Atari Arcade Ports Worth Playing!

The Atari 2600 has dozens and dozens of arcade games ported to it. Many of them are still fun to play. So which ones are worth your time? Check it out...
Games Featured: Asteroids, Battlezone, Berzerk, Centipede, Commando, Crossbow, Crystal Castles, Defender II (Stargate), Dig Dug, Galaxian, Gravitar, Ikari Warriors, Joust, Jr. Pac-Man, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo, Kung Fu Master, Mario Bros., Millipede, Missile Command, Moon Patrol, Ms. Pac-Man, Pengo, Phoenix, Pole Position, Popeye, Q*bert, Road Runner, Space Invaders, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator, Star Wars: The Arcade Game, Super Breakout, Tapper, The Official Frogger, Track & Field, Vanguard, Warlords, Xenophobe
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[@kevin12567]

Moon Patrol has music that can be turned on with the left difficulty switch. In Vanguard, destroying the Gond takes zero-effort, but you get maximum points by waiting as long as possible while dodging its laser shots. I would wait until the barrier got close to the top and I had no more room to maneuver before letting my lasers loose on it.

[@GregsGameRoom]

Good plan. The Gond battle should be a bit more to it though.

[@kevin12567]

@@GregsGameRoom Agreed...the arcade version had two barriers at the top moving in opposite directions that could only be shot through when the holes lined up. I'm sure that could have been done in this port considering what was done with the mother ship in Phoenix.

[@SpiritOfBagheera]

I’d definitely have added Super Cobra and Wizard of Wor. They’re both excellent games. (Personally, I also love Zaxxon for the 2600 but could see where others might have problems with it…) Even still? Fun video.

[@tisztanlatas4562]

I Need the Atari 2600

[@GregsGameRoom]

Yes.

[@shaky6669]

All great ports. Have most of them on cart and a few Hacked versions as well. The Star Wars Trackball version is super fun to play!

[@GregsGameRoom]

so many great games, it’s a shame a few bad ones spoil the barrel.

[@SeanGrantstormpinball]

Another terrific video which brought back some great memories! There were a couple of other ones that I remember playing a lot. Parker Brothers did excellent ports of Amidar and Reactor. I would check them out if you get a chance. One of my absolute favorite 2600 games was the port of Solar Fox by CBS, a great, underrated arcade game, and a blast to play on the 2600. CBS did a great version of Gorf as well. I played a lot of the Parker Brothers Frogger, and didn't know there was another, better version, so thanks for making me aware of that! I agree with you on Kangaroo, Super Breakout (always had the coolest brick sounds, especially when you got it bouncing on the top!), Phoenix, Missile Command, Centipede and Vanguard, at the time those were great ports and I really enjoyed them! I never played the 2600 Track and Field, but I do remember Activision's Decathlon! Want to give your arm a work out? Try the 1500 meter race with the joystick! I remember having to switch arms a bunch of times! Finally, I would have to debate you on the best paddle game of all time! I would have to go with KABOOM! which is still a blast to play now, and uses the paddle controller's precision to absolute perfection. Warlords was great too! It was always incredible how you could do so much damage to your own castle if you didn't get your shield out of the way on a miss. I remember I would strategize sometimes to just let the ball take out one brick if I knew I was going to miss, so I wouldn't do more damage myself and maybe even wipe out my own king! When you first start learning that game, you kill your own king like half the time! :) Keep up the great work and I'll keep watching! :)

[@GetLostGames1]

I have a list of about 8 games on atari 2600 that I would consider some of the best games ever made on a list of 50 . Playstation 5 has 0 games. Just saying. Graphics aren’t anything. Berzerk is definitely on that list. The joystick always worked better than a dpad. I enjoyed watching this!

[@GregsGameRoom]

Gameplay is everything. Games today are little more than souped up Dragon’s Lairs.

[@CokerCulture]

These all look like they’d be a great time!

