2600 Shmupping

louisg · Post by **louisg** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:38 am

I'd like to find games on the 2600 that I want to play. I have a lot of nostalgia for that system, but most of the games are just too easy! Phoenix for example had a difficulty that capped out pretty early, even though it was generally a faithful port.

So, what 2600 games do you like to play still?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:19 am

Beamrider and Spider Fighter.

-Bridget- · Post by **-Bridget-** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:33 am

Phoenix wasnt the best of ports to that system; I have that one myself, it's OK but coulda been better.

Lets see, some shooter type games:

Atlantis
Beamrider
Chopper Command
Demon Attack (old favorite of mine)
Laser Blast
Laser Gates
Megamania
MoonSweeper
Plaque Attack
River Raid (very early vertical shooter. This game will get harder than you might think. A true classic.)
River Raid 2 (nowhere near as good as the original)
Spider Fighter
Yar's Revenge (another fave of mine. Very strange.)

A large number of those are Activision titles; I was looking at Gametap's current 2600 gamelist as I marked those off, as I have a bad memory.

As for actual difficulty, it will vary from game to game.

And there really arent all that many "scrolling" shooters on that system; the shooters that it has tend to fall into one of two categories: Galaga-style, like Demon Attack or Phoenix, or just plain "wierd", like Yars Revenge or Atlantis, basically meaning they have ALOT of similarities to a normal shmup, but they're gonna handle rather differently.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:29 pm

Beamrider, Spider Fighter, River Raid and Laser Gates.

Those are the best shmups on the system, IMO, though people may argue that only Laser Gates is a shmup

Moonsweeper is very challenging if you're looking for a harder game, and it's very playable... though I've been spoiled by the much superior MSX version.

Demon Attack is the best single-screen shooter you can get on the system.

And if you want to take defender alike games.. checkout Chopper Command and Stargate. I also had lots of fun with the original Defender when I was a kid.... but children are easily amused, as the game obviously is an horrible port of the arcade one (Stargate is MUUCH better)

You could also take a look at the horrendous Xevious just for the curiosity sake, and though it doesn't qualify as a shmup, Zaxxon was a technical wonder in the system...

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 2:24 pm

Shatterhand wrote:Beamrider, Spider Fighter, River Raid and Laser Gates.

Those are the best shmups on the system, IMO, though people may argue that only Laser Gates is a shmup

Beamrider is better and harder on other systems, though. The 2600 version is missing a couple enemy types.

I also like Vanguard, a port of a scrolling SNK shooter. It's quite challenging, though the controls take some getting used to. Unlike the arcade, movement is slowed down while shooting. One interesting thing about the 2600 port is that it actually has a continue feature.

Tac-Scan isn't bad, but it's waaay toned down compared to the original. The original arcade game had UFO enemies and pseudo 3D sections. Those are both gone in the 2600 port. However, the difficulty gets harder faster and it controls great with the paddles. It uses the second controller port, which is very odd.

Another shmupish game on the system is Astroblast, an Atari 2600 version of the Intellivision Astrosmash. Astroblast is actually better than it's Intellivision counterpart (Astroblast plays much faster), but still very easy, at least when played with paddles. It's harder with the joystick, but it's much more playable and fun with the paddles.

The 2600 has a port of Super Cobra. It's not a very good port. The hit detection is awful and the difficulty is set too easy.

Moonsweeper is very challenging if you're looking for a harder game, and it's very playable... though I've been spoiled by the much superior MSX version.

Isn't that a straight port of the Colecovision version?

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 2:40 pm

Probably, I don't remember playing the Colecovision version.

I do prefer the MSX version of Beamrider over the Atari 2600 one (This one I can say for sure it's a direct Colecovision port), but I don't think the Atari 2600 one is pretty good for the system, and I know our friend Herr Schatten prefers the Atari 2600 one over the more "modern" versions

You could also take a look at Planet Patrol, as it's probably the first horizontal shmup that scrolls from left to right, instead of the usual right to left. The only other shmup I can remember doing this is Scarlet 7 on MSX. But Planet Patrol isn't a very hot game, and I bet most people could keep on looping it endlessly.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:15 pm

TURMOIL should be first on your list. It is is a highly addictive hybrid shooter and underrated. (warning, its a thumb/wrist killer)

Atlantis
Demon Attack
COSMIC ARK

(U can't go wrong with anything by IMAGIC)

Chopper Command
River Raid

A host of others I can't remember right now.

