Mind Master Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Here's Mind Master's list (no particular order): -Pac Man. The most feverishly anticipated game ever turns out to be a fun-free, colorless boredom fest. Couldn't they at least have had the fruit instead of that square "vitamin"? And did they really think Pac Man was eating "video wafers" like the manual says? -Defender. A close second to Pac Man in terms of disappointment. A graphics disaster and not much in the way of sound, either. Ship vanishes when you fire - not good. More fun than Pac Man, but still a major letdown. -Killer Satellites (Starpath). Maybe with the Supercharger the 2600 can handle Defender! Turns out this one's less fun than Atari's Defender above. Was this ever playtested? Why are there triangles everywhere? -Level 6 of Escape from the Mind Master. The grand finale turns out to be a boring grid maze with no monsters, obstacles, or anything. Did Starpath have a deadline to meet? Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbrit2 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 My vote goes for Mr. Do's Castle. The 2600 version is just pathetic. I know they could have done at least a little better in terms of playability. And before anybody says it, I know Donkey Kong Jr. is going to come up sooner or later. But strangely enough, I actually enjoy that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 After PacMan, I've learned not to listen to hype (the equalivant of "a boy when I wanted a girl"). Before the 2600, it would be Fairchild's Space War (WTF??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Yes, Pac-man is by far the worst Atari made game ever, I don't understand why they could not have made it as good as the AtariAge Pac-man Arcade version which I think is as close to the real game as you can get. I would love to go back in time to the Atari HQ and show them what there pac-man could have looked like instead of the piece of shit they made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Atari published Ms Pac-Man, which is the basis for Pac-Man Arcade, so I think they already know how good it could have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witchfynde Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Yeah, Pac-Man, I remember running home from school, plugging that in, turning it on, seeing the screen, and feeling my heart sink. I still ended up playing it a bit, though, even though it wasn't anything like the original. Space War's controls were so screwed up, it wasn't very fun, but that wasn't MY money-wasted disappointment, since a friend bought it, not me The screwed physics on Video Pinball...urk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I remember being very excited to get Miner 2049er after reading reviews about what a great game it was. Unfortunately, after saving a long time to buy it, I was very disappointed. There are lots of worse games, but for me Miner 2049er was the biggest letdown (at least when I was a kid). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Yeah, Pac-Man ... I still ended up playing it a bit, though, even though it wasn't anything like the original. Didn't we all. Didn't we all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 When my grandma got me mario bros back in 88? And it was for the 7800 and i didnt have a 7800 i had a 2600!!!!! I HAVE A 7800 NOW THOUGH! GRANDMA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I actually like pac man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Mitchell Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Space Ship was a disappointment in 1977 .. but I kept it anyway because I was in awe of anything Atari then. Canyon Bomber was sad to play .. and I took it back to the store and got my money back! Space War control is Ok .. Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrmidon Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Atari 2600 Pacman was the first version of Pacman that I had ever played. So I don't have any bad memories at all. The crappiest game in my opinion is Berzerk!!! I just don't get it. Shoot a couple of robots, run out of the next maze. Shoot some more robots, run out of the maze. yawn! Shoot some more *yawn* robots, run *yawn* *yawn* to the next maze *yawn*. My 2 cents Olaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 The crappiest game in my opinion is Berzerk!!! I just don't get it. Shoot a couple of robots, run out of the next maze. Shoot some more robots, run out of the maze. yawn! Shoot some more *yawn* robots, run *yawn* *yawn* to the next maze *yawn*. Yeah, I think Atari did the game an injustice by making Evil Otto not appear on the default game setting. As if people are going to like the game MORE if it sucks the first time they play it. Berzerk VE on an appropriate difficulty setting is maybe the most authentic arcade conversion for the 2600, though. I was never a huge fan of the arcade game but BVE is right on. Anyone trying to complete the "AtariAge Arcade" series needs to have that one. Pac-Man is obviously the king of Atari disappointments, so much so that it drove some of us to absurd mid-life-crisis-level activities to correct it, but I knew a few kids who actually cried in disappointment the first time they played ET after seeing the movie. I thought the movie kinda sucked so I wasn't expecting much. Donkey Kong is also pretty bad, but we played it a lot more than we played Pac-Man, if only because we wanted to see if there was a third or fourth screen after you did the first two a few times. (A disappointment within a disappointment, there...) Like Pac-Man I'd want to either start from a different game or write it from scratch, to correct its awfulness. