What are the best Atari 2600 shmups?

[Alpolio]

I did a search for this topic and apparently, the venerable little 2600 is being overlooked. Even by the Xenocide Files. So...

10. Demon Attack. This is one of the last shmups that I got for my 2600. It had sparse graphics, but excellent animation. The demons looked like winged birds and when you'd shoot them, they would break into two smaller/faster demons. I even heard that there was a bug in this game that would cause it to freeze when you reached a certain score -- probably the max integer 32767 or along those lines... But I wasn't good enough to crash to score counter.

9. River Raid. This game is cool. But I never really cared about the scoring system, I always just tried to get as far up the river that I could. But, hey, I still play this on my PS2.

8. Asteroids. It was a cute little conversion. To make up for the lack of sharp vector graphics, Atari made this version in color. And despite the limitations of the 2600, the gameplay was spot on!

7. Berzerk. A friend of mine got this game and I'd ride my bike to his house just to play it. This is one of the few games that looked just as good on the 2600 as it did in the arcade. One of the neat things about it was that the bad guy was this unstoppable happy face. The guy that made this game was a real sicko!

6. Atlantis. This was one of the best looking shmups on the 2600. My neighbor got this game for Christmas and when I first saw it, I thought that he got a Colecovision. Not much to the gameplay. It plays like a fixed version of Missile Command.

5. Missile Command. This arcade game was located at my local Pizza Hut, so when I got my 2600, I had to get it. It was a bit strange using the joystick instead of a trackball, but it worked. And this is another game that looks just as good on the 2600 as it did in the arcade.

4. Yars' Revenge. Oh man! This game is sweet. It's supposed to be a take off of Star Castle, but it ended up being really different in the end. You're supposed to shoot some bad guy behind a shield and in order to do that, you have to shoot or eat the shield. Yeah, you can eat it. And the bad guy can shoot back. Some people say that this game is so different that it's not really a shmup but an action game. But I think that the ship's eating ability is just a cool addition to your arsonal and it just makes it stand out as one of the better 2600 shmups.

3. Spider Fighter. This game was the first manic shooter that I can remember. You've got a rapid firing gun pod at the bottom of the screen and there's these spiders trying to steal your fruit. I can remember my favorite saying when I was playing it... "OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! Yiii! Take that! No!!!! Yes! Whaa!! OMG! OMG! OMG!" Yeah, it was great fun!

2. Megamania. This is a game that a drug addict would have nightmares about. It's a manic shooter where you're under a constant attack from tires, dice, hamburgers, bow ties, ect, ect. This game was my first party game!!!

1. Vanguard. This is shmuping goodness at it's best, and Atari did an excellent job at porting it to the 2600. This game is one of the few that has both vertical and horizontal levels. And your ship has the ability to fire in all 4 directions -- just move in the direction you want to fire and hit fire. I can remember rolling the stick in circles so I could send a stream of firepower in all directions - a very effective tactic! Oh... did I mention that it even has a nifty little end boss. Yeah, it does! This is the first game that I remember playing that actually had an end boss! All in all, this is the best shmup that the 2600 has to offer.

[BUHA]

dude, you forgot beamrider!

and i dont like vanguard on the 2600, it was a lot better on the 5200. i never played the arcade one.

beamrider is great fun though!

how is missile command a shmup???

[al138]

Megamania and Demon Attack are absolute classics! As for Yars Revenge, it almost has a boss-only feel to it...kinda like Chaos Field, but with more longevity. All three are near and dear to my heart! If you get a chance, check on the Megamania commercial on Activision Anthology! The guy in the commercial looks (and sounds) like a hack version of Sammy Hagar pre-Van Halen era.

As for Missle Command, I can understand why you would call it a shooter.

[ROBOTRON]

TURMOIL

DEMON ATTACK

Yars Revenge
Megamania
River Raid
Atlantis

[zaphod]

Aren't we all forgetting..

SPACE INVADERS



heh

my list

Demon attack
spider fighter
megamania
space invaders
centipede
River Raid
Vanguard
Defender
Beamrider
Turmoil (good one)
Atlantis hardly counts
Tac-Scan (yes, it sucks)
Gyruss (yes it sucks too)
Spacechase (crap)
Space Caverns (bit less sucky)
Space Jockey.
Fantastic Voyage
many more

[Herr Schatten]

Another vote for Beamrider. The 2600 version is awesome.

