my opinion the 7800 has a strong library of games! Agree or disagree?
im sure other people will have commented this, but please dont use the smoothing filter on your emulator! we want to see the nice nostalgic pixelart that we grew up with!
Interesting fact - the PAL version of the 7800 console has the 7800 Asteroids game built in. So by simply turning on the console it boots up Asteroids without any cartridge required. Which actually makes it incredibly difficult to find the 7800 Asteroids cartridge in Australia. This is going to be the downside for me when replacing my 7800 system with the new 2600+
That is interesting and I never thought of that with PAL Asteroids and the 2600+. Is the 2600 plus going to be region free, I don't recall seeing anything about that. Good information!
@@TheAtariNetwork I can confirm because I just bought an Atari Plus console and it will indeed play pal and ntsc games whether it's 2600 or 7800 😊
At least with the 2600+ you can just import the ntsc version since its emulation based
I know this is a year later and you couldn't have predicted this, but at least now with the 7800+ about to be released, Atari are reissuing some carts as well. And Asteroids 7800 is one of them.
I remember getting Real Sports Baseball for Easter one year, we’d get a 7800 game for Easter and a couple for Christmas. My grandparents bought everything they could when Big Lots clearanced the games out for $1, and they’d give them to us on holidays, birthdays, Christmas etc. we got games for probably 4 or 5 years that’s how many they bought. But yeah, Real Sports Baseball was one of them and I kept trying to like it, but I hated it.
Pretty solid ranking. I think i agree with everything for the most part.
When i was completing my 7800 collection, Tank Command was the last game i needed. When i finally found a copy, i paid way too much money for it, got it home, played it once and it's sat on the shelf untouched since. I think it still ranks at number one for me for highest amount of money spent to not play a game.
Tank Command isn't worth the money it goes for! But it's definitely a rarity thing! Congrats on the full 7800 collection!
Thanks for watching the video!
Everything you just said is true for me too.
My ranking would be different but I love your unique choices. I am glad someone else besides me sees that Water Ski is a 7800 must own.
Thank you! Water Ski is not that bad and the controls make complete sense! Outside of the sloppy programming and extreme difficulty I'd say it's worth checking out!
Astroids is one of my favs but id probably put Galaga, MsPacman, Robotron, Pole Position, and Food Fight above it. Astroids definitely in my top 10.
All fantastic games! Thanks for sharing and watching the video!
I loved ms Pacman on the 2600 ya picked the number of ghost 👻 s
@@marioedward7635 it is a fun game. Jr Pacman had that option too and I think even the original Pacman but Ms Pacman was probably the best.
@@dad7275 ms Pacman on the atari 2600 is the only one where I have see 👀 that I have never see 👀 pac jr
@@marioedward7635 Jr is awesome but on regular 4 ghost mode boy is it hard! But the challenge is great!
Love it love it love it! Nice job. Great list. And Asteroids is not only the best 7800 game, it's the best classic port of the game on any Atari system at least, and possibly all classic systems (I have not played every version, but quite a few)
Thank you so much!
Your review helped me to decide to take another look at Water Ski and Basketbrawl for the Atari 7800. I don’t think I would have ever played either of those games without your note about the unique control in Water Ski or seeing the wonderful sprite artwork of the characters in Basketbrawl. Thanks.
Water Ski will be reviewed on the channel either next week or the following week depending which reviews come together quicker. So we can compare thoughts there! I'm always glad when people dig into the 7800 it's definitely under appreciated!
26:22 I think it’s pronounced Ih-Car-ee warriors. At least that’s how AVGN and everyone else says it
The games for use with light gun what light going are you using did the 7800 have its own light gun or are you using a different systems like gun on the 1700s thanks for the info
The Atari 7800 technically did have its own light gun but they weren't widely available. Today you can use the XE light gun or you can create a dongle to use a master system phazer with the 7800. I use the master system gun because I feel it's more accurate. Of course you need a crt TV in order to use a light gun, but some games like Alien Brigade and Crossbow allow for joystick use instead.
I love light gun games and always have so I keep a crt to play them on. I'm not sure if any other modern solutions are out there but some emulators allow you to emulate light guns. Hope that helps!
@@TheAtariNetwork hi there do you or do you know anybody that would put one of these adapters together for me as I am low vision and can’t do soldering very well but would be willing to pay somebody to do this. Thanks for the adapter. Thanks.
@@joshuaharper4439 when this comes back in stock it's probably the cheapest and easiest to get, and it works with not only the gun but most Genesis and master system controllers as well!
stoneagegamer.com/mega7800-controller-adapter-for-atari-7800-retrohq.html
Every time I've eaten at Cracker Barrel I go home and drop a Barnyard Blaster
Lmao
@@TheAtariNetwork I was like crazy obsessed with Choplifter too as a kid. That game never got old, I love rescuing games like that and OddWorld: Abe's Oddysee. =)
Hell yeah, "Food Fight"! Easily my favorite 7800 game.
Fantastic game on the 7800 and in general!
I dug out my family’s 7800 out of a closet and it still has Mario Bros in it. We played the heck out of that back in the day, that alone is totally worth it. In my perspective anything ranked higher than Mario bros here is definitely on my buy list.
