The Atari 2600 VCS Thread

Started by TL, February 20, 2013, 20:48:48 PM

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TrekMD

It's been a really long time since anything got posted on this thread.  So here is a new video review of one of the most impressive games for the Atari 2600, Solaris.  Has anyone played this game?  What do you think about it?  Check out the video below...


Going to the final frontier, gaming...


Greyfox

I'm so amazed today how developers can still knock it out of the park with the Atari VCS , truly fantastic stuff after 40 years in existence. A great video thanks for sharing, I'd of never known. Just to mention the video has been disabled for some reason by its owner?

zapiy

 It really is amazing stuff. It's what makes gaming history so fascinating.


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TrekMD

Glad you liked it.  Solaris was one of the last games released for the 2600 and it is amazing to see the difference between the early games for the system and was released an the end of the system's commercial life.  It does appear the video has to be watched on YouTube, though.  I guess it's the preference of the owner of the video. 

Going to the final frontier, gaming...


TrekMD

ImplantGames has posted another one of their "5 Good Games..." videos, this time for the Atari 2600.  There is one choice on this video that will raise eyebrows, I'm sure.  LOL  Have a look...


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TrekMD

I just watched this video.  I thought it was funny and nicely done.  Have a look...


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TrekMD


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TrekMD

Just saw this and wanted to share it...

Kids React (Poorly) to Atari 2600
http://youtu.be/d7zM3qWXOto

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TrekMD

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Atari 2600 and here is a video of a 2600 cake to celebrate! 


And here is a video talking about the console and its 40th...


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TrekMD

Here is a video looking at Retro Shovel's top 30 games for the Atari 2600.  I thought this was an interesting list as it has games I was not expecting to see in a top 30 list...


Going to the final frontier, gaming...


davyk

That's a strong list. I might have posted this here before, but here are my favourites:-

Obviously it really depends on your attitude to old game graphics as to how much enjoyment you get from a 2600. Its all about multi-player too - quite like the Wii in that respect.

Even the very early games can be fun.

Combat : tank and plane vs game. 2 player only!

Breakout and Super Breakout : pretty good versions. Breakout 1 supports 4 players but has a 2 wall limit. Super Breakout has the cavity, double and progressive modes as well as classic mode with no wall limit. 1-2 players only except for progressive which is 1 player only.

Surround - basic vs mode snake game. Very basic but again good as it is 2 player only except for 1 variation and in which the CPU is unsurprisingly very poor!

Sky Diver is quite good - jump from a plane and land on a target (sometimes moving) taking wind into account. The longer you leave the chute closed the more points you get. Really good fun in a minigame kind of way. It supports 1 and 2 players - again far better in 2 player head to head.

Circus Atari - breakout type game - bounce 2 clowns off a see-saw to burst balloons (square balloons!). Really nice game with good "physics" on the clowns. 2 player alternate turns. This was an old arcade game I'm old enough to remember.

Video Olympics - every pong version imaginable - up to 4 players at once.

Maze Craze - basic maze game but with lots of variations. Excellent 2 player fun.

The 2600 got lots of arcade translations. Most suffered from the limitations of the hardware but these ones are a good job - somehow squeezed into the old console without suffering from flickering etc. (at least not too much!)

Berzerk - move through maze avoiding robots 1-2 players

Ms. Pacman - great version. technically impressive as is the sequel Pacman Jr. (avoid the first Pacman which was a rush job)

Space Invaders - still excellent version with loads of options including some good 2 player simultaneous modes.

Defender II aka Stargate - again a pretty good version. Avoid the original Defender - not accurate and flickery as hell.

Phoenix - excellent attempt at this great old shmup. Has all the waves - even the mothership level - albeit scaled down. One player only.

Missile Command - decent effort given the lack of a trak-ball controller.

Warlords - legendary 4 player game. Defend your castle from fireballs. This got an even better homebrew remake called Medieval Mayhem.

Activision and Imagic were companies formed by disgruntled Atari devs who left. They must have been the cream of the crop based on the technical excellence of their titles which all have great graphics for the day.

Pitfall and Pitfall II - early flick screen platformers

Atlantis - good old "defend the city" shooter with a 2 player coop mode

Chopper Command - excellent defender clone with military theme - some prefer this to the Atari official version

Demon Attack - great traditional shmup. Some novel 2 player modes where control changes every few seconds! Shoot "Phoenix" style creatures - atari tried to sue over this one becuase of its similarity.

Fishing Derby - very odd game. 2 player race mode to who lands fish up to 99pts!

Freeway - simplified frogger (back and forth only - no sideways). Again best with 2 players as you race across at the same time.

H.E.R.O. - late title and it shows. technically brilliant. Explore caves and rescue people. Excellent little action puzzle/maze game.

Kaboom! Legendary twitch game. Use paddle controllers to catch bombs in buckets - this really speeds up and is a real "in-the-zone" game.

Megamania - great old shmup. Excellent graphics and lots of different waves. Reminds me of the old Sega arcade shooter "Astro Blaster".

Pressure Cooker - build burgers to order and deliver them down correct shutes. Excellent game - a great mix of action and light puzzling with really nice graphics. A late 2600 game.

River Raid - solid classic shmup.

Space Shuttle - incredible achievement. This is a shuttle mission simulator. Launch the shuttle, dock with satellites, reenter the atmosphere and land - all without running out of fuel.

Solar Storm - odd 2D shmup as it uses the paddle controllers. Nice original ideas and looks and sounds great.

Others

Fantastic Voyage - nice shooter based on the sci-fi story/flick. Fly through a body to reach a blood clot in the brain shooting viruses etc. Nicely done.

Yars Revenge - brilliant original shooting game from Atari. Guide a mutant housefly in an attack against the Quotile behind its shield.

Thrust - superb latter day homebrew version of this classic game.

Scsicide - another brilliant homebrew - move the disc drive read head over tracks on the disc! Sounds odd but its very addictive.

TrekMD

Very nice list of games there!  Thanks for taking the time to post it!

Going to the final frontier, gaming...


TrekMD

I just saw this posted on FB by Andrea Rosa...

An Atari 2600 lies near the wreck of the Salem Express which sank in December 1991 in the Red Sea. Perhaps it was a gift, or perhaps the owner was on the ship. We will never know.


Going to the final frontier, gaming...


davyk


If you dried it out it would probably still work.

:)



TrekMD

LOL  I wouldn't be surprised.  Those things were built like tanks! 

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