Yamazaki! · Post by **Yamazaki!** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:42 pm

Although not technically a shooter, Berzerk on the 2600 is an awesome Robotron-style arena blaster, and the only reason my Atari isn't on Ebay!

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:25 pm

I always though Cosmic Ark was pretty .. meh....

The game is too simple and too easy. You can only "die" in the 1st part of each stage... and you need to have some real horrible relflexes to die there.

Boring, bland and easy. Even for an Atari 2600 game.

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:58 pm

Don't forget Stargate. A few years ago I spent many hours with it. It's more true to Defender than the Defender cartridge is.

Oh yeah, and Star Trek Tactical Simulator, if you can find it. Basically the old Star Trek arcade game on 2600, AFAIK. It's like Bosconian Plus. Shoot everything and warp to the next sector. Great stuff.

Squirrel · Post by **Squirrel** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:51 pm

Beamrider, Spider Fighter (I maxed out the score), River Raid, Demon Attack, TURMOIL, the homebrew game Vault Assault, Defender (but its a horrid port and easy, I rolled the score), Stargate (MUCH more faithful port), and Atlantis.

I wouldn't really call Cosmic Ark a shmup, I don't like it very much. Vault Assault (You can buy it at the AtariAge store) is much better, and you're supporting the homebrew scene.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:26 pm

Baah, the MSX version of Berzerk also is vastly superior.

I find it to be better even than the arcade version, as the MSX version has faster and more twitch gameplay. Not to mention the cool speech

But yeah. the Atari 2600 version is pretty good... not a shmup, but a game that should be checked out.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:14 pm

The ports of Centipede and Millipede on the system are very well done, Millipede especially. Space Invaders is very different from the arcade, but is excellent and has a ton of modes. Galaxian is a very good version and actually plays better than the 800/5200 version.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:38 pm

Seaquest is one of the best games that hasn't been mentioned yet. It's a fun single-screen hori, and gets ridiculously fast at higher ranks.

As far as other original games go, I'd put River Raid and Yar's Revenge on the top tier, followed by Demon Attack and Chopper Command. I'd almost put Desert Falcon (an isometric along the lines of Zaxxon and Viewpoint) on the top too, but the 7800 version's just a touch better.

The Asteroids port doesn't look much like the arcade original, but it has a ton of game modes, like the Space Invaders port.

And though it's a rail shooter, I have to mention the absolutely amazing Solaris.

Oh, and don't forget that a lot of 2600 games have variations depending on how you set the dif switches on the console.

louisg · Post by **louisg** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:03 am

These are all great suggestions! I learned of some games I didn't know about, and was reminded of some good ones that I'd forgotten.

I noticed some people suggested ports to other systems for games like Beamrider. Does anyone here have an opinion on the best 8-bit cartridge system (computers with cart slots included) for interesting original shmups, besides MSX?

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:46 am

Shatterhand wrote:I always though Cosmic Ark was pretty .. meh....

The game is too simple and too easy. You can only "die" in the 1st part of each stage... and you need to have some real horrible relflexes to die there.

Boring, bland and easy. Even for an Atari 2600 game.

You can die on the second part, you must not have played for very long. If you don't get back to the mothership fast enough, a meteor will plow into it. Also as you get further, the meteors come much faster.

There's some good homebrew shooters too. Vault Assault, Thrust, Alia Quest, Oystron, and Star Fire all come to mind.

