Console of the Month (July 2022) - Atari 2600

[prfsnl_gmr]

Some of my favorite Atari 2600 arcade ports are Nintendo games such as Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, and Mario Bros. They’re obviously really downgraded, but the core gameplay remains intact (and very fun).

If you’re looking for something wild, try some of the later 2600 arcade ports such as Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master, or Rampage. They’re insanely ambitious for the system, but usually borderline unplayable.

[marurun]

I think my favorite aspect of the 2600 is some of the crazy peripherals. Coleco made something called the Kid Vid which is basically an advanced-function cassette tape recorder and the games use the remote function to go to various time/track codes on the tape to play musical/vocal interludes at key points in the game. It's probably one of the earlier instances of multimedia.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Even the sheer number of controllers was staggering. I wish more games had been compatible with the Booster Grip (Omega Race controller). It's pretty slick.

The best peripheral was the Supercharger. The cassette games are awesome.

[Nemoide]

I've never owned a 2600 but it is the system on which I was exposed to video games, so it does have a place in my heart. I remember being at a daycare place where I could play Pac-Man and Donkey Kong on it. Pac-Man may not be a good version of the game, but as a small child figuring out that "eating dots makes the score go up; eating the big ones lets you eat the ghosts" felt significant. Donkey Kong I liked too but I don't think I ever beat the first level; my brain just wasn't developed enough for those games.

I don't see myself ever buying a 2600 but if I happen upon one that's dirt cheap or get gifted one, there are a few games I'd like for it. Hero and Pitfall being the two titles I think of as being fun to play. I can see myself wanting to track down Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre because I'm a horror fan. Chase the Chuck Wagon has always amused me for being a goofy concept for a game. Adventure seems so historically significant that I'd want to play it. But I really don't see myself wanting to spend a lot of time playing games on 2600: it's always been just a bit too primitive for my taste.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Star Ship remains the least successful of the Atari 2600 launch titles. While others went on to be reprinted many times over, this ship was shelved in 1980. It's admittedly not the worst of the 2600's initial line-up of nine cartridges (only because Blackjack exists), but it's pretty pitiful in its own right. While overtly simplistic (as any game released in '77 was) it's also, paradoxically, one of those nebulous experiences that requires a full comprehensive reading of the instruction manual before booting.

In true classic Atari fashion, this one boasts multiple game "selections" of play: 17 to be precise. This is largely nonsense, as most selection variants are only differentiated by the most delicate of details. What is important to note: there are three primary modes of play known as Star Ship (selections 1-9), Warp Drive (selections 10 and 11), and Lunar Lander (selections 12-17). The overarching theme is of space travel & battles, of course. This was the endearing "space age" of gaming, after all, and Star Ship was released a scant four months after Star Wars premiered in theaters.

So, Star Ship mode, of the game Star Ship, is like a very primitive first-person shooter, placing the player into the cockpit of a laser-blasting spaceship. The controls are a little quirky. The sole red button fires as expected, but there's the old inverted flight stick movement, and in the single-player selections the joystick needs to be plugged into port 2. The background graphics (a black sky faintly lit by blocky stars) are so simplistic that it's hard to discern any real sense of movement. There are a handful of enemy types but they all clunkily float around the screen in the exact same fashion. They don't return fire; they're more like "objects" that need to be shot down or outright avoided. Asteroids also drift in here and there; they're immune to fire so they must be dodged. There's some primitive scaling effect as enemies get closer, and if they hit the player there's a deduction of points (there's no true way to "die" at all in Star Ship). The primary goal here is to rack up as many points as possible by shooting down as much as you can in 2 minutes and 16 seconds. After that 2:16 has elapsed there's precious little reason to play again. Adjusting the difficulty makes enemies move faster, and it quickly becomes apparent just how slowly the player's ship moves. The ambitious (but confusing) two-player rounds see the second player command a "space module." This thing bobs around the screen, trying to avoid being blasted. It can't fire back or damage the ship in any way so survival is the only goal. Whichever player controls the space module can additionally make it invisible by holding the fire button.

Things actually get worse from here. The Warp Drive mode adheres to the same first-person view, but this time the objective is to survive flying through a field of asteroids. As these hunks of rock are indestructible you're stripped of the ability to fire; pressing the red button will now cause one to "hit the gas" and blast forward at warp speed. Score is thus reliant on distance successfully covered, measured in parsecs. Hit an asteroid and the meter dips. Selection 11 is simply a harder version of 10, with more asteroids to avoid. The same 2:16 timer is used to end a round. It feels long.

Finally comes Lunar Lander, which plays nothing like the 1979 Atari arcade game but has vaguely similar aesthetics (apparently "Lunar Lander" was a short-lived "genre" like Pong/Breakout). The 2:16 timer is back, with successful moon landings tallied. The player controls the lander and must steer it to the moon, which is, seriously, the easiest task in history. The only additional requirement is that the retro rockets be activated while sticking a landing; this is done by simply pressing the action button while touching down. The moon looks like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. A second player can scrub in too -- to control the moon! It's utterly bizarre: it's not a true co-op or combative experience; instead a human player is simply granted agency over a sprite. Altering the selection will cause some tiny square asteroids to appear as potential obstacles, but they're pretty easy to avoid.

Sounds effects are consistent across all modes of play. There are the typical dated (and admittedly charming) staticky explosions coupled with some weird "trickling" effect that almost resembles a melody. It's difficult to recommend this game. Though, anyone who's interested in the Atari 2600 has probably already stumbled upon it. In addition to the cartridge being not as rare as you'd anticipate, the game's also included in most major 6th+ generation Atari 2600 compilations (the ones that contain dozens of oldies). I can't fault the developers much -- this was 1977 after all, what were "video games" supposed to play like? But the fact remains: this simply isn't much fun to play and there's so much more to be found on the venerable woody console.

[o.pwuaioc]

I find it a bit sad that the 2600 gets so little love from classic game enthusiasts compared to post-crash consoles. Even if it is a little more archaic, there is a ton of charm here.

I've often mentioned my fondness for HERO, which I think is best on the 2600 compared to "brighter" versions on later consoles. It, River Raid, Pitfall, and a few others might have better graphics on the 5200, ColecoVision or Commodore 64, but there is something undeniably classic about the 2600 ports. Not all, of course. Some, like Defender, are better literally anywhere else! But Defender II holds up. And my general rule of thumb is that if it came out on the 7800, it's better there.

2600 games are also very versatile. You can play them on the 7800 or the ColecoVision (if you have the adapter). And the simple joysticks hold up much better than the number pads of the later consoles.

But what really keeps the system alive is that it still gets fantastic ports from dedicated programmers. You can buy many of them on AtariAge. Some of the ones I've played that I've enjoyed include. Blinky Goes Up, Galactopus, Juno First, Lead, and Wall Jump Ninja. Someone even recently got a good looking Galaga to play on it. Just good, classic fun.

[Ack]

Hey Atari 2600 fans, do any of you have a copy of Space Shuttle with the overlays? I am genuinely curious, how well does it play? Do you consider it a successful reconfiguration of the 2600 switches?