Top 100 Atari 8 bit Games...in 10 Minutes (according to Atarimania)

TURN ON CAPTIONS TO SEE THE GAME TITLES
The top 100 games for the Atari 8-bit series of computers - according to Atari enthusiast website Atarimania! See the full list here:
www.atarimania.com/top-atari-g...
*NOTE*: This Atarimania list is a bit wonky; there are some repeated entries on this list, as well as a few prototypes - and a few homebrew titles as well. Unfortunately, the Atarimania list was the most comprehensive "long" list available, and so this video sticks to that list - even with its flaws.
Also note - the footage for Xenophobe was taken from the Atari 7800 version of the game.
SUMMARY
The Atari 8-bits were a line of home computers produced by Atari, starting with the Atari 400/800 being released in 1979. While they were very powerful home computers for the time - they were also very expensive, meaning they lacked the market penetration of more mainstream computers like the Commodore 64.
It did, however, have a very dedicated following - and a massive game library. True, most of them were ports to/from other platforms, but they were generally just as good as - if not better than - the other platform's versions. A great machine that sadly didn't get the exposure it deserved!

[@GaryRetroGamer]

*TURN ON SUBTITLES TO SEE THE GAME TITLES*

[@henhouseharry6193]

Lots of great games missing from this list. Arex, Preppie, Bristles, Mr Robot, Pharaoh's Curse, Shamus, Archon.... just to name a few.

[@CocaLightMan]

Draconus, Blinky's Scary School, Henry's House, SWAT, Mirax Force, H.E.R.O., Elektra Glide, The Great American Cross Country Road Race, Black Lamp, and much more... =)

[@CYON4D]

Behind Jaggi Lines and Rescue on Fractalus are the same game :) Nice list by the way.

[@WolfenSG]

Whoa... no Draconus or Spy vs Spy in 100 top? :O

[@alexkonstantin6727]

good selection, a nice addition would be: The Goonies, Conan, Questron II, Ghost Chaser, Ollie's Follies, Spy vs. Spy, H.E.R.O.,... ...but not Green Beret.

[@timrahto658]

Oh man, Conan. That game could lag my old 800XL like no other. Great game though.

[@Francisco-Gutierrez]

Nice game list. I would add Archon, one of my favorite two-player games.

[@Miler97487]

Some of those games that are black and white actually displays color if using a composite monitor or television, like Lode Runner or the Ultima games. Those games used artifacting. I had an Atari 800XL in the 1980s and had Ultima III and IV, plus Championship Lode Runner and was running it on a TI-99/4A monitor and even then I knew those games were technically black and white (Graphics 8 mode, to be exact) they displayed in color thanks to the monitor I was using.

[@Miler97487]

This type of artifacting only worked with NTSC screens, so PAL (or any other types) users had to suffer and play those Ultima and Lode Runner games entirely in black and white. Atari 8-bit emulators luckily can recreate artifacting. Atari was from the United States so American users had no problem since they were using either a composite monitor or CRT television in those days and NTSC was used in North America.

[@teasauce3608]

Thank you for the captions, way better than timestamps on the description.

[@O5-XIV]

Dude, love your stuff, it's always fun to see old games. and remember games i have forgotten about, Awesome Stuff, and keep the Retro Alive

[@PeBoVision]

i don't think I've ever watched a compilation that included so many games that I've actually played. My top 5 of these: #5 Caverns of Mars #4 Miner 2049er $3 Spelunker #2 Lode Runner #1 Jumpman (& Jumpman Jr) Should be #1 on every list. Star Raiders was a VERY noteworthy omission. Its 1978 copyright date underscores the technical marvel that it was. (and it remains one of the best games ever to carry the Atari Fuji.)

[@halleck3]

I had 32 of those. Good job getting Bruce Lee into the top 10... I'd add Archon I and II, Shamus, Pharaoh's Curse, Miner 2049er, Blue Max, and Star Raiders. Thanks for the memories!

[@Kand1nSky]

Great Video world karate championship 52 and International Karate 6 are the same

[@mortimore4030]

Mercenary Escape from Targ all the way down at number 87? Seriously?

[@rayrwise5728]

How do you get CAS. Extension games to play on the mini?

[@user-cj6nk9fx8n]

I will now continue to look for the names of these games. No matter what, thanks for this video!!!

[@GaryRetroGamer]

If you turn on KZbin closed captions, the game titles will be displayed. Or, if you look in the description, there is a link to the Atari Age page where this list was compiled from. Hope that helps!

[@user-cj6nk9fx8n]

thanks a lot!!

[@GarryGri]

Why did it say "Behind Jaggi Lines" for Rescue on Fractulus? Was it renamed for America or something? Also, no Zybex or Draconus. Were thay UK only releases?

[@JuliusTheTiger]

I had no idea the Atari sound chip could do that. It's a dirty, ugly, but at the same time, fantastic and funky. I love it! I was wondering what the heck Atari was doing, but hearing what it could do, it actually had a chance. Maybe they needed an A Team to make some games and show others how to really use the chip

[@RemyBonnici]

I forgot about jungle hunt loved that as a kid. Also dark chambers probably my fav 2600 game of all.

[@alvaromedinagarcia]

Great list. From my list, maybe not the best but I like this too: Draconus Spy Hunter Master of the Lamps Great American Cross Country Race Raid Over Moscow Gremlins Henry's House Mr. Robot Magya Krystalus (never finished it, sadly) Druid Hacker Pirates of the Barbary Coast Great times, unending winter afternoons playing them.

[@gazzaka]

Awesome ! I never saw a lot of these !

