Dreamcast is next!

I've been an Atari gamer since it came out in 1977 when I was a kid. I still enjoy the console in 2022. As for games, Imagic and Activision made some of the best games on the Atari 2600 back in the day. I was surprised you didn't have Pitfall or HERO on your list, but as you mentioned, not everyone's list will be the same LOL. As a side note, I have the exact same Pac-Man binder you keep your high scores in. Be sure to checkout some Atari 2600 homebrews. Wonderful stuff being made in present day for the console.

A solid list. Here's my Top 10 from what I've played so far. 1. Yars' Revenge. 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark. 3. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. 4. Spider-Man. 5. Night Driver. 6. Street Racer. 7. Missile Command. 8. Video Checkers. 9. Dodge 'Em. 10. Ms. Pac-Man.

I always enjoy firing up my 2600 and playing Pitfall II, HERO, Frogger, Yars’ Revenge, Keystone Kapers, Frostbite, QBert, Pengo, Dig Dug, Popeye, Jungle Hunt & Atlantis. River Raid & Ms PacMan are also great

i had to give u a like, no intro, no asking for subs, no sponsers, right to the point, i didnt have to skip the first part of the video as i do in any other video, thank you so much for this editing.

There are three Atari games that I always come back to: Pitfall II, Aquaventure, Frogs & Flies. 2600 can be pretty rough around the edges, but those three are among my favorite games. Especially Frogs & Flies.

Wow, I rarely see people who even know about this game! Megamania is my top fav 2600 game of all time. It's so much fun. I remember playing this with my family all throughout the 80s. I recommend it to people who remember the 2600, and still play it to this day. Keystone Kapers and Jungle Hunt are also top pics. So many others to mention.

Adventure is probably my all time favorite on the 2600. First game with an Easter egg. Superman and haunted house are right behind it.

A woman did River Raid, but let's not forget a woman did (half of) the original arcade Centipede. Her name is Dona Bailey, but it's unconfirmed if she's actually the mother of Justin Bailey.

This guy continues to be my friend in another dimension. Enduro was soo good and Ioved river raid. I was honestly thinking the same thing about megamania being a step above everything else.

Journey Escape - it had a great intro, music and was fun to play. It was also the only game I remember that were given money not points. Pele's soccer- loved the fireworks at a goal. Jungle Hunt- level variety kept me coming back Solaris- great graphics Donkey Kong Jr.-great graphics and variety. Realsports Tennis- putting your name on the scoreboard was cool. Realsports Boxing- one of the best boxing games ever. Love everything about it. Skateboarding- a lot of fun Freeway River raid Frostbite Decathlon Keystone kapers California Games Ok, I"ll stop🤣

Some of my favorite 2600 games are Enduro, Pole Position, Jr. Pac-man, Missle Command, Millipede, Pitfall, Hero, Keystone Kapers, along with lesser known games like Laser Gate and Star Gunner. I also love homebrews like Space Rocks, Juno First, Lady Bug, Scramble, Super Cobra the Arcade game, and Draconian.

Great list. Shoot me, but one of my favourite games is "Boxing". I could probably play that for longer in one sitting than most 2600 games.

Megamania was great! My personal favorite game on 2600 was spider fighter

I'm surprised river raid never got a NES port, and I had vanguard as a kid, and yes it was great!

Nice list of games! I also like: - Kangaroo - Street Racer - Concentration - Sneak'n Peek - Haunted House - Adventure - Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em (oh wait, nevermind, lol I've never actually played this game haha)

I didn't even know they had a chess game with a competent AI for the 2600, the surprise for me was not that you chose it as an honourable mention, but that it had a competent computer player

Favorite atari games, pitfall, seaquest, donkey Kong, pacman, frogger, space invaders. I know there were others too. The ones I listed I remember easily because they were played all the time. Thanks for sharing your list of favorites. 👍

1. Berserk 2. Yar's Revenge 3. Jr Pac Man 4. Crystal Castles 5. Blueprint 6. Warlords 7. ET 8. Cosmic Ark 9. Spiderman 10. Lock N Chase

When playing Vanguard, do not shoot the boss straight away. Hold your fire and dodge for as long as possible - the longer you wait the more points you get. Very good list - great to see Megamania get the recognition it deserves. Would be high up in my list too. I'd also have Kaboom, Super Breakout, Jr. Pacman, Yars Revenge, Atlantis, Demon Attack, Activision Tennis and Beamrider but I couldn't order them.

