4 ms·

What Atari games are actually worth playing?

raspyberr 2y ago
I think that's not far off the same as asking what 1890s films are worth watching. You could watch a couple for a bit of novelty and an idea of what technology was like but none of them are "good".
- rbanffy 2y ago
  It really depends on your expectations. None of these games will be comparable to today's AAA games, but a lot of them are very playable and similar to today's casual in-browser games, with some animation and resolution limits.
- UltraSane 2y ago
  I would have to agree. About the only Atari games that are actually fun are Missile Command and Space Invaders, and then not for very long.
nlarion 2y ago
Yars' revenge is pretty good. I'm guessing these don't boot homebrew, but synthcart allows you to play music.
- rbanffy 2y ago
  I think they can run from cartridges, so if you have one loaded with homebrew games, they should work. Most Atari 2600 games had no copy protection.
  - bitwize 2y ago
    Flashcarts don't work unless you devote the entire flash to a single ROM (some of them can do this). This is because the console snarfs the entire contents of the ROM into RAM first, rather than mapping the ROM directly into the CPU's memory space like the original consoles did. So the bank-switching tricks that flashcarts use to provide multiple ROM options on original hardware don't work on these. This is also why the 2600+'s pack-in multicart has a janky, DIP-switch solution to select a game. Many large carts (8K and larger) also don't work, at least not without the firmware knowing how to bankswitch to read the whole ROM, so a fw update may be required.
    - rbanffy 2y ago
      > This is because the console snarfs the entire contents of the ROM into RAM first The console itself should never know the cart is not a simple ROM with some bank-switching logic. Since Flash (or an SD card) isn't ROM, the ROM image will always be loaded into the cartridge RAM by the microcontroller software. There were many different strategies back then, so the ROM would need to have a file attached telling the on-cartridge microcontroller how bank switching worked on that title. All you'd need is some UI to make it easier to switch between titles.
      - bitwize 2y ago
        Most flashcarts have a UI that is shown on first boot; when a game is selected, the ROM for that game is loaded into the flashcart RAM, the appropriate bank switching or mapping logic emulated, the ROM banks remapped into the console address space replacing the UI code, and the console reset or told to jump to boot the game. This doesn't work on the Atari 2600+ and 7800+ because those systems attempt to load the entire game ROM into their own RAM on boot and run the game from there. You might get the UI, but unlike in the actual hardware there is no rereading of the ROM directly. It's all done from what the system captured into RAM on first boot. So if a new game were to be loaded into that address space, the modern console wouldn't see it.
        rbanffy 2y ago
        The boot menu uses some form of bank switching to get to the actual game ROMs and their specific switching strategy, if any. The 2600+ and 7800+ would need to know the method (a write to a specific address, perhaps) to get to the specific part of the ROM on a bank-switched game anyway. I never tried that, so I might be very wrong in my assumptions. In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI, changing the ROM that’s mapped to the cartridge space with the physical UI and resetting the console without resetting the card controller should do the trick.
