Have Atari Games Aged Well?

[Techno]

I'd like to see your opinion on Atari games and how they aged. It can be from any console. As for me, I've only played Pong so I can't tell.

[Tonberry]

I'm sure they have their charm to people who grew up with them but I'd reckon that No they haven't, at least generally speaking. I'm not super fond of claiming games "age" in general since I find it both fun and important to try out old games as well as newer ones, but from an objective standpoint I have the impression that Atari ports of arcade games that were made on pre-video game crash systems kind of got blown out of the water once the NES rolled out with its much more accurate renditions of many arcade games, and I'm hard-pressed to find a good argument in favor of adventure and action games released before the likes of Mario, Contra, Zelda, Megaman or Dragon Warrior, which just kind of destroyed them.

Old Atari games were way before my time and I haven't delved far enough back in time to ever have given them an honest shot aside from a game or two, but I can definitely see the charm in the super primitive graphics and sometimes crazy sound effects. The (nowadays) simplistic graphics of the NES are still (at least to me) great for kind of making your imagination fill in the gaps which is a feeling love, and I'd reckon that Atari graphics are the same to many who were kids when they were hot stuff.

[Kane99]

Honestly, the games from the Atari consoles, at least the earlier consoles haven't aged that well. Some still play fine and work as intended, but there are games on the consoles that haven't aged well based on graphics (that's probably true for most) and gameplay. I can't say what games are good or bad, as I rarely played atari games growing up. I was on NES and newer consoles growing up. 

I'm interested to hear what actual fans of Atari games have to say though. Because personally I have no interest in playing most Atari games these days. And the ones I did play were either the arcade versions, so I never had a full experience with Atari consoles. 

[Empire]

Since Atari 2600 is mostly based on old arcade games, you have to play like an arcade machine. The high scores are there for a reason. This system by nature is about inviting friends over for competitions. See who can get the high score and best it. Time trials is great too. Any games by Activision is gold.

Plus since this isn't your first system. Get third party controllers. Check a local vintage store and ask to try them. They are easier to handle than OEM Joysticks. That's a big drawback to people new to the Atari 2600. Gemstik is a good choice of such controllers.

[Heatman]

On 9/20/2022 at 6:06 PM, Techno said:

I'd like to see your opinion on Atari games and how they aged. It can be from any console. As for me, I've only played Pong so I can't tell.

I had a very good time playing Pitfall on Atari 2600. It was the very best that I have on the console, although I also didn't play much on it because it was owned by my uncle, the little time I played Pitfall, I enjoyed it. Some gamers still enjoy playing the game now on the console. 

[Demon_skeith]

Still have their charm, but aged like cheese left out in the sun on a hot day. Though I think I do have a few plug and play games around for the tv that were fun.

[The Blackangel]

They have aged well. They show us our beginnings as gamers, and how far we have come since then. The Atari 2600 was a 2 bit system, and had several failures during its lifetime. Most notably the ET game. But while the hardware may be wearing out, and the console looks dated, the games still have a massive community of Atari gamers. I'm one of them myself. But aside from RDR2 and a small handful of others, I'm strictly a classic gamer. Which means I play Atari a lot.

[Justin11]

Anyone who played on this platform and still playing now has been a long existing fan of video games, I didn't get to play on this platform but from reviews I have read about video games available on the platform they seem to have really aged very well.

[Scorpion]

Atari games have a nostalgic charm but can feel dated compared to modern titles. Their simplicity offers unique, retro fun!