Phoenix vs Demon Attack on the Atari 2600

Which 2600 classic space shooter is better Phoenix or Demon Attack? Please comment and subscribe to the channel if you enjoy the video:)
Direct link to the 2600-dapter website 2600-daptor.com/
Link to Atari Age Forum to learn more about the 2600-daptor
forums.atariage.com/topic/181...

[@sotheresthat7882]

I was obsessed with Phoenix when I was a little kid; I freaked out when the 2600 version came out.

[@adroharv5140]

I actually prefer the 2600 version of Phoenix over the excellent arcade version. Demon Attack is quite a different game really but it's an absolutely flippin astonishingly good game. If I had to choose one then it would absolutely have to be Demon Attack but both are good choices and I enjoy playing them still

[@jeffdavis6657]

Growing up playing Atari, and learning about computers when older, I am impressed at what the programmers of that time were able to create with such low memory to work with.

[@walterchapman2094]

And in such a short period of time to do it in.

[@KabukiKid]

Demon Attack is easily one of my favorite games on the 2600. Fantastic game! :-D

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great review! Two of my favoutite games on the Atari 2600

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for commenting 🙂

[@Anthony-qt8wv]

I had both and love both. I don't think i can pick one over the other. Phoenix the arcade game I played it so much and really loved it and so did my family. Demon attack was such a simple but cool game. I loved no matter how far i got in Demon attack it changed up the ships and got harder.

[@fredWaxBeans11111]

I always liked the flying vacuum cleaners 😁 8:16

[@kins749]

Both are great games. But Phoenix all day long

[@LeoMidori]

Never played Demon Attack, but the extra modes seem to give it a lot of longevity for having a variety of gameplay approaches. On the other hand, Phoenix does have some depth to its built in five waves that Demon Attack seems to lack, even if the loop is effectively the same over and over. I will say that Phoenix does suffer from one thing; it's really easy to activate your shield by pressing down on the joystick, so it goes from a neat strategic feature to something that can screw your game up with an old, stiff joystick. I'm only giving my mild tip towards Phoenix simply because I've never played Demon Attack myself, but people speak highly of it.

[@ShawnRecinto]

i remember playing Demon Attack on my uncles Intelivision waaay back then. that game was amazing, i remember getting stoked when you flew up to fight the mother ship

[@seth8629]

Demon Attack was the shit!

[@sprrwhwk1]

Phoenix has the boss battle but the enemy sprites and movement are better with Demon Attack. Demon Attack wins IMHO

[@Alex_Valentine]

I second the notion.

[@chrishensley5384]

I love Demon Attack!

[@plaztik767]

Demon attack

[@SpecialAgentEBunny]

Demon Attack is fantastic. Haven’t heard played Phoenix, but it looks fun.

[@rickfalk9319]

That was great man! I am also biased and Phoenix wins for me...I didn't have Demon Attack back in the day but I have played it now and it is pretty awesome. Great video!!

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Thanks Rick I really appreciate it.

[@metal--babble346]

the Tandy-1000 had an awesome Demon Attack. The game Dragonfire on that system was the best version made.

[@TobeyStarburst]

Love both

[@andychamplin]

I have never played Phoenix. Demon Attack was my first game I ever played.

[@toryshropshire543]

I have to give demon attack my vote. Both are great though

[@fourthhorseman4531]

I can't say why, but Phoenix held my attention longer than Demon Attack back in the day. Demon Attack definitely looks better, though.

[@MrKroogur]

Phoenix!!!! 😀😀 I could never get too invested in Demon Attack I tried I really did.

[@pixelsncreatures]

I had those dinosaurs too. I think they glued gi joe skystriker parts on it

[@Guernicaman]

For me, what gives 'Demon Attack' the edge is the gameplay & the "music". The latter gives the gameplay a sense of foreboding & dread, especially as the game ramps up in difficulty & enemies start to split up & become unpredictable.

[@nickatmacomb8965]

Great video buddy. I loved Phoenix as a kid so much in the arcade and on the Commodore 64. I didn't discover demon attack until I was an adult. But they are both great games

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Thanks so much for your kind words. I remember playing Phoenix but when I think back to the early 80s I was badly addicted to Donkey Kong at that time.

[@honved_77]

Phoenix (arcade) was my very first game ever played and I find it intolerable that the Atari version replaced the player's spaceship with a headless plucked chicken. So, between Chicken Attack and Demon Attack my vote goes to the latter.

