What's your favorite Atari 2600 game?

[DanielMack]

I think my favorite game was Pitfall. I played that game for hours upon hours. Just the same thing over and over again. It’s amazing how much time can be wasted playing a game like that.

[Sean697]

Probably River Raid.

[Phillyman]

Hands down, Berzerk......still a favorite to this day!

[RetroDefense]

Starmaster. Such a fantastic game. And fairly sophisticated for the 2600, too - the console's Color/B&W switch acted as a map toggle.

Honorable mention: Kaboom!

[Areala]

"Secret Quest".

It's as close as the 2600 ever got to a real "Legend of Zelda"-style adventure game, and was designed by Nolan Bushnell himself (although it was not programmed by him).

The game features eight different space stations to navigate, each after the first has multiple floors to navigate, an inventory system, multiple weapons, a variety of enemies, and a password feature so you can resume your quest later. It's ridiculous how much they were able to push out of this game, and if it weren't for the give-away graphic style, you'd swear you were playing some other system:

[twiztor]

Probably River Raid.

definitely for me.

i still have my mom's Atari system from when she was a wee lass (OK, she would've been a teen, but the point stands!). i used to treasure the days we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house, because that meant that we could play the ATARI! when my Grandma passed a good number of years ago, it was a bittersweet moment when my Grandpa offered the Atari to me (being the oldest grandchild). i took it and it still owns a cherished spot in my house.

River Raid was always my mom's favorite game, so maybe it was passed down through her, or maybe it's just because it's a great game. the 2600 is a bit too primitive for me (the NES, the system i grew up on, will always be the best), but River Raid is a game i can't say "no" to.

[DanielMack]

This thread brought back memories. I was a kid of the 80’s and Atari was very much a part of my childhood. It seemed so exciting back then. I haven’t played the games in what seems like forever. But, I sure would love to.

[metroid]

For me it's HERO, and thinking about it it's because it's have levels and a sense of progression.While the Atari has a huge nostalgic valour to me i reallly did not like it that much.

The elements that i like in games like levels, bosses, exploration and a game having a beggining, a middle and a end are very rare on atari and that's the reason that the Nes was when gaming really click on me.

[dragonz]

Toss up between River Raid and Demon Attack for me.

[Iano]

I recall my favorites being Frogger and Stampede. I was also partial to Journey because of the awesome soundtrack.

[PC509]

Yars Revenge or Bezerk. Both were excellent games that I still play when I have the chance.

[dragonz]

Yars Revenge or Bezerk. Both were excellent games that I still play when I have the chance.

Ah yeah Yars Revenge was sweet. Beserk was pretty awesome too. I really loved the 'sequel' Frenzy on the Colecovision, much improved version.

[MisterXiado]

Not so much a game, but Tomcat: The F-14 Flight Simulator. It blew my mind that something so complex could be on the mere 2600. Even the difficulty switches are part of the game interface. I believe I got up to Lieutenant Junior Grade in it, but I haven't played it since like 1989.

Yar's Revenge is high on my list. Pinball and Midnight Magic. Joust. Beh, hard to choose just one.

[KHANV1CT]

Pitfall was my favorite. That's all I played until we got our NES. It was all Mario after that.

[pablumatic]

Berzerk by far. Runner ups are Pitfall II, Spider Fighter, Atlantis, and Stargate.

[baphoon]

Dragonfire! I loved Dragonfire! It was so simple and repetitive but I used to put hours on that game as a kid. My second would have been Kaboom and third Barnstorming.

[miketheratguy]

Asteroids. I still remember how our next-door neighbor crawled through my sister's bedroom window to play his new copy of the game with us (why he actually had to crawl through the window, I don't recall).

I quite enjoyed Stampede! as well. Special mention goes to "Sneak 'N Peek" because of how completely ridiculous it was.

[psychopathetica]

My favorite 2600 game was Donkey Kong

[SLTE]

Adventure, hands down. It's single-handedly responsible for my obsession with games like Legend of Zelda. The charm of the chicken dragons is undeniable. Also love Yars Revenge, though i can't remember if I was a fan because it was good or because I liked looking at all the flashing lights when I was a kid.

[wtc1973]

River Raid. I like to play many of them on a regular basis though. The system I played the most.

[nutznboltz2003]

So many memories! Yars Revenge, Dragon Fire, Pole Position, Combat, Pitfall, Football, Q-Bert. I loved them all. The graphics may not have been the best, but those were just fun games.

[E-Day]

I don't think I have a definitive favourite, but some of the ones I really liked were River Raid, Megamania, Frostbite, Infiltrate, Kangaroo, Seaquest, and Yars Revenge. Berzerk was also a gooder.

[MisterXiado]

Warlords was fun when you had three other people to join in. I also recall being rather fond of Amidar (the paint-roller game), Haunted House, Chopper Command, Cosmic Ark, and Space Shuttle.

[HowardBware]

It's a toss up between Combat, and Astroids. E.T. was pretty epic though

[ButtonMasher]

I'm going to pay close attention to this discussion. I've owned a few variants of the Atari over the years. I no longer have anything remaining in my collection, so I'm setting a long term goal of getting started up again. I'll promise myself to only buy if it is relatively cheap since I don't have that much space in my apartment.

My first ever console system was a Coleco Gemini, which ran Atari games, that my siblings and I found at a yard sale. I was probably 9 or 10 years old, and the 2600 would have been dead for around a decade. I think it cost 8 dollars, and came with 4 games. Joust, California Games, Asteroids, and another title I can't remember.