Beyond that the Empire Strikes Back game is pretty awesome. I can second Turmoil and Seaquest as two awesome ones. The starpath games are not to be overlooked, either-Communist Mutants from Outer Space and Suicide Mission rock. Snoopy vs the Red Baron was also a pretty awesome horizontal shooter.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:31 pm

nah, I did remeber you could die in the 2nd part. Is just that you need to be *REALLY* stupid to die in that section, as there's an alarm going before the meteor strikes, and the alarm goes for long enough for you to get back (In later levels you could even just get hit by those side lasers, so you would "get back" faster). I did play this game a lot when I was a kid. I had like 35 Atari 2600 Cartridges... actually, I still do own them, though my 2600 isn't working anymore for more than 10 years.

This was one game that, even back when I was a kid, I could just keep on playing endlessly, 'til I got bored.

I noticed some people suggested ports to other systems for games like Beamrider. Does anyone here have an opinion on the best 8-bit cartridge system (computers with cart slots included) for interesting original shmups, besides MSX?

None. The MSX is your better option.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:16 pm

Shatterhand wrote:Beamrider, Spider Fighter, River Raid and Laser Gates.

Demon Attack is the best single-screen shooter you can get on the system.

And if you want to take defender alike games.. checkout Chopper Command and Stargate. I also had lots of fun with the original Defender when I was a kid.... but children are easily amused, as the game obviously is an horrible port of the arcade one (Stargate is MUUCH better)

You could also take a look at the horrendous Xevious just for the curiosity sake, and though it doesn't qualify as a shmup, Zaxxon was a technical wonder in the system...

I'll have to check out Laser Gates. I would agree with Spider Fighter, great game. Demon Attack is also killer. I will second the Chopper Command recommendation - another awesome game. However, not to start an argument, but Zaxxon's not a shmup? I would consider it a scrolling shooter, perhaps earlier than most others of its type. Certainly you shoot things while maneuvering your ship through an area, just like any hori or vert.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:25 pm

I don't want to get into the Zaxxon argument any longer, but...

Zaxxon = Space Harrier alikes . The Atari 2600 version even more, with the behind of ship PoV , but even the arcade isometric one has gameplay that resembles Space Harrier, but with a different point of view

-Bridget- · Post by **-Bridget-** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:23 am

OYSTRON.

I'd completely forgotten about that one!!!

Absolutely love that particular game.

I need to re-download that for Stella, I do.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:29 am

i heard there are multiple difficulties on spider fighter, how do you select?

Squirrel · Post by **Squirrel** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:31 am

I completely forgot about Star Fire, and I own it too, isn't that sad?

Same for seaquest, I maxed out the score on that one too...

Same with the rest that has been mentioned, although for the 2600 asteroids, you can get a "vector" hack, it looks a lot better like that, its just outlines of the asteroids instead of them being colored in. I really enjoy it.

Man there were a lot of great games for that system, huh? Thankfully, I got a cuttle cart 2

Now I Just need to do a s-video mod to the 7800... hmm I should do that real soon, I haven't touched my atari in a while, this should be a fun mod.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:01 am

Star Fire is excellent. It's not really a shmup, though. It's a behind the ship pseudo 3D arcade style space shooter.

Conquest of Mars is another good homebrew. It's a port of Caverns of Mars. It's kind of shmupish, but I don't know if you could call it a shmup. It's not pseudo 3D and it auto scrolls, but it's more about avoiding obstacles than shooting (though it has some of that too).

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:49 pm

Ah yes, Spectravision's 'Planet Patrol' Atari 2600 VCS game that came out in 1982. I saw it in the bargin bin at my local Toy World store back in 1984 for a mere $10.00 USD (this was during the time of the "Great Video Game Crash of 1983-84" era where one could buy a bunch of brand name & 3rd-party produced video games cheap & brand new to boot for mere pennies on the dollar, indeed). Bought it and proceeded to go home to check it out. Looks like an awesome shooting game for the Atari 2600 platform, hmmm?