Not a bad ranking of 7800 games. Personally, I wouldn't put Asteroids at #1, as that place is solely reserved for Food Fight. It is, however, an excellent version of Asteroids and definitely worthy of the top 5. Also, glad to see you rank Midnight Mutants so high, I think that game just doesn't get enough love!
I think Food Fight is definitely worthy of the top spot! And Midnight Mutants is a great adventure. I wish there was an affordable way to get that one today. If only Atari would start re-releasing 7800 games (and others like 5200) so that games like midnight Mutants could become more accessible! But the fact that Al Lewis is used throughout the game might make it difficult to do.
Anyway thanks for checking out the video! It's appreciated!
Great video. I've not played my 7800 for a while but I remember Food Fight and Joust were amazing. I hope the 2600+ plays these carts well
I hope so too. The 2600+ would be an amazing solution for people wanting the 7800 at a good price. Thanks for watching!
Joust and Food Fight for the WIN! Honorable mention to Solaris, the 2600 game that could pass as 7800!! :)
@@splatbubble I love Solaris! Radar Lock is really good too! I will be covering the red box games and 2600 games that came out during the time of the 7800/2600 junior. Hopefully I'll get that done sooner than later!
@@TheAtariNetwork :) nice list and I totally agree on Karateka. Although I sucked at that game on the Apple IIe, I LOVED the music. Imagine my amazement when I found out I could get this game for the 7800! And then... imagine my disappointment when I plugged in the cartridge and switched on the console... di duuuuu... du diiiiiiii.... di duuuuu... ughh
That pretty much sums it up lol
My personal favorite is ballblazer
It was nice to hear your take on the games. I just recently got back into the 7800;, my nostalgic connection is buying it in 1986 and playing Joust, I then returned it 2 weeks later when I discovered Super Mario on the nes.
Question: where did you pick up ikari Warriors? Where do you recommend to buy these games?
Glad you've come back to the 7800! And honestly you probably made the right choice back then, but now is a good time to come back!
I'd recommend www.atarisales.com/ or best-electronics-ca.com for the best deals and new sealed products. But the late release and Froggo stuff always costs an arm and a leg.
If I think of anything else I'll let you know!
We have the same number one. Maybe if I ever played through Midnight Mutants, it would be number two. Great list.
Thank you! Honestly midnight Mutants is probably too high for most people's taste but when you account that 7800 owners didn't have a Zelda game or any real long form adventure it was a huge plus for the console. Well except it was the last game released...
Dig dug, desert falcon and ms pacman are the only ones I play.
Thanks for this lovely video… As a kidi had a 2600 which i loved… just recently i’ve decided to buy myself a 7800…. i’ve ordered. mario 7800…. mario 2600( to compare and keep as a collectible) and also “Karateka” as it looked good…. ohh and in total agreement with your number one slot “asteroids “…. which is amazing because it’s built into the console!
Just found your channel via this video and subbed after watching. Excellent work and a great list! I've had a 7800 since the original run, but my collection's always been a bit small. So with the caveat that the only games I have being Double Dragon, Food Fight, Karateka, Mat Mania Challenge, Pete Rose Baseball, Pole Position II, Robotron 2084, and Xevious, I've got to go with Food Fight in a VERY close race against Pete Rose Baseball and Pole Position II. The only dud that I've played is Karateka. Your video made me want to really find some more of these 7800 games, especially Ninja Golf, Midnight Mutants, Kung-Fu Master, and Ms. Pac-Man (which looks like it blows away the 2600 version, which I love!) Thanks for the trip back in time!
I can't forgive the sound chip. Is it just the 2600 one?
Unfortunately yes. It's the same one, but the Atari 7800 does have a line on the cartridge slot that allows cartridges to have better chips for sound. Usually the pokey or the new Yamaha and Hokey chips. The sound is unforgivable by most and I get that, but not all games sound horrible!
The 7800 32 in 1 was 2600 games only, yes all 32.
Great list.
You and ‘No Swear Gamer’ really put out some love for the 7800. Thank you.
I have not played much of Tower Toppler, only through a bit of emulation, but your video convinces me I need to give it more time.
Ms PacMan, Mario Bros, and Food Fight are my top three picks and most played since I first got this console 35 years ago.
I love No Swear Gamer he was a big inspiration to me! I should see if he wants to collaborate on a video sometime lol.
I really enjoy Tower Toppler for the 7800. I'm not sure how that version compares to others though. All those games you mentioned are great picks! I wouldn't argue with any of them.
Thanks for watching!
"No Swear Gamer", hmm? Doesn't sound like any gamer to me!!
Just in time for the 7800 + release
I have never played a 7800 game, thanks for the video.
No problem. I've played enough 7800 games for the both of us I'm sure lol
I’m probably in the minority but I used to like F-18 Hornet back in the day
Lots of 7800 goodness packed into this review. I got Super Skateboard’in when I found out it was developed by David Crane. But it’s definitely a different take on a Skateboard game. Also kudos on getting the history of Dark Chambers right, very few do. Crossbow and Food Fight are ranked high for me, but I need to spend more time playing to rank my games.