Nice pucks! I never knew there was that Stargate cartridge fir 2600!!! I have to find that. I lost my original Atari and am now getting back into building another original 2600 collection. I had several of these as a kid. I had such a blast playing with these games. So many good memories from this system! These are some great suggestions of games that I have forgotten about. I will add them to my list to look for! Thanks.

1. River Raid 2. Chopper Command 3. Atlantis 4. Berzerk 5. Stampede 6. Spider Fighter 7. Mr. Do 8. Lock N' Chase 9. Enduro 10. Reactor Honorable mentions. Haunted House, Amidar, and Solaris

Really enjoy these type of videos you're making keep it up!

Your list is gold! I actually grew up with a lot of these games and were definitely blown away how good they were. I remember playing Vanguard the first time and being able to travel upside down in that cavern. And all the Activision titles mentioned are still my favorites. I would recommend Pressure Cooker and Robot Tank if you haven't played them.

Some nice surprises on this list! The 2600 was my family's first console in the late '80s, and I genuinely love playing these games to this day. My current Top 10: - Gravitar - Demons To Diamonds - Adventures of Tron - Solaris - Mouse Trap - Galaxian - Desert Falcon - California Games - Phoenix - Defender 2 / Stargate Honourable Mentions: - Fantastic Voyage - BMX Airmaster - Fathom

I've been waiting for you to do this list! Great job. The 2600 was great 👍

Commando, Ghostbusters, H.E.R.O. and Pitfall are my favourites, Vanguard was pretty amazing when it came out too

Interesting choices, Defender II / Stargate is so good on the 2600. Surely one of the best graphics games on the system. My top 3 favourites are Xenophobe, Radar Lock and Dark Chambers. Other top titles IMO are Centipede, Mario Bros, Pole Position and Qbert.

River Raid, Yar's Revenge, Pitfall (and unlike most people, I like it way better than Pitfall II), Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Phoenix, Frogger. I likely pick these as they are some of the relatively few games I had back in the day. I didn't have an Atari, I had a Coleco Gemini, which was an Atari Clone. I no longer have the Gemini, but I do have a 2600 and lots of games for it now.

If you have someone to play against, Frogs and Flies on the 2600 is incredible. Literally the best head-to-head two player game ever made. Just make sure both players are on Hard mode to enable free movement. Every time we bust it out around here people get really into it, it's so much fun.

Megamania was my very first game back in the 80s. Brought a smile to my face that it made it on this list.

Stumbled across your channel today from the uk yorkshire quality content your games knowledge is impeccable

Man, I was so happy to see Enduro, even if it wasn't officially on the list. I've always loved the day night cycle and weather changes

Just today I brought on atari junior from someone in london. He sold it 25 pounds and came with 15 games. I thought it was a scammer, but I hit gold there, and he gave me one atari 2600 wood ribbon damaged for free.

Some of my favorites: Dark Chambers - Gauntlet on the 2600 though slow Warlords - 4 player was an absolute blast. Atlantis - Favorite shooter. California Games - Specifically the BMX portion Raiders of the Lost Ark - First game I remember with inventory management. E.T. - I thought it was a fun adventure game. Definitely not the worst game ever. Indy 500 - Favorite racing game Solaris - Felt like a really complex game for the 2600 but I never was able to finish it.

Pretty cool being the first system I had when I was seven years old and Games I remember most being Combat, then River Raid 🏆

Always keep coming back to the 2600, the first console/ computer that came in our household when I was a kid...Demon Attack without a doubt my personal fave...

