Ranking the 9 Atari VCS Release Games from 1977 | Nostalgia Galore!

Step back in time as we delve into the rich history of gaming with the Atari VCS! Join me as I take on the exciting challenge of ranking the nine original release games from 1977, capturing the essence of gaming's golden era. From iconic classics to hidden gems, we'll explore the entire lineup and determine which games have truly stood the test of time.
In this riveting video, we'll dive deep into each game, providing insightful commentary and analysis. Prepare to relive the thrill of arcade-style gaming right in the comfort of your own home! Whether you were a die-hard Atari fan or are simply curious about gaming's roots, this video promises to transport you to a bygone era.
Whether you're a seasoned gamer or just a casual observer, this video offers a unique opportunity to explore the birth of the gaming industry. So grab your favorite snack, settle into your comfiest chair, and prepare for a trip down memory lane as we rank the nine Atari VCS release games from 1977!
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00:00 The Premise
02:44 Number 9
04:07 Number 8
05:09 Number 7
06:05 Number 6
07:27 Number 5
08:41 Number 4
10:18 Number 3
11:38 Number 2
13:11 Number 1

[@adm712]

Younger generations will never know the joy of walking at that pick up counter at Toys R US, picking up these games and holding the box in anticipation in that station wagon ride home.

[@dansmith1661]

They won't know the sheer amazement of seeing a Toys R US and its perfectly organized aisles and walls of every game and system ever made.

[@PeBoVision]

I'd say the biggest loss to this generartion is never having turned on a computer to a blank screen and a flashing cursor, knowing that it would do whatever you could imagine! (and if your imagination sucked, there was free type-in software at the back of every computer magazine.) There is virtually no interactivity in a modern computer hobby today. (probably why so few people consider their modern computer a hobby) Back in the day, the hobby was why you bought a copmputer.

[@JTCT371]

It was awesome, wasn't it?

[@FastJimmyC]

Way better consoles and games to have that experience with though…

[@JTCT371]

@@FastJimmyC its a time period thing. Glad I lived through it.

[@snuf23]

Surround has a special place in my heart because it had the "video graffiti" mode, which allowed you to use the Atari as a rudimentary drawing program. A little over ten years later, I'd be using Photoshop as a professional graphic designer but it all started with the 2600.

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing!

[@kurtniekamp249]

Great story 😎 Prior to Atari 2600 we had an RCA Studio II and it had a rudimentary drawing game in that system as well

[@snuf23]

@@kurtniekamp249 I wasn't really familiar with the RCA Studio II until just this year, but what a cool early system! There was just something amazing about being able to draw on the TV as a kid.

[@kurtniekamp249]

@@snuf23 it’s been so long ago but my memory tells me it had a drawing program and a design program. On the design program after so many keyboard strokes it would repeat your design continuously.

[@sandal_thong8631]

They retired _Surround, Basic Math, Black Jack_ and Star Ship_ and they probably should have retired some others like _Street Racer_ and _Video Olympics_ that made the system look bad and took up shelf space. I think they updated _Black Jack_ into Casino. Combat should have been updated in 1981 for the same reason.

[@markracer3281]

Air-Sea Battle was and still is awesome and my number one pick as well... And yes, I'm a Gen-Boomer who lived and experienced the Atari 2600 from the beginning. I still own my CIB "Promotional Use Only - Not For Resale" 2600 from Sunnyvale, CA. Apparently, my father was on the west coast back in the Atari era heydays and decided to purchase a new Ford Mustang... As part of the purchase price, a free Atari 2600 came with the package and I still own it to this day... And yes, it still operational in all its glory... Thank you, Jon for the memories...🙂

[@Atari2600_Dude]

Solid rankings. I played a ton of air sea battle, surround and indy 500 back in the day as a kid. Younger generations will never know that just being able to control a dot on a TV was mind blowing back then.

[@10MARC]

Pretty accurate ratings, really. I would personally do Combat as #1, mainly because I played about a Zillion hours of it back in the day.

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's that nostalgia factor I was talking about at the end. Thanks for watching! 😀

[@jbponzi1]

A million hours, 2 minutes and 16 seconds at a time. Oh yeah, loved how the bomber reminded me of a crumbled cookie.

[@sandal_thong8631]

​I think if you played it a lot when you got it, (like _Pac-Man)_ then it was OK at the time, or maybe you didn't have anything else. I suppose the question is whether it stands the test of time. Probably _Armor Ambush_ and _Time Pilot_ would be two better games that together do what _Combat_ did.

[@seeulatergaming385]

For me, these games were magical as a kid. I would stare at the box art for hours and use my imagination while playing the game. We had to as 70s kids. I laugh when I hear comments like "ET is the worst game ever!". It tells me the persons age, and just reminds me how good I had it as a kid. Thanks for mentioning Street Racer! We played that game for hours at a time! See you at SFGE in a few weeks!

[@johnnyb4269]

I rented E.T. as a 9 year old kid in 1983 at the local video store & can confirm it was the worst game I played on Atari 2600.

[@JustMe99999]

I actually enjoyed the ET game as a kid. But then again, I also loved the Raiders of the Lost Ark game too.

