Let's Talk Classic

[Kybyrian]

When I say classic I mean truly classic. I mean things like Dig Dug, Galaga, Pole Position, Galaxian, Pac Man, Mrs. Pac Man, Pitfall, etc. All those good old games that we knew and loved for Atari and whatever.

I recently picked up my Namcomuseum cartridge for my Nintendo 64, seeing as how all of our Atari stuff was given away a very long time ago. It was the first time in at least 7 years I had played Galaga. I still remembered the ol' tractor beam and double fighter and the strategies I used... shooting down ships as they came down the bees flying back up and the butterflies waving around toward you as they fell. The extra points for falling enemies, and extra points for formation, etc. I wasn't entirely bad at it either... 50,000 pts first game I'd played in at least 7 years. I was happy. It was great to play these games again. I only got to round 3 or 4 on Dig Dug, but it was still great. I remember Galaxian, just like Galaga only Galaga was much better. Pole Position was never one of my favorites... also Pacman. I used to love Pacman. I'd have strategies to get through the levels and everything. I remember bright blue borders... green borders, every kind of border. In fact, my dad was great at pacman. He basically completed the game one time.

So anybody really ever think about the classics, or even pick them up and play them from time to time? I was just playing Call of Duty and then got bored and thought, "Hey, why don't I play Galaga?" I actually had a lot of fun. They're great games.

 

[fredthehylian]

I think this might stir up some confusion. I think E.T. is sort of a classic on Atari. For some reason I find it fun.

But before I start getting people all confused, I think I'll talk about other classics on Atari. Frogger 2 is quite fun. I liked how it was like every sequel on the NES; different than the original. Its hard at first but if you play it for a while, you'll find it easy. Pac Man on Atari wasn't quite as good as the later 8bit installments. But if I had to play 4bit Pac Man, I'd do it. Pitfall I have never played and am dying to play it too.

Centipede is by far the most addicting. I just love it. No matter how frustrating that jumping thing is (and the sound it makes). I also love Galaga. Just love it.

 

[Y2K3]

I actually don't think I've ever played an Atari game before. If I did, it certainly wasn't on an Atari as I have never even seen an Atari.
I know I've played some pretty basic games of Pac Man and Pong before, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what they were for.

I guess I'm just missing out.

 

[Hanyou]

I've tried. I had the N64 NamcoMuseum, and I got addicted to Galaga (or Galaxian...can't remember which). Then my mom got angry at me for getting bad grades, asked me to pick one N64 game to throw away, and I picked that one.

To be honest, I haven't missed it. Those games can be addictive, much like the games here in the ZD arcade (where I have wasted a lot of time, even though I'm not good), but they just don't measure up to the stuff that started cropping up in the 8-bit era. The scrolling screen was one of the biggest revolutions in gaming, if not the biggest, and it really opened doors. Hell, you even ended up with games like Phantasy Star for the Master System, which I'd call art.

That's not to intrude on the classic gaming discussion here, just to state my case for why I've never been engaged in them. Dig-dug, Frogger, Space Invaders, Galaga, those are fun...but none of them would have made me a gamer.

 

[General Lee]

I love my 2600(s). Its hounestly one of the best systems in my mind. And probably the first system I think of when I hear "classic" so Ill talk about it. I have 40+ games for it, and I havent found one I turn on and pretty much turn it off. Some of my favorite things about the 2600 is:

Its simplicity. So simple, yet so entertaining. Playing by yourself, or with a friend it never fail to amaze me how such a simple game can keep me sucked in for hours.

Endless amounts of games. The 2600 has such a huge library/variety of games. And alot of games are so unique its just awsome. I have some Muppets games, different games base off movies, even a game where your main objective is to balance dishes.

Joystick controlls. I really like joystick controlls, Atari, arcades, NES Advantage you get the point. It just brings the arcade feel home. And that was the main point of the Atari 2600 was to bring the arcade into your living room or where ever you would play it.

 

[Josh]

For the N64 eh? I think I have that. Or maybe it's for GBA. I'd have to look.

But yes, I did use to play these a lot back years ago. Whoever said about they get old fast, is quite true. They're fun games when you first play them, like I used to love Dig-Dug and whatever racing game was on there, but you don't play them much after a couple of times. Sure there's some more lasting games like Pac-man or Galaga, but I never found the interest to play them much more.

 

[chrisbg99]

I always really enjoyed playing Asteroid, Missile Command and Donkey Kong. Lots of those classic arcade games are always worth a quarter or two. Or three.

What I really miss is pinball. I haven't played a game of pinball for a long time now.