Thanks for the kind words. I've done a ton of research on the 7800 (and it's games) in the last few years so I try to be as accurate as possible. Thanks for noticing!
I don't think super skateboarding is bad per say. I actually like it, but it's an odd way to do a skateboarding game. I always imagine the 2600 game skateboarding is the competition he was trying to make it to. I also think maybe the equipment you have to power off could've been randomized to some point for replayability.
Regardless thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!
I like lists like these. So many memories. I didn't have a lot of these games but Tower Toppler, Double Dragon and F14 spent a lot of time in my console. I never understood Karateka at the time and never got great at it. I think the best I ever did was getting to round 3 or w/e.
I had a whopping five or six 7800 games growing up along with some 2600 stuff. I dreamed of the day I would have this many games to play! Double Dragon and Rampage were definitely my favorites because in my mind I had stuff as good as the NES.
When I was a young kid I used to make lists all the time. Idk why but I enjoyed doing things like I did in this video. I'm glad so many others seem to enjoy it.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome list, Love your opinions!
I had thought about getting Real Sports Baseball but the reviews out there said the controls were confusing, so it wouldn't be very pick up and play with friends. Also the word is the 5200 version is better.
So I passed on it.
Btw I do also have a 5200, "which was amazingly given to me by an old neighbor friend shortly after I got into 7800."
So if I get that game I'd go with the 5200 ver. I hear its analog control gives for a unique batting experience.
The 7800 version might be a step backwards.
As far as favorite games, I'd put Xevious in my top 3. I've become good at it, but like most Atari games the challenge is always there to try and get further. So it keeps me coming back.
Xevious is one of my favorite shmups in general so makes sense I'd rank it so high. 7800 is one of the best ports, surpassing NES imo.
I look forward to making a personal favorite list too. I've only played maybe half the library but for the most part agree with your list. :)
All good points!
I can't wait to see your list!
Yeah if I ranked the games based on which was technically superior or based on the general consensus of the internet I think Xevious would've gone a bit higher. I still love it but the fact that I'm not very good keeps it down on my list.
Thanks for watching!
Good video. I never has a 7800,i went from my 2600 to my NES. If this is the whole library I don't feel that I missed much.
My exact same thoughts. What an incredibly underwhelming library
Back during the consoles life this is all there was. But today there's more than double this in homebrews.
I'm going to be ranking all the homebrews I can find and post that video in a few weeks time. Mind you it doesn't have any of the cool works in progress like Ghouls n Ghosts, pengo, Bernie and the Tower of Doom, Harpy's Curse, etc but it'll give you an idea of what people have been creating since the early 2000s.
@@TheAtariNetwork Even with improved graphics, without a pokey chip, this console sounds woeful
@@JohnSegerclucka yeah but again not only have homebrew games been using pokey chips for a long time but recently they've created a cheap replacement called hokey. Not to mention that Yamaha sound chips like the one in Rikki and Vikki produce excellent sound. Of course not every game utilizes enhanced sound.
It's not for everybody and that's ok.
Excellent list and video! My list would differ most likely, top five being something like Food Fight, Ninja Golf, Robotron, Alien Brigade, Ms PacMan... But we all have different preferences. :)
Sounds like a pretty good top five to me!
Dude. 🔥 Content
Thank you so much! It took a lot longer than I care to admit! I hope you enjoyed it!
@@TheAtariNetworkI suggest clipping a few shorts out of this to drive some views. I really enjoyed this. I needed it today
@@SoulforSale that's a brilliant idea! I'm going to do that over the next few hours! Thank you so much.
And I hope whatever you're going through, it passes quickly. Always remember Hard work pays off, dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but BAD GUYS do. And we're all bad ass!
Ace Of Aces is a fantastic game! F-14 Tomcat is also very good.
Thanks for posting this video. The Atari 7800 is severally under-rated.
Asteroids for the 7800 is wonderful, but my favorite 7800 game would have to be Food Fight!
The game is so much Fun!!
I have noticed a trend. The BEST Atari 2600 and 7800 games also seem to be the cheapest to purchase.
This past weekend I picked up Donkey Kong Jr for 7800. If released in 1984, this would have been a fantastic game and very relevant. However, in 1988, when the game was released, it was probably laughed at as being a relic. Amazing what 4 years can bring.
I think i know why tower topler is overlooked, its unplayable when most people emulate it due to the colors.
Oh yeah I think you're right. I played on original hardware but I remember hearing somewhere that Tower Toppler emulates horribly. Good point thank you!
This is exactly right- Tower Toppler sucks being emulated. It's a great game... take it from me, Im the world champ at it ;)
That reminds me I have some gameplay I need to record...
I liked Meltdown a lot after getting a Mega 7800 adapter and using the Sega Phaser. It's just much more accurate and maybe a bit easier on your trigger finger than the XE.
I love the 7800 version of Joust. Fun memories.
I usually swap the ranking of Food Fight and Asteroids, but in thinking about it, I do play Asteroids more.
