console battle QUARTER FINAL R1 ATARI 2600 VS MASTER SYSTEM

[The Beans]

Are there any half playable 2600 games that are genuinely worth playing today, that aren't gimped arcade ports, or superior available ports on other systems?

The Empire Strikes Back, if you're in a forgiving mood and you're a really big fan of Minter's Attack Of The Mutant Camels.
Apart from that it's absolute turds all the way. Maybe the 2600 has slight comedy value if you find terrible arcade ports to be funny. I struggle on that score myself. I mean, I bought Amidar for it back in the day and even now I still get twinges of anger about how bad it was.

It probably seems like I'm picking on the poor old 2600 here but only the Colecovision and Vectrex were any good from around that time. I won't give the Intellivision or G7000 the time of day either.

[ianpmarks]

Are there any half playable 2600 games that are genuinely worth playing today, that aren't gimped arcade ports, or superior available ports on other systems?

The Empire Strikes Back, if you're in a forgiving mood and you're a really big fan of Minter's Attack Of The Mutant Camels.
Apart from that it's absolute turds all the way. Maybe the 2600 has slight comedy value if you find terrible arcade ports to be funny. I struggle on that score myself. I mean, I bought Amidar for it back in the day and even now I still get twinges of anger about how bad it was.

It probably seems like I'm picking on the poor old 2600 here but only the Colecovision and Vectrex were any good from around that time. I won't give the Intellivision or G7000 the time of day either.

It has dated badly, I'd agree, and for me theres a lot of nostalgia about why I love and play the 2600.
I also agree that Empire Strikes Back is a great game, however I would also say that the following games are still great though. Even with limited graphics etc.
Space Invaders
Star Raiders
Battlezone
Pitfall II
Demon Attack
Adventure
Combat
Ms. Pac Man
Defender Ii
Solaris
..... sure there are some dross games for it (quite a few actually) but there really are some gems.

There are quite a few systems I would rate above the 2600... The Master System isn't one of them though.

[Antiriad2097]

SMS library, while possibly not as varied and with a lot of poop in there, has far more I'd rather play than the old VCS. There are plenty of decent SMS games that would easily compare with those available in the mobile market now, while there are only a select few VCS games even worth playing. As a piece of history, the 2600 is interesting. As a gaming system, its barely acceptable.

In your opinion maybe. Personally speaking there are far more games I enjoy to play on the 2600 than the Master System. Unfortunately a lot of the Master System library just feels like gimped versions of Mega Drive games to me, although there are still some great games in there, don't get me wrong.

Gimped Mega Drive games are still better than most of the 2600 games.

[fredghostmaster]

I haven't been paying much attention to these console vs console threads but thought I'd check this one out as I love the 2600. Seriously, what the hell is going on? Who on earth would rank the crappy Master System above the daddy of them all, the 2600? Dear oh dear...

[DPrinny]

^To be fair, I cant really choose between them, but voted 2600 as the masses of unknown (probably rubbish) games interests me

[The Laird]

Are there any half playable 2600 games that are genuinely worth playing today, that aren't gimped arcade ports, or superior available ports on other systems?

I could be lazy and just point you to my Atari 2600 Minority Report in the mag recently but I won't

In terms of great 2600 exclusives the following spring to mind:

Solaris (incredible game)
Off The Wall
Super Football
Commando Raid
G.I. Joe
Crossforce
River Raid 2
RealSports Tennis
Sprintmaster
Radar Lock

Other great 2600 games that are also on other systems:

California Games
Enduro
Galaxian
Pitfall 1&2
Phoenix
Defender 2
Winter Games
Kung Fu Master
River Raid
Atlantis
Space Invaders
Frostbite
Ms. Pac-Man
Sea Quest
Turmoil

There are probably loads more but these will do for now.

[Antiriad2097]

Other definitions of 'great' may also apply.

Anyway, since you mention California Games I'll just drop this here...
https://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top-t ... tem-games/

[paranoid marvin]

I voted for Master System. I appreciate the influence the Atari 2600 had on the whole videogame market, but its aged so horrendously and was "after my time".

Are there any half playable 2600 games that are genuinely worth playing today, that aren't gimped arcade ports, or superior available ports on other systems?

As for the Master System, I remember some friends had it at the time, and then I got the Game Gear which is basically a portable version which I have fond memories of. A decent little console (MS), but will probably fall at the next hurdle, as its surely not "semi-final" class! Must have had a nice easyish path to get there.

Yes, there's quite a few great VCS games. A few that are instantly playable with decent(ish) graphics that arcade conversions include Frostbite, Keystone Kapers, Pressure Cooker, Atlantis. Kaboom! is brilliant but requires a paddle to fully appreciate as is Warlords in multiplayer. Combat is insanely playable as a 2 player game with lots of options. Star Raiders is also brilliant but requires a keypad

Even some arcade games got brilliant twists. Imagine Space Invaders withe one player controlling 'left' movement and the other 'right'. Then on the same cart play single-player with invisible aliens, moving shields and guided shots.

Tbh though in todays world the games look pretty substandard, but there are few games today that id be coming back to 30 years later, unlike the VCS.

[rocky1980]

Master System for me, the first console I ever had was the Mk2 will Alex Kidd built in

[SJ_Sathanas]

Master System for me, the first console I ever had was the Mk2 will Alex Kidd built in

Mine too, after a cpc464. I'm not really nostalgic for the 8-bit era, though.

[Carrot007]

It was mastersystewm for me.

I was too young for the 2600.

I was speccy at the time of the mastersystem but always loved the look of ms games compared to the speccy.

But having tried them both since I go mastersystem. It had some really nice games. The 2600 only had short arcady games. Yes a issue of system but it is what is is.