[sethsez]

Spider Fighter is the best.

[Turrican]

Spider Fighter is the best.

Gets my vote too!

[Neon]

no one mentions cosmic ark? You all have failed me.

Where's llabnip?

[thesuperkillerxxx]

forgot solaris

[SteevTee]

Also Stargate.

Spider Fighter was the first shmup I can remember playing, I loved that game, even my dad played it.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

I remember something called Warhawk. It's probably the only 2600 game I ever played. I can't find any information on the game anywhere though.

[BrianC]

and i dont like vanguard on the 2600, it was a lot better on the 5200. i never played the arcade one.

I like the 5200 one better technically, but unless you find a centering controller, the Atari 2600 one has better controls. The Atari 2600 one actually has two control opinions (oddly enough, with difficulty switches) and is much better once you find out you don't need to move slow. I would like to find the Atari 800 one so I can have the best of both worlds.

I agree that Spider Fighter rocks. I would like to find the actual cartridge of it, but the GBA version is nice. Same deal with Beamrider. Activision is one of my favorite A2600 publishers.

[llabnip]

Where's llabnip?

Digging out from the snow!

And Cosmic Ark is an AMAZING game for the 2600... and even though I'm pretty easy-going with my definition of shmup, I think this one is very borderline. But still, it's a must-play game. Yars' Revenge is also one of my top 10 games on the 2600 - it's about as good an exclusive as you can get (the new GBA version is really poor, stay away!). But I don't consider Yar's a shmup either - it's really... unique. Then again, I love SeaQuest and consider that a shooter so maybe Yar's is too. Anyway, it's too good not to mention! I love some of the other games mentioned (Missile Command is great).

I still run my 2600 - it's always hooked up and sees play time every week. The nice thing about yard sales is that people almost give you this old stuff - if they can't even be bothered to blow off the half-inch of dust on the console you pretty much know it's going for $5 or less.

Top Notch Shooters (in alphabetical order):

Beamrider - Activision struck gold here. It was released for virtually every system of the early 80's and while the 2600 rev may not be the best, it still blows most other 2600 shooters out of the water. Fun, addictive gameplay in a tempest sort of way. The two distinct shots works even on the one-big-red-button joystick since they use the up direction for torpedo.

Chopper Command - Again Activision comes through with a beautiful defender-like game. The game gets hard fast - but it always feels like you could have done better so it has that addictive quality.

Cosmic Commuter - Well... Activision again. This one is a bit like a fantasy-zone type game with cool "music" and a good sense of speed.

Demon Attack - Imagic's Phoenix-ish game holds up well even today. I played the heck out of this game when I got it back in the day and the demonic-flapping-sounds as the alien craft swoop down were really atmospheric for the times. A little too frustrating at the higher levels - the craft move and weave almost semi-randomly and it makes it hard to nail them. I like the variation where you can guide the shots.

Fantastic Voyage - From 20th Century Fox comes a proper vertical shooting game which is a little light on enemies but adds some tricky navigation to the mix. Not as good as River Raid, but still solid.

Laser Gates - This may be my favorite shooter on the 2600. Imagic's full-fledged side-scrolling masterpiece. This one is as proper a shmup as you can get - somewhat Scramble-like but unique and very fun. It's a shame more people don't know about this game - it should be required shmupping. Hunt this one down! Unfortunately the cart is not that easy to find - try ebay.

Megamania - Activision again (see a pattern?!) with a frantic throw-everything-at-the-player mentality. Love it.

Oystron - A homebrew but I put it on a chip and play it in my actual 2600 since it's more fun that way. Good complexity for a 2600 game - ship handles a bit floaty but it was designed that way. Enjoyable and this was one of the early homebrews that got the Atari 2600 homebrew scene kicking.

Phoenix - Atari's home version made for a better game than the Arcade counterpart - a bit more forgiving and a little more balanced.

Planet Patrol - Spectravision proper sidescroller but this time the scroll direction is right-to-left (probably the first to do this). Very unique feel scrolling in that direction!

River Raid - My 2nd favorite shooter on the 2600. Classic vertical scrolling shooter to the core. Must have.