I think most people would agree with you honestly. But I wanted this list to be true to my experience with the console so I ranked the games in a way that reflects that. I've played more Asteroids on the 7800 than anything else. But do I think it's the most impressive game? No. If the criteria had been different I don't think there is any scenario where asteroids would get first again.
Again, I feel any time somebody says "this is the best game" it's got to be at least somewhat subjective. And I love hearing how people would've done a list like this differently. Really gets me thinking about these games in a different way sometimes.
I agree with all but the inversion of Asteroids with Ball Blazer.
I really appreciate the time you spent on this review. The quick synopsis on each game is great. While I have not played all of these games, my pick order would in general be similar to yours. Asteroids, however, would not be my number one choice. While Alien Brigade was a much better game than Planet Smashers, I love how they play off one another in the end. I only bought Planet Smashers because of this.
I don't own Karateka because everyone usually murders it over the controls and the delay in response. You may be the only one that I've seen be somewhat kind to it here. Yet, in your video on beating it, I would have thought you would have rated it at the bottom. Is the latency really that bad? Does it play better with a different controller? And merely as a gamer (not a collector) would you buy it again? I hope others will feel free to respond to my questions as well, but based on your other video, I think I will likely pass on purchasing it. No one likes an exercise in futility. 😄
I would love to hear your top game! Or maybe top five if you can't pick just one!
On Karateka in my other video I was fresh off of beating it and boy is it frustrating to beat! Yes the latency is just as bad as you hear and no, I can't recommend buying it. I haven't found any controller that makes it better.
As a gamer and not a collector I don't know that I would buy it again. But I will say I have fun now that I learned it and have given it time to grow on me!
Well, maybe if I come across Karateka dirt cheap, I'll give it a shot. As far as my top five, that may be a difficult choice, but here's my choice in this moment and in no specific order: Alien Brigade, Ninja Golf, Ball Blazer, Desert Falcon, and Robotron 2084. I don't own a lot of Homebrews, but you may want to consider creating a favorites list for this category as well. Many homebrews for me are just meh, but some are really very, very good. Such a list might also inform others of their existence. Now whether they are still available and affordable is another matter altogether.
Oh ranking all the homebrew is a good idea. It's so hard to review homebrew because it's not just a job but people put their heart and soul into this stuff. Even so I plan on fairly reviewing them on the channel and I think I might do a homebrew ranking video.
I better get started lol
Resist the temptation.
We got an Atari 7800 for Christmas 1988. Yeah, I know, quite late, but my parents weren’t made of money.
One year later I BEGGED my mom to get me Karateka for it. Christmas morning 1989, I got it! Put it in the console and decided I would play it until I beat it!
Have never beaten it.
Most disappointing game I ever received or bought; based on my pre-obtaining hype and the actual gameplay.
Now, I didnt have most of the 7800 library--but of the games I had owned, I would have put it dead last, even behind ‘Crack’d’. I have since played most of the library (Evercade and Super COnsole X Cube), so it’s not dead last anymore. But I think that speaks more about some of the shovelware Atari put out for my beloved console than how good Karateka is underneath.
Don’t do it!
@@mrp4242 ouch that's rough. Maybe I was too easy on it? But honestly at this point I don't mind it until the bird shows up. Maybe I got Stockholm syndrome after spending so much time trying to beat it!? Oh my God help me guys!
Robotron and Xenophobe were amazing with two players. Rampage, Pete Rose, One on One, and Food Fight were my jam on sick days from school ❤
Some quality mentions right there! Sounds like a good sick day off work for me now lol
I do wish the Atari 7800 library could be bigger than it is commercially.
Way back, i bought a bunch of 7800 games, think 8 or 9 in a bundle in a charity shop, only paid £3. Thought about buying a console to play them on but since all but 2 were sealed i decided to sell them as a bundle and made a tidy profit!! 👌
I thought that golf game looked pretty good!
It is actually good.
I enjoy playing my Atari 7800 Pro System and obviously there are some good games and some bad games for it. Most of the better games are actually the homebrews that came out in the early 2000s through the AtariAge online store, such as Space Invaders which is a genuine depiction of the original arcade game and Pac-Man Collection which has a true Pac-Man arcade game maze as well as the characters and fruit/icons as they originally were.
Well it might be a fools errand but I'm ranking all the homebrew in a separate video soon. Keep an eye out for that! Because I'm sure that won't be even more subjective lol
Thanks for the video. I don't know why I thought the 7800 had a decent lineup of games. I think I will collect for the master system instead.
One day im gonna learn how to program for the 7800.
Please do! Over at AtariAge they have a lot of resources including a 7800basic and utilities to help make it easier for people not familiar with assembly. Of course it's all Greek to me. I do have a video coming out Thursday where I rank all the homebrews I could play so you can see what other people are doing there too!
I hope to play something you've created some day!
I did not realize there was a 7800 port of Kung Fu Master - I love the NES version. Went to eBay to see if I could snag a copy for the 7800, and my goodness - it's so expensive! I guess very few copies were made.
Yeah it's somewhat hard to find. It's essentially a beefed up 2600 version as far as I can tell. I'm sure that's incorrect but it's how I explain it. Overall the NES version plays a bit better in my opinion.