[@GregsGameRoom]

They are! More fun than most games today.

[@urbanknish]

Really great video and on the mark. The games you chose could be a playlist for almost anyone and you can't go wrong with any of them.

[@GregsGameRoom]

Yep, when someone asks “what are some great Atari games” point them to this video. ;-)

[@one7decimal2eight]

I never played the 2600 version of dig dug but had the 7800 version. They used the exact same spund effects for the 7800 ad they did for the 2600. Kind of like how they used the same music for both versions of double dragon.

[@GregsGameRoom]

Yeah same sound chip so they reused a lot of sounds.

[@MrEd20901]

Not sure all are worth playing butnsome good ones on the list, also a lot of ports i did t realize the 2600 had. I enjoy a number of 2 player non arcade games. They are fun, easy for anyone to pick up and play (skydiver, maze craze, armor ambush to name a few). Hard to play some of 2600 ports when there are better versions on other systems and in MAME.

[@GregsGameRoom]

Most of these do a good job replicating the original gameplay.

[@jacobwebb2623]

Great video! "Joust," "Kangaroo" and "Jungle hunt" were, and still are, some of my favorite games!

[@lorensims4846]

I dismissed the original Atari VCS when it came out because the graphics were so primitive compared to what I was used to in the arcades. Besides, I couldn't program it. I was into computers, especially computer graphics and animation, so I got an Atari 800. I used the games as graphics demos to figure out how they did that. I recently got my old 8-bit Atari computer stuff back after thirty years, and the Atari 400 I bought used for $20 because I always thought it was cute still works just like the day I bought it. I have several of these games for my computers, with much better graphics than the 2600 games. That Sega Star Trek is one of my disappointments. Yeah, the graphics look good, even better than they do on the 2600, but it's no match for Star Raiders, the best version of the classic Star Trek game I first played on an IBM System/34 minicomputer at work. I recent years I've come to understand that the 2600 games are still perfectly playable, even with the primitive graphics. Yeah, Centipede on my Atari 400 looks a lot more like the Arcade version, and adding the CX22 Track Pad really does improve the experience. When I got my Atari computers back I also got a 7800 game machine with a bunch of cartridges. That's when I first understood why the Flashback 7800 Mini I bought a few years ago includes so many 2600 games. My CX30 Paddle Controllers don't work right after all these years and the 7800 controllers don't work either, but Amazon has replacements that I can preorder for release in June. The CX30+ Paddles and CX78+ Gamepads are apparently for a new console due to be released in June. I'm guessing it's a 7800+. I already have the 7800 so I don't need the new console, but I'm looking forward to getting the controllers so I can play Super Breakout on my Atari 400 and all those game cartridges on my 7800. I'm really impressed with what programmers have done within the graphics limitations of the 2600. A lot of those games look really good! Of course they look even better on my Atari 400.

[@GregsGameRoom]

It was meant to play Pong and Tank (Combat.) The fact that it does anything beyond that is amazing.

[@braillynn4903]

Yo, if they do release a 7800+, I might have to grab one!

[@Boswd]

I'm with you Atari Space Invaders is the best version, just love it. Overall I don't think the game developers get enough credit from the public on their arcade ports, critics focus too much on the graphics and forget how incredible these guys were in making the game play so much fun. Game play IMHO trumps graphics. For example Qbert on the NES is almost arcade perfect in terms of graphics but the game play stinks mainly because of the dpad. Qbert on the 2600 is a joy to play despite it's paired back graphics. That seems to be a common theme. Focus on game play first and then do what you can with the graphics.

[@Matt-Rat]

I own Earthbound on SNES and you guys won't believe how I got it. I traded a loose copy of Shantae for Gameboy Color. I worked out a trade with someone on Facebook and he fixed the battery. It saves too. I was happy since I wanted to try Earthbound. It's still in my collection.

