Favourite games for kids

[+Spaced Cowboy]

So with the 1088XEL up and running my 6-year-old is getting just as enthusiastic as I used to be at 14 about the XL and its games. Anyone have suggestions for good games for young kids ?

 

So far we've tried Gyruss, Elektraglide, Air Hockey and Boulderdash. Open to suggestions - nothing *too* violent please, though

 

Simon

[shoestring]

Hardball is a great game for kids. I played it as a kid on the c64 but it's just as good on the Atari.

 

[adam242]

Ducks Ahoy! is a fun, colorful children's game that I still enjoy having a relaxing go at myself every now and then.

 

[+Spaced Cowboy]

@shoestring: That one might be a bit old for him just yet - a bit too complicated on the reading/understanding scale. Thanks for the idea, though

 

@adam242: That looks pretty good. Thanks

 

Simon

[+Stephen]

Hardball is a great game for kids. I played it as a kid on the c64 but it's just as good on the Atari.

 

Took me years to find a game on the A8 that was more graphically impressive. I still show this game when speaking to people that didn't grow up with this generation of hardware. Sadly, I doubt I could get my nephew (13 yrs old) to give it more than 30 seconds look. But he'll play Minecraft for weeks on end.

[shoestring]

How about something more simple like this fantastic Time Pilot port ?

 

 

http://www.vintageisthenewold.com/time-pilot-after-35-years-the-atari-8-bit-computers-get-an-awesome-port/

[+Spaced Cowboy]

@shoestring: The "Time Pilot" port looks pretty much ideal

 

Cheers

Simon

[Lord Thag]

Bosconian is phenomenal. Blue Max would be another good one. Dark Chambers is fun multiplayer.

[+Spaced Cowboy]

Bosconian is phenomenal. Blue Max would be another good one. Dark Chambers is fun multiplayer.

 

Cool thanks - all those three look pretty good ideas to me

[+davidcalgary29]

My kids are now 8 and 9: their current favourites on the A8 are, by far, Super Pac-Man (5200 port) and Pac-Man Arcade.

 

I'd also recommend giving Spare Change, Drol, and Keystone Kapers a shot.

[Wrathchild]

Clowns and Balloons, Pooyan, Shooting Arcade

[+Spaced Cowboy]

"Spare Change" and "Clowns and Ballons", were new ones for me, but all those look like good contenders Thanks and keep 'em coming

 

Simon

[+davidcalgary29]

And speaking of shooting games, I'd definitely recommend Barnyard Blaster for the kiddoes if you've got a lightgun. Yes, the XG-1 is a terrible crime against technology, and accuracy is iffy, but I've always loved it.

 

Crystal Castles is also one of the best and great for kids with its fairy-tale theme and graphics. And this list wouldn't be complete without BC's Quest for Tires, which still has the best cartoony graphics of any A8 game. When your child is older, (s)he'll love the Spy vs. Spy series.

[+Spaced Cowboy]

I'm not sure how I forgot Crystal Castles! We don't have a light-gun, and I can't see my wife going for me getting one either (she's pretty anti-guns-for-kids). I only ever played BC's quest on the TI99/4A (the machine my parents bought for Xmas because "it looked nicer" when I was a kid. I got an Atari the next Xmas

 

Spy vs Spy (and II) are definitely on the horizon, but yeah, he's too young for that one just yet.

 

Frogger is definitely one of the favourites at the moment

 

Thanks for the suggestions, all

[Lord Thag]

I'll second Spare Change, there isn't really anything else like it. Played it a ton in grade school.

Both Jumpman games are great too.

[thetick1]

My 7 year old son's favorite game is Ghostbusters. It was a bit difficult for him at first but he learned to catch ghosts. He likes me to finish the game when the Marshmallow man shows up. We play it on my C64 and also on his tablet using VICE.