Seaquest - Another activision goodie but this single-screen horizontal shooter is still one of the most fun. Twist here is that your sub needs to surface to bring rescued divers up and to replenish oxygen.

Solar Storm - This is one of the few shooters that uses the paddles - it can be played with the Joystick but it's nowhere near as responsive. One of my favs.

Space Invaders - I would argue that this is slightly superior to the Arcade counterpart. I'm not the only one that would say so. Tons of variations, great 2 player modes (including one player moves, the other shoots). They packed so much care into this port - it almost feels like a different game than the original but still an amazing game. This game put the 2600 as a must-have system - before SI, the system was doing well, but not great. I can't even think how many hours my brother and I put into this game in the early 80's.

Spider Fighter - More Activision and more goodness. Frantic to the core - and I'm still amazed that they got this much motion on the screen with that tiny processor. You can pick up the PS2 Activision Anthology pack for good versions of all these games cheaply.

Vanguard - Another solid conversion though it's not my favorite game I always come back to it for another play here and there.

Yars Revenge - See top paragraph above.

And here are some other recommended shooters (though I wouldn't put them in the same top-tier as those above):

Bermuda Triangle
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
Centipede
Cross Force
Defender
Galaxian
Masters of the Universe - He Man
Millipede
Moonsweeper
Space Cavern
Stargate
Super Cobra
Tac-Scan
Worm War I

[llabnip]

I remember something called Warhawk. It's probably the only 2600 game I ever played. I can't find any information on the game anywhere though.

Atariage doesn't list it and I'm not farmiliar with it (and I pride myself on having a good working knowledge of the 2600 library). I'm guessing this is either a knock-off (there were companies that took games, copied the ROM contents and put it out under a new label - Zellers was famous for this) or you've got the name wrong. There was a game called Sea Hawk for the 2600 and it was a shooter.

[ROBOTRON]

no one mentions cosmic ark? You all have failed me.

Where's llabnip?

Cosmic Ark rules...forgot that one.

Wheres the Tumoil love? The shooter is fricking sweet as heck.

[BrianC]

I just played some Cosmic Ark on my Telegames video system. I agree that it is awesome. It's not really a shmup, though.

[llabnip]

I agree that Spider Fighter rocks. I would like to find the actual cartridge of it, but the GBA version is nice.

The GBA version of Spider Fighter (Activision Anthology) is qutie good. Pretty close to the actual cart and quite fun. With that cart (probably less than $10 used) you get a ton of Activision goodness - and some worthwhile shooters (River Raid, Chopper Command, Megamania, Spider Fighter, etc). Fortunately, Activision put a much better effort into the Anthology games for the PS2 and GBA (including some homebrew titles! I think the shmup Oystron made it in there) as opposed to the terrible ports ("Activsion Classics") they did for the original Playstation or the PC.

I may (30% chance) have a spare Spider Fighter cart - if I do, you can have it free. Anyone still running their 2600 (or the Sears equivalent) is +1 in my book.

[BrianC]

I agree that Spider Fighter rocks. I would like to find the actual cartridge of it, but the GBA version is nice.

The GBA version of Spider Fighter (Activision Anthology) is qutie good. Pretty close to the actual cart and quite fun. With that cart (probably less than $10 used) you get a ton of Activision goodness - and some worthwhile shooters (River Raid, Chopper Command, Megamania, Spider Fighter, etc). Fortunately, Activision put a much better effort into the Anthology games for the PS2 and GBA (including some homebrew titles! I think the shmup Oystron made it in there) as opposed to the terrible ports ("Activsion Classics") they did for the original Playstation or the PC.

I may (30% chance) have a spare Spider Fighter cart - if I do, you can have it free. Anyone still running their 2600 (or the Sears equivalent) is +1 in my book.

I don't know what is up with those cheap 2-3 game budget arcade GBA carts. They make me sad. It's disappointing that Namco Museum 50th GBA only has 5 games, but at least more effort was put in to it than those poorly done DSI published ports. The ports in the GBA Namco Museum 50th are great.

[Shatterhand]

River Raid, Demon Attack, Laser Gates and Beamrider. You don't need anything else for the system

Chopper Command and Stargate are great stuff too.

