MegaManFan Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Can we at least both agree that Basic Math blows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Say what you want, but in sheer craptacularness DK Jr. doesn't even hold a candle to E.T. The former may be a bad port of an arcade game, but it can still (marginally) be fun to play. E.T. is NOT fun to play. It never has been, and it never will be. I'm certainly not going to defend E.T., which belongs on any list of the 10 worst Atari 2600 games. But it's still not as bad as DKJr. Sure, all those pits in E.T. are annoying, but they're not seizure-inducing like the DKJr. vine climbing sound is. As for Basic Math: Yep, it blows. --Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiggerthehun Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 What - no mention yet of "squeeze box"? Sure, it may not be THE worst - but boy, does it suck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Can we at least both agree that Basic Math blows? Well, OK. But I think Basic Math is better than Math Gran Prix. In fact, I will change my vote. I don't care HOW bad ANY third-party game is... Math Gran Prix is the worst game ever for the 2600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Math Gran Prix is the worst game ever for the 2600. Ok I've got jump in here and defend MGP. I actually liked the game (as much as one could like an educational game). I thought it was an entertaining twist on the standard math game. http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/mgp/mgp.htm Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitfall Harry Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I don't think Donkey Kong Jr. is as unplayable as you guys are making it out to be. I just finished giving the game a fair shake, and after an hour's worth of play I was able to get through the set of 3 screens fairly regularly. I would have made it through them twice in the same game had I not stumbled in my jump to the highest platform on my second pass through the Mario's Hideout level. My best score was 27,100. Control is tricky and frustrating until you get the hang of it. In some situations, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you're going to die 50% of the time based on pure random luck, and there's nothing you can do about it. Suck it up, and keep playing. There is definite gameplay to be found in Donkey Kong Jr., once you get the necessary technique down. The first two screens are actually quite playable and beatable once you gain mastery over your joystick and complete control of your monkey [insert Beavis & Butthead style humor here]. Getting through the Mario's Hideout level, however, is a frustratting and somewhat boring excercise in trial and error. Once you stumble upon the trial that gets you through it, the level is then a mix of arcade skill and dumb luck. Arcade skill and dumb luck is a very poor marriage in any videogame. Discovering this unfortunate formula rooted into the design of DK Jr. is disappointing to say the least, and it makes me very reluctant to play it beyond once or twice through the three screen set. Although the instructions claim the difficulty increases each time you repeat the three screens, I could not detect it anywhere on my second pass. Perhaps I would have noticed, had I been playing one of the higher skill levels (The Game Select switch offers you skill levels 1-8, where 1 is the beginner level and the default). For me, the question is moot. I don't find the game control player-friendly enough to warrant experimenting with higher skill levels. There are other things not to like about the game besides its clumsy player control. The graphics are laughable. Donkey Kong Jr. really does look like Sesame Street's Big Bird, and when the snapjaw lands on his head it gives him a quaking beak to further the resemblance. Donkey Kong Sr. looks as he did in the prequel, a passive, helpless, motionless ginger bread cookie. Mario's nose is much too big. There is more screen flicker, especially on the second screen, than can be excused by the limitations of the hardware. Despite the game's horrific shortcomings, I still managed to find a beatable challenge in Donkey Kong Jr. There IS gameplay in it, if only you have the patience to find it and the common sense not to look for too much more of it. I can't say that about Karate or about Skeet Shoot. Those two games suck on so many levels, they make Donkey Kong Jr. dazzle with a brilliance it certainly has not. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I don't care HOW bad ANY third-party game is... Math Gran Prix is the worst game ever for the 2600. Yeah, it's pretty damn-diddly-damn bad. It always amuses me though that I can find one or two through local fleas and thrifts every few months, and invariably someone will trade me something I actually want for a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougy76 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Math Gran Prix is the worst game ever for the 2600. Ok I've got jump in here and defend MGP. I actually liked the game (as much as one could like an educational game). I thought it was an entertaining twist on the standard math game. http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/mgp/mgp.htm Tempest I like Math Gran Prix. Probably just because I've always been a Math freak. So I'm with Tempest on this game. Looks like it's time again for the regularly scheduled round of ET bashing/defending. I think ET is a fun game. It's all a matter of opinion in the end, but I don't see how such a game is put at a level with games like Karate and Skeet Shoot. I think ET is comparable to Raiders of the Lost Ark in playability and yet that game gets praised by most people. They're both adventure games where you have to gather pieces of a puzzle and put them together to win. I think most of you guys are just disgruntled over the hype the game got or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I think my vote for the worst game would have to go to Scuba Diver / Aquatak. I actually LIKE Karate, at least with two players. Basic Math and MGP are both playable - for what they are. Slot Machine also sucks , Star Ship also sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 There are other things not to like about the game besides its clumsy player control. The graphics are laughable. Donkey Kong Jr. really does look like Sesame Street's Big Bird, Thank you!