10 Best Atari 2600 Games That Are Still Worth Playing Today

10 Best Atari 2600 Games That Are Still Worth Playing Today

The Atari 2600 may be seriously dated by today’s standards, but, surprisingly enough, some of its best games are as enjoyable as they were in the 80s.

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Released all the way back in 1977, the Atari 2600, also commonly referred to as the Atari VCS, ignited a video gaming revolution. Though not technically the first video game console, the 2600 is credited with popularizing in-home gaming and more-or-less laid the foundation for the ever-growing industry.

While it packed less computing power than what’s found in the average microwave these days, the rudimentary early Atari library still hosts a couple of must-play games. Of course, most of the best 2600 games were simple, mediocre conversions of popular arcade titles, but they maintain an undeniable appeal that has yet to diminish.

10 Pitfall!

One of the best-selling titles on the seminal console, Activision’s Pitfall! put the publisher on the map and showcased just how entertaining these downsized arcade ports could be.

A jungle adventure for the ages, the goal of Pitfall! is to navigate across a total of 256 screens and collect 32 treasures within a time limit of twenty minutes. It was a daunting high-score sprint that many children of the early 80s may well remember, and, despite its stiff controls and blocky visuals, it remains every bit as entertaining as it was in 1982.

9 Combat

A pack-in title that shipped with almost every Atari console released before 1982, most gamers who grew up with the console likely have fond memories of battling friends and siblings in the iconic multiplayer title Combat.

Two players take control of what could charitably be described as a pair of tanks and navigate a one-screen course, aiming to bombard each other into oblivion. While it’s arguably too simple to hold anyone’s attention these days, there’s a definite appeal to its approachability, and dusting this off and playing it with a couple of friends can be a definite blast, even forty-some years later.

8 Kung-Fu Master

Originally released in 1984, the Atari 2600’s Kung-Fu Master was a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan movie Meal On Wheels, which debuted the same year. An incredibly innovative title for its time that sported a not-insignificant resemblance to 1985’s NES title Kung Fu, Kung-Fu Master featured five unique levels, each of which contained a boss.

Though it was still a high-score-centric arcade port, Kung-Fu Master’s level-based structure was ahead of its time, and the combat was about as nuanced and intricate as a single-button controller could allow. It’s definitely worth checking out today, if only to appreciate how influential it would have been for early game developers.

7 Pole Position

Compared to its arcade counterpart, 1982’s Atari 2600 rendition of the hit game Pole Position was pretty lacking. That said, attempting to portray a real-world environment with any sense of depth on the console was ambitious, and the port definitely deserves praise for maintaining the look and feel of the original title given the extremely limited hardware on which it ran.

Though incredibly repetitive, Pole Position is as engaging on Atari’s machine as it is anywhere else. With players racing to beat a time limit while shifting gears and fighting to stay on the course, Pole Position feels more authentic than almost any other rudimentary Atari port.

6 Warlords

An iteration of the relatively obscure arcade game Quadra Pong, Warlords is a very rare example of an Atari 2600 game that could support four simultaneous players. Something of a party game before party games were even a thing, Warlords tasked players with defending their quadrant of the screen by deflecting a bouncing ball back at players and hopefully being the first to break through their defenses.

A wild combination of Pong and Breakout, Warlords must have been endlessly entertaining in the early 80s, and, while it’s definitely a little stiff and overly-simple, there’s nothing better than blasting through a few rounds of this title with friends.

5 H.E.R.O.

Released in 1984, H.E.R.O. isn’t an oft-discussed entry in the Atari 2600 library, and that may be due to the fact that it was released in the midst of the infamous video game industry crash of the mid-80s. That said, it’s a criminally underrated title that Atari collectors definitely need to check out.

H.E.R.O. tasks players with descending into a mine to rescue trapped miners. This is done through the use of tools like dynamite, a laser gun, and a jetpack. With 20 unique levels and gameplay that wouldn’t feel out of place on an NES, H.E.R.O. was ridiculously innovative for its time, and it’s still enjoyable all these years later.

4 Space Invaders

Though undoubtedly inferior when compared to the arcade version, the Atari 2600 port of Space Invaders remains a serviceable way to experience this all-time video game classic. It may be a bit blockier and slightly less responsive than the original, but it’s a full-featured, faithful rendition of one of the most recognizable games ever to release.

Space Invaders plays to the advantages of the limited console, offering a quick, enthralling experience that players can enjoy for a few minutes at a time. It’s far from the narrative or multiplayer-driven experiences we’ve come to expect today, but the elementary elegance of the title makes it eternally appealing.

3 Joust

While 1982’s Joust is yet another simplified arcade port, the title isn’t nearly as well-remembered today as offerings like Pac-Man or Pole Position. Nevertheless, Joust is a totally entertaining piece of retro software, and it offers a fairly high degree of challenge, inviting players to hone their skills at what would have been, in terms of gameplay, a relatively complex game at the time.

Retro gamers may associate this title with the NES classic Balloon Fight, and, while the titles are remarkably similar, it’s worth noting that this predates the Nintendo title by four years.

2 Stampede

Another acclaimed Activision classic, 1981’s Stampede served as a simple-but-effective test of skill that helped to emulate the fast-paced action of the arcades in the home. Featuring multiple difficulties settings—something that wasn’t all that common at the time—Stampede tasked players with lassoing runaway animals while racking up high-scores.

Should three creatures evade the players’ grasp, the game ends, and, while most games likely won’t last much longer than thirty seconds, it was a thrilling video game venture that remains every bit as entertaining in the modern era.

1 Berzerk

One of the very few Atari 2600 arcade ports that were arguably better on the home console than they were in the arcade, 1982’s Berzerk was a landmark title that paved the way for action gaming. A rudimentary high-score-based top-down shooter, Berzerk tasked players with gunning down hordes of robots while evading return fire and escaping from the clutches of the sinister Evil Otto.

Unlike many early Atari games, Berzerk’s graphics do a great job of representing the game’s various elements, and the game remains easy to pick up and play, something that can’t always be said about some of the more convoluted titles in the system’s library.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-atari-2600-video-games-worth-playing-today/

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