Those Donkey Kong games look exactly like the NES graphics. How is that possible?
It's widely believed when they started porting the 7800 versions of the 3 Nintendo arcade ports they used the NES versions as a base. It's been floated around that because Atari was approached with the possibility of releasing the NES as their own console maybe they were presented with early builds of some NES arcade games and they used that as a basis.
Even though it was weaker in some ways, the 7800 was on par with or even stronger than the NES in some other ways.
Almost got a 7800 then decided on the NES. No regrets.
No regerts indeed. I was too young back then to be picking up anything. My parents, on the other hand, made the right call. My mom got me an Nes and my dad a Master System in 1986 for Christmas. I didn't even know the 7800 existed. I was 6 years old and man, did I get a crash course on great games that holiday. I have been a gamer ever since.
@@Sinn0100 The thing that shocked me was the 7800 outsold the Sega Master System. I assumed the Sega was 2nd to the NES. Globally it was but in the US the 7800 outsold it.
@user-or6yn8pm3c
Oh, no doubt about it. Do you know who I blame for all of this? Nintendo. Had they not been running an illegal, predatory licensing scheme, the race would have been damn close. We know that both the Master System and 7800 (minus the sound) were stronger machines. Without the terrible constraints, Nintendo forced everyone under....I believe the Pokey Chip would have been utilized quite a bit. As more licenses open up, more games are made, increasing the consoles numbers.
Basically, Nintendo bound the entire US market up. If it wasn't for Atari suing (thereby exposing), Nintendo, who knows how long it would have gone. Sega sure wasn't saying anything or trying to fight them over it. However, once the market truly opened, Sega took Nintendo to school. Nintendo wouldn't regain majority marketshare again for almost 6 years.
Thank you, Atari, for doing what no one else would, and then for reverse engineering, Nintendo's NES-10 Lockout Chip. Paperboy and Guantlet were recipients of that little endeavor. ;)
@@Sinn0100 Nintendo had the idea to get third party companies to make games. Sega didn't like the idea. Yeah Nintendo did shady things to keep their number one position. They eventually picked a fight with Sony and ever since became a niche player. If it wasn't for the Switch Nintendo would be out of the console business.
Great list, but Asteroids way too high, and Xevious too low. Great system for it's time. Underrated imho.
7800 is one of my favorites.
What an indictment. Favorite game for the 7800 was by the 1986 7800 release date 7 years old. Do you realize how old that is in video game time?
Right, it was an old arcade game even in 1986. But it should not be taken that the rest of the library was bad. Quite contrary I find most of the library to be enjoyable. Now I'm not saying all the games are perfect, and there's a few that are God awful, but I think the 7800 has a strong library on the whole. So Asteroids taking the first spot is a testament to the great job GCC did porting it, along with the brand new 2 player simultaneous play modes. And I doubt many others would rank it as number 1 but to me, it's the top game.
Why would you use pixel smoothing on the emulator!?
I hate to say it but I'm not using an emulator at all. It's all real hardware but I'm using a line doubler into a clear click. RCA into the line doubler and then that runs into the clear click via HDMI and then the clear click runs into the computer via USB. I also have a splitter before the line doubler so I can see it on my 32 inch CRT TV. I know nothing about settings on the line doubler so if I have something turned on I'll have to try and figure it out but Im just trying to get the footage to look nice for y'all!
So every game was played off of the cartridge too. I'll show it all off in a set up video later this year...
Love ranking videos like this thank you.
I love them too. Be sure to keep an eye out for "every" Atari 7800 homebrew game ranked. Well every one that I can find but that's too long of a title lol
Dessert Falcon on the 7800 is my personal favorite, with Rampage, Joust, and Xevious not far behind.
Asteroids would definitely be in the top ten.
I don't remember Hattrick being choppy
The 32 in 1 cartridge only has I think 4 or so 7800 and the rest are 2600.
My list of the games I've played is:
1. Joust
2. Xevious
3. Asteroids
4. Ballblazer
5. Pole Position II
6. Centipede
7. Donkey Kong
7. Donkey Kong, Jr.
8. Dig Dug
9. Kung Fu Master
10. Winter Games
11. Summer Games
99. Impossible Mission
100. Karateka
I especially disliked Impossible Mission and Karateka.
Honestly most people would agree with your list more than mine. Solid games there! Thanks for your input I love seeing what other people's lists look like.
Very nice ranking ! Totally agree ;)
Thank you!
I wonder how difficult it would be to homebrew a decent wrestling game. Obviously we couldn’t use any licensed material. But it seems something better could be made.
Awesome video
As number 1 was about to be announced, I thought, “He didn’t have Asteroids in the list. Oh no…number 1 can’t be Asteroids can it?” Lol. Why not? It was good. 👍🏼
I love the video but you should've called "spoiler alert" on scrapyard dog when you announced the end boss... Lol haha As for me, I still prefer the arcade conversions with Ms. Pac-Man topping my list.
