my favorite 2600 games (that's Atari for you young folk)
The Atari 2600 is practically a dinosaur, but when it was released we that were alive during that time were all overjoyed. Prior to that we only had a handful of games to play at the arcades and well, if you were my age at least, the quarters required to play them didn't ever go as far as you needed them to. So when the first major home console, the Atari 2600 was released, those of us who loved games were absolutely overjoyed.
To be honest with you I was too young to even know it existed, but once we had one thanks to my Papa, I was always on the lookout for new games. I would trade with friends and well, that was pretty much it. There was no internet back then so you relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth and whatever the local store had on display. Here are the games that I personally remember as being my favorites from that time. This may end up being a two-part thing. These are not in any particular order
Maze Craze
The levels were randomly created and it was 2-player. You had to find your way out of the maze before you pal did. I would play this now and after i finish writing this article I may do exactly that.
you could never become the best at this because you never knew what "level" was going to be introduced. I might be wrong about this but well, it was just lots of fun
River Raid
It was necessary to pick up fuel pods to keep going while dodging incoming fire and well, destroying stuff along the way. Was this the birthplace of shooters?
Circus
Look at this. It's F%%king stupid right? Well, in 1982 trying to get rid of all the "balloons" while on a teeter-totter launching two people up into the sky was the shizzle and I loved it.
Pitfall
_(Activision,_David_Crane)_(AX-018,_AX-018-04)-3.png)
This one you probably know regardless of your age. You could walk to the left or the right, taking shortcuts to jump the pixelated scorpions below or stay up top and face jumping on the backs of crocodiles. I have been told there is a way to "beat" this game but i never found it. It didn't stop me from playing it endlessly though.
Adventure
This one encapsulated a lot of my time as a kid. It deserves at least 2 pics.
Was this the birthplace of RPG's? It was the first I ever encountered for sure. That arrow you found? That was a sword, and the magnet was necessary to draw certain things to you. When you were being chased by a dragon made of 16 square pixels was fracking scary! It had several difficulty levels and the world's first "easter egg" contained inside. This is pretty impressive for a game that contained a total of 4k of data (one of your low-resolution accidental pocket photos has thousands of times the amount of data.)
Well that is a start. I have to have a think about what i am going to do with the 2600 yet. Just remember, you don't need to think it is special now (because it isn't) to appreciate the fact that people were absolutely elated to have access to this stuff in their homes in the early 80's. I know that my family was
Pitfall❤❤❤
This is perhaps the greatest game on the Atari 2600. It had a good gameplay, pretty challenging and very good graphics for Atari 2600 standards. This game pushed the CPU and GPU limits of the Atari 2600 and what you get is a true masterpiece. This is not only perhaps the greatest Atari 2600 game, it's also one of the greatest third party video games of all time. Made by Activision, this game made Atari jealous that they didn't own the rights to this game. Pitfall is a great classic and shouldn't be missed by any retro gamer.
From back in the day when games were unforgiving torture chambers of fun...
Hello @gooddream I have played many games since childhood and I have also seen my elder brother playing games like river raid. We all are fans of video gaming. I grew up in a different time so I never got my hands on his games because my then they were either old or broken. But it will be really interesting if I can get to play on of those.
I think these pictures will refresh memories of many people of you generation, some might cry too haha.
Well I can feel the emotions one can have with the games they played growing up. Thanks a lot for sharing this post I really appreciate your efforts and time.
we are all products of our environments! This was (and is) an exciting time to be alive. Just remember that home gaming wasn't a thing until the 80's. :O
Truly said home gaming started in 80s and it changed the way of gaming and introduced a new concept. I remember me and my friends playing video games at my place contra Mario etc.
I still play my 2600. I rotate through the games quickly though. I probably have like 50+ games. My favorites are Pitfall ( which I have beaten), Froger, Dig-Dug, Missle Attack, and Qbert.
Hi gooddream. I remember when it came out. Tennis was the one we played often but it was very limited compared to today's games. Everything was squared in appearance.
oooh noooo, Good old days! i was realy adetict of it
I have never heard about it @gooddream until now and its seems a really nice game i have tried many cansole games in my childhood but never came across something like this i wish i had as its really nice and hope that it was even that great to play it thanks for sharing your thoughts about a game like this at first i taught by looking at the picture as it was a radio with a joistick lol but after going through your post what it actually is...
well, it was a long time ago. I would be willing to bet that one smartphone of today had more processing power than the millions of 2600's that were made.
Am going to stay away from this game. No idea about it. Guess am too young
it's not a game pal. It is a stroll down memory lane. Perhaps in 2030 you will be doing the same... haha :)
Wow I am a fan of gaming yes so what I am a girl. I play battleground pubg daily and I have to say this old games is so weird but looks like fun. I have never seen such a game but I would love to play an antique game one day. Thanks a lot for sharing this my friend.
very nice
The Atari 2600 is practically a dinosaur, but when it was released we that were alive during that time were all overjoyed. Prior to that we only had a handful of games to play at the arcades and well, if you were my age at least, the quarters required to play them didn't ever go as far as you needed them to. So when the first major home console, the Atari 2600 was released, those of us who loved games were absolutely overjoyed.
7ee9655f273d55439bf321761b72831d-650-80.jpg
To be honest with you I was too young to even know it existed, but once we had one thanks to my Papa, I was always on the lookout for new games. I would trade with friends and well, that was pretty much it. There was no internet back then so you relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth and whatever the local store had on display. Here are the games that I personally remember as being my favorites from that time. This may end up being a two-part thing. These are not in any particular order