Now, why all the comotion about Cosmic Ark? I find it to be so damn boring. I mean, its "push up up down left down right down left up"... then go catch some aliens in a landscape and repeat.

I remember I could play this game for hours without ever being hit by a meteor.. and that was back like when I was 5 years old or something... And it was DAMN boring

[LSU]

Space Invaders - I would argue that this is slightly superior to the Arcade counterpart. I'm not the only one that would say so.

Agreed! I am 100% with you on that one - The 2600 version is one of my all-time favourite games, I just love the feel of it and the look of it as well. I still play this regularly.

[ResOGlas]

Phoenix - the absolute best 2600 ported shooter
Atlantis II - Exact same game as Atlantis but with lower scoring and higher difficulty. Hail Atlantis!
Pleiades - Abandoned 2600 prototype that has be finally released by AtariAge.com
Space Jockey -Simple hori shooter but good difficulty
Planet Patrol - reverse direction Hori shooter, very hard
SpaceChase - Great background graphics (for Atari), starts slow but gets very hard
Mr. Postman - Weird adventure game that is 50% shooter levels. It's an extremely bad game, but I kinda' like it!

[ahnslaught]

I have a warm place in my heart for Empire Strikes Back - the first game my parents actually bought for me for the 2600. It's actually a pretty fun game at first, though it does get horrendously repetitive after a long while.

[FRO]

Spider Fighter is the best.

I'll 2nd that. A childhood fav of mine. Demon Attack is sweet too, but Spider Fighter is just awesome. I'm glad I finally picked up a copy for my 2600. And I agree that Atlantis doesn't count - it's not a shmup, even by loose definition. But it is a fun game.

[Gorecki]

My shout goes out to the awesome Berzerk. Nothing beats the panic of watching your guys legs spinning madly as you are pursued offscreen by a fast, bouncing smiley face.

[BrianC]

There's a port of Espial, a very obscure arcade game, on the 2600. I'm not sure how good it is, but it most definatly qualifies as a shmup.

My favorite shmups for the 2600:

Vanguard
Demon Attack
Spider Fighter
Space Invaders
Astroblast
Megamania
Millipede
Solar Storm

Now, why all the comotion about Cosmic Ark?

I remember I could play this game for hours without ever being hit by a meteor.. and that was back like when I was 5 years old or something...

Which variation did you play on? It takes some insane reflexes to stop the meteors on the harder levels and the creature lifting parts getting pretty darn hard later on too. Have you seen the pac-man shaped aliens? http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.ph ... 0ark&st=25

[antron]

[Raidenfighter Kirkov]

I vote for Demon Attack and Phoenix.

Greetings
RFK

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Sure, I've played the original Centuri released USA version of Vanguard at the arcades back in the early 1980's. The 5200 version of Vanguard is a surprising faithful port of it. It was SNK who gave the USA arcade distributor, Centuri, exclusive rights for distribution in the USA.

The 2600 version of Vanguard was a cool game for it's time when it first appeared back in 1982.

I always dug Imagic's Moonsweeper game when it first came out...reminded me of Sega's arcade shooter of "Buck Rogers in the Planet Zoom". I ended up buying it brand new for a mere $10.00 USD back in 1983.

----------------------------

There is a trick to rack up extra lives really quick for the 2600 version of "Moonsweeper" from Imagic:

Score the first 20,000 points (on the outer space scene and use your torpedoes to destroy the auroras & fireballs coming from the sun to earn up to 780 pts. maximum per shot) to earn your first 1up, use up a shield at the cost of subtracting 10 points away from the 20,000 total (which'll net you a score of 19,990 pts.). Shoot again at the fireball(s) and your score will rollover past the 20,000 point mark netting you, your free second 1up. Repeat this trick until you have up to nine lives maximum in reserve.

It helps to rescue all the stranded miners on a "Red" moon and to escape the gravational pull of that particular moon successfully -- upon returning to the "Outer Space" scene, just keep firing away at the "sun" and watch your score get higher & higher (the scoring will range anywhere from 120 points to 780 points depending on what colored moon you successfully rescue the miners and properly escaping it as well). ^_~

----------------------------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Keranu]

Space Jockey is my favorite shmup on the good old Atari 2600, awesome game and I got a HUGE score in it once. I also love Demon Attack, but I mainly play that for Intellivision.