"Let's not forget who REALLY strated the home Videogame Revolution..."

Atari 2600, you either love it or hate it. I think this game system embodies the basic elements to what every gaming Genre is all about. It's not about 3D trishaded Polygons or 24 Channel didgital audio. It's about the GAME, and the GAME is the reason you get a GAME system isn't it.

This system was on the market longer than any other system out there. From 1977 to 1990, more than a Decade, the Atari 2600 was one of the top consoles, even when it was not the most technological thing out there. I remember buying Atari goodies from the Toy Store when Nintendo was hot, and seeing other people buying for it too.

Graphics: 9/10

The Graphics on the Atari 2600 go from downright blocky and square like Tetris, right up to almost NES quality. This system was the ultimate in power from my thought because so much emphasis was not placed on the hardware, but the actual games themselves. Games went from 2 player pixel against pixel matches to stuff like F-14 that could compete with the early flight simulators on a home Computer. I have to say the 2600 lived it's shelf life to the fullest, by the end being on par with some of it's long late predecessors. Graphics are on par with that department, some getting as good was the worst SNES game.

Sound: 6/10

The Atari 2600 did have some flaws in the sound department, mainley because the tonal processor is not on par with any musical scales. Mostly it was meant to play the sounds for engines and space ships and other such stuff. This is where the Atari gets a little dated, but sometimes sound can be a thing of Humor, I still laugh everytime I hear my shooter blow up and make a Fart noise in Space Invaders.

Control: 10/10

The Atari 2600, unlike everything on the market today, had a wide array of useful and helpful controllers made for it. Now you usually see the same N64 controller in 15 colors and from the same company with no extra features. The Atari had the Joysticks, Paddles, Touchpads of various degrees, Driving controllers, a Trackball, a computer add on, a supercharger add on......sience when have we seen this kind of stuff these days on our consoles, I don't see a 128 bit hard disk add on for the N64, I don't see a computer add on for the XBox (personally, I think your better off buying a PC rather than an Xbox, theyre basically the same thing). And all of the Atari's controllers were well made to last beyond 20 years without any problems, when can you say that about a 1985 standard issue NES controller.

Variety: 10/10

This console is the master of variety, the 2600 owns anything else in this catagory that does not add the 2600 to it's list. Here's a list of all the ways you can play Atari games......

1977 Atari VCS Heavy Sixer console (wood front, 6 switch)
1978-80 Atari VCS Six Switch light console
1980 Atari VCS 4 Switch (Wood Front)
1982 Atari VCS 4 Switch (Black Front) ''Darth Vader''
1982 Coleco Gemini
1982 Mattell Intellivision II System Changer
1987-1990 Atari 2600 JR.
1981-83 Colecovision with Game Adaptor
1986-1991 Atari 7800
1984 Atari 5200 with Games Adaptor
and even more plus the PC emulators from off the internet

And The games go on and on too with such pioneering titles such as: Pitfall, Pac-Man, Stampede, Starmaster, Adventure, Combat, Video Pinball....and the list goes on and on and on.

Play Value: 10/10

This console is the master of playing longevity. Everthing from Starmaster alone to a party of drunks playing Combat and swerving around the screen uncontrollably trying to blow the living daylights out of the others ''I'' shaped tank. This thing has lots of play value, I would not even see it as a waste to start making them again.

Overall: 10/10

You can't go wrong with the grandpappy of home console gaming. all the games go for really cheap and so do the consoles, and it's easy enough to copy your own hardware with some technical knowhow (etching circutboards, reading schematics and stuff like that). Atari is the thing to have if you don't care about novelized, boring games that require Direct X and a 4000 page manual to beat.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/02, Updated 01/18/02