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbrit2 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Donkey Kong is also pretty bad, but we played it a lot more than we played Pac-Man, if only because we wanted to see if there was a third or fourth screen after you did the first two a few times. You know, I did the same exact thing the first time I played it. Heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Pac-man or maybe Donkey Kong Even though I played the hell out of both of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Most of us agree that Pac-Man was a disappointment. Something the manual said made it even worse. You get to play in the comfort and convenience of your own home. This is especially advantageous if you still plan to make an occasional appearance at the arcade to show off your great playing skills. (Little do they know that you've been practicing at home all along.) I vividly remember reading this in the manual before I turned on the game. I actually believed that it would be a chance to practice the arcade version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Karnage Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Pac-Man was so disappointing that *I* felt let down, even though only my FRIEND got burned by it (I hadn't saved up enough to buy my 2600 by that point). We were used to making concessions for the "home version os the game" (to quote Alan Ludden), but that was over the top. It burned me so bad that I was a cynical consumer by the time ET came out, and demanded to see it played before buying it. Or, in my case, not buying it. I think I was 12. Canyon Bomber I could play for hours. I'll be the first to admit it was mind-numbing, but there it is. DK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusjake Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I say ALL games Coleco made for the 2600 - they stink and were probably part of a deliberate effort to make it look bad. I think Pac-man was the beginning of the end - after paying $50 for that people started saying bull$hit I 'm not buying anymore of this crap. The video game crash that followed in 1983 killed off the 5200, Intv, Coleco, Vectrex, and Atari never recovered. IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Slocum Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Probably my biggest letdowns were Space Attack and Video Olympics. I thought both of those really sucked when I was a kid. I actually liked Pac-Man and Donkey Kong back then. I wished that Donkey Kong had more than 2 levels, but still enjoyed it. I didn't like the colors on Pac-Man so I always played it with the B&W switch on. -Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrmidon Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Aah, just remembered. Many years ago whilst playing at a friends house, I remember the enthusiasm he showed playing 'Pele's Soccer', and I remember thinking the game really sucked!!! Those 3 blimps for players - Aaargh!!! He really liked the game (I could never figure out why) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I say ALL games Coleco made for the 2600 - they stink and were probably part of a deliberate effort to make it look bad. WTF are you on about? Sure there were some duds, but for the most part Coleco's 2600 games were solid, technically-excellent efforts. And I liked Donkey Kong, BTW. Sure it only had 2 screens, but they both played well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeknPoke Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Probably my biggest letdowns were Space Attack and Video Olympics. I thought both of those really sucked when I was a kid.-Paul ooohh! Video Olympics..game of the GODS Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charin Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 My vote goes for Freeway by Activision. It has a lot of sprites and colors, but the gameplay... Sergio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mind Master Posted February 3, 2003 Author Share Posted February 3, 2003 I forgot to mention Swordquest anything. What a complete disaster. And I had been thinking they were making sequels to "adventure". I have a copy of Fireworld that a friend gave me way back when. To my knowledge that was the only cartridge among all the ones the neighborhood kids had that became a free gift given away. I can hardly believe Atari made a goof of that magnitude. It's actually unplayable without the comic book (and probably with). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Biggest letdown as a kid with my 2600 Freeway I was expecting head to head style Frogger. Maybe even able to push the other character if you get close to them. But no, just forward, backward, forward, foward, backward, waiting for a car to pass... Biggest Letdown in recent years Learning there was no rhyme or reason to the SQ EW and FW. Just random item placing... at least in WW you could use the clues to FIGURE OUT THE PUZZLE of what goes where... not just randomly place objects untill finally you do it right (how many possible combinations are there for the items to be placed... had I remembered stats from highschool I could work it out...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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