        bitwize 2y ago
        The bank switching mechanisms in all commercially released games can be enumerated and emulated by the 2600+, but I think they just haven't gotten around to updating the firmware. Many bank-switched commercial games still don't work afaik. Flashcarts are more of a crapshoot. They use unknown bank switching mechanisms and Atari does not want to support their use. > In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI... Not so imaginary! This is what the pack-in cart that comes with the 2600+ does, there are DIP switches for game selection on the cart itself. I don't know of any flashcarts that do even this, let alone something more sophisticated with buttons and an LCD readout like a Gotek drive emulator or something. Would be nice though...
crims0n 2y ago
I have a soft spot for 400/800/XL/XE versions of PAC-MAN and Donkey Kong. They are both pretty close to the arcade originals.
- rbanffy 2y ago
  We used the term "arcade quality" back then. Now even my Apple TV is significantly better than anything I can find at an arcade.
rbanffy 2y ago
My all-time favorites would be Missile Command, Megamania (2600), Galaga (7800), Centipede (7800), Ms Pac Man (7800). I don't have a 7800 on hand, and haven't started up my XEGS in some time, so I might remember more titles.
- epcoa 2y ago
  Playing home arcade ports doesn’t have much appeal to me except for nostalgia when you can just as easily emulate the “real thing”. Activision and Imagic titles at least have some originality. River Raid(s), Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Alien Brigade, etc.
  - rbanffy 2y ago
    I'm not a gamer myself - I enjoy using these machines as computers, programming them and learning the different techniques people used back then. I was employed to write educational software for Apple IIs in the mid 80's, and it's interesting how the same tricks have different implementations across various platforms.
ruleryak 2y ago
2600 games worth playing: River Raid II, Pitfall, Jungle Hunt, Ghostbusters, Lock n Chase, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Mountain King
tidwall 2y ago
Vanguard, Adventure, Track and Fields (with controller), Pitfall, Berzerk, Kung Fu Master
amanzi 2y ago
It's not the most complex game, but my favourite of all time is Frostbite.
- wmoxam 2y ago
  Same!
toast0 2y ago
I'd say my favorite 2600 game is Super Breakout in progressive mode. Warlords is also pretty fun with four people and two sets of paddles. There's a lot of games out there with really tight gameplay loops. Much fewer with deep gameplay, though. So it kind of depends on what you're looking for.
RiverCrochet 2y ago
Here are the ones that stood the test of time for me: Joystick games - Adventure - Frogger - Frogs and Flies - Surround (fun with 2 player) - Turmoil - Joust - Dragonfire - Pitfall and Pitfall II - Stampede (really good Activision game) - Towering Inferno - Space War (think Asteroids but 2 player combat) - Combat (the brown levels with ricochet bullets are super fun) Paddle games - Astroblast (can use joystick but 10x better with paddles) - Video Olympics (this is a 70s pong console in Atari cart form and has 4 player games) - Warlords (fun with multiplayer) Supercharger games - Dragonstomper (if you like RPGs)

