Nowadays we've become accustomed to the notion of relatively equal, competing video game consoles vying for gamer dollars.
But back in the day, between approximately 1977 and 1983, the Atari VCS -- better known as the 2600, was the uncontested ruler of the video gaming universe. Its contemporaries, like the Intellivision or Colecovision, may have been technically superior in some ways -- but they couldn't match the 2600's popularity and selection of games.
We all know about the E.T. debacle, and how Atari nearly killed the fledgling videogame industry until Nintendo stepped in. But Atari didn't just throw in the towel, however. They, and the few game manufacturers who survived the collapse, continued to make games for the 2600 all the way up to 1992. A campaign to revitalize the system was also launched, remodeling the system along the lines of their new 7800 system -- and releasing a new generation of games. Many of these were truly exceptional, and were it not for the fact that it was up against a number of clearly superior systems, these games might have saved the 2600. Here's a selection of the 10 best of these cartridges, all released post-crash -- between 1985 and 1990.
10) Double Dragon
The very fact that this game exists warrants its inclusion on this list. There's something strangely courageous about releasing a port of Double Dragon, the ridiculously popular game that more or less invented the side-scroll beat 'em up genre for what had become a reviled and woefully underpowered system in 1989. Sadly, it's actually a pretty cool-looking game by Atari standards, and might have been something had it been released six years earlier.
9) Xenophobe
One of the last 2600 ports to be produced in 1990, Xenophobe is worth mentioning as one of the first split-screen games (though 2600 only offered two screens, rather than the three available in the arcade version). Beyond that, it's an entertaining shoot'em up based vaguely on the Alien movies with fairly impressive graphics.
8) Secret Quest
One could look at 1989's Secret Quest as Atari's attempt to improve upon its earlier attempts at dungeon crawl-type games, like Adventure. At least you're vaguely human shaped in this one, and you fight enemies with what passes for a sword.
7) Commando
No relation to the Schwarzenegger film, 1988's Commando has an impressive pedigree for a 2600 game. Developed by Capcom and published by Activision, Commando's a forward-scrolling shooter similar to Ikari Warriors. The graphics are as good as can be expected, and the action is pretty smooth and fast-paced.
6) Off the Wall
Take the guys who designed Breakout, give them a bag of 'shrooms and all the Chinese takeout they can eat, and Off the Wall is what you'd get. Breakout's simple oscillating rectangle is replaced by what seems to be a small martial artist bearing a lunch tray he uses to smack a brick-blasting pixel across the screen, a Chinese dragon does "The Worm" at the top of the screen, and a few Arkanoid-style power ups and power downs are thrown in for good measure. Admittedly, we never had the opportunity to play this game when it came out in '89. which accounts for the rather low ranking, but it looks like more fun than should be legally allowed.
We all know about the E.T. debacle, and how Atari nearly killed the fledgling videogame industry until Nintendo stepped in. But Atari didn't just throw in the towel, however. They, and the few game manufacturers who survived the collapse, continued to make games for the 2600 all the way up to 1992. A campaign to revitalize the system was also launched, remodeling the system along the lines of their new 7800 system -- and releasing a new generation of games. Many of these were truly exceptional, and were it not for the fact that it was up against a number of clearly superior systems, these games might have saved the 2600. Here's a selection of the 10 best of these cartridges, all released post-crash -- between 1985 and 1990.
10) Double Dragon
The very fact that this game exists warrants its inclusion on this list. There's something strangely courageous about releasing a port of Double Dragon, the ridiculously popular game that more or less invented the side-scroll beat 'em up genre for what had become a reviled and woefully underpowered system in 1989. Sadly, it's actually a pretty cool-looking game by Atari standards, and might have been something had it been released six years earlier.
9) Xenophobe
One of the last 2600 ports to be produced in 1990, Xenophobe is worth mentioning as one of the first split-screen games (though 2600 only offered two screens, rather than the three available in the arcade version). Beyond that, it's an entertaining shoot'em up based vaguely on the Alien movies with fairly impressive graphics.
8) Secret Quest
One could look at 1989's Secret Quest as Atari's attempt to improve upon its earlier attempts at dungeon crawl-type games, like Adventure. At least you're vaguely human shaped in this one, and you fight enemies with what passes for a sword.
7) Commando
No relation to the Schwarzenegger film, 1988's Commando has an impressive pedigree for a 2600 game. Developed by Capcom and published by Activision, Commando's a forward-scrolling shooter similar to Ikari Warriors. The graphics are as good as can be expected, and the action is pretty smooth and fast-paced.
6) Off the Wall
Take the guys who designed Breakout, give them a bag of 'shrooms and all the Chinese takeout they can eat, and Off the Wall is what you'd get. Breakout's simple oscillating rectangle is replaced by what seems to be a small martial artist bearing a lunch tray he uses to smack a brick-blasting pixel across the screen, a Chinese dragon does "The Worm" at the top of the screen, and a few Arkanoid-style power ups and power downs are thrown in for good measure. Admittedly, we never had the opportunity to play this game when it came out in '89. which accounts for the rather low ranking, but it looks like more fun than should be legally allowed.
Tags: Atari, Retro Gaming
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