My Sears Tele-Games version was from Christmas 1979 I believe. It was my machine of choice until about 1981 when I got my VIC-20, but I still used it a lot until about 1985 or so. Freeway, StarMaster, StarRaiders, Ms. Pac Man, Demon Attack, Yars Revenge, Combat, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Missile Command and Atlantis were in my top ten in the early 80's. The list is a bit different now. I still love playing my 2600 games to this day.

My favorite 2600 games hands down was Adventure

Very nicely done top 10 list on the 2600!

Glad to see a top 10 game list from someone who is like me, in the sense that we both got the 2600 in 1981. Some of these younger gamers have a different perspective having not played them when they were cutting edge. Even I am guilty of judging games that I did not play back then too quickly rather than fully exploring the strategies that actually make the game fun. Was already stoked on your video, but when you put Megamania on top, I'm like- this guy knows what's up! That game is beautifully designed, and is the quintessential shooter of the time. The game play is fun and varied... and reasonably challenging. (You are better at it than me!) It is a game that would easily be dismissed today if you didn't take the time to get through more than the first level or two. Anyway, great to see an honest top 10 list that doesn't just automatically put H.E.R.O. at the top. (I'll admit it is a good game, but never saw it back in the day.) I was lucky enough to play Vanguard back then and was blown away by it. Also, the inclusion of Atari Chess was great. It was a technical A.I. feat for the time with limited memory and processing speed. It was largely felt, when the game was being developed, that it would be impossible to program a challenging A.I. on the Atari. Obviously there are better versions of chess now, but the fact they pulled it off in the late 70s is worthy of note. Nicely done video, I'll check out some of your others.

Nice list! I did not have a 2600 as a kid, but my cousin did and one of my best friends did. That’s where my early experience of it came in (1980-1984). Eventually, my friend picked up a C64 and we switched accordingly. My family finally picked up a home console in 1988-the Atari 7800-and over the next couple years I collected about two dozen games for it; 12 of which were 2600 titles. The 7800 gets a lot of grief for its sound--but it’s backward compatibility and affordability for our family at the time gives it a solid place in my heart. Here’s my top 10 favorites: 10) Space Invaders. This really was the killer app for the system, considering how big this game was. My cousin killed it at this one. 9) Ms Pac-Man. Big boost when it went to 7800. 8) Berserk 7) Missile Command. 6) Phoenix. I prefer this to Demon Attack. Honorable mention to Galaxian. 5) River Raid 4) Frogger 3) Wizard of Wor. Huge fan of this game. Probably spent more time playing this with my friend in the early 80s than any other game 2) Pitfall. 1) Mario Bros. The 2600 port of this is surprisingly excellent, with great controls. Other honorable mentions: Commando, Kaboom!, Keystone Kapers, HERO, Dig-Dug, Joust, Combat, Defender.

GREAT video! I’ll seek out your Top 10 list + honorable mentions + Atari book! P.S. I looooved the Pac-Man Trapper Keeper spreadsheet idea! 🕹️

Brilliant. Subbed. Retro game fanatic here, love this kind of content.

Mines are Yars Revenge, Defender, Combat, Air sea Batlles, Mrs Pac-Man, Pole Position, Qbert, Missile Command, Adventures, Galaxian, Démons to Démons, Star Wars.

Top 10 in no particular order: Yar's Revenge, Centipede, Berserk, Solaris, Missle Command, Defender, Asteroids, Demon's to Dimonds, Joust, & Moon Patrol. Most I remember from my childhood, but Yar's Revenge and Centipede are relatively recent additions from playing the Evercade. Three honorable mentions are Crystal Castles, Kangaroo and Human Canonball. I actually have tons of honorable mentions as well as lists of games I want to try, like Megamaniac and the Pac-man sequels. Great video.

