18 NES Games that Were Also on Atari 2600

[@theusher2893]

Lol, in the 2600 version of Rampage Ralph's name has an exclamation point, like the programmers were touting the fact that you could play him on the Atari and not the NES.

[@arcadedude1987]

I've been watching your videos lately and wanted to say that I really appreciate how natural and articulate you are when it comes to describing these games and how you feel about them. The footage and narration also lines up great and is super informative. Thanks for making these!

[@TheZelda360]

The Atari 2600 was way before my time but I have the Atari Flashback 9 I love collecting retro games and consoles

[@JohnRiggs]

Still some great games on it.

[@3ambreakbeats977]

Can that play carts and have hdmi and play 7800 games?

[@jadenstardust465]

If you haven't heard about it definitely look into getting a Retron 77 it lets you play Atari 2600 cartridges. Check out your local thrift shops or whatever before buying any games online though I've been lucky so far and I've been able to pick up some cartridges for a buck.

[@samos8367]

@@nintega_64 That isn't their fault. Atari doesn't own the rights to any of those games. Also, the Flashback consoles aren't even made by Atari. They are made by AtGames with licensing permission from Atari.

[@ilj1259]

A few more games that were on both Atari & Nes : California games, Commando, Spy Hunter, Galaga, Ghostbusters, Gyruss you could also include super hero games such as Spiderman superman and sports games but they are not really the same games.

[@demonsty]

galaga was not on 2600

[@reagandow850]

demonsty - it was Galaxian wasn’t it?

[@Colonel-Llama]

demonsty Both Galaxian and Galaga are on the 2600. The latter was released in 2019 as "Galagon" and is very close to the arcade.

[@demonsty]

@@Colonel-Llama no way! i gotta see that. cool!

[@demonsty]

@@reagandow850 yeah

[@TheRichFather]

I so loved Rampage on the 2600. I made it through the level cycle on one guy repeatedly back in the day.

[@brianjl7477]

I had a lot of the Nintendo games for Atari, well, Donkey Kong, DK Jr., and Mario Bros. I think Mario Bros. was a silver label game and my copy of DKJ was a red lable, but I think that was a re-release from the Coleco version. By the way, it did have three levels for DKJ (omitting the one with the spring board and the dive-bomning bird) - the DK cart did only have the two stages. They were all kind of rough but I played them all - I mean, it's what I had, right? Man, when that NES came out I was blown away!

[@KomradeMikhail]

More apt comparison between versions on both Atari 2600 and 5200... or even 7800. Considering that Atari themselves used the upgraded Pac-Man on 5200 to sell the new system.

[@humacao01]

I didnt know Kung Fu Master was on 2600.. That was my favorite game growing up, my only reason to tag along for laundry.

[@lolochump5550]

It is on both Atari 2600 & 7800.

[@humacao01]

Oh man I tell you one thing we really needed our imagination to make most of these work. Thank GOD for the manuals...

[@reagandow850]

humacao01 - but, that’s why we have good imagination bud todays kids. ;-)

[@davidaltieri1494]

What about the Tengen version of Ms. Pac-Man for the nes. It was great !

[@iangates8815]

i discovered klax on midway classics for the og xbox got addicted to playing that one . loved that midway classics mostly because of the hours of commentary from the game designers,about the history of the games. wish i could find a robo tron cabinet. cha ching baby ,my lid would flip.

[@astrotrance]

I love that Atari had the audacity in their advertising to act as if they could compete head-to-head with the NES, even claiming superiority, as in "who wants to play with a robot?"

[@nick6var]

Everyone, of course!

[@Trusteft]

While I never played most of these games on the 2600 or NES, I think the 2600 did a good job in most of them. Even Rampage. I mean, even had the helicopters flying in the background. That's attention to detail! Which yes the buildings lacked, but I am sure it was as fun.

[@atarileaf]

Awesome video. I'm both a big arcade fan as well as Atari and NES fan. Most of my NES games are actually arcade ports.

[@BrettWeissRetroGamer]

I love these kinds of comparison videos, and good to see Atari getting some attention.