[@Freejack1971]

I hated that Phoenix had your spaceship on the ground. Atari Galaxian also kind of did that by putting a border around the game. At least the ship in Megamania was just a little bit above the bottom so at least you had the appearance of flight. I give Demon Attack a pass for this since this wasn't an arcade port, and I treated it like a Space Invaders clone.

[@sidneyvandykeii3169]

I played a lot of both games. I definitely prefer Demon Attack, but Phoenix was a good game.

[@AegisPupus]

Demon attack was the only game worth having on the Atari imho.

[@TimJCOOL-ng8pu]

Solar fox was good.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

I did not have Phoenix as a kid, but I have played it a fair amount as an adult. I had Demon Attack as a kid, but I did not play it a whole lot. In fact, the only other Imagic game I had, Cosmic Ark, got exponentially more play time.

[@jimlane1100]

I agree with Demon Attack as the winner

[@walterchapman2094]

I like demon attack better between the two. However, I prefer the 2600 version of Galaxian over demon attack. Spider Fighter is real good too.

[@Gen-X-Memories]

The arcade Galaxian was one of my favorite games when it came out. The 2600 version of Galaxian was a good port but one thing about it always bothered me. I wish Atari would have put in the extra time to keep the two boss enemies at the top of the formation the same as the arcade version. In the 2600 version they look the same as the other enemies except for the color difference. Thanks for commenting I appreciate it:)

[@astra6712]

Phoenix Always 👍🥰

[@woollymammothinspace]

Man, I don't know. I love both. I am leaning toward Demon Attack. But.....Man, I just don't know. I've played both since the 80's. And love them both. I do find myself playing Demon Attack more though.

[@MichaelSouhoka]

Phoenix is better. Demon Attack could cause seizure to my vision in my childhood because of it's flashy explosion when got hit. So Phoenix is safer to me.

[@charlesbronson4282]

Spider Fighter!!

[@IuriFiedoruk]

Demon Attack is amazxing. And tell you what, I do think the 2600 port is the best one, because of how the projectiles from enemies work.

[@Gen-X-Memories]

When I think about it many of the other consoles versions of third party games on the Colecovision or Intellivision might have looked better but I usually still prefer to play the 2600 version of many of them. Demon Attack, Dragonfire and Pitfall are all examples of this.

[@mcorleonep]

I played both BITD. Both were great 2600 games for the time, but I’d have to go with Demon Attack. Imagic, like Activision were masters of 3rd party development. Also it’s worth noting since you brought up Missile Command, both that and Demon Attack were programmed by Rob Fulop, hence the similarities…

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Thank for commenting. I just read up on Fulop and saw that he also programed Fathom and Cosmic Ark. I also read that Imagic was getting ready to go public but they backed out when the gaming crash occurred. It's a shame that the Imagic name didn't somehow survive like Activisions did. Could you imagine if they would have put out stuff for the NES?! And think if they had kept the same style when it came to the cartridge labels and box artwork designs! That would have been so badass.

[@bartdunbar5108]

Phoenix

[@CoyoteSeven]

I had both of these games. Demon Attack is better.

[@seeulatergaming385]

Pheonix

[@technodrone313]

yars revenge

[@richardsogaray8165]

Demon attack forever.

[@ElectricLuvz]

I played a lot of Phoenix in the arcade before 2600 Demon Attack came out, and when I did first see Demon Attack, I was 1) BLOWN AWAY by seeing this type of game on the VCS and 2) Never considered it related to Phoenix in any way at all. And it's not! The only similarity is the 'bird' graphics in the 3rd/4th stages of Phoenix and the 1st enemy graphics in Demon Attack. People always seem to think it's a clone though much like Chopper Command was a clone of Defender. But it's not.

[@SoulforSale]

You should have mentioned the lawsuit

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Did Atari go after Imagic saying they copied Phoenix? Was it something like that? I remember the one involving the Lochjaw game that Apollo had to change the name on.

[@SoulforSale]

@@Gen-X-Memories that was the accusation. I have only seen limited coverage about it myself. but I recall it was a big deal at the time

[@DonDonnieDon]

I really didn’t like this Atari demon attack after playing the intellivision demon attack. Intellivision’s is so much better. For Atari, Phoenix is better.