I begged my mother for Atari's Chess back in the early 80s. I specifically remember her saying it was an extra expensive game and it was $50 at the time. She ended up relenting and got it for me as a Christmas gift. I played the heck out of that game. I remember at the highest difficulty, it took the computer 24 hours per move. That cracked me up... I guess you would have to leave the Atari on for like a month straight to play a proper game at that level. I never did it, but I think I did let it think for most of a day, just as a goof... with the screen flickering non-stop while it computed its next move. lol

Starting the actual content the moment the video starts is greatly appreciated.

2600 was before my time, but I definitely plan to get one at some point. Megamania looks like fun

Stargate! Brilliant game. It gets manic as you progress. My brother and I used to love playing it together, we'd take turns in being pilot and gunner! (The second joystick controlled ’inviso' which was temporary invulnerability, smart bombs which took every enemy out on screen and emergency hyperspace which could get you out of and sometimes into a jam!)

Awesome video and list! I’m not sure if you did in the past, but I’d love to see your top 10 C64!

I can totally relate to joust, so many times I've been out taking a stroll on my flying ostrich and other people mounted on flying ostriches have begun swooping down on me and after I've managed to get past that, those pesky pterodactyls are always the bane of my day admittedly flying ostriches come in quite handy when living in a world engulfed with lava

your old camera simply could not "enduro"

Thank you for your top 10. I'm going to check out tempest. I would appreciate if you can tell me how or where did you print those snes boxart in frame hanging in the background. Also I notice you used one of Shenmue theme in this video. Big fan of the series as well. You got my sub

Great list and video.

Wow! I did NOT expect Megamania to be #1! I spent the whole vid hoping it would at least get an honorable mention. I didn't have my own 2600 as a kid, just played with other folks when i could. Later, as a young adult in the early 2000s, I finally bought my own 2600 on ebay. Megamania was in the lot of games I bought, and it was the first time I ever played it. So, it's a "later" game for me. But, wow, it stood out as the most playable and re-playable game I had for the system. As much as I love old faves like Pitfall, I spent way more time with Megamania. Thanks for the video! I subscribed!

Cool list! There are definitely some on this list I still need to check out in greater detail. For me, I will always love Yars' Revenge!

Nice list! Some of my favorites as a kid: Space Invaders, Pitfall, Berzerk, Ice Hockey, Atlantis, Phoenix, Dig Dug, Robot Tank, Hero, Haunted House.

I like the way you explained joust which I never understood but now I think I could give it a go.

Great vid - if I were to start listing fantastic 2600 titles, I'd be at it all day!

odd question any chance on making your score sheet available for download i really like the layout you did for it

Megamania and the arcade game "Astro Blaster" are very similar. Also, Keystone Capers is my favorite game.

Great vid. Earned a sub

I tried my first Atari 2600 game a few days ago, it was a console that was before my time, but based on your recommendations I felt like giving it a try. I'm super impressed that they are as fun as they are. I now have a love hate relationship with megamania, it's so difficult and frustrating, but I keep coming back to it for one more try. Thank you for your video.

Great list . Enduro is on my top 10 . I know HERO has been over promoted but i was playing that before KZfaq was a thing . 👍🏼

my mom is a legend at megamania. she's hit 1,000,000 points several times. I have no idea how.

Another late one that’s amazing is the arcade adaptation of Phoenix. Fantastic list!!

These look like some great games, you've got good taste. Never played the Atari but my favorite games that had old versions are: Space Invaders Extreme, Frogger Hyper, Burger Time, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Boulder Dash, Asteroids, Lode Runner, Pac-Man 256 & Galaga

I find it hard to claim certain games as being better for doing things differently. Megamania is an excellent game but it isn't a better game than say Demon Attack because of it's variety in attack patterns, The stricter nature of Demon Attack has the player getting good within that particular design. Demon Attack is a blinding fun tight shooter that isn't any better than Atlantis for example which is arguably a very simple design but is brilliant within that once you get to master it. Atlantis is uniquely brilliant in a way Both Demon Attack and Megamania don't do That doesn't stop each one of them being a favourite of course but not better objectively

Great video, thanks

Excellent collection!