[@sandal_thong8631]

_Raiders of the Lost Ark_ was the worst game that sold at least 1 million. I didn't buy it, but played it at someone's home in 1983. I never discovered anything on my own and couldn't win it until I got a walkthrough online. _Pac-Man_ and _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial_ vie for second place dishonors. I didn't buy _E.T._ in 1982, but played it at someone else's home in 1983. I played _E.T._ a few years ago and won 4 times before running out of energy. I'm not interested in playing _Pac-Man_ anymore, though I played it a lot when I got it in 1982. People say _E.T._ was the worst, but only those whose parents returned it to the store in 1982 can really say that with conviction. At the time I couldn't imagine asking my folks to take back an Atari cart. But if I thought they'd do it then maybe _Canyon Bomber_ or _Star Raiders?_ Instead I played them, but perhaps less frequently than others I had. I still haven't won the logbook challenge for _Canyon Bomber_ at Wizard level, and haven't won the hardest variation on _Star Raiders._

[@thedinobros1218]

I was a 2012er, my first game console was an Atari 7800 in 2017, I got super happy and still play.

[@d.aardent9382]

I was naming my first games i played on my Tele-Games as that was the questionnaire on the gaming group on facebook and i had Street Racer early on and played it quite a bit, but in looking at the game again on one of GenXGamer's videos, i was reminded of how primitive it was. I was thinking, " THIS is what i played for hours sometimes?!" Wild. But idk, there was something hypnotic or mesmerizing about the sounds r something i think i recall, that i liked the sounds were relaxing i think. My one friend would play it with me quite a bit, but we also played Target Fun and Combat mostly, oh and Adventure! Haunted House was always one of my faves also. As it was just so different. The ParkerBros carts i had was Spiderman, Empire Strikes Back-Hoth Battle and i think they did Reactor ,which was one of my other faves as it had great theme music. A bunch of Activision games i habitually played. Enduro and Laser Blast i had beat the highest scores and earned patches but i never sent off for them as i couldnt get a decent photo of the Enduro screen way back when. Lol i did get a image of Laser Blast screen with my Kodak instamatic. I had a couple of these double ended game cartridges, one was Mountain Climber r something and the other one was like approaching a haunted castle, kinda like Castlevania , but it had some great different levels that were unique to each one, had a completely different scene to do a new skill test of some kind. The mountain climbing game wasnt quite as good, but again had multiple different levels of completely different scenes of activity and different skills required. Alpine climber? Idk, i have to go look it up. It had a cool enemy, i think a Yeti that threw logs at you down the mountain as you had to traverse the pathways and jump over crevasses, but ya could duck into little caves along the way to escape the stuff being thrown down. It had a frozen section as ya reached the barren zone near the top of the mountain. Then i think ya started freezing to death if ya didnt get far enough along fast enough to get into a cave. Oh, i remember,you also slipped on the icy rocky trail if you didnt use your piton axe in a particular way, as youd slip backwards back down burning up the freezing timer. I think there was a mountain goat at some point ya had to fight or dodge, maybe im fabricating that in my old memory fragments. Lol Now, im intrigued again, and need to go look them up or actually play them!

[@tombstoneranch69]

One of the very best things about an atari cartridge was the catalogue books. I would drink in every illustration, imagine every world they were creating. I didn't care that it was a square on the screen, your imagination did the rest. I loved the artistic style. I still glance at those every so often, more often than I try and play any of those games, that's for sure.

[@GenXGrownUp]

It was an integral part of the experience for sure!

[@lucavercellotti9959]

Yes, me too

[@kins749]

Another vote for Combat at #1, great fun even now. I always like Surround too, at least you could play it one-player only.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Fair enough, and I understand why you'd choose Combat. Thanks for watching! 😀

[@ianswift3521]

for 1977 it's a no brainer. was unequalled at the time! it wasn't until '80 that we had Adventure!

[@jamesanthony8438]

And you could draw blocky pixel art on the screen with the "Video Graffiti" game mode on "Surround." =)

[@sandal_thong8631]

I liked _Tron_ in the arcade but they didn't port it, just the name and the disc arcade game. It had light cycles like Surround. If you knocked an opponent out, I'm told it erased all their lines, as well as a tie going to the player as the computer hit the wall. The A.I. in Surround was a bit funny as it sometimes circled itself. Mainly if you didn't go after it, then it would out-control you by making proper moves that didn't hit the walls. The speed-up version was difficult and once I found the logbook challenge in 2017 (that said you had to win 10-4 then 10-2 then 10-0) I finally did the last in 2020.

[@d.aardent9382]

I dont know how i missed the Surround game way back, when i got reminded of it the other day watching one of GXG's videos, and i thought "Oh yeah! Theres that game i forgot about trying to find" as I liked the similarity to the light cycles. I did have Maze Craze , which i would play for hours sometimes, Idk why exactly, it was another one of those games that i would just zone out to the sounds and strategy of things going on. Pinball was another good one for that. That and Blackjack were my moms favorites from the beginning, as she played the system nearly as much as i did, and id get mad when she'd play too long. Lol was like reversed roles r something. The blackjack game was something that my parents and i could all play together too. That was about the only one he'd play. Oh wait, i think he played Dragster with me sometimes.

[@stephens4175]

I grew up during the beginnings of the Atari 2600 and I love Air Sea battle and Indy 500 and Combat, those 3 alone were a great time for 2 people and a great video game time. loved this, keep up the great work, younger generations today don't know what it was like back then when this was a new idea and a big change from playing board games.

[@IuriFiedoruk]

I have to agree with Air Sea Battle as #1. That was a really fun game to play with friends.

[@gardengreatness1457]

I remember what a treat it was to play an arcade game. Then the Atari came out and kids were in line at stores to play the demos. We got ours a few years after the release of the system and we had the best Christmas ever. The whole family could play and it was awesome as new games came out seeing the improved graphics. We broke so many controllers that I lost count. This was just a magical time and you had to be there to appreciate it.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I tend to agree. Thanks for watching, Garden.

