Finally got an Atari 2600

[BrianC]

Thrust+ Platinum is available at Good Deal Games, though. They are partnered with AtariAge. Actually, Thrust+ was ordered for Christmas, but I had to send it to AtariAge for a replacement since the one I ordered didn't work right on most of my 2600 compatible systems (it only seemed to work on the 7800 that doesn't play Robot Tank. Everything it didn't work on plays Robot Tank fine).

ahh, thanks. and here's somewhere with the foot pedal:
https://www.atari2600.com/item--Foot-Pe ... D1568.html

cool. thanks. I have used that store quite a bit and they are very good. I recently got some CV (Jumpman Jr., Cabbage Patch Kids, Centipede and Nova Blast) and 7800 stuff (Commando, Joust, and Robotron) from there.

[professor ganson]

The Atari 2600 was my one and only videogame system as a kid. I think I got it in my early teens, can't recall exactly. I liked it a lot, though I much preferred my electronic chess board which was a pretty fierce competitor.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Two cool racing games worthy of your time on the 2600 platform are Atari's Pole Position and Activision's Gran Prix racing titles. I like the simple but crude 3rd-person viewpoint that Pole Position offers you. The scoring display looks like one of those old fashioned analog speed odometers btw...pretty slick presentation anyway how you look at it.

There is the 2600 PAL-based 32-in-1 Multi-cart worth picking up for the sheer number of game titles alone. You just have to use an old TV monitor with an RF input as the sole means of A/V input for it to work properly though. To switch between the different games, you'd have to switch the 2600 off and back on again to boot up a different game title. Works like a charm nevertheless.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

There is the 2600 PAL-based 32-in-1 Multi-cart worth picking up for the sheer number of game titles alone. You just have to use an old TV monitor with an RF input as the sole means of A/V input for it to work properly though. To switch between the different games, you'd have to switch the 2600 off and back on again to boot up a different game title. Works like a charm nevertheless.

A PAL compatible TV is the best way to play PAL 2600 games. Even with an older TV, there's still the issues of games running at the wrong speed and with the wrong colors (I have a Telegames Bump 'n Jump that is either a PAL version or a poor conversion of a PAL version to NTSC. The colors are off, but it doesn't roll on any of the TVs I tried it on). The implementation of that 32-in-1 cart sounds very awkward since you can't just choose a game at will. The main PAL game I'm interested in is KLAX, though it seems it might be unplayable on a NTSC TV due to the colors being off. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that problem for SMS since the games play with the correct colors in any setting and many games play at optimum speed in 60 Hz.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The implementation of that 32-in-1 cart sounds very awkward since you can't just choose a game at will. The main PAL game I'm interested in is KLAX, though it seems it might be unplayable on a NTSC TV due to the colors being off. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that problem for SMS since the games play with the correct colors in any setting and many games play at optimum speed in 60 Hz.

Yeah, you have to keep powering the console off and on again to see another different game until it cycles through the first game. IIRC that the Amiga 1080 RGB monitor can accept both NTSC & PAL TV signals via composite video input...so that shouldn't be a problem going that particular monitor route. Of course, that would require a modded 2600 with composite video output though.

Yeah, that 2600 version of Klax sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I do remember seeing the Atari 7800 version of Klax for sale at the 2004 Classic Gaming Expo...the asking price was at $39.99 for the standard version and at $49.99 for the limited edition version. Wasn't so sure what the LE version of 7800 Klax contained though and passed them both up. There is the 5200 version of Klax to consider as well. But the definitive console version of Klax is the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 release as Atari Games and Tengen went back to the drawing board to see what could be improved over the original arcade PCB version of the same name and managed to pull it off successfully with even more user-end adjustable settings to tweak (compared to the arcade PCB version). Still no option to "turn off" the drop meter on Wave 1 like that found on the NES Tengen Klax port though.

LX Rudis was the guy who did all the killer BGM tunes on the NES Klax port. Mr. Rudis personally told me that Metallica and other heavy metal bands influenced him to change the original BGM tunes that he composed to the ones that reside currently in that particular NES Klax port. I told him that he did an awesome job on the music. At the time when I asked Mr. Rudis about his involvement on the NES Klax port, he was currently working for the Ultracade company based out of San Jose, CA back in 2001.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

Yeah, that 2600 version of Klax sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I do remember seeing the Atari 7800 version of Klax for sale at the 2004 Classic Gaming Expo...the asking price was at $39.99 for the standard version and at $49.99 for the limited edition version. Wasn't so sure what the LE version of 7800 Klax contained though and passed them both up.

I think the LE just included a box to go along with the game and manual. Nothing different with the actual game. I know Video61 and Good Deal Games both sell Klax. $42.75 and Good Deal Games and $39.99 at Video61 (though it's on backorder there). I have tried the 7800 Klax proto out via emu and it seems to start out a bit too fast compared to other versions.

