Dave and Myron's Atari carts

As reviewed by Dave.

Space Invaders

One of the "classics". It's actually pretty tough. Don't let the hype about 112 different variations fool you, though. Two players alternating shots gets real old real quick and the whole one player moves and the other fires thing is even worse. All in all, it's a decent game. Variation #16 is damn near impossible--moving shields, fast and zig-zagging bullets and invisible invaders.

Phoenix

This fast became a favorite game when we got the Atari 2600 Video Computer System Console Unit in January. You're a spaceship and you have to blow up a bunch of birds that are trying to shoot you. If you get by them, then there's this big mothership and then if you defeat that, it's back to the birds. What I don't get about this game is that you get a bonus life at 5000 points, but never again (or least you don't up to 117,000).

Gorf

Somewhat intriguing because it has four different levels. First, it's like space invaders, then it's this weird laser thing with spaceships flying at you, then these guys who spin around in circles and fire at you, then the mothership. May be a disappointment for those accustomed to the Vic-20 version.

Combat

The original. Many variations of this game, including really weird ones where one guy is a plane and the other is a helicopter. The tanks are the best part of this game, but if that's what you're into, why not just play Armor Ambush?

Armor Ambush

Like Combat, a two-player game where each guy blows the other guy up with tanks . Only in this game, you get two tanks apiece and the ricochet shots are more in accordance with the laws of physics, so it's clearly the better of the two. It's a big dramatic thing and emotions can run pretty high. I am often reminded of how Charles Barkley says that although he loves to win, the extent to which he loves winning is much less than the extent to which he hates losing.

E.T.

This game is LAME. You go around, and then you fall into a pit and some guy comes by and takes you somewhere and then you go and fall into pits again and then you run out of energy, but your supply is replenished. After this happens like forty times, it finally lets you die.

Pac Man

Not much to say here. Maybe THE classic video game of all time: collect the dots, run away from the ghosts.

Missile Command

Another "classic", I've never really gotten into it. In fact, that's an understatement. I really hate this game.

Asteroids

Another classic game that I hate.

Mouse Trap

Not a bad idea for a game. Very similiar to Pacman. This game has doors, that's the major difference between the two. Plus you can decide when to use the power pellets (bones). The dumb, slow cats are easy beyond belief to beat. A guy from down the hall played this game for like an hour without dying and then he finally gave up. But the fast, smart cats are too tough. Perhaps the solution is to play with fast/dumb or slow/smart cat opponents, I haven't really tried it out yet.

Omega Race

Apparently you need an extra button on your joystick to play this. We don't have it.

Dark Cavern

A pretty challenging game. You go around in this "cave" and shoot robots. They fire back at you of course, even after they're dead, which is what makes the game so tough.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

HELP!! No one can figure out this game! We don't have a manual and we can't get past that black thing that looks like a cat wearing a dress or something. We've brought in people from all over campus to try to help us solve this and although we've made some progress (for instance, we recently discovered that the left joystick controls inventory and the right one moves your guy around), we are absolutely stuck right now.

Defender

Supposedly one of the almighty classics. I don't really like any more or less than your average shoot-everything type of game.

Q-Bert

I just don't get it. Everybody looks through our games and says, "Oh, Q-Bert! I loved this game!". First of all, I really suck at it, so maybe I'm biased, but I really don't think it's a good game. You just move your guy around on this pyramid and stuff changes colors. Big deal.

Tron Deadly Discs

(guest review by Chris W. Turner)
One of my favorite games. Not only does it test your patience, but also your mastery of the Atari 2600 Video Computer System Console Unit.

Adventures of Tron

I have very little feel for this game at this point. That being said, I really don't like it. It seems pretty tough, there's all these things flying around on mulitple levels, and you have to jump up and get them. Only half the time even when you time the jump perfectly you don't get them. Then you have to jump over some stuff.

Sky Jinks

Decent game, not too complicated. Race your plane from one end of the course to the other, slalom-type thing where you go around the poles.

M.A.S.H.

Cosmic Ark

(guest review by Ben) Most Atari games call for quick decisions, but Cosmic Ark calls for quick reflexes; it is very fast-paced.

Space Attack

Very deceptive. You'd think from the name "Space Attack" that it's the absolute most generic, easy-to-learn, easy-to-play Atari game ever. Not the case. I've read through the manual like six times and I still can't figure out how to play the damn game.

Mario Brothers

The original Mario Brothers game (although Mario first made his appearance in Donkey Kong). Anyways, this wasn't what I remembered; I remembered that Super Mario Bros game for Nintendo. We went through a little phase when we first got the Atari, where we'd play this game two player day and night, seven days a week.

Swordquest: Earthworld

Vanguard

Astroblast

Keystone Kapers

The greatest Atari 2600 game ever made (that I've played, at least). You're a cop chasing a crook up and down four levels of a deparment store. If you catch him before time expires, you move on to the next level. The beauty of this game is that each level is slightly (and yet distinctly) more difficult than the previous one. For example, at the beginning, there's this red ball that will slow you down. On level 2, you've got to contend with juke boxes and then shopping carts on level 3. Then the dreaded bees/planes/birds that can kill you. Then the shopping carts speed up and the balls start coming two at a time, etc. Thus, the game becomes more and more difficult, but not at the expense of simplicity.

