54 replies to this topic

[A2600]

Best Atari Arcade Game??

In my opinion I would say THE FINAL LAP SERIES

[Gregory DG]

Are we talking Atari, Atari Games, or a combination of the two?

Atari - Star Wars, sit down
Atari Games - STUN Runner, sit down

Those sit down units were the whole experience, baby!

[bigferret]

Due to its coolness when it first came out and due to the fact it has aged really well almost 20 years later, I'd have to pick Star Wars. I was blown away by that game in 84 and still love to play it to this day. To me, this game really illustrated how great Atari was when they were at the top of their game.

Pun intended.

[GameGuy]

ok guys, I'm just getting into the whole atari thing. So i'm not sure if your talking home or arcade. But, when I first started in the arcade business, my two fav. games were and still are, Steel Talons and Road Riot

[Inky]

Steel Talons was a bit complex, but it was fun, although I say that the arcade games that were Atari's best were
Black Widow
Tempest
I,Robot
and
Star Wars

[Witchfynde]

Not that I'd say it was THE best game made by them, but I'd say overall due to originality, overall fun, the graphics and even some humor made Major Havoc very cool indeed.

BTW Inky, even though you changed it several days ago, that's a pretty clever new avatar...

[Inky]

Witchfynde said:

Not that I'd say it was THE best game made by them, but I'd say overall due to originality, overall fun, the graphics and even some humor made Major Havoc very cool indeed.

BTW Inky, even though you changed it several days ago, that's a pretty clever new avatar...

That's actually an older avatar, but thanx for the props!

I'm just looking to tweak it for thanksgiving now...

[benjam138]

Gauntlet has gotta be my favorite! I still love playing it!

[Witchfynde]

Yeah, same here, as I've got it for my Genesis (Gauntlet 4, actually), as I've always considered it to be "Atari's revenge on Intellivision", since it was somewhat similar to the Imagic game Swords and Serpents, with the overhead viewpoint and all...

[NE146]

I have a soft spot for Major Havoc too.. Too bad it came out towards the beginning of the end.

[Heavy Sixer]

My one favorite Atari game? That's a tough one, since there are so many that I've always liked. I'd probably have to give the nod to Crystal Castles (Xevious would be my first choice, but since it's technically a Namco game it's disqualified). As far as the Atari Corp. games are concerned, War - Final Assault kicks major asteroids!


HEAVY***6***er

[Inky]

I never saw Major Havoc in the Arcade, but playing it on MAME, I just don't see what the attraction to it is....

[Witchfynde]

Including it being just the slightest bit original?

[NE146]

Inky said:

I never saw Major Havoc in the Arcade, but playing it on MAME, I just don't see what the attraction to it is....

Well there's your first problem Arcade games (especially the classic dedicated cabinets) are NEVER given full justice when playing on mame... Well, maybe post-JAMMA games are, but definitely not the majority of the dedicated games. Just too many factors involved imho.

But yeah Major Havoc is a goody. It uses a roller controller by the way... So playing it with a keyboard, or pad, or even a mouse will never give you the control you need. Although a spinner could probably suffice...

[IceCold]

If you have a MAME cabinet it probably does full justice though. I drool at the thought of a MAME cabinet, why don't I have one?

[Witchfynde]

Whoa, NICE NE146! You make me drool, I haven't played that game since the 80s or early 90s...

On www.gamearchive.com, under Atari Vector Games (obviously), a guy did a new version of it, complete with an ending, as he always thought Major Havoc should've escaped for good, as the original had no ending (not sure if it's still there, actually--I hadn't been on in a while--but it's a cool site nonetheless)...

[Big Player]

I had only played Major Havoc on MAME and never understood it either. Now I got to play the real version somewhere. Same deal with I, Robot, so I can't count either in my list.

My favs

Black Widow
Tempest
Battlezone
Food Fight
Star Wars
Dig Dug

[The Mauler]

My personal favorites would be:

Star Wars (sit down version is best)
Firefox (LD)
Space Duel
Food Fight
Return of the Jedi
Peter Pack-Rat
I, Robot

[Witchfynde]

The Mauler said:

My personal favorites would be:

Return of the Jedi

Hey, nice to hear that for once, all I've heard in general is people dissing that game. Even though I wouldn't put it on my Atari faves list, I still liked it quite a bit.

[Curt Vendel]

Thats a tough one as you're going to get responses across the board on that. You should do categories like:

Best B&W
Best Racing
Best Space
Best Action/Adventure and so on....

Myself in those groups:

B&W: Atari Orbit
Racing: I agree, Final lap is just soooo addictive
Best Space: Toughy there, I'd say Asteroids, but I love Tempest (just for the sound effects alone!) Spacelords is a sleeper hit IMHO
Best Action/Adv: Gauntlet series!



Curt

[J.Max]

I'd go with STUN Runner and Star Wars. I always wanted a sit-down STUN Runner cab.

[joeybastard]

I love just about all of them., but my favs are:

720
Marble Madness
Paperboy
Football
Gauntlet
Space Duel

EDIT: I forgot Missle Command!!!

[MattG/Snyper2099]

Asterooids is my fav. Atari arcade game.

MattG.

[Jess Ragan]

What? No mention of Primal Rage?!
(just kidding, just kidding! You can put down the clubs now!)
Seriously, though, Xybots, Roadblasters, and STUN Runner are fun. Most of the later Atari coin-ops didn't leave as lasting an impression on me as the other arcade games from the late 80's and early 90's, but they were easy to play, user friendly, and ultimately enjoyable. They rely heavily on the arcade experience, though... they're simply not as fun on an emulator, probably because you're not playing them with Atari's specialized controllers.

JR

[sku_u]

Gauntlet
Gauntlet
Gauntlet and
Gauntlet