Oh shit I didn't even think of that! Well hopefully people will be ok knowing that little secret 😉
Yeah I love the arcade conversions especially the ones GCC did which was most of them I guess. But the crazy stuff from the end of the 7800s life has a soft spot in my heart too. It's just a great console to me!
@@TheAtariNetwork since you made a list of games from your least fav to your fav, how about a top ten for sound? See I can personally tell you that the music in the cut scenes of Karateka is really nice imo! I suggest this since sound was one of the biggest issues players of the pro system had/have with it. Maybe do a top ten best and a second video with the top ten worst. Just thinking out loud. Have a great day and weekend my friend! Keep those vids coming!
That's a great idea! It's going on the list of video ideas! Maybe I'll do the top 10 best and worst sounds on one video or something. Once again that's a great idea, thank you!
@@TheAtariNetwork you’re very welcome. If anything else occurs to me, you’ll be the first to know!
The game has been out for 40 years dude...
Atari 7800 was actually the only console I’ve owned that stopped functioning, so I was unable to build up much of a collection. And a lot of these games I’ve never even heard of, so there’s plenty here that I’d like to give a try someday.
I actually like Pole Position II as much as you like Asteroids. Especially the Seaside track; I just feel that’s the most fitting for my skill level, while all 4 tracks are enjoyable in some way. A bit surprised at the collectively mixed reviews that game has received.
Food Fight and Ms. Pac Man are as good as advertised.
I’ve never understood Ballblazer…just can’t get a read on what’s happening.
Hat Trick is indeed a blast to play on 2P mode.
Karateka is probably the worst game I’ve ever played in my life, but I was still determined to solve the last boss. I never did-only made it that far once or twice though.
It's a shame that your 7800 stopped functioning. I had to replace my power supply and the switches on mine before.
Pole position 2 is great. As a kid I loved that game! Outside of Asteroids I probably played Pole Position 2 more than any other.
Karateka is bad but after I finally beat it I realized I enjoyed the first half of the game and I guess that counts for something. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody though!
Thanks for watching the video!
In terms of Ballblazer, it's amazing. It may take a little getting used to since whenever you get the ball, the game automatically orients you in the direction of the goal you shoot in. Over time the goal shrinks, making it more difficult to score. Once you understand that, it's great. Plus, the amazing music!
The 7800 failed for many reasons but sprite pushing was not one of them. For # of Sprites on screen nothing of that generation could compete with Atari!
Oh yeah, the 7800 was a sprite pushing beast! A lot of the games are really impressive once you start to realize how many individual sprites there are on screen, and even on the same scan lines! Fantastic stuff! I wish Atari could've capitalized on its amazing hardware more...
@@TheAtariNetwork and without flicker
Midnight Mutants looks really interesting
Big fan of Food Fight here
I was a big 7800 fan back in the day but I've never heard of midnight mutants until RUclips. While the game is short it certainly shows the potential the 7800 had for adventure games if it had not been for Jack Tramel gimping cart size anong other dumb decisions.
Good old uncle Jack. He did many questionable things during his tenure and I agree with you all the way. I don't know why you wouldn't do all you could to support and succeed with the console if you go to the trouble of releasing it. Well I sort of understand his point of view from researching him but it's not a good one at all!
Anyway thanks for checking the video out!
@@TheAtariNetwork welcome thanks for posting the vid!
I personally think the 2 biggest goods Jack did were not having the POKI sound chip put in the 7800; retroactively if needed since the 7800 was in warehouses for a few years over the rights. (at least I think that was his call) and gimping cart size.
The 7800 really was built as an 80s arcade game player but as it came out at the time if big game design change (going from largely single screen games to scrolling. Simple concepts like Donkey Kong to story driven games like Zelda) those 2 factors really hurt the 7800. A 3rd, but easier to fix issue, was the joysticks. I kninda liked them but they could cramp ones hands & for longer play sessions they just were not the best. But the PAL reasons did get a better control so clearly that could be easily addressed.
@@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145 wow you know your stuff! Yeah Jack could've capitalized on a lot of things while waiting to push the console out. I personally would've kept GCC on to make games and push software for the console, but Jack loved to sell things cheap and pinch pennies. I'm glad we have been getting some great homebrew lately that really shows off what the console could do!
@@TheAtariNetwork agreed. It's a fun "what if" to consider had the 7800 come out when originally planned or if someone other than Jack was in charge, but life is as it is.
@@TheAtariNetwork as for knowing I've had an amateur interest in early video games since I was a kid. While many played Street Fighter II I'd be off playing something like Empire City 1932 lol
Im 49 so I had a 2600 when very young (maybe 1980 0r 1981?) and was a big fan. When the 7800 came out I just assumed Atari would destroy Nintendo as the 2600 had destroyed it's competition...oops
😂
But the 7800 was the 2nd console I ever owned & certainly enjoyed it. But there was no denying the NES games were getting better fast & just blowing Atari away.
7800 would have been a good console if Atari took the time to upgrade the sound chip.
My number 1 was choplifter
You would've definitely cried if you watched Andre in All Japan
Oh that sounds foreboding now you have my attention!
Nice run down. I would place them differently, but it is an opinion.
