Best Atari VCS / 2600 Launch Title

[+MrFish]

 

 Air-Sea Battle                                                    [Sears: Target Fun]

 

                

 

 

 Basic Math                                                        [Sears: Math]

 

                                                          

 

 

 Blackjack                                                         [Sears: Blackjack]    

 

                

 

 

 Combat                                                            [Sears: Tank Plus]

 

                

 

 

 Indy 500                                                          [Sears: Race]

 

                

 

 

 Star Ship                                                         [Sears: Outer Space]

 

                

 

 

 Street Racer                                                      [Sears: Speedway II]

 

                

 

 

 Surround                                                          [Sears: Chase]

 

                

 

 

 Video Olympics                                                    [Sears: Pong Sports]

 

                

 

 

 

 

[+Stephen]

Incredibly tough choice between Combat and Indy 500.  Had to pick Indy 500 for the ice mode (1st driving game I ever played with drifting - and let's be honest, how many driving games were there back then).

[Brentarian]

Combat for me.  One of the few games my dad would sit down with me and play, so it brings back a lot of memories.  It could of used some simple AI to make the tanks playable for one person though.

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Incredibly tough choice between Combat and Indy 500.  Had to pick Indy 500 for the ice mode (1st driving game I ever played with drifting - and let's be honest, how many driving games were there back then).

It has to be Combat for me; but, I'd probably go with Air-Sea Battle next.

But, yeah, there were a few other strong titles: Indy 500 and Video Olympics; after that, the pack starts to weaken.

 

[CapitanClassic]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Incredibly tough choice between Combat and Indy 500.  Had to pick Indy 500 for the ice mode (1st driving game I ever played with drifting - and let's be honest, how many driving games were there back then).

Same here, I picked Combat mostly for Tank Pong (and Invisible Tank Pong), but the other game variants are nice.

 

Indy 500 is a close second, with every game mode being a blast to play, Crash n Score, Tag, and Ice Track.

 

Air-Sea Battle would be a distant third, and while I might play Street Racer, Video Olympics, and Surround (Checkmate on Bally Astrocade was 4-player and better) from time to time… it wouldn’t be until Canyon Bomber came out that paddle games would get regular play.

[+MrFish]

On 2/8/2023 at 7:19 PM, Stephen said:

Incredibly tough choice between Combat and Indy 500.  Had to pick Indy 500 for the ice mode (1st driving game I ever played with drifting - and let's be honest, how many driving games were there back then).

 

On 2/8/2023 at 9:10 PM, CapitanClassic said:

Same here, I picked Combat mostly for Tank Pong (and Invisible Tank Pong), but the other game variants are nice.

 

Indy 500 is a close second, with every game mode being a blast to play, Crash n Score, Tag, and Ice Track.

 

Air-Sea Battle would be a distant third, and while I might play Street Racer, Video Olympics, and Surround (Checkmate on Bally Astrocade was 4-player and better) from time to time… it wouldn’t be until Canyon Bomber came out that paddle games would get regular play.

 

I took some time to review Indy 500 and Air-Sea Battle again (been a longgggg time since I've played either, really; and probably not played Indy since back in the day); and after further review I have to say that Indy is a stronger title than I was remembering. After refreshing my memory, I now recall playing Indy quite a lot; but I don't think we had the game at home; so, I was only playing it at friends' houses -- which is probably why my memories weren't as strong about it.

 

Some cool game modes. Really had a lot of fun with these, and they hold up even now. Great multi-player, and even fun in single-player mode. So, I've gotta put Indy at #2 and Air-Sea at #3, now.

 

[Goochman]

I picked Air Sea battle due to all the variations.  Combat was a close second.  I didnt pick INdy 500 cause BITD it was like $50 with the controllers which was priced out of most households for 1 game

[+MrFish]

On 2/12/2023 at 2:48 PM, Goochman said:

I picked Air Sea battle due to all the variations.  Combat was a close second.

Yeah, Air-Sea has a decent amount of variations -- just like Combat. It was a lot of fun for two players. This was actually the first 2600 game I ever played. They used to have this running on a demo machine in the Sears here in our town. Me and my brother would always hang out and play it whenever we were there. We were amazed by the graphics, colors, and sounds.

  

On 2/12/2023 at 2:48 PM, Goochman said:

I didnt pick INdy 500 cause BITD it was like $50 with the controllers which was priced out of most households for 1 game

Probably the same reason we didn't own it either.

 

[Zonie]

We had Sears "Target Fun" on the console at summer school in 1978. Played the hell out of it. When I asked for a VCS for Christmas, I asked for that game. Parents couldn't find it because they were not buying it at Sears, so I got Superman Instead. Mom picked it, and it was a great choice for an 11 year old. I didn't get Air-Sea Battle until a few years later...

