Most Underrated Game

[BONEMAN]

Stampede is awesome

[Robot2600]

No one ever talks about Skeleton+ anymore and it's a great game.

[JadeETC]

Mountain King!

[Robot2600]

I feel like Wizard of Wor is also pretty underrated. Great game and a great port.

[BassGuitari]

I think just about any worthwhile game outside of the usual gang of suspects (Adventure, Pitfall!, Yars' Revenge, etc) is going to be considered underrated on some level. That said, here are some that I personally think are underrated:

Fast Eddie (I agree!)
Astroblast (I also agree)
Wizard of Wor (again, I agree; this game doesn't seem to get much press these days on any platform)
Fantastic Voyage
Rampage
Radar Lock (it's like a poor man's NES/SMS game)
Secret Quest
Super Football
Montezuma's Revenge (nobody talks about the 2600 version)
Track & Field
Warplock ("Warp-Lock" or "War-Plock?" YOU decide! Either way, it's a lot more fun than it has any right to be)
Burgertime
Commando Raid (all this one needed was paddle control)
Stargunner
Subterranea
Solar Storm
Video Olympics (specifically the Basketball and Volleyball games)
Street Racer (yes, I'm serious)
Star Ship
Home Run
Stellar Track (there's a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth it)
Pac-Man (for every gamer who recognizes that this is actually a pretty okay game, there are a thousand who still insist it's one of the worst games of all time)

Edited November 18, 2013 by BassGuitari

[Serious]

Pac-Man and Demons to Diamonds are widely hated (I used to hate them, as well), but they are actually very fun once you give them a chance.

 

Most of Data Age's games are also underrated. Encounter at L5 is one of my favorite 2600 games.

 

TigerVision's Jawbreaker is fantastic. It got mixed reviews when it came out, but it is probably the best maze game for the 2600.

[Jinks]

Astroblast is cool. I really like tac scan with a little more depth to it could have been a greatest ever, it had some cool elements to it.

[Kombalar]

I would say Phoenix. It's actually better and more enjoyable than its arcade counterpart.

[Mr. Postman]

Mr. Postman, by far. The game starts out as a platformer, is followed by 3 different shooter stages of varied difficulty, and ends with a M*A*S*H-like/Operation board-game level. For an Atari 2600 game it has great variety, and honestly isn't bad IMO.

 

The audio isn't great, the visual/aesthetic design is far from superb, and the gameplay isn't half bad. However It's all the variety in one package that makes Mr. Postman both enticing & solid enough to rank this game very high up in the VCS foodchain for those looking to try something different.

Edited November 19, 2013 by Mr. Postman

[Miss 2600]

Well, a game can't get much more underrated than E.T. I think it's very unique and challenging, plus it always changes where the phone parts and Reese's Pieces are so it's not the same game everytime. I like the graphics, too.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Well, a game can't get much more underrated than E.T. I think it's very unique and challenging, plus it always changes where the phone parts and Reese's Pieces are so it's not the same game everytime. I like the graphics, too.

 

Ah, that's my favorite. You're right it's really playable and unique, searching for the phone parts and calling home location.

 

I can just play and play that one.

 

The music, title screen, easter eggs and sound effects are memorable and nicely done too. When E.T. gets pale and croaks in the game, it's actually kinda sad... with the music playing and red heart glowing.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Everyone has picked some great games here... ones I really like, such as Reactor, Fantastic Voyage, E.T., Stampede are a couple favs of mine.

 

I think Imagic's Star Voyager is very underrated, this was my 2nd Imagic game and I really was impressed with it....,

 

 

Alien (a great Pac clone with flamethrower!)

Bank Heist

Towering Inferno

Winter Games

Dark Cavern (very smooth maze shooter)

Off the Wall

Oink... (is actually fun, avoid difficulty A!)

Pele's Soccer (if only the controls didn't hurt!)

Bowling

Pole Position, (not bad for 2600)

Solar Fox

 

Paddle,

 

Solar Storm

Canyon Bomber

(everyone picked L-5, GI Joe, Demons already)

[fsuinnc]

I think Activision's SeaQuest is the epitome of Great, underrated, A2600 games. Simple concept, looks great, plays great and in my opinion has fantastic replay value.

[JadeETC]

Has anyone mentioned Ikari Warriors? I love that game.

[Le Master]

SpaceMaster X-7 is a brilliant game that should be far more well known. Not only is the game play superb, but the sound effects are just awesome.

 

[JadeETC]

Box art also kicks ass.

 

But then again, all the 20th Century Fox boxes kick ass.

 

 

[GameGirl420]

 

 

Name This Game = Most underrated 2600 game ever!!!

[Robot2600]

"Dungeon" is also a great homebrew that really feels like an early PC RPG, making it the only game that can really say that on the system.

[armourae]

Being really renegade here-

ET

Yes I mean it!

Most of the people at my covent school already the Atari in 1977....most of the families were loaded!

I got mine foir Christmas when ET came out

and like everyone else I found it disappointing

But 30 years later ET is a challenging puzzle game.

In addition to finding the telephone there is the predicatable collisions with all those damn wells that make it challenging

and the FBI agent has the habit of appearing at the wrong moment to stop you finishing the game

and there's that 'teleporting' where he appears out of nowhere to stop the spaceship arriving.

A game that remains a bit of a challenge and a puzzlr game that makes a change from blasting everything

[R.O.T.S]

Riddle Of The Sphinx

using different console switches to access and view stats and menus was just too much for the majority of single button bashing enthusiasts that we all were back then,the game play is actually more involving and deeper than it first appears and so along with the multi controller Raiders Of The Lost Ark it was actually revolutionally and the programmers were ahead of the time.

[StationPlay]

Turmoil.

Space Cavern.

Stampede.

Scuba Diver.

[128bytes]

On a pure quality to popularity ratio, Frostbite is really underrated.

[+wongojack]

I guess Montezuma's Revenge, Seaquest, and Frostbite are underrated. They usually get rated very highly in terms of reviews and scores, but seeing as how someone could make an argument that they belong in the top 5 perhaps they are underrated.

 

I like Astroblast and E.T. as the top two underrated. Astroblast might be the best vertical shooter on the platform - it certainly deserves to be mentioned.

 

As someone mentioned, E.T. is a unique and challenging experience. E.T. also has a nice musical theme and intro screen that not every game has.

 

 

There are probably some of the sports games that now get overlooked which could be considered underrated. Perhaps the M-Network sports games. . . .

[uglyclone]

Underrated? I gotta go with Dark Chambers. I love that game

Every review I've read on it has been fairly negative, and I recall one in particular that mentioned the lack of music really killed it. I find that hilarious since one of the things I love to do while playing Atari is throw some music on the stereo. Records and Atari games just go hand in hand

[Chuck D. Head]

Lots of great choices here. Big seconds for ET, Pacman, Mountain King and Towering Inferno. I also want to throw Fathom into the mix, the only 2600 game that caused me to draw a detailed map. Also, Defender gets a lot of bashing but I really couldn't care less that your ship flickers when you fire; the gameplay is great and it's amazing that they managed to pack in almost all the controls with only one button.