[@robintst]

My brothers were born in the early-70s so this is their generation of games but I was born in the early-80s (Xennial?) so I was raised on everything they were into, the first machine I ever played was their old ColecoVision which is still one of my favorites. I finally owned an Atari VCS way later on when I started collecting around 2001 and, yeah, there are some games that didn't age well but the really good ones still stand out, your top two picks are prime examples. I usually suggest to younger folks who don't quite get it to find a video that explains how the 2600 operates so as to understand why the games look the way they do because therein lies their charm. That the programmers of the day got that hardware to do anything different than what it was so rigidly designed for is a feat of pure technical wizardry when you know the limitations they were up against. Context is everything.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Yeah, just look at Odyssey² games that came out a year or so later. The sports games compare favorably to what Atari did in 1978, but in just a couple years the Atari got better and the other didn't. It's amazing someone made a port of _Popeye_ that could be played on it.

[@torigale8068]

As someone who was born far after the existence of the 2600 and even the NES, shortly after the first Playstation was released in the US, even i can appreciate the simplicity and charm of these games. Helps that various collections of Atari and Intellivision games on the PS2 built a lot of anachronistic nostalgia in me. In fact, my interest was enough that in my late preteens i actually bought a real 2600 at a yard sale and a bunch of games. Played it on an old period-accurate tv we had in storage. I still have that 2600 and im waiting for a moment i can pop some money down on a Harmony cart and some new controllers and run it through my vcr and retrotink. Miss the old crt tho. 😢

[@GamingTheSystems1]

I agree except for Surround. I would put it higher since it's basically the Tron Light Cycles. Yes, it was before the movie, but by the time I had the game, the movie was out. I actually spent most of my time plqying the drawing variation. It was cool to draw something on the TV screen. Yep, we didn't have much else to do in those days.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I'm seeing a lot of love for Surround in the comments. I must not have spent enough time with it to appreciate it the way you did. Thanks for watching, GTS!

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@GenXGrownUp It wasn't top-tier, and I can see why it was retired. But I too wish they'd ported _Tron_ with light cycles (and other 3 screens). I did finally win game 4 (speed-up) on A, 10-0 during the Pandemic. Maybe I won it as a kid, but I didn't know that was the challenge until 2017.

[@jayme69]

Great video Jon! I think Atari really knew what they were doing. There's Basic Math(s), the edutainment title to keep Mom happy, Blackjack for Dad, Video Olympics featuring coin-op classic Pong with a single player mode for little Timmy and either Combat or Air Sea Battle for your two player sibling rivalry needs :-) I think they're onto a winner with this ;-) Keep up the awesome work!

[@GenXGrownUp]

It is almost like they were ticking the boxes, isn't it? It just might be a hit! 😜

[@jamesanthony8438]

My father never really played our 2600 until we added "Asteroids," "Pole Position" and "Frogger." He loved those three. =)

[@sandal_thong8631]

The original Atari system came after the two-player generation 1 Pong systems, so they assumed two player games would hit, like Combat. Even Intellivision didn't program computer players in 1979-80, and when M-Network ported them in 1982, those versions were largely two-player as well. But starting in 1980 with _Space Invaders,_ consoles became for one-player games. Intellivision also came with _Poker and Black Jack,_ which couldn't be that fun for kids, but must have been targeted for the dad buying it!

[@jeremysensenig3990]

Thank you for giving these games some love and reminding me of all the game variants that I have forgotten over the years. For me the beauty of these games is that they are truly pick up and play. No need for pages of instructions, downloading of patches, overlays for controllers, no endless hours to get to checkpoints, no in game purchases, etc. Simply sit down with a friend (in the same room, gasp!) and enjoy some relaxing good times. Out of all the systems the 2600 and it’s controllers are a tank - no worries, just fun.

[@GenXGrownUp]

You're very welcome! 😀

[@matthewbarry4464]

I think your ranking is spot on. My sisters and I play through these titles daily for weeks when we dad bought the system when it first came out. The only games we didn't have were Basic Math and Star Ship. Considering there weren't a lot of single player games with the choices we had Blackjack became a go to game for playing alone. Our goal was to see how many chips over 1000 you could get since getting 1000 broke the bank.

[@lurkerrekrul]

My family's first video game console was a Sears branded Atari Video Pinball. My grandparents lived on the first floor of our two family house, so I was always around them, and one day my grandfather came home with this. I was aware of video games, but I don't think I'd ever actually played any before that. Being able to control what was happening on the screen was magical. For Christmas, my parents got me a Coleco Telstar Combat console, which was basically Combat. It never worked properly, the image was always messed up. Then they got me a Coleco Telstar Arcade console for my birthday. The pack-in cartridge never worked. They had gotten me a second cartridge and that one worked, but it didn't have any racing games on it, so I never got to use the steering wheel. And after a couple months, the light gun started registering hits no matter where you pointed it. Then my grandfather brought home a Sears branded Atari 2600 which had Air-Sea Battle (AKA Target fun) as the pack-in game. I loved it and would rush downstairs to play it with him any chance I got. The next game he bought was Combat, and I loved playing that as well. I think the third game he got was Street Racer, which wasn't bad, but Combat got played a lot more. I forget what order they were in, but I/we also had Surround, Video Olympics and many others. Eventually I got my own Atari 2600 and amassed a fairly large collection of games. These games may look primitive now, but without them, there wouldn't be any Call of Duty, or GTA:V. When I was little, Call of Duty was played with green plastic army men (you know, like the ones in the games), and our version of GTA was running around with toy guns, Note that this was back before being outside with a toy gun was likely to get you shot by the police.