There is the 5200 version of Klax to consider as well. But the definitive console version of Klax is the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 release as Atari Games and Tengen went back to the drawing board to see what could be improved over the original arcade PCB version of the same name and managed to pull it off successfully with even more user-end adjustable settings to tweak (compared to the arcade PCB version). Still no option to "turn off" the drop meter on Wave 1 like that found on the NES Tengen Klax port though.

Interesting. The 5200 one was a homebrew from mean hamster software. I haven't heard much about that one. The TG-16 version was from Tengen's Japan division. Lots of sweet options and even the option to play the game in Japanese.

[BrianC]

I know it's a bit late, but I just got Beamrider for the 2600 and I'm loving it. I want to clear up the confusion about the magnetic mines. I finally got past stage 16 in the Intellivision version and I can confirm that it doesn't have the magnetic mines. I checked the C64 version, and that is missing them as well. The 5200/800 manual suggests those versions also lack the mines. As far as I know, the CV/MSX version is the only version with the mines. So the 2600 is only missing one enemy from most versions, the zig-zag missiles, which isn't much of an ommision. The game itself is very impressive for 2600 and all versions seem to be well done. I highly recommend it.

[louisg]

I know it's a bit late, but I just got Beamrider for the 2600 and I'm loving it. I want to clear up the confusion about the magnetic mines. I finally got past stage 16 in the Intellivision version and I can confirm that it doesn't have the magnetic mines. I checked the C64 version, and that is missing them as well. The 5200/800 manual suggests those versions also lack the mines. As far as I know, the CV/MSX version is the only version with the mines. So the 2600 is only missing one enemy from most versions, the zig-zag missiles, which isn't much of an ommision. The game itself is very impressive for 2600 and all versions seem to be well done. I highly recommend it.

Great game, and a good version. It's one of the few 2600 games which are hectic, challenging, and whose gameplay holds up today.

[BrianC]

Great game, and a good version. It's one of the few 2600 games which are hectic, challenging, and whose gameplay holds up today.

I feel the same about Stargate/Defender II and Millipede ports, except I found lots of older games to hold up. I'm a sucker for the ports of 70s arcade games and I like a lot of those early 2600 games with the blocky graphics like Air Sea Battle, Combat, Sky Diver, Dodge 'em, Circus Atari, and Canyon Bomber. While Asteroids has more limited movement of the Asteroids compared to the arcade, I found it to be quite challenging with the fast Asteroids with the switches set to A.

I saw an earlier post about the challenge in Berzerk. Despite the enemies lacking diagonal shots, it still gets challenging on harder difficulties due to less space to move in and evil otto gaining speed as soon as the enemies are shot. The 800 (proto) and 5200 versions are much closer to the arcade in difficulty and gameplay and even have the voice. I have a repro of the 800 one and it rocks, but I still like the 2600 one quite a bit.

[louisg]

Great game, and a good version. It's one of the few 2600 games which are hectic, challenging, and whose gameplay holds up today.

I feel the same about Stargate/Defender II and Millipede ports, except I found lots of older games to hold up. I'm a sucker for the ports of 70s arcade games and I like a lot of those early 2600 games with the blocky graphics like Air Sea Battle, Combat, Sky Diver, Dodge 'em, Circus Atari, and Canyon Bomber. While Asteroids has more limited movement of the Asteroids compared to the arcade, I found it to be quite challenging with the fast Asteroids with the switches set to A.

I saw an earlier post about the challenge in Berzerk. Despite the enemies lacking diagonal shots, it still gets challenging on harder difficulties due to less space to move in and evil otto gaining speed as soon as the enemies are shot. The 800 (proto) and 5200 versions are much closer to the arcade in difficulty and gameplay and even have the voice. I have a repro of the 800 one and it rocks, but I still like the 2600 one quite a bit.

Yeah, I really dig most of those, too. The thing about a lot of 2600 games is that you have to set them to hard mode. I don't think a lot of people realize this. For people not in the know, sometimes that's flipping the difficulty switch in the back, or sometimes you actually have to select the proper game number. Berzerk is a good example of that-- it's either dull or hectic depending on what game # is selected.

Aside from the ones you mentioned, I think Space Invaders 2 player is good on Atari, Missile Command is good.. I recently acquired Winter Games, and it plays pretty much identically to the home computer versions. Battlezone is an amazing port, too, and I have to also recommend Turmoil and Wizard of Wor (though WoW is slaughtered by the C64 version). Joust also is a decent port.

In the age of MAME, the 2600 runs the risk of being underrated.. I remember that for years, this was the most accessible way of playing most of these games. But, sometimes I still prefer the 2600 version for control or difficulty curve reasons. Or, in the case of Space Invaders, I think the pacing is much better.

[BryanM]

It's an odd beast. What I love about it is the threshold it has for what's considered a "good" game for it: if you can recognize it as a game, it's top tier. Montezuma's Revenge and Pitfall ftw.