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitfall Harry Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 If an Atari videogame is going to limit itself to a single, non-scrolling screen, then the onus is upon it to dazzle you with graphics, humor or gameplay to such a degree that you aren't even aware the game is only a single screen. Examples: Combat,Outlaw - Primitive graphics, Excellent gameplay SeaQuest, Kaboom - Excellent graphics, Excellent gameplay Frogger - Primitive graphics, Excellent gameplay, Humorous concept Educational games like Math Grand Prix and Basic Math can be forgiven (a little) if they are missing all the elements which make a good single-screen 'game,' so long as they have some redeeming value. Are they educational? It's a bit of a stretch, but yes, they are. Skeet Shoot and Karate, on the other hand, dare to be single-screen games in the complete absence of perceptible value. Each game features: Abyssmally poor graphics Limited player control/options No intentional humorous aspects Absent/indiscernible strategic elements Limited/irritating sounds Zero gameplay Zero educational value This horrible, uninspired pair of games is much-maligned for good reason. Each game offers the player absolutely nothing beyond a demonstration of the programmer's ability to slop a string of machine code instructions together and get them to execute without crashing. Anyone who's spent more than 30 seconds with either game is left to wonder whether the non-crashing feature really is such a wonderful thing. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I don't think Donkey Kong Jr. is as unplayable as you guys are making it out to be. I guess I have just never given it a fair chance, since I owned the 7800 version for several years before I ever even knew the 2600 version existed. Then again, in light of that... why SHOULD I give it a chance? I have 200 other 2600 cartridges in my collection, and even if it's not the worst, it's still in the cellar with the likes of Math Gran Prix and Star Ship. I don't have enough time to play 2600 to waste what little time I DO have on this particular game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 This horrible, uninspired pair of games (Karate and Skeet Shoot) is much-maligned for good reason. Each game offers the player absolutely nothing beyond a demonstration of the programmer's ability to slop a string of machine code instructions together and get them to execute without crashing. Good point. Both are terrible, and neither are in my collection. (I almost bought a waterlogged copy of Skeet Shoot, just as a curiosity, that I spotted in a used video game store a couple weeks ago... until I found out they wanted $5.99 for it!) But knowing as you do how difficult programming the 2600 is, even making these "games" execute without crashing is a noteworthy achievement. (Not that it is an achievement worth putting into a cartridge, putting that cartridge into a box, shrinkwrapping the box and putting it on a store shelf for gullible '80s youth to purchase, contributing to the jaded, cynical worldview many of them would assume as they grew into adulthood.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Atari Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Ugh, DKJr. makes me sad. The first DK suffered from a poor DK sprite, two screens, and stunningly easy gameplay, but it was at least halfway decent (if you could get used to it). At the very least it's better than INTV DK. DKJr., on the other hand, is mind numbingly awful, and a game I refuse to buy until I find it for $1 or less, and even then it would only serve as collection filler. I don't think it's the worst 2600 ever, but it's certainly down there. Fix those pits, and E.T. would be pretty good. I've gotten used to them, and can get out of them easily now, so I tolerate the game more. Still doesn't hold my attention very long. Any educational game on the 2600 needs to die now! Those titles are the very definition of "Library Filler", produced before Atari really hit their stride IMO. It just seems like they got really good in the silver label era, Mario Bros., Phoenix, Vanguard, Ms. Pac-Man, Kangaroo, Jungle Hunt, etc., but I digress. Atari's library is mostly pretty solid, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitfall Harry Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 knowing as you do how difficult programming the 2600 is, even making these "games" execute without crashing is a noteworthy achievement. (Not that it is an achievement worth putting into a cartridge, putting that cartridge into a box, shrinkwrapping the box and putting it on a store shelf for gullible '80s youth to purchase, contributing to the jaded, cynical worldview many of them would assume as they grew into adulthood.) Exactly. Those games would be a noteworthy achievement for anyone of little experience, teaching himself to program his first Aari 2600 game. But if you foist such an effort onto an unsuspecting public, who give good money on the reasonable assumption the game is worth more than the cardboard it comes in, then you deserve every last drop of venom the backlash spits back at you. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 I think my vote for the worst game would have to go to Scuba Diver / Aquatak. AKA Skin Diver AKA Sea Hunt? YES! This is THE crappiest game for the 2600, bar none. My review Even the Mythicon games aren't as bad because they don't make you as angry that you wasted your time trying to play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 YES! This is THE crappiest game for the 2600, bar none. My review Even the Mythicon games aren't as bad because they don't make you as angry that you wasted your time trying to play them. Russ, I agree with 99 out of 100 reviews on your site, but about Congo Bongo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 Actually, that's Jess's site; I only wrote the one review I think (there might be a couple other bits there, but not that I can think of). On the other hand, I don't think I've EVER played a version of Congo Bongo that I've liked, so I can't speak for that review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 Whoops! I see that now. Russ, Jess, it's all those SS names - my mind's playing tricks on me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 When I first played Congo Bongo on an emulator I thought FOR SURE that it must have been screwing up the graphics. When I acquired a copy of the game I learned that the graphics were really like that! Ugh! Terrible game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zloch Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 I actually like 2600 Congo Bongo. I never thought it was THAT bad. I think Raft Rider qualifies as the absolute worse game I own. Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 I kinda like Raft Rider actually. To each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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