 

[davyK]

Between Combat and Surround for me. Combat edges it because of the variety even though Surround is timeless.

 

I accept that Indy 500 was probably highly impressive at the time and more of a crowd pleaser though.

Edited February 18, 2023 by davyK

[Keatah]

I've always been partial to Basic Math.

 

Combat and Air-Sea Battle are runners-up.

[+MrFish]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:06 PM, Keatah said:

I've always been partial to Basic Math.

I prefer the arcade version.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

7 hours ago, MrFish said:

I prefer the arcade version.

Especially the environmental cabinet.  Such an immersive experience.

[Keatah]

With heads-up display and TI-59 keypad controller. An unbeatable combination 2bshur.

[+MrFish]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:06 PM, Keatah said:

I've always been partial to Basic Math.

Your mom would be so proud.

 

[+jeremiahjt]

The Video Computer System's launch line-up was actually very good. I enjoy Combat, Indy 500, Air-Sea Battle, Star Ship, and Street Racer occasionally, but my favorite is Video Olympics. I play the single player Pong version sometimes, but it excels in multi-player gaming.

 

 

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, jeremiahjt said:

The Video Computer System's launch line-up was actually very good.

One of the reasons for it's great success as a console.

 

1 hour ago, jeremiahjt said:

..but my favorite is Video Olympics. I play the single player Pong version sometimes, but it excels in multi-player gaming.

A great title, and one that basically summed up the previous popular era of video games (while adding a few new variations too). It reminds me a lot of the first console we got: a Sears Tele-Games Pong Sports II (same as Atari Ultra Pong console). We had a ton of fun with it. Very similar to Atari Video Olympics on the 2600, but it only had Pong and Hockey variations and no single player games -- and consequently only 16 games compared with 2600 Video Olympics having a whopping 50 games.

 

 

[Keatah]

6 hours ago, MrFish said:

Your mom would be so proud.

Whenever an educational title came out I used it as an excuse to get it. To get me into the store. There I could then work on getting and other games. I justified the other games as time off and relaxation and change of pace, to help improve the learning experience of course.

 

Reminds me of the time I wanted a 2nd disk drive for Apple II. I said getting a 2nd drive would enable me to get to bed earlier and on-time since I didn't have to waste so much time swapping that floppy. Naturally it did the opposite as it increased my rank in our WaReZ gANg and I was tasked with MORE copying. Shit like that.

[+MrFish]

8 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I said getting a 2nd drive would enable me to get to bed earlier and on-time since I didn't have to waste so much time swapping that floppy. 

Hahahahahaha... how gullible are(were) your parents? 

 

[Keatah]

25 minutes ago, MrFish said:

Hahahahahaha... how gullible are(were) your parents? 

Probably pretty dumb. A year or two later I pushed for a 10MB Sider HDD. I told them it was taking too much time to manage my burgeoning library of Apple II games and I needed working space. So I was able con them out of $200-$300 which was about half the price. I had to come up with the remainder.

 

Same deal with going from 300 baud modem to 1200 Apple-Cat II. This was an easy no-brainer. The reason was the phone line wouldn't be tied up so much. Lower phone bill. More availability when people tried calling.

 

These spiels worked for a printer too, got it reduced from $299 to $99.

 

The reasoning seemed to make sense and I rolled with it. But it stopped when I turned working age, so maybe not so dumb?

Edited February 24, 2023 by Keatah

[+GoldLeader]

I played a lot of Combat at first (of course), and much Air Sea Battle,  But I voted Surround.  We kind of made our own game there.  The one where it speeds up and you lay track when Not holding the button.  We'd make a "safe" lane going up, Then one of us would build a "racetrack" which usually went up then over then down, then out the other side.  We'd take turns playing it until one of us crashed,  then the other friend would make the next one or if there were 3 or 4 of us we'd pass controllers etc.  Sometimes the Race Winner would keep playing.

[+MrFish]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:31 PM, Keatah said:

Same deal with going from 300 baud modem to 1200 Apple-Cat II. This was an easy no-brainer. The reason was the phone line wouldn't be tied up so much. Lower phone bill. More availability when people tried calling.

This is even funnier. I'm sure the phone was tied up even more after the upgrade. Hahaha.. 

 

[+MrFish]

I guess worthwhile to note...

 

Pack-in for Atari was Combat (Tank Plus)

Pack-in for Sears was Air-Sea Battle (Target Fun)

 

[+GoldLeader]

How many people suddenly played a lot more Surround after TRON came out?

 

Because now you're not just some square (pun?  IDK), now you're a Light Cycle!!