/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.4210583]

Can we have a Atari 2600 appreciation thread? I feel like it's a very underrated console especially nowadays, and it's overlooked because of the graphics even though it was the first real breakthrough video game console. So post your favorite atari games that still hold up today.

[Anonymous No.4210587]

Yarr's Revenge is the best game on the system.
Warlords for best multiplayer.

[Anonymous No.4210597]

Vanguard used to be a big deal at the time but I rarely see it brought up these days.
>it's a shoot'em up designed by SNK, a Japanese company
>it's the grandad of both vertical AND horizontal shmups. It came a year after Xevious yet feels much more "modern"
>you can shoot to the sides which is a feature rarely seen in shmups even to this day

[Anonymous No.4210608]

I have to admit, when I checked out 2600 games I was turned off by how many games were just arcade ports. Those aren't really a big deal now since you can just emulate the originals.
I did enjoy the River Raid games, at least.

[babbage's gramps !RATGzMALLY No.4210653]

>>4210597
Vanguard was pretty much my favorite game when I was little, that and Keystone Kapers. I didn't get Pitfall 2 and Ghostbusters until after NES had been released but they (and my 99-4/A) kept me going until I got mine.

[Anonymous No.4210681]

My favorites are Berzerk, Phoenix, Off the Wall, Super Breakout, Crackpots and Junior Pac Man. Off the Wall in particular is my favorite Breakout clone.

[Anonymous No.4210712]

>>4210583
>Atari 2600 appreciation thread
>wood grain
>the station wagon of game consoles
Honestly I don't see a reason to care for the Atari 2600, but on the other hand I like their controller.

[Anonymous No.4210716]

>>4210583
>I feel like it's a very underrated console especially nowadays

I feel like it's because we now have ways of easily playing the arcade versions of the stuff 2600 games were based on. Never had a 2600 growing up, recently had a passing interest in it but when I realized how much better everything about the arcade versions is I feel a lot less compelled to play anything 2600

[Anonymous No.4210720]

>>4210716
Yes, there's a lot of arcade ports, but there's also a lot of original games too, and some still being made for the console via homebrew.

[Anonymous No.4210734]

>>4210608
At least some of the arcade ports, like Space Invaders, offers unique experiences that you couldn't get from the arcade.

[Anonymous No.4210756]

Adventure! First ever Easter Egg included in a piece of software.

Chopper Command kicked ass
Starmaster rules
Raiders of the Lost Ark didn't suck at all.
Dragonfire kicked ass
Empire Strikes Back is a fucking GREAT title for the system
Kaboom was great

There's actually a bunch of them that are good.

Oh, and don't forget that the 2600 was actually stereo! Yup, separate left and right channels! Of course, you have to do a mod to get that extra sound out, but it is there, and the mod is actually quite easy.

[Anonymous No.4210770]

>>4210756
>Raiders of the Lost Ark didn't suck at all.
It's okay, but it feels so meaningless. The gameplay itself isn't particularly challenging, figuring out what to do without the manual is near impossible, and figuring out what to do WITH the manual is pretty much just following a straight walkthrough. I just don't get what the point is. Something like Adventure works because there are constant threats and you need to actively explore.

Have the Youtube kids started putting it next to ET on their "worst games ever" lists now or something?

[Anonymous No.4210774]

Thoughts on my small Atari collection? I know it's missing a few titles, but I think I have most of thr essentials. I also just picked up The Empire Strikes Back.

[Anonymous No.4210780]

Jungle Hunt is my permanent go-to. I could play it on loop for hours.

[Anonymous No.4210796]

>>4210774
Great start.

[Anonymous No.4210848]

My admittedly modest 2600/7800 collection.

[Anonymous No.4210890]

OP, all I fucking hear is praise for it from every old fag (irl and online) who hears about gaming, I had one claim the bitch was better than the PS2 and that my childhood must've sucked because All I had was pc and this. I should also point out I brought up fallout 2 duke 3d and gta 3 he said adventure and fucking pitfall are better examples of fun. The woodpaneled geriatric has had enough praises sung. I will say it is a good console, but far from the best.

[Anonymous No.4211056]

>>4210597

Heck yeah, Vanguard is a cool game, and the Atari port is actually decent. But it sucks that you can't destroy the Gond unless your name is Luther.

[Anonymous No.4211070]

>>4211056
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=farSRgI_w5E
Hurr hurr hurr

[Anonymous No.4211073]

>>4210587
Fully agreed

[Anonymous No.4211079]

[Anonymous No.4211082]

>>4210597

i dont know but i like much more River Raid. Probably has the advantage of being released much later than other shumps on the system, but the controls and design is so good.

>>4210890

maybe the 2600 is not the best console in history but set a milestone and pretty much is the gold standar of what a video game console has to be.

[Anonymous No.4211091]

>>4210583

I really dig Pressure Cooker. Basically you have to assemble hamburgers to match the customer's order, and then deliver it to the correct window. Burgers come steadily down the conveyor belt, Lucy Ricardo fashion, and the machine spits out ingredients, often the wrong ones, and you have to either send it back or catch the right one and slap it on the burger.
The orders start out simple and get more complicated as you go on, ramping up the pressure part steadily.

