The ultimate "2600 Starter Set" challenge

[HDN]

Hey everyone!

So as a few of you might already know, I have a spare 2600 lying around that I would like to give back to its original owner in the future. One thing I would have to do is come up with a few games to get for him. Duplicate games. While I was thinking of what exactly I should get him (this would be in the future but I like to plan ahead), I realized that this may be a fun challenge for us on the forums. There's no prize for the challenge winner, but some of you may have a little fun with it. Make your list below and may the best "starter set" win!

"Challenge" Rules:

• You may only pick 10 games for your starter set.
• The games you pick must be cheap and common titles. I leave the judging on this part up to you and won't be setting a price or rarity limit.
• In your set, there must be at least three multiplayer games, like Combat, Basketball, Outlaw, Air/Sea Battle, etc.
• All games in your starter set MUST use Joystick controllers.

 

I hope you enjoy my little challenge! Like I said, I won't be offering a prize (that's for a different time) for this challenge's winner, but I do plan on picking a winner.

I won't be sharing my own list yet, but I will within a couple of days.

Best of luck to you all and have fun with my silly little challenge!

[nosweargamer]

Hmm. I think my current top ten qualifies, so I will go with that:

1)    Adventure - Ep 268
2)    Pitfall! - Ep 150
3)    Yars' Revenge - Ep 318
4)    Ice Hockey - Ep 319
5)    Haunted House - Ep 25
6)    Ms. Pac-Man - Ep 138
7)    River Raid - Ep 192
8 )  Dig Dug - Ep 189
9)    Demon Attack - Ep 446
10)    Space Invaders - Ep 327

FYI, Space Invaders & Demon Attack have co-op modes for multiplayer games. Other mulitplayer possibilities would include Boxing and Wizard of Wor.

[cjherr]

Adventure

Combat (2p)

Ms. Pac-Man

Outlaw (2p)

Pitfall II

Solaris

Space Invaders

Tron: Deadly Disks

Wizard of Wor (2p)

Yar's Revenge

[RickR]

You guys have hit the mark.  But if you know the recipient, you *must* try to learn what games they loved as a kid.  It may not include all the popular hits. 

For example, an ideal starter set for me would include "Bowling" and "Laser Blast" because I loved those ones growing up.

Once you know those, you can supplement with Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man, Defender, Yars', etc. 

[HDN]

3 minutes ago, RickR said:

You guys have hit the mark.  But if you know the recipient, you *must* try to learn what games they loved as a kid.  It may not include all the popular hits. 

For example, an ideal starter set for me would include "Bowling" and "Laser Blast" because I loved those ones growing up.

Once you know those, you can supplement with Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man, Defender, Yars', etc. 

Good point. According to my dad, here are a few games that the two of them enjoyed when they were younger. You can use these to help form your lists if you want.

• Keystone Kapers
• Pac-Man
• Space Invaders
• Frogger
• Video Pinball

[RickR]

Then I'd do this:

• Pac-Man
• Keystone Kapers
• Space Invaders
• Frogger
• Video Pinball
• Missile Command
• Asteroids
• Yars' Revenge
• River Raid
• Berzerk

Those ones are all in the low priced range, and all are very fun IMO. 

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by RickR

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Its the 2600! Anything on that thing plays well but I'd mix it up with games they know they like with a few they may like based on their previous liked games.  Like I'd throw in Midnight Magic along side Video Pinball.  But RickR's list is very well rounded.

[socrates63]

👍🕹️ These are awesome lists of essential 2600 games! I haven't played enough to make such a list, but these help me figure out what to play next.

[HDN]

5 hours ago, socrates63 said:

👍🕹️ These are awesome lists of essential 2600 games! I haven't played enough to make such a list, but these help me figure out what to play next.

I freaking LOVE the Atari 2600! And @socrates63, you don’t need to have played many to make a list. Just pick a few of your favorites if you want to. But as far as recommendations go, it all depends on wether or not you have another person to play with. If you do, try Flag Capture, Artillery Duel, or Home Run. I picked those three as they aren’t terribly well-loved, but they are some of my favorites. With single player games, you really can’t go wrong with any of these listed above. I would add a few, like Popeye, Q*Bert, and Night Driver. There are so many good games on the system.

I brought back the Woody the other day. The picture on there is a lot cleaner than on the Vader! I don’t know why. I think some of the internal components of my Vader are on their way out.

[Mr SQL]

Great thread! So many awesome choices! 🙂 

Here are a few more with some repeats:

COMBAT (2 player)
Wizards of Wor (fun with 1 or 2 players)
Pacman (must have a CRT, otherwise MS Pacman)
Burgertime (underappreciated, it's a great musical I can't get the theme out of my head)
Qbert (played it so much I saw the hidden technicolor disco dream mode before computers found it)
Defender
Beamrider
Commando
Communist Mutants from Space
Buck Rogers
Centipede
Moon Patrol