[@JohnRiggs]

I didnt' get an NES until 1989 so my Atari was all I had.

[@BrettWeissRetroGamer]

@@JohnRiggs I got my NES Christmas of 1987. Present from my brother. I was 20 and still playing a lot of Atari, ColecoVision, Odyssey2 and Intellivision. :)

[@ArlieTheDrifter]

A lot of people say the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man was trash, which, yeah, it's a pretty shabby looking port... but I think it's the most Atari 2600-ish game there is. The simple look and more simple game design, the sounds, it reeks of that true essence of Atari gaming. I freakin' love it.

[@mellecompte4163]

Donkey Kong (as well as Jr and many other arcade ports) were made for the 2600 by Coleco, not Nintendo, as you stated. Nintendo was exclusively an arcade manufacturer at the time.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Yep. Coleco had licensed games from Nintendo and Sega back then.

[@junybuckles7927]

Thank you I've never seen that gaming historian episode. Great video I've started watching your channel in the past few days.

[@JohnRiggs]

It's one of his super old episodes (over 10 years old now!) but always stuck with me.

[@matthewford3447]

JohnRiggs Yeah it seems a lot of his videos seems to stick on to a lot of people for a long and I think it's due to the fact of how much time and effort he puts into his videos.

[@Colonel-Llama]

Those are some that i could think about. Some of these were released as homebrews on the 2600. Ghostbusters, Galaxian, Galaga, Mappy, Pooyan, Space Invaders, California Games, Road Runner, Track & Field, Boulder Dash

[@atarileaf]

Soy hunter and Super sprint appeared on both and if you count famicom there is also galaxian, space invaders, and pooyan. Also crazy climber appeared on both I believe

[@JohnRiggs]

oh, you're right! There was a Spy Hunter on Atari.

[@atarileaf]

@@JohnRiggs omg i just realized i wrote soy hunter 🤣😂

[@intel386DX]

Front line as well :)

[@bransonbenson9520]

@@atarileaf Soy Hunter sounds like a good game lol.."The lesser known Burger Time spin-off" lol😅😅

[@assemblyassembly]

Sigflup here, the limitations of the 2600 are actually pretty interesting and colors how much you appreciate some games on it. There was no frame buffer and no sprites. You literally drew the raster beam as it went down the screen

[@80s_Gamr]

"This is the NES version here"... Thanks! That version of was so close to the 2600 version I couldn't tell.

[@barttheraven]

Thanks John; this was exactly the video I was looking for. Been researching to eventually make my own homebrew.

[@barttheraven]

Good thing you didn't mention Super Pitfall.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME, Q*BERT! @#$*!

[@JohnRiggs]

!@#?@!! How could I. I feel terrible.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

@@JohnRiggs lol

[@johneygd]

Space invaders and galatic were also on both the nes & atari 2600, am glad i owned the nes as a kid.

[@stevesteve0521]

Man John just keeps putting out these great videos consistently. Thank you John I was a fan of you in metal Jesus when you talked about my favorite handhelds the Gameboy and now I’m a fan of your channel. Keep up the great work!

[@JohnRiggs]

I need to do a 'game boy' video soon, too.

[@stevesteve0521]

Looking forward to it👍

[@colinmcdonald2499]

Mario Brothers was one of my top 10 all time 2600 games. The physics of the ice blobs and frozen platforms is always omitted from videos like yours and that " Immortal" guy ( why is he immortal???) The levels with the Ice blobs were awesome!

[@gamebunkeradventures4575]

I really loved this mr Riggs! I had no idea some of these were on the 2600, I remember dig dug fondly as a young kid. Along with Enduro racer, river raid and combat it was one of my absolute favorites!

[@JohnRiggs]

I would play Dig Dug and dive through all the dirt so it'd just be a blank screen.

[@retrorewindllc9363]

Yes!!! love u for doing this vid bro!!! Nes Atari carts are my absolute fav!!!! So fun to try to find, play & collect or resale for the store & watch people go "wait,..what? This games on Atari too?!?!?"...... hahaha...love it!!!!!