[@NEStalgia1985]

Military actually contracted battle zone machines for training exercises

[@NEStalgia1985]

Evil Otto looks mad today

[@patsfan4life]

Just played the Starpath version of Frogger and it’s really good, far better than even normal Frogger for Atari

[@kirkjerk]

You underplay Battlezone! I'd say fighting two tanks at once makes it more playable than the original. (Also actually modeling 3D instead "just don't look at the bullet then it won't hit you" makes it a psuedo-VR wonder in a way Robot Tank isn't)

[@ctg8563]

Opening music in video reminds me of LA Beast

[@rob_milstein]

Despite the TI994a having better specs, almost all games here on 2600 surpass the TI (with the exception of Popeyes, Dig Dug, Moon Patrol, Qbert and maybe Ms Pac-Man if it were faster)

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

For me last bronx was top then vf2. Sadly I never got to own megamix

[@NEStalgia1985]

I don't think they are ports worth playing they are ports that are straightforward and understandable

[@deljohn]

Moon Patrol Plus? Tell us more!

[@GregsGameRoom]

Hack used to be on AtariAge. Not sure where it is now. Just fixed the look of the sprites and rocks.

[@anthonym5395]

I'm pretty sure I know why Luther destroys the Gond. You ever hear his laugh? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaW3gIWaZa-Ciq8si=COMhw9J_cElpoqgv&t=24

[@GregsGameRoom]

Haha

[@johneygd]

Theres also a homebrew demo version of mariobros wich looks much better then the official one, Glad you didn’t put donkeykong jr in the list because that version was very lazy made, most levels with it’s layout don’t look like the arcade version,no items,poor graphics,what a utter shame conversion of it.

[@classicarcadeamusementpark4242]

"It's better than the arcade in nearly every way". I assume you have NEVER played the original coin-op Space Invaders arcade machine before. This is a common misconception with some people, especially those younger who were kids in the NES era that didn't grow up playing the arcade machine in the 70s like I did. So let me tell you, the arcade machine is superior in nearly every way! Unquestionably superior in it's audio/visuals. It is true Space Invaders for the Atari is what launched the system to the masses. I got mine just slightly before Space Invaders, but I only knew one other kid with one. After Space Invaders came to the Atari, almost everyone had an Atari. And the reason was....the Space Invaders arcade machine was a huge hit and everyone wanted to play it at home. Not because, the inferior Atari version was better. The Atari port was very good for the Atari's limited hardware, but no match for the arcade machine. One thing they did bring were some very good game variations that kept the game from getting boring too quickly after you played the game to death in it's regular configuration. Clearly, Atari didn't rush the programming of it like some of their other games like Pacman just to get it out the door as quickly as possible without any care figuring it will sell no matter how bad it is. They did Space Invaders right for what the Atari was capable of.

[@WinterInTheForest]

Didn't the original arcade machine have like a special screen which either colorized and/or created more of a 3D effect? I remember hearing something like that before. What you're saying makes sense, especially if that's true. There would be no comparison.

[@classicarcadeamusementpark4242]

@@WinterInTheForest Sort of. The Upright cabinet version of the game (the most common version found) had the monitor reflecting off a mirror. This gave it sort of a 3D effect and it was ghosted image appearance with black light artwork in the background too. They used theater style colored gels placed as strips over the monitor which gave it a unique color appearance. The monitor used was a b&w tube, which was brighter than a standard color monitor. The whole audio/visual appearance of the game really stood out. The TTL sounds were also hard to duplicate certain sounds in emulation and for home systems to reproduce, such as the Atari 2600. While the 2600 port was great for.....the 2600, and offered some unique level variations, there was really no comparison to the commonly found upright arcade machine. The arcade machine was vastly superior. It has to be seen to really be experienced.You can find them at many Retro Arcades today. Game play was similar, the audio/visuals were not.

[@SoulforSale]

Emulation is never accurate.

[@GregsGameRoom]

Nope. But it’s darn close.

[@SoulforSale]

@@GregsGameRoom sometimes...it's close