A fun list-:I wish more people allowed personal bias to factor, instead of trying to "objectively" measure how each game achieves it's genre goals, only to end up ranking everything by popular consensus in the top 10.
I think you're insane, of course, but that's a sign of quality as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing as disappointing as a list that leaves me exactly where I was when I began watching.
That said, your reviews are often vague and lack useful details. Why do you rate Ballblazer comparatively low, for example? Sure, it's still a glowing review, but that's the problem.
It's a simple game that limits the control you have over your player...even those of us who'd place it top 5 know why it's been left in the past.
For times sake I did leave things vague. But the only criteria is would I rather play this game more than the other. If yes it goes up a rung on the list and I do it again and again until I say no.
There will be long form reviews on this channel of pretty much the whole library eventually. But if I were to base things on technical prowess and what the general public thinks, the list would definitely be much different.
Hopefully that clears things up a bit. Most of all thanks for the comment and watching!
@@TheAtariNetwork I trust you to never make a list that soulless.
And as someone who'd rate Xenophobe as one of my favorite games for the system...and regarding all other versions as annoyance simulators due to the game simply spamming a ton of the surprise bullet sponges at your slow crouch walking hero...you can trust I'd never make a list by popular consensus either. (People actually prefer the Lynx port?)
That said, slightly more detailed reviews needn't be long. Your reviews of Xevious, Impossible Mission, and Galaga were very informative...
Thanks for the input. I'll keep the thoughts on the reviews in mind for the next one!
The game I like was Atari 2600 Asteroids
Putting dark chamber that low on the list was almost criminal and that game should be top 10 😂. Otherwise great list.
holy shit I think the lightgun games needed a seizure warning lol
You know I actually considered that. And I tried to use as little scenes with flashing as I could and I used the joystick in games that supported it. But meltdown I probably could've done better. Sorry hope everyone is ok lol
Summer & Winter Games were NEVER button smashing games. If you play them like that, you did it wrong. They are more rhythm like games.
Good point. You mash the buttons to the rhythm
What!? This ranking is way different than mine! Therefore I dont like it! Cmon guys lets flood the comments with our favorite 7800 games so he has to read them all! That'll show him!
Silverback you jerk! How dare you try to artificially inflate the videos popularity by gaming the system for comments! You will never learn evil doer!
You are a heinous asshole and should be banned. I hate you
Karateka should be last & Xenophobe is ranked way too low
Kar ah tee ka
I never had a 7800, nor did I even know of its existence until the "Under 50 Bucks" and "Pro Gamer Says 7800 is Best" advertisements. No, I got an Nes and Master System on Christmas of 1986 (between two houses). My mom got me the Nes, and my dad not to be upstaged got the Master System. What a crash course that was into modern gaming.
I don't know what my take on the 7800 would have been in 1986. If it was my first, I probably would have enjoyed it but after being exposed to the Nes and Master System... I don't know. Atari really committed a cardinal sin when they made the 7800. It was as if they were still stuck in the second generation where music and sound were almost optional. Nintendo and Sega essentially set the bar or gold standard for what a retail game should be. Atari's optional approach, no matter how much cheaper was the wrong move. That's my take on this. Great list and thank you for showing us everything the 7800 had to offer. They may not be my games but they're still neat and a part of our shared gaming history.
Addendum-
I know the Atari 7800 launched at a smaller price ($140) than the Nes ($200) and Master System ($200). I wonder how much the Pokey Chip cost and were it implemented what would the retail price be? I truly believe a 7800 with a proper sound chip could have really been something.
for 60 games on 7800 MOST are sports or sims which sux. there hardly ANY good games
There's like 4 Simulators and 12 sports games. Maybe you should have bought Basic Math as a kid for the 2600.
I'm glad I didn't buy the 7800
I don't understand the scoring here? Games you like you seem to give low scores like Water Ski 2 out 5 vs Centipede 4.5 out 5 where you say it wasn't your favorite and should be higher (while it's already at 4.5 and there is NO 5s on your list!). Or Food Fight "only" 4 out 5 and calling it Best reason to own 7800. Then #1 Game, Asteroids you scored 3.5 out 5! I mean C'mon.
I didn't score any of those games. Those were scores from Atari7800Forever.com and videogamecritic.com as explained in the beginning of the video so that you would get a sort of second opinion. Go back to the intro where I say I'll include scores from atari7800forever and the videogamecritic so you can see how other people score the games.
I have written reviews for atari7800forever but by the time I joined the staff most if not all of the retail games have been scored already
@@TheAtariNetwork That is embarrassing as hell. That is the part I actually had my headphones down! It even crossed my mind that maybe you're reviewing someone else's video and I even looked into description towards the end of the video, unfortunately by then I forgot I didn't see the beginning. I'll leave that useless comment as a warning to others! 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣
@@robinmeade7573 you're absolutely fine I'm sure we've all done something similar on here before. I know I have!
Asteroids #1, ok. #2 was made in 1990,?? Gtfoh that doesn't count 🤣🤣🤣
TL;DR
Having never owned an Atari 7800, I am not able to voice my opinion on which games were the most enjoyable, for I have no such knowledge.