[@joysticksnjukeboxes]

It's worth having original hardware just for Indy 500 and the driving controller. I remember those games in arcades back then and having it at home is still awesome.

[@sandal_thong8631]

_Indy 500_ was my number 1 game from 1977. Some of the other games made the Atari look bad. I didn't realize _Indy 500_ was from 1977, when I bought it in 1981! It's just too bad it didn't come with a one-player version with a car going around the track (slow on B, and faster on A). But then these were 2K ROMs. The ones at the arcade it was based on had that. It's also too bad they didn't make a sequel by 1983, or port _Tempest_ which used the same controllers, even if you had to get it by mail order through Atari Age magazine, like Crazy Climber. But since the controllers didn't come with the console, there was a disincentive to make more games that used them. I consider this one of the few racing games. I consider games like _Pole Position, Enduro, Night Driver_ and _Turbo_ to be "passing-traffic" games. Later they had _Auto Racing_ for the Intellivision and F-Zero for SNES, which are proper racing games.

[@Emceemur]

Love the play you ran here. A ranking vid is the perfect addition to your Atari content flow. And besides just that, it was very well done. I popped popcorn for this. At midnight 👍

[@GenXGrownUp]

Emceemur grabbing popcorn to watch your latest release? #lifegoals

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

Excellent list. Mine would be... 1. Video Olympics-love paddle games, 4-player! 2. Combat-nothing more needs to be said 3. Indy 500-favorite 2600 racing game These three are my top tier games, all excellent. 4. Air-Sea Battle-best with 2 players, but still fun solo 5. Star Ship-fun to just sit back and blow up targets Second tier, these are both really good games. 6. Surround-great fun with my 5 year old 7. Street Racer-fun to be had, especially multi-player Third tier, these are good, still fun. 8. Blackjack Fourth tier, occasionally in the mood for this. 9. Basic Math Fifth tier, but I still play it sometimes. Maybe I have a problem.

[@jbponzi1]

Younger me, who got a VCS for Christmas 1977. Any game we could get was awesome.

[@WilliamNeish]

For all the younger generations out there watching this video, this is the reason why we would play outside 8 to 10 hours a day. Didn’t need a public service announcement to get us outside to play everyday.

[@ranschuetz1]

I agree with your order. I like air-sea battle over combat, too. When anyone says that ET was the worse game ever, ask them if they ever saw Basic Math!

[@sandal_thong8631]

There are at least 50 worse games. The difference is that they didn't sell one or two million copies! Just think of all the dog food kids had to eat to send away for _Chase the Chuckwagon_ which doesn't even chase anything! That one was written in under a week. I think I'd have called in sick to at least give me a couple more days at home to come up with a design.

[@AudioGuyBrian]

Air Sea Battle by far. The Sub vs. Plane, 2 player game especially. I'll bet when that came out my friend and I played it every night, until 2am or so, for weeks, and weeks and weeks. Hundreds of hours. Great review.

[@violetmeteorz9805]

Though Atari games were well before my time (was born 1992), i have a deep appreciation for them. I grew up playing them on compilations and a couple of the Flashback consoles, and the more simple straightforward gameplay honestly appeals to me. As games are gradually becoming biggger and unwieldy for me, I find the pick up and play Atari games a breath of fresh air at times. And personally, I find the chunkier pixel art has a certain charm to it.

[@ButterSpider3]

Solid ranking. I played Indy 500 relentlessly. Even by myself. I would test my speed at going around the track. I also loved loved loved the ice track. But, my friends all hated it. So, most of that one was solo for me.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I finally beat wizard-level of _Indy 500_ (game 4 on difficulty B: 11 laps) without cheating in 2006, by perfect controls. Going through the walls you can win in 13 laps. Pro is 6 laps, Master is 8 laps.

[@theunwelcome]

I'm just a little younger here, I was born in '78; I didn't have the VCS or the 2600, I got into gaming with the 7800. Fun fact, kids, the 7800 could play 2600 games, they did backwards compatibility way before Playstation 2 did it! I had a few of these titles, I know I played the heck out of Combat, and didn't care much for Indy 500 (probably because I didn't have the controller, we probably got that one secondhand) but a lot of the 2600 games were still just as fun or sometimes more so than the 7800 titles; I could play Keystone Kapers, Pitfall, or Enduro for hours, but never did figure out any part of the infamous E.T. game!

[@lucavercellotti9959]

I still remember with love that distant 1977 winter, when the first color TV and the legendary VCS (wow, a Video Computer System in our hands!!) arrived at the home of a friend and neighbor of mine. How many hours spent with these rudimentary video games that to us, 7 year old children, seemed a super high-tech coming from the future, and in fact they wrote and profoundly influenced the future. I only had the black and white Pong console, at that time and the VCS was a real quantum leap. Then one or two years later I got the Mattel Intellivision, that was a leap in quality too. But these first games, you listed, will always remain in our hearts.

[@Shenanigans0409]

I imagine those same young people making a video like this going “Yes, Forkknife might be primitive and not what games are today, but this is what we had back in the day and we loved it.”

[@thetommygunshow]

The Atari was to us older folks as the PlayStation was to the those pesky Gen Zers.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Haha! You said it, not me!