[@0to62]

We also bought the 2600 in 1982, I was with my brother in the car and the 2600 was in my lap! it was like magic.. full joy and excitement!

[@SA77888]

5:53 That looks decent for 2600 9:49 Another decent one......a bit of ' limit pusher ' for the 2600 I would imagine. Could almost be a NES game.

[@ivanvargas2425]

Awesome vid. Never played a Atari and prob never will but it was cool to see the difference. Thx for the video.

[@funkydmunky5100]

Nintendo wasn't making games for Atari. Donkey Kong was a Colleco license and they produced the property.

[@thorstenguenther]

Nuntendo licensed the cinsole rights to Coleco, and the home computer rights to Atari, to be precise. So Atari wrote the 400/800 vesions of Donkey Kong, Donkey.Kong Junior and Mario Bros.

[@SvennyMcG]

Your channel is quickly becoming a favourite of mine to tune in to, so much great content Riggs. Unless I missed it - how about a 5200 vs NES or 7800 vs NES?

[@JohnRiggs]

Thanks buddy!

[@williamshores4882]

Forgot Track & Field, Othello, Ghostbusters, Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games, and Q*bert. Technically you can say Golf and Ice Hockey as well but if a KZbin video is much longer than 12 minutes, I might not watch it.

[@bonemasterd1]

This was a fun video. I hope you do another one. There are a few games for the Famicom you could mention. Galaxian, Crazy Climber, Front Line

[@JohnRiggs]

Totally!

[@MasterRoshi8974]

I love these games!!

[@Beizeiten78]

I actually love the PAC MAN and Donkey Kong ports on Atari, but solely for the nostalgia.

[@JohnRiggs]

same here.

[@jwbolin]

Qbert was on both for sure 👍

[@jNetDowling]

I just discovered your channel this morning, and I gotta say, this is the kinda content I am here for!

[@JohnRiggs]

Thanks! And welcome!!

[@PhantasyStarved]

Everyone hates on the Atari 5200, but back in the day I loved having really good-looking renditions of Dig Dug, Pac-Man, Pengo, Jungle Hunt etc etc.

[@johnholliday7042]

3:29 I was kinda curious here when you said according to lore but didn’t finish

[@replicant1027]

John Holliday I have a feeling he was going to say that Donkey Kong Jr is the current DK according to lore.

[@JohnRiggs]

@@replicant1027 Exactly that. Was going to mention that Cranky Kong in Donkey Kong Country was the original Donkey Kong which makes modern DK DKjr.

[@reagandow850]

John Holliday - me too!

[@Kai0nTheMoon]

I remember when my dad went to buy our Atari. It was an upgrade to the Coleco and Intellivision, which I had been playing. And when I got home with my mom, my dad, a man who never played a video game in his life before or since, was sitting there on the floor playing Pole Position for like two hours straight, refusing to give up the controller.

[@hektorlinko]

Awesome Video! I have just about all of these games except for the Burger Time for Atari. Love your channel Brother! I also live in the Seattle area so hope to bump into you one day and Metal Jesus and the rest of the Northwest Crew! A++++++=

[@kingvoxel6516]

No... 2600 DK Jr had 3 stages... it had the stage with the sparks.

[@JohnRiggs]

for the Atari?! oh man, I gotta go back and play it again.

[@nick6var]

Yup.

[@7thangelad586]

Cool showcase of games, Sir Riggs. I never owned an Atari but recognize some of the games from the C64 and IBM DOS days of gaming. Along those lines as a curiosity you should check out the DOS 3D reimagining of Pac-Man called 3-Demon. It was actually an awesome primitive game (and a little creepy to seven year old me!)

[@hualni]

I wish Wizard of Wor was ported to the NES. I loved the music on that game.

[@JohnRiggs]

Hell yeah!

[@theusher2893]

Wizard of Wor was fantastic!

[@bleirdo_dude]

Love the voice synthesis.

[@JohnHassink]

Now you mention it - strange that it was never ported to NES. Would have been a hit, and it could have been a very fine conversion.