[@ubiergo1978]

Sad to "not" see Draconus, H.E.R.O., NYC, Spy v/s Spy I - II - III, Archon, Ninja and Raid over Moscow =(

[@paulinetinsley68]

The hours as a teen my husband said he spent playing his Atari 400 then 800xl. Games were all gameplay then. Graphics were a second thought. He hates modern games. Nice graphics but too many buttons to remember. Preppie, Baja Buggies, Star raiders, rescue on fractaluse here just some of his fond memories

[@rareplaygaming7109]

Awsome video!!

[@daxherring630]

I need a list of some games to play for the Atari 800 like pharaohs curse, mr robot, pooyan, archon are all some of my favorites. I’ve played shamus 2 but never played shamus (the original) bc my rom doesn’t take me to the game for some reason. Need a new rom for it I guess…but I also need a list of other games like this that I may would like…I liked Congo bongo pretty good. Spy’s demise was ok but couldn’t get into part 2.

[@cedynski]

New Yok City is missing ;) Nice list by the way

[@adamturowski8948]

3:07 Vicky was written Liebich and Widera, L.K.Avalon, Poland

[@kabukimanbrazeetoh5664]

Very much appreciated video!!! My Uncle tried & to some degree had told me how cool Atari is (I'd liked Pinball, and Asteroids, at the time) ... This is a great video to preview & get a better guess to what I'd like, though any title is still a wonder unto itself! Thanks for sharing & happy gaming to you!

[@mechamania]

As these games pass by, I can’t believe how many of them I actually played in the day, thanks to hackers who made intro screens that put MySpace pimps to shame. The best thing about the C64 was the enormity of two-sided disks that had that version on one side and Atari 8-bit on the other. That brought a ton of games that might not have been published for either to both. Being friends (and having constant arguments) with a C64 friend was great - not just for the fights but for “trading” copies of games for the other’s system. Meantime, look _how fast those zombies are in 1983_ @ 2:47! Zombies didn’t become fast until the 2000s. Are any of the most popular parts of culture really original, after the mid-late Aughts?

[@YoungtimersPubz-ks4qp]

I am still playing Dune today. There were lots of great flight sims like F15 strike eagle !

[@zwd7156]

How is Archon missing from this list?

[@smackeye]

Wait what...? No Elektraglide, Jetboot Jack and Alternate Reality / Mer cenary way way down the list... CraZy!

[@plaurens]

Fort Apocalypse should be in the top 10

[@JacobDauler]

Twilight world,one of my fav,THX 🧘👌

[@CaratacusAD]

Necromancer was released in 1982 i believe.

[@jh5124]

Great video but confusingly a couple games show up twice. And no Phantasie? That's odd.

[@GaryRetroGamer]

Thanks! Indeed it is strange that there are repeats, but this list was sourced from a user-voted list. I am guessing that the votes just weren't curated properly! (See the video description for a link to the source list)

[@Sebiohazard]

Pourquoi vous n'avez pas mis le nom des jeux ???

[@GaryRetroGamer]

Les noms des jeux sont là. Lisez le descriptif.

[@Sebiohazard]

@@GaryRetroGamer non c'est faux y a rien du tout ?!

[@GaryRetroGamer]

​@@Sebiohazard Dans la description il est dit "TURN ON CAPTIONS TO SEE THE GAME TITLES" Avez-vous fait cela?

[@juniperpansy]

LOL MULE was the best game! I'm a bit confused about some of the game titles though. I am in Canada and a few of the games had different names. Are these the European release names? Like for #72 Zombies it looks exactly like Realm of Impossibility.

[@cardboardboxification]

someone should port m.u.l.e to the IPhone

[@insanebeatjunkie]

if there was a way to mix 8bit and 3d only game that came close was Master Blaster

[@mustangj0hn]

Surely 71 was Recscue on Fractalus?

[@GaryRetroGamer]

If you mean ("Behind Jaggi Lines") - you are correct. "Behind Jaggi Lines" was the name of the game during development. Unfortunately, the list that this video is based on (www.atarimania.com/top-atari-game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-_G_8_V.html) - lists Behind Jaggi Lines as its own entry - even though Rescue on Fractalus also appears all the way up at #2. Why? Well, it's a user vote list and unfortunately this is the sort of stuff that happens on uncurated user vote lists. See the video description for more details.

[@lurkerrekrul]

Am I the only one that videos are freezing for? They get to about 25% and then just endlessly buffer. Even trying to jump ahead in the video doesn't work.

[@brooklynboiprod]

I've been getting that too

[@lurkerrekrul]

@@brooklynboiprod Tonight it seems to working. At least this video is...

[@teasauce3608]

​@@lurkerrekrul I think it's a common bug if your computer is outdated and/or have outdated OS (like Windows XP).

[@SWR112]

Amazing how shite the games looked bar Elite 😂 But we still plays them for hours. But they did absolutely nail the music…

[@dsch_c]

Names

[@daxherring630]

No pharaohs quest or Mr robot and the robot factory…fail

[@daxherring630]

Pharaohs curse, not quest

[@kevinjbakertribe]

Gobsmacked that Star Raiders is not number 1 - even more that not in the top 100!!!

[@bjbell52]

< sniff sniff > There were ~ 2,065 games released for the Atari 8-bit computers and this SHORT video doesn't show every one of them < sniff sniff - whaaaaaaaa whaaaaaaaa ! Too many of these comments are mindless B.S. .

[@philippezsiga1125]

Star raiders must be at number 1 .

[@philippezsiga1125]

This is the first 3D space combat and was so ahead of its time that hundreds of thousands of atari 400/800 were sold JUST for this game . Star Raiders belongs to the the Top 100 games in all video game history pn any system any years any style …….