[@matthewlane518]

Yep! Vcs was my first console

[@Mika73x2]

We did jump to this Atari 2600 train a little bit later at Finland. Remember we rent Atari 2600 and games from video stores early 80’s. After that also rent Colecovision and Vectrex. Many people also rent VHS player with movies. Remember games were Pole Position, Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Ms Pacman. And or course every neighborhood kids come to play and sit front of that wooden tv at floor. Yes. We had color. And then I return back to year 2023 watching this video at 100” and projector and still missing those early 80’s days so much. Sometimes less was more.😊

[@GenXGrownUp]

I honestly just wanna see what my video looks like on a 100" projection screen, Mika! 😀 I think it's funny that you felt the need to point out that yes, you did have color televisions. Ha!

[@Mika73x2]

@@GenXGrownUp Well.. Not everyone had color tv those days. When got Vic20 early 80’s it arrive with small B/W portable tv. And with C64 used Philips green monitor. Colors actually arrived to computers when got Amiga 1000. And it’s strange because those Atari 2600 and Colecovision were connected to color tv at living room. Also at school computer club we had those big wooden B/W tvs school give to our use and it was difficult with Aztec Challenge piranha level when water and piranhas look totally same at B/W tv. You did just suddenly die.. Well.. First level where you run to pyramid was best anyway.. So who cares.. :-) But if managed get swimming lever.. You just die and then you die again.. :D

[@Real_Sgt_Tom]

I had the Coleco Gemeni system that came with Donkey Kong and Venture as packins...those were great as a first time game owner growing up.

[@dennisaylen813]

I remember my dad calling me from the garage to come help him bring some stuff out of the car. He opened the trunk and that big atari box was there with the huge "Video Computer System" letters. I remember looking at the black kid with his 70s afro and his amazed look at the center of the box art, surrounded by game screens from different games. I was surprised and did not know what to expect. Why is he so excited? We had PONG but I never heard about Atari until then. Needless to say I was hooked. Played the crap out of Combat, Pac-Man, Indy 500 and Space Invaders.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing!

[@jeromesppd1383]

I love the 2600 more now than when I got mine for Christmas long ago...

[@MrLoretano77]

Absolutely spot on the mere fact that I could control what moves on the TV was fascinating to me. I would play combat by just driving the tank around and that was fun for me. I loved it. We got our Atari on 1981 for Space Invaders. I was 4 years old and I still Plat that same 6 switcher I had back then.

[@DarksladeDiaries]

The first person in my family ever to have an Atari VCS was my sister. She got it the week it came out in 1977 (I was 20 and living at home) and she called us to come to her house to see it, and it was amazing and the game she had on was blackjack. We must have played that game for 3 hours and it was so much fun. So if you weren't there when the machine first came out, you wouldn't understand the visceral thrill of being able to play that game and how much fun it actually was. It wasn't much to look at, but at the time, there wasn't that much to see anyway. Incidentally, air sea battle is my favorite of the launch titles as well. I've pretty.much always been a solo game player, so Combat didn't appeal to me unless I had a friend over.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

This is a great video John. My favorite game on this list was a toss up between Combat and Air Sea Battle as well. But, at the end of the day I'd go with Combat as my favorite on your list.

[@xfaktur2261]

Indy 500 will always be a great game, I'm old enough to have played the arcade version of it too which was even better.

[@doctorweile]

I never had an Atari, but started up with a VIC-20. What the younger generation will never understand, is that the users imagination had to fill out the gaps where the graphics fell short.

[@CyberKnight1]

One of the things I loved about these games was how many variants there were on a single cartridge. You weren't just getting Pong, but fifty different variations that, sure, all had a similar theme (two sets of paddles knocking a ball back and forth) but played differently enough to almost be entirely different games. I never had Air Sea Battle, so Combat is an easy #1 for me. The Biplanes vs. Bomber variant was a favorite for my brother and me, just because it was so silly to us as kids having three little planes beating up on the big fat one (it was always a lopsided match every time we played).

[@Sourdust]

Lots of people saying "what the youngsters don't understand is..." But thank you for reminding me that what I AM old enough to understand BUT KEEP FORGETTING is that in the 1970s, videogaming was a family / social activity. For me, it was squatting on the lounge floor with my little bro playing our Binatone "Pong" console - we weren't allowed Atari! As I moved into teens and adulthood, I kept on gaming but it became a strictly solo pursuit; I had other hobbies that were social, but videogames were "Me Time". That still holds 40 years later. As such, I can get very little fun out of "Combat" and "Air Sea Battle", and am thankful for games like "Indy 500" and the AI modes (however limited) of "Video Olympics" to give me my "route in" to early Atari gaming.

[@Orschd]

I loved "Vanguard" from 1981. It was the first 2600-Game with a "Continue"-Feature. It had only four levels (Side-scrolling or Up-down). but when you mastered them, the game starts over and becomes harder. Nice Sounds too.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I have a soft spot for Vanguard. I particularly liked the little "worm" enemies that you could either shoot or ride (as I recall), but if you timed it right you could shoot them and then ride them by touching their explosion.

[@Orschd]

I do remember something almost similar, but i never tried it out in my days as a little boy. Seems like a good day to get the Atari from the cellar, and yes...play Vanguard! If this works, you made my day, Sir!

[@sandal_thong8631]

I couldn't get through to the third Gond, it was just too fast with too little control to get you past the barriers on your way up.

