Nominate Games That Defined Atari 2600

[flamepanther]

Have to point out that Earthworm Jim launched on Genesis - the others were just ports.

Most of the games being nominated in this thread are "just ports." It doesn't really make a difference. If you were a Nintendo kid back in the 1990s you still got to play Earthworm Jim, and you probably neither knew nor cared that it was missing a level.

The 3D transparency effect in Andy Asteroids making use of the genny's weird color output was cool and a major selling point.

That says a lot more about how the Genesis defined the game than how the game defined 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.

Anything that was on both the 2600 and the Intellivision (or the Colecovision, etc. etc.) will be more commonly associated with Atari. It was the dominant platform.

[J T]

Adventure
Combat
Haunted House
Kaboom!
Pitfall
Q-Bert
Warlords
Yars Revenge

[noiseredux]

Anything that was on both the 2600 and the Intellivision (or the Colecovision, etc. etc.) will be more commonly associated with Atari. It was the dominant platform.

right. And since those games will be "commonly associated with Atari," you might even say they sort of "define" the system.

[Opa Opa]

Anybody say "Dragonfire" yet? It isn't that bad of a game. Although, I don't know if it's as defining as Adventure, E.T., etc.

edit: Yeah, now that I think about it. Dragonfire is more of a hidden gem.

[noiseredux]

Have to point out that Earthworm Jim launched on Genesis - the others were just ports.

Most of the games being nominated in this thread are "just ports." It doesn't really make a difference. If you were a Nintendo kid back in the 1990s you still got to play Earthworm Jim, and you probably neither knew nor cared that it was missing a level.

The 3D transparency effect in Andy Asteroids making use of the genny's weird color output was cool and a major selling point.

That says a lot more about how the Genesis defined the game than how the game defined 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.

Anything that was on both the 2600 and the Intellivision (or the Colecovision, etc. etc.) will be more commonly associated with Atari. It was the dominant platform.

BTW, Tomb Raider certainly defined the PS1, although the same exact game appeared on the Sega Saturn about a month earlier...

[flamepanther]

right. And since those games will be "commonly associated with Atari," you might even say they sort of "define" the system.

"Defines" and "is associated with" aren't even close to the same thing. Anyway, I'm not making the list, so it's not up to me. I'm just voicing my opinion.

[noiseredux]

right. And since those games will be "commonly associated with Atari," you might even say they sort of "define" the system.

"Defines" and "is associated with" aren't even close to the same thing. Anyway, I'm not making the list, so it's not up to me. I'm just voicing my opinion.

so you don't think that "the games that everybody thinks of when they think of XConsole" define the system???

[flamepanther]

so you don't think that "the games that everybody thinks of when they think of XConsole" define the system???

I think the games that change or determine how we think of the console define the system. For instance, there are a lot of people who think of NBA Jam when they think of the SNES, but there are probably as many who would think of the same game when they think of the Genesis. It's a well known game on both consoles, but without it we wouldn't really think of either console very differently than we do now. Without Super Mario World or Sonic the Hedgehog in their libraries, however, our impressions of those same systems would be quite different. To me, a good criteria is "do we think a certain way about this console because of this game?" or "would I think differently about the console without it?"

Pitfall is a great game that is well known within the 2600's massive library of other well known titles, but in my opinion it doesn't especially impact our impression of the console's technical strengths and weaknesses, or our impression of what types of games the library is strong in. With or without it, it's a versatile but graphically primitive system known mostly for arcade conversions.

[noiseredux]

so you don't think that "the games that everybody thinks of when they think of XConsole" define the system???

I think the games that change or determine how we think of the console define the system. For instance, there are a lot of people who think of NBA Jam when they think of the SNES, but there are probably as many who would think of the same game when they think of the Genesis. It's a well known game on both consoles, but without it we wouldn't really think of either console very differently than we do now. Without Super Mario World or Sonic the Hedgehog in their libraries, however, our impressions of those same systems would be quite different. To me, a good criteria is "do we think a certain way about this console because of this game?" or "would I think differently about the console without it?"

Pitfall is a great game that is well known within the 2600's massive library of other well known titles, but in my opinion it doesn't especially impact our impression of the console's technical strengths and weaknesses, or our impression of what types of games the library is strong in. With or without it, it's a versatile but graphically primitive system known mostly for arcade conversions.

I don't think that's what defined a console. I think yr talking about games that bushed the boundaries of a console. But (to me at least) defining games are like "Ok, I just got XCONSOLE -- what are THEE games that everyone knows this console for??"

[flamepanther]

I don't think that's what defined a console. I think yr talking about games that bushed the boundaries of a console.

No I'm not, although pushing the boundaries is one way a game can sometimes change a console's image in the public eye. Neither Sonic the Hedgehog nor Super Mario World came close to pushing any boundaries on their respective consoles. However, they both do a lot more to how we think about those systems than some other game that is only notable for being popular or well known.

Think about what Pokemon did to the image of the original GameBoy compared to its earlier years, when it had been the system of Tetris and Super Mario Land. The entire public perception about the platform's relevance and target demographic changed instantly. That's a definitive game.

Sonic likewise turned the Sega Genesis from the console known only for better-than-average arcade conversions into a system known for speed, power, unorthodox games, and attitude. That's a definitive game. It's not definitive just because it was a popular game on the system. It changed the console's public image completely and permanently.