[@danestegman155]

Good video! Nice comparing the NES versions to the Atari 2600 versions of the games!

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

True story: Rampage on 2600 was actually released AFTER the NES port. And yes, Klax was indeed the last officially licensed game released for the 2600, and yeah, it was PAL exclusive.

[@JohnRiggs]

oh wow! good to know!

[@intel386DX]

What about Acid drop and Save Marry? They are form 91 and 90 I think

[@topherwaters80]

intel386DX nah it was Klax

[@FIXTREME]

2:46 I cannot stress just how much I love gingerbread kong

[@gregoriocruz4530]

The Tengen version of Pacman was identical to the Namco one, as far as I could tell. Tengen released a superior version of Ms Pacman for the NES. Too back you didn't feature that one.

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Namco owned Tengen and Atari Games at the time. For all intents and purposes, Tengen Pacman IS Namco Pacman.

[@DCeric]

Yeah that's how I played MS Pacman on the NES the Tengen version was so awesome.

[@SlayerRunefrost]

I grew up with the 2600 version of pac-man and didn't see the arcade or NES version for many years and it seemed unfamiliar and strange to me.

[@Iraijus]

I really thought the Atari versions would be bad, but they seemed to be ok, actually. Just a lot blockier.

[@patsfan4life]

Iraija some played very well like Phoenix for example

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

Iraijus one has to bear in mind that the two consoles are a generation apart from each other. Also the Atari VCS/2600 was a fairly early second generation home video game console. Thus it's not likely to compare/contrast all that favorably to the third generation Nintendo NES, but it's games were mostly good for their time.

[@demonsty]

please make more of these. dont forget commando

[@tysonasaurus6392]

Dig Dug, Bump n Jump and Defender II on 2600 are pretty impressive visually

[@redhead6598]

Omission of Tengen Ms PAC Man. Better port of the arcade on NES.

[@SirGriefALot]

DigDug on the 7800 was pretty good, I don't know if I had ever seen this version.

[@DadRacer]

Great idea for a video!

[@pem1974]

You could pretty much say the same thing about *any* 2600 game... They get the job done! 😁

[@nrood3821]

as far as ive seen pacman has got released on most if not all systems. its a game that everyone likes to play

[@SweatpantsJoeSportsAndMore]

Commando got an Atari 2600 version

[@john2001plus]

Dig Dug on the 2600 is surprisingly entertaining.

[@IllmatikRebelTV]

The Atari 7800 had these games as well. But actually didn't know there was a 2600 version of Popeye. That's awesome

[@IllmatikRebelTV]

@Yurt Dweller I'll definitely check it out

[@youforget1000thingsaday]

I used to play Defender II at work. Miss it.

[@aguilerajohn]

LOVE that princess tomato in the background

[@Wheels8504]

Two fantastic consoles and video game companies. Too bad Atari stopped making consoles.

[@wisteela]

Klax was indeed the last game released in Europe. Space Invaders was on the Famicom only. I think it was because they thought it was too old to release for the NES.

[@MrMegaManFan]

3:31 Yeah I guess according to lore... what? You spliced it there and we have an unfinished thought.

[@caseyatethebat]

Me: Mom can we stop for pacman Mom: We have pacman at home Pacman at home: 1:01

[@bransonbenson9520]

Me at home:😭😭😭

[@teddybouka]

Atari pac-man was how I was first introduced to pac-man, loved it.

[@petewillson205]

I do remember perfering it to ms pacman on atari 2600 because of the speed it went. MsPacman was so much slower. But back in the 80s we never expected arcade perfect. Honestly nes got closer, but still wasn't arcade perfect with new arcade games in the nes life.

[@albdamned577]

I bet your 2600 review will include the phrase “it gets the job done”

[@chasewhite8798]

Thanks for the content, love these

[@Wajang1]

Donkey Kong remains a favorite from the past.

[@0oCHIRONo0]

The Sea Hag does appear in the NES version of Popeye. She comes out after the first loop when the game begins to repeat.