[@BBfanfun]

it really was an other age. i remember walking thru the Sears TV section with my parents & seeing the Atari VCS store display ! ... then the IntelliVision. then the ColecoVision. the first years where about getting the VCS into the Home, rather than dedicated Pong variations. it was also before Color TVs & Cable became the norm. waaaay before VCRs too.

[@Studeb]

Damn, I think we had Air Sea Battle, the memory is so fuzzy it's almost like a dream. I didn't think I had forgotten any games I had and played in my whole life, now this makes me feel even older.

[@thedinobros1218]

I am one of the younger viewers (2012), I got the Atari 7800 when I was 5 and I immediately fell in love with it. I have Food Fight, Pac-Man, Basketball, Frogger, Q*bert, Adventure, Combat, Dodge ‘Em, Haunted House, Maze Craze, Missile Command, RealSports Volleyball, Surround, Video Pinball, and Yars’ Revenge.

[@johnenoch6222]

Awesome job John. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Speaking of memory lane, I have now memory of the the Math game. Looks like I didn’t miss anything. Combat was great. I thought outlaw was a launch title as well. Good list!

[@sandal_thong8631]

No, _Outlaw_ just looks primitive. Odyssey² had a shooter like _Outlaw_ too. That system made some better games than Atari's 1977-1978 games, but it didn't get any better with age.

[@gjosoeph]

My dad and I used to play air sea battle like crazy! Thank you for bringing back such memories. The 2600 is such warm memories for me

[@GenXGrownUp]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@smallspacearcade8158]

Each time I see a video like this I do go and look at the various Flash Backs and hover over the purchase button. 😊

[@GenXGrownUp]

I get that.

[@Celebok]

Great video! This was my first time coming across a video that even mentioned the original Atari 2600 launch titles, and I never really knew which ones they were until now. I didn't actually get an Atari until 1981. But what's really interesting, particularly about your debate of Combat vs. Air-Sea Battle, is that my Combat cartridge, which I guess was included with all Atari 2600 consoles sold at the time, was actually Air-Sea Battle, even though the cartridge was labeled Combat! So I ended up with Air-Sea Battle instead of Combat, due to somebody's packaging mistake! But the thing is, I loved it! I was already pretty bored with Combat from playing it at other friends' houses, but Air-Sea Battle was one that nobody else had, so it was fun playing something new. (And I only knew it was Air-Sea Battle because I had memorized the catalog.)

[@vjhernandez13]

One of my recent joys was watching my 5 year old nephew have an absolute blast playing Air-Sea Battle (on Atari Anniversary for Switch). He's been exposed to today's games, but he enjoyed Air-Sea Battle's absolute simplicity. He recognized all the graphics and was using his imagination to enhance his experience. He played for at least an hour straight before we had to pull him away!

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's great!

[@TomMannCenturia]

Enjoying your Atari ranking videos, not too many I've disagreed with! Lots of nostalgia for the 2600, we were relatively late to it with the Vader. So many fond memories of it, many thanks.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@possumgrits825]

This was fun. I think you nailed the #1 spot. It's still my favorite 2 player game on the system.

[@beerhammer1881]

Awesome video, brought me back to that amazing era! I would have put combat at #1 but it was very close, played a lot of air sea battle as well!

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thanks for watching! 😀

[@Ste743]

Love this! We got the Sears telegame/2600 for Christmas 1978. This hit the nostalgia button. Still have my heavy sixer I remember Indy 500, Combat, breakout, air sea battle, space wars, etc.. I like your top 9 and reasoning. As I look at your list I see my favorites. To me, combat and Indy 500 came in ahead of air sea battle. For me, blackjack was #1 because it was the game that my dad would also play. Like I said, your list is solid and it’s funny how our experiences affect our rankings. Great video- thanks

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thanks for watching!

[@dawnmitchell8213]

Young kids don’t understand the hardware limitations of computers from that era so they’ll never understand the amazement of it. All they have to compare it to is todays damn near realism graphics.

[@daviddahlstrom192]

I thought the ranking here was pretty much spot on. I was there when these titles were released and I have to say that even at the time I found this first batch of games limited in replay value and quickly boring in much the same way Pong was, though with a second player around (what we would call local co-op today), they could be a blast for a little while. I played most of these at a friends house and would have loved to have had a VCS at home, but they were expensive and I recall being worried that my parents would be upset if they got one for me and I ended up not using it very much. That's how lackluster I saw these games, especially without a second player. It wasn't until the second wave of games that included great single player gameplay like Adventure, Superman, and Space Invaders that this concern went away, leading to my parents getting one for me, and concerns about play time being reversed! The only one of these games that I ever got for myself was Air-Sea Battle, with the rest being totally meh--even back then.

[@Minuy600]

As someone who's become deeply interested in playing and reviewing 2600 games, I really like that a video like this exists, see the opinions of someone else who knows a lot more about actually experiencing this early era of video games firsthand. As for me, a 22 year old who started out with the GBA and slowly worked his way BACK, here's my personal ranking: 9. Basic Math 8. Street Racer 7. Indy 500 (no steering controller or a second player like you warned about!) 6. Star Ship 5. Blackjack (I found it very addictive) 4. Surround (the doodle mode really elevated it, decent multiplayer affair otherwise) 3. Air-Sea Battle (visually the second best and had the most intrigue to me as the very first title alphabetically) 2. Combat (Multiplayer-only hurts it a bit) 1. Video Olympics (mostly because of the amount of modes implemented and being derived off of a concept that always worked, Pong) Excited to binge more videos later!