Football

Part of the appeal of the 2600 is that it is so primitive and simple, but this is ridiculous. You know a football game is going to be a loser when you can see the entire field on the screen. The graphics are the worst ever, of any game I've ever seen in my life. So bad, it's unplayable.

RealSports Football

Super Challenge Football

In a class by itself as far as 2600 football games go.

Super Baseball

There is a certain balance of power between offense and defense that any good baseball game (or any sports game, actually) must have. But the guys who made this game didn't take care to preserve that balance. As a result, anyone moderately good at the game can prevent the other guy from scoring any runs. So you'd have a bunch of 0-0 games go long into extra innings. Playing the computer isn't an option either, because he can't score against you either, so it's zero challenge.

RealSports Baseball

The graphics are horrible, but it's much more playable than Super Baseball because it's actually possible to score in this game.

Basketball

One-on-one basketball; extremely primitive, but a good game nevertheless. The computer is almost impossible to beat. If he's got a lead of four or more he refuses to play defense, and so you get the easy lay-up. ButI if he's got a lead of two, he plays tough D and if it's tied or you have the lead (which almost never happens), it's virtually impossible to get off a shot against him. So the games are always close, but I have yet to see the computer be defeated, because he simply refuses to let you take the lead. Tremendous clutch player.

Summer Games

The only game we have that can be played by more two at a time (up to 8 can compete). Some the events are kind of stupid, but the sprint is awesome, you move the joystick in any direction as fast as you can and the guy cruises down the track. Gymnastics is really weird, there's like a six-paragraph explanation about how to do it in the manual. No one's bothered to read it so far, so everyone around here gets really low scores.

Dodge 'Em

The idea here is to race around in your car without getting hit by the computer's car. The concept isn't bad, but the game is so damn tough; you can't stay alive for more than ten seconds at a time, which makes it hard to really get into.

Breakout

There is no game in the world that is both simpler and more enjoyable than Breakout. Bounce the ball off your paddle and chip away at the blocks. Hours of fun to be had with this cart, but I really think the progammers went overboard with a couple of the variations. I appreciate having the option of 1-4 players for each game, but invisible bricks and "steerable" balls are ridiculous. No one's going to play those variations, so why put them on there?

Super Breakout

Same thing as Breakout, beyond trivial differences. Doesn't have the 3 and 4 player options, but it does have some intriguing variations, such as the double paddle variation.

Video Olympics

A tremendous cartridge; fifty different games/variations, all based on the hit-the-ball-with-the-paddle principle. Actually, all 8 basketball games are really stupid, so for all practical purposes there are only 42 different games, but that doesn't change what I was trying to say, it's still an awesome cart.

Yars' Revenge

Frogger

My main complaint about this game is that they have this damn music that plays for about five minutes before and after every game. So after you lose, you have to wait around forever before playing the next game. Pretty good game though, surprisingly challenging.

Lock 'N' Chase

Another collect the dots without getting killed game, like Pac Man and Mousetrap. The whole thing is pretty cool looking. It's a very tough game, I have yet to get past the second board.

Centipede (2600 and 7800 versions)

The game where that centipede thing works its way down from the top of the screen while you shoot at it (and then there's other distractions to worry about). I haven't really gotten into it yet, although I could see myself doing so.

Pitfall

Overrated, but still a great game. A lot of people say it's the best Atari game of all tie, which simply isn't true. It can get monotonous, because it's just the same 4-5 things over and over: alligators, swinging from the rope, jumping barrels, etc. But don't get me wrong--I do love playing this game; I'm just explaining why I don't view it as the ultimate 2600 game ever.

Popeye

Donkey Kong

We started playing this game, and you know Donkey Kong: make it past the first level, save the princess, go on to the second level. So then the second level is totally different, and we're thinking, "hey, this game is looking pretty cool". But when you get past that, it's just back to the first level again: they've only got two different levels!! Decent game, but it gets pretty dry before too long.

Circus Atari

Pele's Soccer

Warlords

Ice Hockey

Freeway

Berzerk

Surround

Glib

A horrible word game. The first time I played it, I just made a bunch of nonsense words and got points for them like you wouldn't believe. Now I can't remember what I did, I have trouble moving the letters around, and can't get any points, not even for legitimate words.

Towering Inferno

Arguably the worst Atari game of all time, definately one of the two or three worst that I've ever played.

Demon Attack

A Phoenix ripoff, only there's no mothership. Or if this came first, then Phoenix is a combination ripoff of Demon Attack and Gorf.

Kangaroo

Atlantis

Air-Sea Battle

Joust

Pole Position II (7800)

Dig Dug (7800)

Galaga (7800)

Yet another blow up the guys from outer space game. Space Invaders. Phoenix. Demon Attack. Defender. Gorf. The list goes on and on. It gets tiresome after a while. Galaga is as good as the next game, but there's nothing particularly intriguing about it.

Food Fight (7800)

Choplifter (7800)

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