Interesting way of losing "all" your lives if your ship crosses the line without destroying all the missle silos -- truly cheap-ass "game over" gimmick/tactic that gets the casual Planet Patrol player all riled up...seems just the perfect excuse to throw that damned 2600 joystick out the window (or at the TV screen)... ^_~

One could say that Planet Patrol is a true 2600 horizontal side-scrolling shmup title abeit one that scrolls from left to right orientation though (the 2600 version of Vanguard has this same directional scrolling at certain points in the game as well) -- modern-day horizontal side-scrolling shmup title do just that except in the opposite direction, of course... ^_~

Just WTF is the player shooting at in Planet Patrol!? Actually, it's the missle drones (launched from the huge missle silos site encountered later in the same level) that are targeting the player's fightercraft and are to be brought down at all costs necessary...simple background story, hmmm? Plus, rescue your comrade's black-colored downed fightercraft and score some freebie bonus points added to your overall score -- whee, what fun it is (yeah, right)...

I like how you can also die if you run out of gas -- a cool tanker that self-drives to your fightercraft and merrily "tops off" your fuel tank...sometimes just a drop is all that's needed (assuming that your fightercraft lands on the 'landing strip' that's reserved for fueling only). Miss it and hope you still have enough fuel to reach the next re-fueling session or it's adios, amigo, for the given fightercraft currently in use... ^_~

The explosion effects that results from destroying all the missle silos can kill your fightercraft as well...watch out!

I like how Spectravision incorporated distortion graphics for your fightercraft since all the action supposedly takes place in the desert -- effectively mimics that mirage-type of visual presentation -- it might be a minimalist approach at best but it works! ^_~

Plus the cool ever-changing morning into afternoon to dusk and finally, total darkness, Planet Patrol has enviromental changes that affect gameplay, plus the sun slowly is replaced by the moon as well for completeness (reminds me of Activision's ever-changing weather conditions found in the 2600 classic of Enduro racing game title)...

By the time one gets to the fourth level and higher up, the forced side-scrolling tends to pick up the pace quite a bit...more often than not, the player will cross the fucking dreaded "line" zone after failing to destroy all the missle silos and it's hasta la vista, baby -- it's 'fucking' game over for good, man (unless one resorts to a good 3rd-party 2600/VCS aftermarket auto-fire device to crank up the shots being spit out on Planet Patrol, one will have to get used to the usual rate of shots fired during a regular gaming session -- doesn't seem fast enough rate of shooting for the later levels though IMHO)..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:22 pm

Killer Satellites! There's another awesome starpath game I forgot about. It's a Defender clone. The Stella Gets a New Brain CD(with all the starpath stuff on it) also includes Meteoroid, a version of Suicide Mission with the Asteroids physics. Probably one of the best games on the console, and very accurate to Asteroids.

I had fun with Space Jockey and Spacechase although neither game would exactly win awards for being fantastic. Worth looking into though is Worm War 1. Deadly Duck is pretty awesome too, if only for the concept! And then there's Rescue Terra 1-fantastic game, but rare as hell.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:41 pm

ubersaurus wrote:Deadly Duck is pretty awesome too, if only for the concept!

Flying killer crabs that drop bricks in a duck pond...a duck with a shotgun in its mouth.

Whoever thought of the concept was definitely on drugs...but the game is awesome and pretty fun I must admit.

antron · Post by **antron** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:41 am

Have you all heard about this?:
http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.ph ... &p=1316997

portable 2600 with internal flash rom
tv output
2 controller ports
may make it out this holiday season

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:10 pm

Looks like something I'd buy. It does have a cartridge port, right? The Flashback consoles did not. I need something to play my Atari 2600 carts.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:12 pm

No cart slot means downloadable roms on the go, ..neat!

It's the 2nd or 3rd post right below that one.

antron · Post by **antron** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:46 pm

I read later in the thread that it might hold a few hundred 2600 roms. Not the whole console set but definitely all the shmups! Most are freely downloadable from atariage, even homebrews currently for sale. Also, the USB cable connector on the model will be replaced with a mini-usb (that's not a place for a thumbdrive).

shmups.system11.org

2600 Shmupping

2600 Shmupping

Spectravision's Planet Patrol for Atari 2600 VCS - 1982...