Nominate Games That Defined Atari 2600

[flamepanther]

I think it's alright to include games that were later ported to other consoles. After all, if we didn't, we'd have to remove things like Mario World and Donkey Kong Country from the "Games that Defined the Super Nintendo" article due to the GBA ports.

Case in point, certainly Mario World defined the SNES -- but the GBA is often defined by ports of NES and SNES games. Omitting them from an article because they were ports would be ignoring what the GBA was well known for.

Sure, but we're not talking about two consoles in the same generation (or even in the same category) in those cases. The Atari VCS CX2600 and the Mattel Intellivision were direct competitors.

[noiseredux]

Sure, but in those cases, we're not talking about two consoles in the same generation in those cases. The Atari VCS CX2600 and the Mattel Intellivision were direct competitors.

yeah....

I still disagree though. I'd call NBA Jam a game that defined the SNES, although it's on other consoles. I'd say Mortal Kombat is a defining Genesis game. Same thing.

[Gao]

Sure, but we're not talking about two consoles in the same generation in those cases. The Atari VCS CX2600 and the Mattel Intellivision were direct competitors.

Well there are still plenty of examples of that. Would you say that Earthworm Jim isn't a defining Genesis game? That Crazy Taxi wasn't a defining Dreamcast game?

[fastbilly1]

Ill throw another set of votes for Combat and Warlords. They are two games I still bring out at parties.

[flamepanther]

I still disagree though. I'd call NBA Jam a game that defined the SNES, although it's on other consoles. I'd say Mortal Kombat is a defining Genesis game. Same thing.

I'd call those games that defined the 16-Bit console generation, not any console in particular.

Would you say that Earthworm Jim isn't a defining Genesis game?

Yes, I'd say that.

That Crazy Taxi wasn't a defining Dreamcast game?

That one's harder. It was a defining game for the Dreamcast while the Dreamcast was a living, active platform, and didn't get ported to the others until the Dreamcast platform had been killed. DC was almost its own generation by itself, really.

[flojocabron]

I nominate Megamania, I have not seen it mentioned here yet. I had many fun times playing this game as a kid. Demon attack is good as well but someone said that already.

[gennss]

Combat
Asteroids
Yars Revenge
E.T. (LOL)
Space Invaders

[noiseredux]

I still disagree though. I'd call NBA Jam a game that defined the SNES, although it's on other consoles. I'd say Mortal Kombat is a defining Genesis game. Same thing.

I'd call those games that defined the 16-Bit console generation, not any console in particular.

so if you made a list of games that defined the Genesis, you wouldn't include Mortal f'ing Kombat???

[flamepanther]

so if you made a list of games that defined the Genesis, you wouldn't include Mortal f'ing Kombat???

My friends and I played the hell out of that terrible game mostly on the Super NES, so no.

I would say the controversy over the gore, and Sega's disinclination to censor it was something that defined public image of the Genesis, maybe, but to me that's a totally separate issue. A "defining" game should be one that sets the console apart from others. That's what it is to define something in this way.

Even if we go with MK-with-blood versus MK-with-pause-button as a defining factor for the Genesis versus the SNES, I can't think of a difference between the 2600 and Intellivision editions of Pitfall that really set the consoles apart.




Closer on topic, has anyone already nominated Night Driver?

[Anapan]

I nominated Night Driver. My dad and I used to play it a lot.
Have to point out that Earthworm Jim launched on Genesis - the others were just ports. The 3D transparency effect in Andy Asteroids making use of the genny's weird color output was cool and a major selling point. That being said, I think it defined the SNES more than it did the Genesis.
I agree about Pitfall, despite the fact that it came out on Intellivision, it's more commonly associated with Atari (I didn't even know there was an intellivision version). When my friends and I have talked about Atari games, Pitfall is usually mentioned.