I think that's not far off the same as asking what 1890s films are worth watching. You could watch a couple for a bit of novelty and an idea of what technology was like but none of them are "good".

rbanffy 2y ago
It really depends on your expectations. None of these games will be comparable to today's AAA games, but a lot of them are very playable and similar to today's casual in-browser games, with some animation and resolution limits.
UltraSane 2y ago
I would have to agree. About the only Atari games that are actually fun are Missile Command and Space Invaders, and then not for very long.

nlarion 2y ago

Yars' revenge is pretty good. I'm guessing these don't boot homebrew, but synthcart allows you to play music.

rbanffy 2y ago
I think they can run from cartridges, so if you have one loaded with homebrew games, they should work. Most Atari 2600 games had no copy protection.
- bitwize 2y ago
  Flashcarts don't work unless you devote the entire flash to a single ROM (some of them can do this). This is because the console snarfs the entire contents of the ROM into RAM first, rather than mapping the ROM directly into the CPU's memory space like the original consoles did. So the bank-switching tricks that flashcarts use to provide multiple ROM options on original hardware don't work on these. This is also why the 2600+'s pack-in multicart has a janky, DIP-switch solution to select a game. Many large carts (8K and larger) also don't work, at least not without the firmware knowing how to bankswitch to read the whole ROM, so a fw update may be required.
  - rbanffy 2y ago
    > This is because the console snarfs the entire contents of the ROM into RAM first The console itself should never know the cart is not a simple ROM with some bank-switching logic. Since Flash (or an SD card) isn't ROM, the ROM image will always be loaded into the cartridge RAM by the microcontroller software. There were many different strategies back then, so the ROM would need to have a file attached telling the on-cartridge microcontroller how bank switching worked on that title. All you'd need is some UI to make it easier to switch between titles.
    - bitwize 2y ago
      Most flashcarts have a UI that is shown on first boot; when a game is selected, the ROM for that game is loaded into the flashcart RAM, the appropriate bank switching or mapping logic emulated, the ROM banks remapped into the console address space replacing the UI code, and the console reset or told to jump to boot the game. This doesn't work on the Atari 2600+ and 7800+ because those systems attempt to load the entire game ROM into their own RAM on boot and run the game from there. You might get the UI, but unlike in the actual hardware there is no rereading of the ROM directly. It's all done from what the system captured into RAM on first boot. So if a new game were to be loaded into that address space, the modern console wouldn't see it.
      - rbanffy 2y ago
        The boot menu uses some form of bank switching to get to the actual game ROMs and their specific switching strategy, if any. The 2600+ and 7800+ would need to know the method (a write to a specific address, perhaps) to get to the specific part of the ROM on a bank-switched game anyway. I never tried that, so I might be very wrong in my assumptions. In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI, changing the ROM that’s mapped to the cartridge space with the physical UI and resetting the console without resetting the card controller should do the trick.
        bitwize 2y ago
        The bank switching mechanisms in all commercially released games can be enumerated and emulated by the 2600+, but I think they just haven't gotten around to updating the firmware. Many bank-switched commercial games still don't work afaik. Flashcarts are more of a crapshoot. They use unknown bank switching mechanisms and Atari does not want to support their use. > In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI... Not so imaginary! This is what the pack-in cart that comes with the 2600+ does, there are DIP switches for game selection on the cart itself. I don't know of any flashcarts that do even this, let alone something more sophisticated with buttons and an LCD readout like a Gotek drive emulator or something. Would be nice though...

crims0n 2y ago

I have a soft spot for 400/800/XL/XE versions of PAC-MAN and Donkey Kong. They are both pretty close to the arcade originals.

rbanffy 2y ago
We used the term "arcade quality" back then. Now even my Apple TV is significantly better than anything I can find at an arcade.

rbanffy 2y ago

My all-time favorites would be Missile Command, Megamania (2600), Galaga (7800), Centipede (7800), Ms Pac Man (7800). I don't have a 7800 on hand, and haven't started up my XEGS in some time, so I might remember more titles.

epcoa 2y ago
Playing home arcade ports doesn’t have much appeal to me except for nostalgia when you can just as easily emulate the “real thing”. Activision and Imagic titles at least have some originality. River Raid(s), Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Alien Brigade, etc.
- rbanffy 2y ago
  I'm not a gamer myself - I enjoy using these machines as computers, programming them and learning the different techniques people used back then. I was employed to write educational software for Apple IIs in the mid 80's, and it's interesting how the same tricks have different implementations across various platforms.

ruleryak 2y ago

2600 games worth playing: River Raid II, Pitfall, Jungle Hunt, Ghostbusters, Lock n Chase, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Mountain King

tidwall 2y ago

Vanguard, Adventure, Track and Fields (with controller), Pitfall, Berzerk, Kung Fu Master

amanzi 2y ago

It's not the most complex game, but my favourite of all time is Frostbite.

wmoxam 2y ago
Same!

toast0 2y ago

I'd say my favorite 2600 game is Super Breakout in progressive mode. Warlords is also pretty fun with four people and two sets of paddles. There's a lot of games out there with really tight gameplay loops. Much fewer with deep gameplay, though. So it kind of depends on what you're looking for.

RiverCrochet 2y ago

Here are the ones that stood the test of time for me: Joystick games - Adventure - Frogger - Frogs and Flies - Surround (fun with 2 player) - Turmoil - Joust - Dragonfire - Pitfall and Pitfall II - Stampede (really good Activision game) - Towering Inferno - Space War (think Asteroids but 2 player combat) - Combat (the brown levels with ricochet bullets are super fun) Paddle games - Astroblast (can use joystick but 10x better with paddles) - Video Olympics (this is a 70s pong console in Atari cart form and has 4 player games) - Warlords (fun with multiplayer) Supercharger games - Dragonstomper (if you like RPGs)