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- Senior Editor, Features
- Space Invaders. One of the first shooting games ever, Space Invaders' lines of lurking aliens appeared in arcades before it became the first arcade game officially licensed for a console.
- Kaboom! Activision's Kaboom! (1981) became another million seller. The game starred a mad bomber who dropped bombs, which the player caught with three buckets at the bottom of the screen.
- Combat. Combat (1976) was one of the first Atari games. It contained 27 games in one, each representing different forms of combat, but all using tanks, jets, or biplanes as vehicles with weapons capability.
- Demon Attack. Imagic—a company that started with an "I" before starting with an "I" was cool—released Demon Attack (1982) for several consoles and computers, including Commodores, TRS-80, and of course, Atari 2600.
- Pitfall! The original king of rage quitting, Pitfall! is the rare 2600 title that remains on the lips and minds of gamers around the world even more than 30 years after its release.
- Battlezone. People scoff at the 2600’s admittedly limited capabilities, but in the right hands, the system could produce remarkable things. Battlezone stands as the systems finest graphical achievement, one of the earliest examples of a first-person shooter, complete with 3d graphics.
- Berzerk. Berzerk’s multi-directional shooting action has helped cement its legacy as one of the Atari’s finest action titles. Maze games were common in the system, but Berzerk added a shooting component that took its simple mazes to another level.
- Secret Quest. Atari’s answer to Legend of Zelda wasn’t a fantasy game, but instead a science fiction title. You are an unnamed hero tasked with blowing up eight space stations using a blend of simple sword-based combat and brain-bending puzzle solving.
- Pitfall!
- Donkey Kong
- Pac-Man & MS Pac Man
- Mario Bros.
- Space Invaders
- Jungle Hunt
- River Raid
- Frogger
- Q*Bert
- Dig Dug
Pitfall! deservedly takes the top spot! Those Microsoft Paint style graphics were the real deal back in the day, and even though games have quite clearly developed since the ’80s, this arcade classic is still up there amongst the greatest titles ever made. Some of you might have played the smartphone version of this game in recent years, but you ne...
Another game that hardly needs an introduction is Donkey Kong, the ladder climbing game in which ‘Jump Man’, a.k.a Mario has to save his beloved girl from the clutches of our banana-loving simian. If you look up the definition of ‘addictive’ in the dictionary, the picture below will be staring back at you. This game was the best, and it still provi...
I couldn’t decide where to put Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man, so I stuck them both together. Think of it as a ‘2-4-1’ offer. Both games are timeless, but Ms Pac-Man has the edge when it comes to having the biggest appeal for collectors. Both games follow the same pattern of moving around a maze ‘nomming up tasty pixels and staying away from bad guys. The ...
This next title hardly needs any introduction. Many Mario games over the years have included this classic arcade game as an extra playable mode, helping to give gamers that ‘golden age of gaming’ experience. Developed by gaming legends Shigeru Miyamoto and Gameboy developer Gunpei Yokoi, this game features Mario and Luigi as they kick ass and take ...
Now this is a title that pretty much everyone in the entire world will have played or witnessed being played at some stage in their lives. Space Invaders was one of the most popular arcade cabinets ever made. Its popularity lives on in everything from mugs and lunchboxes to hoodies and posters even today. You can play it on the best retro handhelds...
Jungle Hunt was one of the first computer games to use a technique called parallax scrolling. It’s essentially when the character moves faster then the background scrolls, creating the feeling of depth in a game. Putting aside the groundbreaking (for the time) techniques used in this game for the moment, the gameplay itself was wild! Swing from vin...
Next up on our list is River Raid, a Dambusters inspired game where the player flies along the ‘River of No Return’. The aim of the game is to shoot first and ask questions later in this vertical-scrolling shoot-’em-up. Over one million of these cartridges were sold back in the day, making it one of the most popular titles for the console. Heck, it...
No one likes seeing a squashed animal on the roadside, but that’s a very real terror that you might have to come to terms with in this next title. Frogger sees players trying to get a load of frogs across a busy road, avoiding traffic including lorries and bulldozers. To top it all off, once you get to the halfway point, you’ve got to contend with ...
I remember having the next title in our list on my mobile as a teenager. I used to play Q*bert on the way to the city while riding around on trains on busses. It’s super fun and more than a little bizarre. This action-fuelled puzzler is built in an axonometric third-person perspective. In other words, it’s made to look 3D. Q*bert must change all of...
Fans of the Mr Driller series might recognise this next title. Dig Dug may well be the first strategic-digging-puzzle game for any home console. The player must dig down through different levels of coloured soil and defeat enemies. The level ends when you have defeated all of the enemies on the screen. ‘How do you defeat said enemies’ I hear you as...
Aug 27, 2024 · Its hardware limitations resulted in games that relied solely on their gameplay to attract players, often resulting in titles that have gone on to become industry classics. From space shooters to sports titles, and racing games to platforming, the Atari 2600 had it all.
Oct 3, 2023 · 2. Graphics. While Atari graphics might seem primitive by today’s standards, they were groundbreaking in their time. The best Atari games showcased vibrant colors, smooth animations, and detailed sprites that brought the game world to life.
Feb 17, 2023 · But let's think back to Atari in its heyday. Our thirst for nostalgia knows no bounds so to celebrate Atari's 50 years on the planet, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 greatest Atari games to emerge from that demigod of retro home entertainment...
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Jun 27, 2012 · Yars' Revenge (1982) was Atari's top-selling title for the 2600. Why was it so successful? Because the gameplay, graphics, and even the sound design were intense.