[Anonymous No.4211098]

>>4210890
The 2600 was nothing short of revolutionary. The games that came before it, and yes, there was even the cartridge based Fairchild F, in a word, sucked. They were just plain awful, in fact.

Compared to it's competition when it debuted, the Atari was nothing short of a Thermonuclear warhead compared to a musket. It was that much of a jump.

Nothing since has had such a massive impact on the video game market, not even the NES, though I do give the NES mad props for fixing what Atari broke. Atari had the brass ring, and they flushed it down the toilet. Had the Atari brass not been such a bunch of coked up fucknuts, the NES would have never happened in the way it did. There never would have been a video game crash in the first place. But I digress.

[Anonymous No.4211127]

>>4210583
>So post your favorite atari games that still hold up today.
Kill yourself

[Anonymous No.4211163]

One of my favorites when I was a nerdling was Dragonstomper. Yeah, I was lucky enough to own a Supercharger.
Dragonstomper was probably the very first console RPG, and pretty good too. The game starts with you in the wilderness, exploring, acquiring gear, and attempting to get paper for an ID, so the guard will let you cross the bridge into the town.
In the town you purchase gear and hire mercenaries, before going down into the cave to hunt the dragon.
Eventually you fight the dragon (who is huge, well animated, and tough as shit) and if you kill him you get some sort of necklace thing and it plays "Rule, Britannia" while the screen cycles. I used to beat it about once a year until my Supercharger got stolen.

[Anonymous No.4211167]

>>4211163

Oh, forgoy I have a pic of the town.

[Anonymous No.4211962]

>>4210756
>Starmaster rules
This is probably my favorite single-player game on the system. Been playing the GBA port lately.

[Anonymous No.4211965]

>>4210848
Well you have Starmaster, Yars' Revenge, and Warlords, so I'd say you're in good shape.

>Rock 'N Learn: Addition & Subtraction Rock VHS

[Anonymous No.4212008]

Good games in here, but no love for Beamrider? Amazingly fun and playable arcade-style title with some impressive scrolling graphics. I just played it the other day actually and got a personal high score.

[Anonymous No.4212834]

>>4210583
There's too many to count. Almost the entire Activision library? Kaboom! is my favorite by far and I'll still play that for hours. Defender II is another one that is just great, but the neat thing about Atari is its active homebrew community. 7 new games got released this year through AtariAge (40 YEARS after the console hit the streets); I picked up a few and Scramble is just friggin' awesome. People who truly know classic gaming never dismiss Atari.

[Anonymous No.4212872]

>>4212008
I'll give some love for Beamrider. That game is friggin' awesome. I think it probably didn't get the props it deserves because it was released during the crash, along with a number of pretty good arcade ports. I'm a big fan.

[Anonymous No.4212974]

>>4212872

Yeah, it kinda fell between the cracks. I think the C64 had the best version, but I could be wrong.

[Anonymous No.4213054]

>>4211070
Yeah, we all got the joke, mostly because we've all seen the commercial. But thanks.

[Anonymous No.4213056]

>>4211070
THE WALL THE WALL

[Anonymous No.4213370]

>>4212872
I first played it on Activision Anthology. Ended up being one of my favorite games on the entire thing. Amazing game.

[Anonymous No.4213948]

>>4212974
I'm partial to the intellivision version since it was developed for that initially. The 2600 port is amazing though, OG Activision really knew how to push every piece of hardware to its max.

[Anonymous No.4214148]

Something I've noticed recently is that there are some fun mobile phone games that remind me of atari games. One I recently played is called "Ballz" and is basically puzzle version of breakout. Another is "Six!", where you control the fall of a hexagon down a block tower.

Really, as I explore mobile games, slowly and cautiously at that, I find that you can get some good simple fun out of them. I think that people who like atari should give them a chance, as at its core the levels of complexity and of simple fun in good phone games isn't much different from that which I've seen in good atari games.

Dunno if this is considered unacceptable for atari thread discussion but it's been on my mind lately.

[Anonymous No.4214594]

>>4210587
>warlords for multiplayer
my nigga

[Anonymous No.4214797]

>>4210587

>warlords

Check out Medieval Mayhem. It's a modern cart that's probably the best version of Warlords you can get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR_B857oJo4

[Anonymous No.4214859]

Phaser patrol is my favorite Atari game that I still play every now and again. It was a cassette tape that used the Starpath Supercharger - a little finicky to get working, but lots of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9g349QMOUo

[Anonymous No.4215014]

>>4214797
I wish someone would make a Warlords port closer to the arcade version for the 7800.

[Anonymous No.4215141]

>>4210587
I played a colossal amount of warlords with my bros when I was home for summer break from college in the early 2000s. Shit was awesome.

[Anonymous No.4215147]

>>4210774
You're pretty much golden; that's a lot of the best games on the machine already. And for some reason I fucking love 2600 Donkey Kong and hate all other versions of it.

[Anonymous No.4215160]

>>4210583
the 2600 joystick is still the coolest looking videogame controller

[Anonymous No.4215159]

Anyone have any hi-scores they're proud of? this was my best centipede game, ~7 years ago. Can only get only get in the 60k range now.