After starting my video game experience with the Fairchild Channel F video game home console in the '70s, it was shortly followed up by the Atari 2600 whose games were overall much more enjoyable, and the library of games available was much more extensive!
After experiencing a friend's Atari 400 computer, and its awful flat membrane keyboard that made typing impossible, I knew I wanted nothing to do with such a system, even at such a young age! Never realizing that Atari ditched the flat membrane style keyboard on subsequent models, somehow I managed to remain ignorant about later computer models, and even their gaming consoles. I had thought the Atari 5200 was one of their computers, and then sometime after the 7800 was released, I realized they had two gaming console releases since the 2600. Atari must have had some piss-poor advertising campaign for me to have remained largely ignorant regarding their consoles and computers.
Anyway, I had moved on to the Colecovision home gaming console, and managed to acquire their 2600 Atari adapter module for it. I had no interest in the Intellivision console, although I was impressed that a few games had limited speech functionality, but their controllers were useless to me. Worse controllers I had ever experienced!
After Colecovision, in came the Nintendo NES 8-bit system, which was incredible for its time, just like the Atari 2600 and the Colecovision were. Not long after NES, I gain several other hobbies outside of video gaming, plus I finally had a PC decent enough to run some modern games, so my video gaming experience, although reduced somewhat in the amount of time spent on gaming, was now focused more on PC games, more along the lines of adventure games such as Might & Magic, and even the text variety of adventure games, such as the classic Zork. Those are types of games that you didn't just pop in to play for a few minutes with your friends, but typically involved much longer gaming sessions to become immersed within the storyline and environment.
That's where I was until college came and went. After college, I had acquired a true multi-media PC, and discovered games such as the incredible Return to Zork, and The 7th Guest! I was hooked, and had no interest at that time in acquiring the latest home video gaming console. It wasn't until several years later upon playing the original Playstation apropos titled game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, a bizarre, to say the least, 2D puzzle scroller that incorporated flatulence into its gameplay that I had gained a sincere interest in home video gaming consoles again. I researched pricing for a new Playstation, and perused its game library to determine what games I would like to start my experience with, Oddworld being at the top of the list.
It wasn't long after that when I had met a lovely, voluptuous, free-spirit girl who not only found me highly attractive, but also had a preference for a certain activity that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'm not talking video gaming, butt that is beyond the here and now. Anyway, upon discovering that I possessed above average intelligence, she used that as a ploy to get me to come over to her place to play some puzzle game on Playstation in which her and her roommate had advanced so far, and then became stuck on some puzzle. I agreed to help, of course, butt stated that I make no guarantees that I will be able to solve the puzzle. The puzzle turned out to be relatively easy, but the game itself blew me away. It was Silent Hill, and I simply had to have it. I think it was the very next day I went out and purchased a brand new Playstation original, Silent Hill, Oddworld, and The Legend of Dragoon, with it being an adventure game, I thought I would enjoy it, but all it did was introduce me to the world of turn-based combat games, which I discovered I thoroughly hated! They bore me to death. Perhaps if the game had less combat and more exploration, I could have enjoyed playing it to some degree. This is the reason I never got into the Final Fantasy game series, turn-based combat blows big chunks!!!
From there, I moved on to the PS2, the PS3, and the PS4, while also delving into the new XBOX, followed by the XBOX 360 (POS), XBOX 360 (a more advanced POS), and the XBOX One. I didn't bother with the XBOX Series X because of several factors, main one being that I could not go and purchase one off the shelf. I had wanted one, but I could not manage to find one to buy until somewhere around a year and a half after its original release. By then I had lost my interest and became disenchanted for several reasons. One reason being how they released a new product without being able to satisfy customer demand for somewhere around 18 months, that is absolutely unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. Add to that the way in which they managed to handle the scalper issue, which I believe they put zero effort into stopping it or even trying to reduce it. There was no way I was going to pay full price for a system that I wanted to purchase on day one, had the financial ability to do so, but could not find one to purchase, and for a system now that was almost nearly halfway through its lifespan, and they want me to pay full price after missing out on so much gaming!!! The day Microsoft makes a product that does not suck will likely be the day upon which they begin to manufacture vacuum cleaners!!! Besides the issues with a previous console, and the unmentioned nightmarish experiences I had on the phone with customer support, I would say the same thing about why I didn't purchase a PS5 . . . I simply could not, and by the time it was available on the shelf, I had felt the same way about Sony's gaming console. They really screwed up this generation of home gaming consoles for me, and as they push to try to make their next console systems all digital, purely out of greed, if successful (which they are likely to be given that the majority of their customers are of younger generations who don't realize the implications of switching to all-digital systems, and just selfishly want to play video games), they will have killed this home video-gaming console gamer. I will no longer have any interest in playing any of the new consoles, and will limit my video-gaming to PC games, which I believe to be far superior anyway, and once and awhile, for nostalgia sake, I will occasionally play a few games on my older home gaming consoles, the ones that weren't all digital!!!!
So, I never owned an Atari 7800, therefore, I can not comment upon which games I preferred.