Looks like there is an Atari XL/XE version:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph87Lftez5w

 

Frogger , Frogger II , Qbert, Pac-Man, Donky Kong, Park Patrol and Dig Dug have very little violence and my son likes to play them.

 

He has a pretty new 2DS XL but still likes to play above games... When he gets frustrated with a 3DS game playing on his own he says "I want play the simple games now."

Edited March 22, 2018 by thetick1

[+therealbountybob]

Nibbler and River Rat are good for all ages

 

Or take a look at any of the paddles games, they are usually simple and fun.

Edited March 22, 2018 by therealbountybob

[carlsson]

Have you browsed through the Spinnaker Software library? Perhaps they're a bit too educational, but the games seem tailored to children.

http://www.atarimania.com/pgelstsoft.awp?system=8&type=G&publisher=1436&step=25

[advfan]

Matchboxes. A Memory match type of game, simple graphics, but easy to learn and also has a two player mode to encourage competition.

[+MrFish]

...River Rat are good for all ages

 

This is a pretty neat little game. But it'd be a lot better if a few things were changed.

 

1. Only 2 specific speeds and unrealistic switching between the two.

Motor boats have have throttles, just as cars and other gas (or electric) powered

transportation devices. 2 specific speeds (or more precisely, 2 specific velocities;

a 2 speed boat can travel at a number of different velocities) keeps the game from

having much dynamics; and the way the boat changes it's velocity from one to the

other, almost instantaneously, makes it feel all the more cheaply done.

 

2. Exploding when contacting the ramps too far off to one side.

I probably don't need to explain why this is wrong, but there are plenty of options that

would work better than just having the boat explode. I'd think much more highly of the

game if the boat would careen off to the side; then it could just explode when it hit land

or whatever (see #3); it wouldn't be too hard to do.

 

3. Immediately exploding when touching land.

I suppose -- along with the 2 problems above -- this was done just to make

programming the game more simple. I don't find it too annoying, because you see it

in a lot of games; but obviously a boat is not always going to explode when it's

grounded -- especially when it's traveling at a lower speed. A damage meter might

be nice. It could probably just slow you down until your damage meter was depleted.

 

4. Too long of a wait to start driving your boat.

I suppose this sounds like I'm nitpicking, but I really don't need that much time to

prepare to start driving my next boat. I get the idea: it's suppose be like I'm revving

up my boat before taking off; but my boat doesn't even appear on screen when it's

revving, which makes it seem a little silly. Now if they showed the boat with some

smoke coming out of the back end, I probably wouldn't mind. But if not, it'd be nice

if it was about 4 seconds shorter.

 

Lastly, just maybe a question at this point: does anything else ever happen? I honestly

haven't played it long enough to find out, mainly because I get too annoyed by the

things listed above to be able to continue long enough to find out; but I might, if

there's something worth looking forward too.

 

I guess this is possibly some type of budget title. So, it's expected to be lacking on

some details. But I find it has enough potential (so much that I spent the time

writing all these points out). If nothing else, I think it'd be a good basis for a new

game.

 

[+therealbountybob]

Funny you say that about River Rat as that was the inspiration for my Ramp Rage game, which was originally going to be called River Ramp Rage !

 

1. variable speed - yes

2. ok can still crash on the ramps but you can steer into them more

3. you have inbuilt shield allowing contact with most things

4. less delay!

5. Lots and lots of other game elements and then some!

You forgot crashing into things from long jumps with no ability to control things; now you can fly

 

Though Ramp Rage is way too hard for a 6 year old but River Rat is not

Forgot to mention my "Gwobby Strikes Back!" has a kiddies difficulty mode.

[+MrFish]

Funny you say that about River Rat as that was the inspiration for my Ramp Rage game, which was originally going to be called River Ramp Rage !

 

I am aware of Ramp Rage, and I thought that may have

been the case (inspired by River Rat).

 

 

1. variable speed - yes

 

Yes, better, with the gradual speed increase (better looking

boat graphic too). Although the maximum speed is not too high

(or maybe you get power-ups for that?).

