ExAndOh
1980
Pretty cool space sim (sort of) game on the 5200. Looks amazing and the variety of viewpoints is a cool touch. First person really feels like a 3D game with how the sprites worked.
1982
Simple yet effective rendition of the sport of football. Game looks great for a 2600 title as well and just as responsive. Surprisingly fast paced too.
Cool beach setting and not too bad in recreating the sport of volleyball but the controls are a little weird in that you're sort of controlling two people at the same time and can throw you off but a decent rendition of the actual sport nonetheless.
1982
For one of the first ever sports game on a console, it gets the job decently enough. You got innings, multiplayer modes, the essence of what you really do in a baseball game with pitching, batting and running. That's really it though.
1982
Instantly reminds you of those water shooter games at the carnival in that you have to keep the stream going to hit something. Pretty responsive for a 2600 game and pretty fun too. Bit on the easier side but this was mostly marketed for youths so it makes sense on that front.
1982
Pretty obtuse off the bat but surprisingly pretty fun. It's actually a bit hard to describe what's even going on or how anything even works but definitely deserves its reputation. Fast paced, different style of playing compared to regular shooters at the time, decent sound design as well makes this a must play for any 2600 owner or fan.
1982
Being one of the first "survival horror" experiences on a console ever, this was kinda inventive on how to portray your character having just a pair of eyes and tip tapping footsteps when you move around in the dark. Enemies appearing out of nowhere and the only ability to see with light for specific items is the only way you can circumvent defeat. I'm a bit surprised how it manages to create the feeling that you should be scared with so little but it works pretty well.
1980
A weird game where you have to collect stuff for points and avoid crashing into your opponent by any means necessary. The only real control you have is how fast you go and when to swap lanes when it's open. Doesn't really have the novelty of additional modifiers either which I can't say I miss here.
1979
A lot of respect for managing this on something that was only meant to play the complete bare minimum of Pong back in the day and bringing something new in the video game space, There isn't a lot to Adventure now but playing it must have been mindblowing back then considering the rest of the 2600 library I've played so far.
It's simple but it's also more than meets the eye with the goals you have to perform. You really play as a dot and you can only carry one item for the entire run but the fact that alone can be managed on a small amount of data in the late 1970s is nuts. The skill levels add a bit more difficulty and randomized drops for even more replay value.
In the era of one world simple titles, Adventure truly lives up to its name and set forth the genre of its own namesake.
It's simple but it's also more than meets the eye with the goals you have to perform. You really play as a dot and you can only carry one item for the entire run but the fact that alone can be managed on a small amount of data in the late 1970s is nuts. The skill levels add a bit more difficulty and randomized drops for even more replay value.
In the era of one world simple titles, Adventure truly lives up to its name and set forth the genre of its own namesake.
1979
Man if this was just regular tic tac toe, I'd probably be a bit more happy but it just feels a bit off to play with how the board is set up. I'm sure I've seen 3D tic tac toe done before this is probably the first attempt. Hilarious that the CPU can take up to 2 seconds on the easiest difficulty and 20 minutes on the hardest difficulty. There's no way anyone waited that long even in the 70s.
1979
A bit more interesting in that you essentially are bombing bricks or boats in this along with the multiplayer suite as usual. Only variants are the bricks collapsing, suspended, the number of bombs or the new sea bomber mode. I can understand with how hard it is to make titles for this system at the time nonetheless.
1978
Starting to see a trend with these 2600 games in how they always have to provide a single player experience and leave single players in the dust other than some barebones modes. Honestly it's still an alright time with a friend but not much else. Classic 1v1 duels or shooting practice is really all that's here and for many, it was enough.
1977
Essentially multiplayer snake from the comfort of your home. The variety in modes here are just different gameplay modifiers as usual like faster speed up, diagonals and so forth. Video graffiti seems more like a free mode than anything to paint whatever you wanted.
1977
In a similar vein to "Combat" with the variety of modes, this one actually has single player play for starters. The jist of the game itself is shooting upwards or downwards at obstacles and enemies with the 27 games again being variations and multiplayer modes of said concept. Not much to say here honestly, feels like just another flavor of "Combat".
1977
Considering this was packed in with every Atari 2600 back then felt like a decent offering something every console should always do. The 27 video games claim is a bit of a misnomer as it's really a few different variations of the modes with different vehicles that act different but shoot the same. Playing this with your friends and family in the late 70s must have been an wild experience. It is in fact "Combat".