What's your favorite ten console games of the second gen?

[thecrypticodor]

Second gen would include such consoles as the 2600, 5200, Intellivsion, ColecoVision, Vectrex and the Odyssey 2.

Here's mine
Moonsweeper – 2600
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons – Intellivision
Burgertime – Intellivision
Venture – Intellivison (The ColecoVision version gets all the love but IMO the Intellivision version is superior.)
H.E.R.O. – 2600/ColecoVision
Mr Do! - ColecoVision
Ptifall II – 2600/ColecoVision
Donkey Kong Jr – ColecoVision
Crystal Castles -2600
Gravitar – 2600

[kamikazekeeg]

Well...I once touched an Atari 2600 controller and stack of Atari games I found at the Flea Market for 10 bucks and I think Pac-Man might've been my most favorite one I touched out of all of them lol

[pacpix]

1. Keystone Kapers (2600)
2. K.C. Munchkin (Odyssey 2)
3. Wizard of Wor (2600)
4. Space Cavern (2600)
5. War of Nerves (Odyssey 2)
6. Centipede (2600)
7. Ms. Pac-Man (2600)
8. Q*Bert (2600)
9. Yar's Revenge (2600)
10. Haunted House (2600)
These are my favorite games of the second generation in no specific order except for the first two.

[turf]

I don't know if there are 10 games that I like.
1. Yar's Revenge (2600)
2. Stampede (2600)
3. Crystal Castles (2600)
4. Space Invaders (2600)
5. Donkey Kong (Calecovision)
6. Centipede (2600)
7. Skydive (2600)
8. Smurfs (2600)
9. He-Man (Intellivision)
10. Berserk (2600)

That was tough.

[thecrypticodor]

3. Wizard of Wor (2600)

Wizard of Wor is definitely a solid arcade port one of the best on the 2600. I just hate that to play a 1 player game of it you have to switch over to joystick port 2 for some bizarre reason.

[pacpix]

3. Wizard of Wor (2600)

Wizard of Wor is definitely a solid arcade port one of the best on the 2600. I just hate that to play a 1 player game of it you have to switch over to joystick port 2 for some bizarre reason.

I always forget about that every time I play and get mad at the game ha.  I love the game though, it's like Berzerk-Pac-Man with Co-Op multiplayer.  My only problem with the game is the flickering.

[thecrypticodor]

I always forget about that every time I play and get mad at the game ha.  I love the game though, it's like Berzerk-Pac-Man with Co-Op multiplayer.  My only problem with the game is the flickering.

The 2600 flickering is not as bad when played on a CRT. The 2600 can only display two sprites at a time so programmers at the time used a trick to give the illusion of more sprites existing at the same time by alternating sprites between screen refreshes. This effect works better on CRT because the phosphor used in CRT screens would glow and fade out. On a LCD the sprites won't do that they'll just cut in and out. This is why Stella has a Phosphor effect option.

[burningdoom]

I'm not a big fan of the popular classic arcade-style games of the time, so my list will probably look a little different than others.

1. The Swiss Family Robinson (Commodore 64)
2. Blue Max (Commodore 64)
3. The Oregon Trail (Apple II)
4. Artillery (Apple II)
5. H.E.R.O. (Atari 2600)
6. Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
7. Dig Dug (Atari 2600)
8. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
9. Star Wars: The Arcade Game (Atari 2600)
10. Super Breakout (Atari 2600)

[pacpix]

I always forget about that every time I play and get mad at the game ha.  I love the game though, it's like Berzerk-Pac-Man with Co-Op multiplayer.  My only problem with the game is the flickering.

The 2600 flickering is not as bad when played on a CRT. The 2600 can only display two sprites at a time so programmers at the time used a trick to give the illusion of more sprites existing at the same time by alternating sprites between screen refreshes. This effect works better on CRT because the phosphor used in CRT screens would glow and fade out. On a LCD the sprites won't do that they'll just cut in and out. This is why Stella has a Phosphor effect option.

Huh that is interesting.  I have only ever played it on an LCD TV.  This just gives me another reason to have a CRT TV in my eventual Game Room.

[zenimus]

1. Kaboom! (2600)
2. Frogger (Colecovision)
3. Pepper II (Colecovision)
4. River Raid (2600)
5. Spy Hunter (Colecovision)
6. Burgertime (Colecovision)
7. Frenzy (Colecovision)
8. Venture (Colecovision)
9. Donkey Kong (Colecovision)
10. Atlantis (2600)

The CV was an awesome system with a tragically short lifespan.

[burningdoom]

The CV was an awesome system with a tragically short lifespan.

The graphics and sound were above anything else that generation. But the controller killed all the potential it had, IMO.

[zenimus]

The graphics and sound were above anything else that generation. But the controller killed all the potential it had, IMO.

True, the stock controllers are pretty weird and uncomfortable. Although you can get them to work fairly well if you use your thumb to work the "knob" in the same manner you would a modern controller's analog stick. The metal leaves seem to make better contact with the controller PCB that way.

[argyle]

I think calling them "favorites" would be stretching it, but these are the games I remember the most from my childhood - all Atari 2600 (in no order):

Pac-Man
Berzerk
River Raid
Pitfall!
Spider Fighter
Frankenstein's Monster
Jungle Hunt
Congo Bongo
Riddle of the Sphinx
Cosmic Ark

[90snostalga]

I'm not a big fan of the popular classic arcade-style games of the time, so my list will probably look a little different than others.

3. The Oregon Trail (Apple II)

You said it all with this game!  One of the only reasons I enjoyed school as a kid in the early 90s.  My list:

Carmen Sandiego (DOS Versions)
Keystone Kapers (2600)
The Oregon Trail (Apple II)
Ms Pac Man (2600)

Don't know if this counts but "SKIFREE" that was with Windows 3.1.

I dont have much anything else to add because I got my first Atari 2600 last year and I'm still learning the games library for it.

[burningdoom]

I'm not sure Windows-based really counts here for 2nd generation.

Back in the 2nd generation, most PCs ran on BASIC or some variation of DOS.