Megamania reminds me very much of an arcade game I loved as a kid called Astro Blaster. I must have sunk a million quarters into that one!

I like River Raid, but I think the game would make more sense if you have a boat rather than a plane. The fact that the plane crashes into the river bank or bridge doesn't make sense because it should be able to fly over them.

Great list!

Great video my friend. I'm not familiar with a lot of them. So, I'll look for them on eBay and the local video game store and see if I can find them.

Missle command is my go to game, Maga maina I have not played yet. Looks fast for a 2600. Great video. Good job. 👍 Okay people of the world don't forget to use your sega genesis control! :)

Vanguard was great. I forgot about playing that one in the early 80's.

excellent selection! i would have added berzerk and spider fighter

TURMOIL!! A FLAT version of TEMPEST!? Absolutely perfect description!!!

My top 3 are Kaboom (a unique and frenzied experience you can only get on a 2600 with paddles), River Raid, and Enduro. I also love Megamania. I enjoy the unique gameplay of Reactor and Stampede as well. Watching an Atari 2600 video which has Shenmue music, wild.

what kind of mic are you using?

Awesome recommendations! River Raid is also one of my favs. Gonna try them out soon. Here are mine: Yar's Revenge Warlords H.E.R.O. Cosmic Ark Wall Defender Criminal Persuit Jungle Hunt Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi: Death Star

My shortlist: Mario Bros, H.E.R.O., River Raid, Robot Tank, Starmaster, Astroids, Keystone Kapers, Othello, Realsports Volleyball, Decathlon.

Nice video! I'll need to check out Vanguard. My pics: Air Sea Battle Combat Dragonfire Fantastic Voyage Frankenstein's Monster Frostbite River Raid Seaquest Video Olympics

Frogger, Missile Command, Spider Fighter, Berserk, Joust, Adventure, Defender, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Raiders of the lost Ark

My favs are Asteroids, Combat (for multiplayer), Jungle Hunt, Missile Command, Joust, and Frogs and Flies.

I played so much Megamania when I was a kid just watching and listening to it just bow triggered something in me. I need to play this soon. Always been in my top 3 with Yar’s Revenge and Adventure. Order keeps changing.

Watching that James and Mike Monday multipart series for the atari 2600, Vanguard is on my list for atari 2600 games. "Luther destroys the god!"

First console I ever played, like most people I imagine. Some of my favorites were: River Raid Pitfall Phoenix (demon attack clone?) Megamania Mountain King Frogs and Flies Berzerk Seaquest Chopper Command RealSports Volleyball.

great video!

Megamania is my favorite game of all times, i play with it since i was 5yo, and now 40 years later I still playing it in my atari, or pc, some days of a week!!!

One game that I liked was the one that came packaged with it, Combat but they should have included a single player mode. It's not all that exciting to shoot down enemy planes or tanks when they are just sitting ducks.

Great list !!!!!

My top game for the 2600: _Adventures of TRON_ by M-Network. It's a platformer. Collect 7 "bits" per level then exit via the I/O tower. What makes it unique is that there are few places of safety, but the enemies always move in a predictable way, so a lot of the game is getting behind the enemies for a moment of safety. I also love the "solar sailer" which can carry you over the heads of enemies on one of the platform levels. IMHO it's a 10/10 game, and I still play it frequently (in emulation).

I have 2600 disc for xbox. Play every day. Adventure, backgammon, target fun.

I like your list. You have some very good games in there which I would include in my list as well. Honestly, I don’t think I could pick a top 10. There are so many good titles.

Jungle Hunt and Artillery Duel are among my favorite 2600 games.

Nice list, I think Enduro and River Raid would make my Top 10.

I always wondered how they came up with Joust. Knights riding ostriches over a pit to hell that has hands that try to drag you in? Then I remember how much drug use was going on in the industry at the time and it all makes sense.

Megamania!! Played when i was a kid and still play it. Spider fighter is my number two for sure, so much fun!!