[@patsfan4life]

There’s a DK hack for the 2600 that turns the barrels into gingerbread men and Pauline into a Christmas gift..... fireballs are replaced by holiday gifts as well.....it’s quite fun!

[@JohnRiggs]

Ha! I love it.

[@livefreeprintguns]

Rare miss by leaving out Moon Patrol.

[@exactspace]

You didn't cheat on Dig-Dug! I rented it once for NES back in the day.

[@theannoyedmrfloyd3998]

Defender 2 aka Stargate, and on the 2600 appeared with both names.

[@intel386DX]

Yes and they got even title screens :)

[@Curtis.Carpenter]

Goodmorning John! Hope you and your wonderful family are safe and sound. your beard is looking fresh today my man!! I've myself grown a crazy mustache since I cant see normal ppl and thus cant be judged hahaahH

[@JohnRiggs]

Now's the time to experiment!!

[@bitwize]

It is the nineties and there is apparently still time for the Atari 2600!

[@TheBossOfProWrestling]

The 2600 version of Popeye did indeed have all three stages.

[@lucentv]

I know Commando was. I remember that being one of the games I bought with my allowance when KB Toys was clearing all the 2600 games for $5 each.

[@ammosophobia]

It is the nineties and there is time for Klax

[@paisleyboxers]

We were talking about videogames? I just kept staring at that handsome guy and his corona hair!

[@BillLambert]

I had these on the 8-bit Atari (400/800 series), and they looked a lot more like the NES versions than the 2600 versions.

[@exactspace]

Dig-Dug came out for the NES too. I remember renting it, and it was easy to master. I'm in the US.

[@samos8367]

It was never published for the NES. Perhaps it was the sequel, Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise?

[@GellyVelly]

I LOVE that Princess Tomato plaque!

[@JohnRiggs]

Thank you!

[@kingvoxel6516]

2600 Pacman that we got was NOT a prototype. I saw Todd Frye answer this question himself in a youtube video.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

Oh? So what was his excuse then lol?

[@kingvoxel6516]

@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism His excuse was he needed more ROM so he could reduce the flicker.

[@hyzenthlay7151]

You got Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-man, but forgot Jr. Pac-Man Defender II on Atari (Also called Stargate) is very good with a second controller, as you have smart bombs, warp, and invincibility mapped to the fire, up and down buttons of the second joystick. Lots of people made their own 3 button foot pedal for this. I personally made my own arcade joystick with the 3 buttons added in.

[@marcobrunello2040]

Great vid, but 2600 DK Jr has three levels. 2600 Popeye has all three levels also.

[@sam_64]

When your dad shows you video games.

[@K3nVV]

I knew of about half of these, but others I didn't, thanks, was interesting...

[@paulpjr3224]

Some of the games that were on both I enjoyed on the Atari so I skipped the NES versions of them and don't regret it. Two being Popeye and Defender. I have very fond memories of them. I actually might have had the world record of Defender because one day I was in a zone and didn't stop playing it because I wasn't dying so I went all the way to level 100 and I guess it just starts you back over to level 1 after 99. I gave up after getting there but my score was probably so high and back then there was no way to record it but I should of took a picture cause now no one would ever believe me. lol

[@Sinn0100]

I remember these games! The Nes did such a good job at really making those 2600 games pop. If I remember it right, the Nes version of Mrs. Pac Man is the only one other than the 2600 to feature everything on one screen. The Master System version might have better "graphics" (subjective) it did not look as good or arcade correct as the Nes. is the only

[@JPROP-vb7sv]

I owned digdug for the NES as a kid.

[@zackschilling4376]

The enemies in Double dragon 2600 look like Star Trek characters with their colored shirts.

[@razorpit]

Atari 2600 had a trackball for Centipede, Millipede and Missile Command!

[@beezle1976]

Is there a single game here that is a NES game? Theyre all games that are on both systems, but not a single one is a NES game.

[@donalddressen3038]

Defender 2 was my second ever NES game. Lots of time spent playing it. Actually played it the other day :).

[@scottlinux]

Great video thank you for this!