 

 

2. ok can still crash on the ramps but you can steer into them more

 

What do you mean by "steer into them more"? You mean

it allows more time for you to correct not being entirely on

the ramp, and thus prevent crashing?

 

 

3. you have inbuilt shield allowing contact with most things

 

Yes, you've got that feature as a good improvement over River Rat's

"crash on contact" method.

 

 

4. less delay!

 

Yes, you've got that part improved on as well.

 

 

5. Lots and lots of other game elements and then some!

 

Yes, I see you've really got a lot of variety in the game.

The only thing is (I will be honest here), that is one thing

that kept me from playing the game more than a few tries.

For me, the number of obstacles and things going on was

way too overwhelming for a 1st level. In my opinion, if things

were simplified to start and simpler to play (less challenging)

then more could be added as it goes along.

 

That's one thing I like about River Rat, it's simplicity -- except

some things are just a little over simplified.

 

I know some players are sophisticated enough to deal with a

lot all at once. But I'm a more casual player, and I much prefer

when things are quite easy, at first, to get me started. Then

I'm more inclined to stick with it as things progress in difficulty,

when I can feel like I have some successes under my belt.

Also, it's a matter of learning how to control some new vehicle

that I've got no experience with. I like it when I can find out

what it's all about in a more open terrain, without all the

obstacles hampering my time needed to feel the vehicle

out. Once I know how the vehicle handles, then tougher

terrain will be easier to deal with later.

 

Don't get me wrong, the game has always looked really neat

to me. But this is really a general gripe of mine about a lot

of games out there: they have no sense of (pardon the pun)

ramping up the gameplay. Even some of the games that I really

like a lot, they will at least give you one easier level, for

instance, then suddenly it's bloody murder and level 2 is nigh

impossible.

 

 

You forgot crashing into things from long jumps with no ability to control things; now you can fly

 

Actually, I would expect that from a boat jumping game and have

no problem with it. However, you've taken and interesting and

humorous approach to it. It comes off pretty cool.

 

Another question I have about Ramp Rage is why you chose

to make the game play in a downward direction rather than up?

It feels more natural, to me, having the nose of the boat point away

from me rather than towards. And I will say, this is another thing

that I prefer in River Rat.

Edited March 23, 2018 by MrFish

[+Spaced Cowboy]

ok, so to summarise so far:

 

• Gyruss
• Elektraglide
• Air Hockey
• Boulderdash
• Frogger
• Ducks Ahoy
• Time Pilot
• Bosconian
• Blue Max
• Dark Chambers
• Pacman (and variants, eg: Super Pac-man and Pac-Man Arcade)
• Spare Change
• Drol
• Keystone Capers
• Clowns & Balloons
• Pooyan
• Crystal Castles
• BC's quest for Tires
• Q*Bert
• Donkey Kong
• Park Patrol
• Dig Dug
• Nibbler
• River Rat
• Spinnaker s/w. - these *do* look a bit educational, but worth a shot.

 

Ghostbusters is still a bit beyond him maybe. There's a bunch of stuff at the beginning that's text-based and we're still in Kindergarten. Reading is an ongoing skill

Shooting Arcade, I doubt that'd pass muster.

 

Thanks very much for all the input, people - I really appreciate it

 

Simon

[+davidcalgary29]

Two more for consideration before you close off that list: Bristles, which has lots of whimsy for the kids (and Brenda the Brat), along with fast action for adults and some classical music (points to argue for the spouse!), and Mr. Do!, which hides fast, exciting gameplay behind cartoony graphics and delightful music. Its so much better in all ways than Dig Dug (also excellent), even if the concept of a digging clown who drops apples on Creeps is somewhat disturbing...

[snicklin]

Spaced Cowboy: Elektraglide? As good a game as that is technically, I could never recommend that to a 6 yr old!