10 of my favorite Atari 2600 Games - Name yours!

[MaximumRD]

Re: Top 10 Atari 2600 Games - WAIT here me out, YES lists are stupid and pointless but I am just curious to see how everyone's compares and which titles seem to repeat or not Anyone "old" and grew up with Atari 2600 like me? Of course even if you didn't grow up with it or came to discover it much later in life you are welcome to list your top 10 favs! Off the top of my head I will go with -  

 

1. Space Invaders.

2. Vanguard.

3. River Raid.

4. Pitfall. 

5. Asteroids.

6. Kaboom ! 

7. Keystone Kapers.

8. Demon Attack.

9. Super Breakout.

10. Missile Command.

 

Good times, feel like I grew up through the history of gaming and still love it!

[TrekMD]

Hmm, hard to come up with just 10.  And yes, I'm old too!  LOL  Here are 10 of my favorites in no particular order:

 

1.  Pitfall II

2.  Space Invaders

3.  River Raid

4.  Crystal Castles

5.  Millipede

6.  Escape from the Mindmaster

7.  The Official Frogger

8.  Ms. Pac-Man

9.  Stargate

10.  Dig Dug

[RickR]

1. Adventure
2. Demon Attack
3. Yars' Revenge
4. River Raid
5. Missile Command
6. Berzerk
7. Stargate / Defender 2
8. Ms. Pac Man
9. Circus Atari
10. Space Invaders

Honorable mentions:  Empire Strikes Back, Indy 500, Kaboom, Jr. Pac Man

 

(It's hard to limit it to just 10)

[RickR]

And yes, I'm old and grew up with it just like you. 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I did grow up with gaming without actually growing up.  Where's the fun in that?  However, I grew up with the 5200, not the 2600.  I am just now "growing up" with the 2600.  Well...more like growing old.  Here's my top 10 so far as my collection keeps growing.

 

1. E.T.
2. Enduro
3. Jr. Pac-Man
4. Space Invaders
5. Mountain King
6. Solaris
7. Radar Lock
8. Robot Tank
9. Pac-Man (yes...it made it to my top 10 from the fun I have had with the Squad Challenge this month)
10. Midnight Magic

I agree...it's hard to pick just 10...but these are the ones I go to the most for my 2600 fix.  And, yes, I believe E.T. is a great adventure game and unique for its time.  Really the only pre-1990's game that faithfully harnessed the heart of the movie it was based on.  

[greenween]

Here are mine in no order. I'm another old fella.

 

1.Yars' Revenge

2. Frogger

3. Ms Pac-Man

4. Berzerk

5. Space Invaders

6. Asteroids

7. Missile Command

8. Solar Fox

9. Vanguard

10. Pitfall

 

 

This list was pretty tough to narrow down to only 10.

[nosweargamer]

Based on 136 games I've reviewed so far in the past 3+ years

 

1) Adventure 

2) Pitfall! 

3) Yars' Revenge 

4) Ice Hockey 

5) Haunted House 

6) Ms. Pac-Man 

7) River Raid 

8) Dig Dug 

9) Space Invaders

10) Jr. Pac-Man 

 

Some of my childhood favorites, like Pitfall & Adventure, held up well, while others, like Fishing Derby, did not.

I think there are some games that I like even more today than when I was a kid, including Ice Hockey and Ms. Pac-Man.

One of my favorites as a kid was Superman. It will be interesting to see how it holds up when I finally give it time again.

And I still have over 100 games in my collection I have yet to review, so my top ten could change in the future.

[greenween]

It was very hard not to include Haunted House and Adventure! I spent many hours on them.

[greenween]

Fishing Derby was another favorite as a kid, I agree, it did not stand the test of time.

[RickR]

Ice Hockey, Realsports Volleyball, Pele's Soccer are on my top 25 list too. 

[Sabertooth]

In no particular order:

Battlezone

Q-Bert

Yars' Revenge

Demon Attack

Megamania

Joust

Dig Dug

Ms. Pac-Man

Solaris

Chopper Command

 

Honorable mentions include Mouse Trap, Missile Command and Moon Patrol.

 

I grew up with a Coleco Gemini - a 2600 clone.

[TeddyGermany]

A really hard decision:

 

Space Invaders, my VCS-Killer App

Adventure, no need to explain

Pac Man, anyway it's Pac Man!

Yar's Revenge

Pitfall!

Enduro

Space Shuttle

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

HERO

Donkey Kong, i love it with all its incarnations!

 

Honorable mentions: Q*Bert, Gorf, Wizard of War, Mario Bros., Galaxian, Missile Command

Edited August 24, 2017 by TeddyGermany

[Mcorleonep]

In no particular order

 

Adventure

Pitfall

Pitfall II

Demon Attack

Megamania

Asteroids

Space Invaders

Berzerk

Yar's Revenge

Missile Command

[StormSurge]

Old guy, who spent his formative years with the 2600.

Here's my Top 10 list that I made in January 2007. I'm sure I could quibble with it, but I might as well go with it.

 

It's entirely based on the games I most enjoyed in the heyday of the system & the hours of enjoyment the games provided me.

