Must-have Atari 2600 games

[koemo1]

Hey everybody!
For my 2021 resolution, I want to pick up an atari 2600.
I didn't grow up with this system and therefore have no idea which games are good and which ones are bad.
If you could recommend one or two games, that would be awesome!
Looking forward to your feedback

[wartoy]

1.H.E.R.O (I don't have this game yet myself)
2.Adventure (my personal favorite)
3.Haunted House
4.Starmaster
5.Pitfall
6.Pitfall II
7.Kaboom
8.Circus
9.Moon Patrol
10.Frogger


These are some of my favorites off the top of my head if I think of anymore I'll add them later.

[telekill]

It's been a while. Top three:
 - Dig Dug
 - Joust
 - Pitfall

[wartoy]

Ok I refreshed my memory here are some more koemo1

11.Megamaina
12.Venture
13.Atlantis
14.Missle Comand
15.River Raid

[undertakerprime]

My parents got me an Atari 2600 back when I was maybe 5, around 1980-81. Our library wasn’t big, but I can tell you the games I remember having the most fun with:

Combat
Space Invaders
Space War
Air-Sea Battle
Asteroids
Warlords
Moon Patrol
Missile Command
Frankenstein’s Monster

I also recall having fun with the game Picnic, but after watching a video on it, I wonder if that’s the rose-colored glasses of youth clouding my judgement...

[oldgamerz]

Plaque Attack
River Raid II
Journey Escape
Chopper Command
Demons To Diamonds
Demon Attack
Video Olympics

I'll leave more for somebody else. But I prefer playing these two PlayStation 2 Compilations rather than a real Atari 2600 Or any Atari Flashback console.
I don't like the fact that when playing a real Atari 2600, or Atari Flashback, you need to sit right next to the console, and keep hitting the reset button in order to keep playing if you lose the game a lot. If you don't hit the reset button the game stops completely until you hit that switch

Atari Anthology!



Activision Anthology



all games I mention except for Journey Escape are included in these two PS2 discs over 80 games plus 18 arcade originals on the first game listed and about 60 more games on the 2nd one

[gummo]

Plaque Attack
River Raid II
Journey Escape
Chopper Command
Demons To Diamonds
Demon Attack
Video Olympics

Demon Attack for sure . Holds up very well .

[oldgamerz]

I'll add more

Megamania (edit) already said
Boxing
Star Ship
Commando
Breakout
Super Breakout
Battlezone
Robot Tank

[dreama1]

frogs and flies.

[freddykrueger1969]

Why has nobody mentioned Yar's Revenge   To me at the time it was just so different from everything else.....

[koemo1]

Hey, thank you for the recommendations so far wartoy, telekill, undertakerprime, oldgamerz, gummo, dreama1 and freddykrueger1969.
Looking forward if anything else comes to mind

[soera]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagic

[tripredacus]

Atlantis, only because there is a rare version that can have Atlantis 2 ROM on it. One of the early competition carts, but Imagic sacced existing Atlantis carts. Not that I can say whether or not the game is any good.

I've pretty much given up on VCS but I may revisit one day by way of those game collections on PS2. I can only think of two games:

Asteroids
Yar's Revenge

[oldgamerz]

Atlantis, only because there is a rare version that can have Atlantis 2 ROM on it. One of the early competition carts, but Imagic sacced existing Atlantis carts. Not that I can say whether or not the game is any good.

I've pretty much given up on VCS but I may revisit one day by way of those game collections on PS2. I can only think of two games:

Asteroids
Yar's Revenge

Also know that by pressing a certain button on Atari anthology! or Activision Anthology games like

Street Racer (on the Atari Anthology!)

and most of the rest have multiple ways of playing. You can press a certain button on both these compilations (on certain included games) to have either a different game entirely, or 2 player game or different difficulty setting.  Manuals are included on both discs, there is unlockable content to.

[wolff242]

Pretty much anything Activision did back then was gold.

A couple not yet mentioned (Though i didn't expect one of them to be)

Berzerk- Evil Otto...nuff said.

I'll catch flak for this but...ET. Besides it's negative place in gaming history, I actually found it to be an enjoyable game.

Empire Strikes Back

Edit: Another one I liked a lot, Dragonfire.