Some of the worst are the ones where the developer tries to use the background as sprites and gives the game heinous chunky movement. Pooyan: one of the most excretable ports ever.

The indie scene on it is kind of cute, when they're not remaking Pac Man. Guys trying to recreate NES games on the beast, more sane olde style projects etc.

[BrianC]

Aside from the ones you mentioned, I think Space Invaders 2 player is good on Atari, Missile Command is good.. I recently acquired Winter Games, and it plays pretty much identically to the home computer versions. Battlezone is an amazing port, too, and I have to also recommend Turmoil and Wizard of Wor (though WoW is slaughtered by the C64 version). Joust also is a decent port.

I have those too. Good stuff. I'm planning to pick of Wizard of Wor for the Atari 800 (apparantly from the same programmer as the 2600 version, Joe Hellesen, who also did the Atari 800 port of Pac-Man). I heard the Astrocade has the best version (renamed The Incredible Wizard), but I'm not sure if there is much else I'm interested in for that system. I like the 2600 one despite having only a couple of the mazes. The MAT2 version is disappointing. The speed is wrong.

I played Beamrider in Activision Anthology to see if I could get the patch. The slower speed kills it. I got a bit farther than on the real cart and quit playing after I got he patch since the slower gameplay sucked the challenge out of it. I played the real cart again afterwards and the full speed was a breath of fresh air. I'm not going back to the Anthology.

[louisg]

It's an odd beast. What I love about it is the threshold it has for what's considered a "good" game for it: if you can recognize it as a game, it's top tier. Montezuma's Revenge and Pitfall ftw.
...
The indie scene on it is kind of cute, when they're not remaking Pac Man. Guys trying to recreate NES games on the beast, more sane olde style projects etc.

Yeah, 2600 programming is a really interesting topic. I don't know if you've looked into it or read Racing the Beam (no programming required; it's a great book), but the hardware was very strange. It's fascinating the kinds of hacks people had to pull. I remember it taking me some serious effort to just get a sprite bouncing around

Some of those 2600 indie games are fantastic. Thrust is a very faithful port of the C64/etc game (afaik there is even a version that supports driving controllers!), and Marble Craze is very good too.

[BryanM]

Be sure to try out Star Fox everyone.

E.T. might be shit, but at least it doesn't raep your skull like Star Fox does. It'll make you bleed out of your eyes like those guys from that Firefly episode, srsly.

[BrianC]

Be sure to try out Star Fox everyone.

E.T. might be shit, but at least it doesn't raep your skull like Star Fox does. It'll make you bleed out of your eyes like those guys from that Firefly episode, srsly.

lol. Funny you mentioned Firefly when talking about Star Fox 2600. The comapny that made Star Fox 2600, Mythicon, also made a game named Fire Fly. I heard that one is pretty bad, as well. The funny thing about Mythicon's games is that they all reuse some of the same graphics.

E.T. isn't great, but I like Howard Scott Warshaw's other games. It's sad Saboteur never made it to stores (though it is on Flashback 2, which I have), even as The A-Team. It's a very unique and fun game. While I normally prefer games not to be altered, the A-Team version is hilarious and worth checking out (I recommend the newer one with a helicopter instead of a "Jeep"). Mr. T's head shooting lasers!!!!!

I agree on the homebrew games. Lots of good stuff. I wish Conquest of Mars made it on the FB2 instead of the weak Caverns of Mars port. I agree Thrust+ and Marble Craze are well done as well. I also like Star Fire (interesting that the programmer of the original arcade also did stuff on 2600 and Intellivision) and a few others (though I only played Thrust+, Marble Craze, Conquest of Mars and Star Fire on real hardware, though I also played the WIP Panky the Panda, which is promising, a bit of Halo 2600, and a bit of Turbo on real hardware at the 2010 Classic Gaming Expo in Vegas). I like what I tried of Oystron, the Punch Out style boxing game (forgot the name), Duck Attack, and Juno First, as well.

[lilmanjs]

Love the Atari 2600. My dad still has his which he bought brand new. though we lost many years ago lots of great games like Grand Prix due to my brother taking games and just selling them. once my dad found out though he was told never to touch the 2600 again anyone here besides me like Grand Prix?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Ah yes, I recall going to my TG&Y store when they used to sell brand new 2600 games back in 1982 and looking at all the cool 2600 games up for sale. My eyes caught sight of the colorful box art presentation of Activision's Grand Prix game and bought it at the asking price of $29.99 + tax. Proceeded to go home and fire it up. What a cool racing game indeed.

I did manage to score a little over 23.00+ seconds on Game 1 to qualify for a Activision Grand Prix badge but never sent in the picture as proof in order to get it. Sure took some serious practice to achieve that time record.

The 2600 port of Pole Position and Activision's Enduro (even has tule fog effects in-game that the Central Valley of California is famous for during the winter months) are another pair of cool racing games worthy of your 2600 gaming stash.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~