 

10. Circus Atari

9. Seaquest

8. Chopper Command

7. Combat

6. Space Invaders

5. Asteroids

4. Pac Man

3. Yars Revenge

2. River Raid

1. Pitfall

[GRay Defender]

Here are my lists.  There were difficult to narrow down and are subject to change, lol...

 

Top 10 as a child:

 

 1 - Adventure

 2 - Mountain king

 3 - E.T.

 4 - Asteroids

 5 - Missile command

 6 - Pac-man

 7 - Space Invaders

 8 - Pitfall!

 9 - Megamania

10 - Combat

 

Top 10 as an Adult:

 

1  - Jr. Pac-Man

2  - Ms Pac-Man

3  - Space Invaders

4  - Missile Command

5  - H.E.R.O

6  - Pitfall II

7  - Indy 500

8  - Stargate

9  - Demon Attack

10 - Ice Hockey

[nosweargamer]

Whether it's in your top ten today or as a kid list, it's cool to see Pac-Man and E.T. show up, since they get bashed so often. As a kid, both would've made my top ten and I still enjoy them today. 

   

 

Kangaroo would've also made my top ten as a kid list.

[Mcorleonep]

H.E.R.O. would belong on my list too but I didn't play that on Atari as I had the Apple II version.  Very underrated game.

[Ballblaɀer]

Lists are not stupid or pointless, they're great! 

 

Top 10 favorites I played as a kid in the 80s/90s, in no particular order:

 

1) Yars' Revenge
2) Superman

3) Crystal Castles

4) E.T.

5) California Games

6) Ice Hockey

7) Asteroids

8) Berzerk

9) Mario Bros.

10) Defender

 

Top 10 favorites as of now, again not in any order:

 

1) Yars' Revenge

2) Enduro

3) California Games

4) Beamrider

5) Crystal Castles

6) Berzerk

7) Shuttle Orbiter

8) Subterranea

9) Montezuma's Revenge

10) Gravitar

[TeddyGermany]

Making lists and selections is stupid in a certain matter. You must neglect something important. ET, Raiders of the lost Ark, Riddle of the Sphinx and Demon Attack are also fine games, which have to be mentioned. But there are only ten tickets for the Super Bowl.

[TrekMD]

I'll say that every game that I see listed deserves to be on these lists.  They are all fantastic games. 

[MaximumRD]

Making lists and selections is stupid in a certain matter. You must neglect something important. ET, Raiders of the lost Ark, Riddle of the Sphinx and Demon Attack are also fine games, which have to be mentioned. But there are only ten tickets for the Super Bowl.

And I agree as I pretty much stated right at the start of my post   HOWEVER I was curious more about what people would personally list and indeed not only has everything listed been great choices but they also reflect the type of games each of us enjoy, as well I have been reminded of several titles I either forgot about or time or never tried the first time around and now have some to keep in mind the next time I feel like a 2600 fix. 

[Arenafoot]

as a child back then (based on only the games I had - my "go to" titles) in no order:

• Adventure (was the first title I sought out to get)
  
• River Raid
  
• Ice Hockey
  
• Omega Race
  
• Frogger
  
• Freeway
  
• Ms. Pac-Man
  
• Pole Position
  
• RealSports Volleyball
  
• Battlezone
  

Honorable mentions:

Yars' Revenge

Summer Games

Human Cannonball

Circus Atari

 

games I didn't like, back then:

• Swordquest Fireworld (thought it was another type of Adventure)
  
• Fishing Derby (tried - couldn't beat the computer)
  
• Laser Blast (tried - couldn't figure it out)
  
• Space Shuttle (huge manual)
  
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
  
• E.T. (had the manual & poster and played on game 3 - didn't like the pits)
  
• Tax Avoiders
  
• Space Invaders
  
• Combat (2 player game - I was an only child)
  
• Star Raiders
  

 

games I have now in my collection ("go to" games - not counting the titles above):

• Midnight Magic
  
• Star Wars: Death Star Battle
  
• Centipede
  
• Chopper Command
  
• Tac-Scan
  
• Thunderground
  

[TeddyGermany]

@ MaximumRD

 

My personal choice doesn't represent my all time favourites for the VCS. These games were important for me in the good old days. It is impossible to give them an order and it is difficult to say, which game is more important than another and comes to the  top ten instead of others. It depends on personal circumstances. No objective criterions in sight.

 

The results are very exciting. It's a pulsating thread.

Edited August 28, 2017 by TeddyGermany

[Jin]

I always like looking through other people's Top 10 lists to see what games they enjoy that I may have not tried yet, but when I tried making my own list I ended up having waaaay too many fantastic games in the "honorable mentions" category so I wound up making it a Top 20.

 

 

20. Midnight Magic

19. Montezuma's Revenge

18. H.E.R.O.

17. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle

16. Alien

15. Starmaster

14. Miniature Golf

13. Adventure

12. Centipede

11. Robot Tank

 

10. River Raid

9. Sentinel

8. Kung-Fu Master

7. Crystal Castles

6. GORF

5. Millipede

4. Super Breakout

3. Ms. Pac-Man

2. Venture

1. Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

Edited October 14, 2017 by Jin

[Kid A]

In no particular order...

 

Enduro

Atlantis

Demon attack

Spider fighter

HERO

Dodge em

Kaboom

Yars revenge

Megamania

Missile Command