[@nickatmacomb8965]

I am loving all of this 2600 coverage! Keep it up please.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thanks, Nick. I'm doing my best. Keep watching and tell 100 friends to do the same! 😉

[@brendanl0711]

You absolutely nailed this list. I agree 100% at putting Air-Sea Battle at number one

[@zyllofmitain]

Yup I played Air Sea Battle far more than any other game on the VCS. So much versatility in the game play, both my sister and I had our favorite game options. I loved that the different targets had different point values.

[@Incense3]

Star Ship! I played this so much because I had no idea what little me was doing. I remember feeling uneasy about that low hum in the background and loved when I actually got rid of the “round checkerboard guy” because it was so hard for me to line that one up in the crosshairs. I think I need to try this again on my retropie.

[@user-hd5nn5ln6o]

if i had to be serious for a minute, i would say that Indy 500 is my favorite Atari 2600 game of 1977. i like racing games, city builders, tycoon games, simulation games, level editors, RPG Maker, other game creation software such as "Dreams" for the ps4 and "Game Builder Garage" on the Nintendo Switch.

[@EarmonkeyMusic]

There's definitely truth in people loving the stuff they grew up with. I think a couple of these games still have high replay value while others might be best forgotten. Combat and Air-Sea Battle are still a lot of fun with a friend and it's hard to pick one over the other. I never had Indy Car back in the day but got it recently with the driving controllers and it's pretty fun too. Kind of like Sprint in the arcades which I liked.

[@slimtimm1]

Dude your enunciation and pronunciation are just wonderful in a day of upspeak and vocal fry! Keep it up. I'm a Gen. Zer too btw

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thank you for the kind words, Tim. I spent a good chunk of my career working in broadcast (mostly behind the scenes) where I learned from a parade of amazing on-air talent. It's nice to hear that some of those good habits must have rubbed off on me to some degree! 😀

[@slimtimm1]

@@GenXGrownUp They definitely did! Keep up the great work. Just recently found you. Had a heavy sixer as a kid and TOTALLY wore it out lol Take care buddy

[@toms781]

Fantastic box art on many of these.

[@jfunk513]

I had Target Fun as a kid, I still play Air Sea Battle to this day it is one of my favorites.

[@Psmitty97]

Remember playing Indy 500 with the ice tracks, your car would slip around the track. Also would say that Air-Sea Battle was my favorite of the launch games. Really loved Combat as well

[@salzmancreek]

WELL DONE!!!!!

[@LUIS-iq5zi]

First love the work you do I am 52 and just glad some one from out generation can be so knowledgeable and some one bringing all these great games to light from the 80's and early 90's and in my opinion when games were games!! Do you know any systems that just have atari and or Activision games that we love?? Thanks and keep doing what your doing!! Lou in Tampa, Fla

[@PtolemyJones]

I used to sneak into the Gemco to play Atari 2600 games, and I loved them, but I still know that I wouldn't want to go back play them, having seen how far things have come. they were awesome because at the time, they were the best there was.

[@MannyCakes1984]

Great video Jon. As a kid whose first console was a NES, I certainly didn’t appreciate these Atari games until I was much older.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Understandable. For us, it was what we had and we learned to love it (or leave it). Today, the rudimentary appearance is enough to chase away enough people before they even give it a chance. Thanks for watching, Manny!

[@pedroruiz3943]

I just got the Atari Gamestation Pro this past Christmas and I am elated to play Pong, Combat and Air Sea Battle. I grew up a bit later with gaming in '87 with my first console (7800) and I got to play some really fun 2600 games on it because of backwards compatibility. But I missed out on the really cool earlier launch titles. And yes, my 13 yr old son can appreciate some of these, especially Combat!

[@markpatterson4112]

Before the atari launch titles I had Pong. We need to remember the context. We thought these games were a big jump forward

[@morbidsnails1913]

My system came with came with Combat and I also got Indy 500, a wonderful Xmas 😁

[@Ampersand100]

Pretty good ranking. I've always loved all the different sound effects in Air-Sea Battle...early computer audio goodness. :-)

[@GenXGrownUp]

No kidding! Those crunchy explosions especially.

[@knightrdrx]

Yes I grew up playing Street Racer and Combat all the time. It was fun.

[@wisteela]

Great guide. I need to find some driving controllers for my Indy 500.

[@nuggetprich7069]

You convinced me. "Air-Sea Battle" should be number one!

[@claptrap4084]

I guess you could say i fit into the younger category. Im 32, was born in 1992 and we had the NES and SNES at about the same time and the first game i ever played was Link to the Past. But for many years now ive always been more fascinated with retro gaming as opposed to modern gaming, for the most part i play an N64 and i even ordered an Atari 2600 a little over a week ago with a few games (i got Asteroids with it because that was always my favorite arcade game)

[@anactualmotherbear]

I'm a younger gen-Xer (43,) but I was still stuck with seeing Atari 2600 games for the first six years of my life because Nintendo would not have their nation-wide launch of the NES until late 1986. During those six years, I mostly experienced a post-crash Atari (I would be three years old during the crash,) but just because the sales were dropping doesn't mean Atari just disappeared. Because they were being sold off and games were in bargain bins I actually knew TONS of kids with Atari consoles and games. I was too young to experience the launch, but old enough to be introduced to home gaming with the Atari VCS. There were some rare moments where I saw an Intellivision being sold by a desperate salesman, and my mom's friend had a ColecoVision which blew me away at the time (pre-NES,) but I mostly saw Atari games. Sadly, I never got to have a game console of my own until 1990, even when "the fun was back" and Atari Jr was being sold for $49.99. Lots of kids got an Atari during that time though, and it was sitting there right next to their NES consoles. Once I had my fill of Super Mario Bros I would ask them to let me play the Atari.

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's a true silver lining of the North American crash that I have heard from several guests & viewers. While it was a decline for corporations, it put clearance & discount Atari consoles and games in the hands of millions more kids for whom access to those games was previously out of reach.

[@maztr_0n81]

As a, hopefully fairly young person who once got the flashback plug and plays as a kid, i see a charm in the atari games that i feel like might be a forever niche, it almost reminds me of Flash Games in a way, like a less advanced version of those. And i think thats timeless.

[@OakCityGamers]

This is probably the first time I’ve been watching a video, and thought about looking into USB jog wheels for emulation

[@ctbinary42]

Didn’t have Air/Sea Battle so I can’t argue with you. Combat was my go to until more games came out

[@GenXGrownUp]

And a respectable choice, Combat. 😀

[@JB-js4xi]

Interesting but that wasn't my experience back then. I realize you're grading this today. But back then...Pong was number one...no more quarters spent and tons of options on the cart from single player on. Combat was 2nd in my opinion only because there's no single player. Everyone loved Combat. And everyone could play it from small kid to grandparents and nothing was better than blasting your opponent off the screen so hard they flew back in on the other side. Maybe we weren't used to MUCH back then but that was highly entertaining. I was 7 in 1977. Pong and Combat never got old through the life of the system til now. From '77 til '88 I only had about five or six games. By the early 90s you could buy them used at almost every yard sale so that was when I ended up with a massive collection. Great video.

[@fionagibson3314]

I remember playing combat and air sea battle against friends and family and having alot of fun and arguments.

[@legendsflashback]

Great video

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching.

[@stewbacca2119]

I didn't' get a 2600 until late in 82, and then when the bust happened in 83 my father declared game consoles were a scam, so I never even knew what the pack in titles were. The only one I played in this list was Combat, which of course I loved. I need to go and play the remaining titles again and see what I think now. Except maybe Calculator, that's one I don't feel like first hand experience will help. Another great video, keep 'em comin!!

[@GenXGrownUp]

What? You're gonna skip "Fun with Numbers?" BLASPHEMER! 😜 Thanks for watching, and for your legendary support, Stew.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Funny, but generation 1 consoles had limited games included, so once you were bored, then you had to get a new console. Atari came out in 1977 and its competitors Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1979-80, and ColecoVision in 1982. Maybe he thought generation 2 consoles were a scam because he bought the cheapest one still in stores in 1982, while better models with better games were available. Also Commodore, Atari and Apple II home computers were becoming a thing for several years, and most had better-looking games and ports of arcade games than the Atari. Or he got Atari 2600 _Pac-Man_ and hated it!

[@ShadeofJeremy]

This was fun. I must say I agree with you for the most part. I might rank Surround one place higher personally. Just for the art mode. It's kinda like an Etch-A_Sketch and I do love to draw. I also haven't enough experience with all of the launch titles. I need to do something about that soon.

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

Combat was the Monopoly of Atari games for me, i.e. the one I loved but had a terrible time convincing others to play. I thought that I was its only fan.

[@DavpaCoX]

While I don't disagree with Basic Math at the bottom of a gaming list, I do have to say that I "played" it a lot. That cart was my flash cards, learning my times tables and just getting faster at doing basic math in my head without having to stop and think about it. It wasn't fun but it was such a helpful tool for me at 5 years old in 1977.

[@TheBigScat]

I jumped in to the 2600 a year or two after launch, when Space Invaders and Asteroids had been ported over and it felt like the system had "real games." Yes, there's a bit of nostalgia in play here, but it's important to keep in mind that there was an arcade mentality at the time. Games weren't deep experiences. It was more or less a single concept that ramped up the speed and/or enemy challenges until you couldn't hack it anymore. It was all about chasing high scores. Forty-five years later, I can still say that, with the possible exception of the original Wii Sports, I've never had multi-player fun like I did playing the 2600 on Saturday nights with my friend Bob in his basement, my 2600 hooked up to his behemoth console color TV. Great times!

[@jamesanthony8438]

I enjoyed "Surround" and the video picture drawing mode on it =)

[@MaximumRD]

Some solid choices for sure.

[@FreihEitner]

I thought my cousin had almost all Atari 2600 games back in the day. Never knew that Surround existed. We would have crapped ourselves for this game back then!

[@astra6712]

Atari 2600 is the king of joy. Kaboom! Space jockey, space invaders, pac man, pole position. Just faves that gave endless joy. I remember playing them with biological mother and father and those were some great memories. Games all over the lounge room floor playing until 9pm trying to outcompete each other’s high scores. Young people don’t know 💩.

[@Cukito4]

I never had more fun than playing against a friend in Maze Craze.

[@leemp8352]

Cool video, i got my Atari2600 in its 2nd gen plastic guise so much fun, Mario,Crystal Castles,River Raid,Cowboy shootout,Centipide,Qbert,Fatal run the list goes on

[@GenXGrownUp]

Very cool!

[@TheMightyOmega-NotTheAlpha]

I’m a little younger than the 2600, but not by much. My first memory of video games is playing on my brother’s Vectrex and Timex Sinclair 2068 computer. I still like a lot of 2600 games, there were still plenty around when I was little.

[@brantnuttall]

only ever had Combat from these. I really enjoyed it and it's nice to know it was one of the better launch titles.