THE BEST AND WORST 5200 GAMES
GAMEPLAY GRAPHICS # RATERS
1. Montezuma's Revenge 4.71 4.43 (7)
2. Rescue on Fractalus! 4.6 4.2 (5)
3. Space Dungeon 4.5 4.08 (12)
4. Zaxxon 4.43 4.57 (7)
5. Pitfall II 4.33 4.33 (12)
6. Star Raiders 4.27 3.8 (15)
Qix 4.27 3.73 (11)
8. Ballblazer 4.25 4.5 (8)
9. Wizard of Wor 4.22 4 (9)
10. Defender 4.15 4 (13)
11. Gyruss 4.14 3.29 (7)
12. Centipede 4.13 3.6 (15)
13. Moon Patrol 4.1 3.9 (10)
Robotron: 2084 4.1 3.7 (10)
15. Jr. Pac-Man (Proto) 4 3.75 (4)
Millipede 4 3.5 (4)
Gremlins 4 3.8 (5)
Choplifter! 4 3.14 (7)
Miner 2049er 4 3.36 (11)
Frogger II: Threeedeep! 4 4 (7)
Mountain King 4 2.89 (9)
Pengo 4 3.89 (8)
23. Pitfall! 3.9 3.6 (10)
24. Joust 3.87 3.87 (15)
25. Ms. Pac-Man 3.83 4.08 (12)
Beamrider 3.83 3.5 (6)
27. Kaboom! 3.82 3.27 (11)
28. Bounty Bob Strikes Back 3.8 3.8 (5)
Zone Ranger 3.8 3.8 (10)
30. River Raid 3.79 3.64 (14)
31. H.E.R.O. 3.75 3.75 (4)
32. Mario Bros. 3.73 3.55 (11)
33. Dig Dug 3.71 3.71 (14)
Missile Command 3.71 3.36 (14)
35. Megamania 3.7 3.6 (10)
36. Xari Arena (Proto) 3.67 3.33 (3)
Xevious (Proto) 3.67 3 (3)
Star Trek 3.67 3.56 (9)
39. Pac-Man 3.6 3.73 (15)
40. Keystone Kapers 3.56 3.78 (9)
41. Berzerk 3.54 3.08 (13)
42. Jungle Hunt 3.5 3.83 (12)
Vanguard 3.5 3.58 (12)
Dreadnaught Factor, The 3.5 4 (8)
Pole Position 3.5 3.43 (14)
46. RealSports Baseball 3.44 3.44 (9)
47. Q*Bert 3.38 3.46 (13)
48. Last Starfighter (Proto) 3.33 3.33 (3)
49. Galaxian 3.31 3.38 (16)
50. Buck Rogers 3.3 3.3 (10)
51. Frogger 3.25 3.83 (12)
Gorf 3.25 3.38 (8)
53. Kangaroo 3.2 2.87 (15)
54. Blue Print 3.08 3.5 (12)
55. RealSports Tennis 3 3.33 (6)
Mr. Do's Castle 3 2.86 (7)
Super Cobra 3 3.33 (6)
Super Breakout 3 2.71 (17)
59. Popeye 2.92 3.15 (13)
60. Star Wars: The Arcade Game 2.89 3.11 (9)
61. RealSports Soccer 2.88 2.62 (8)
62. Countermeasure 2.79 2.93 (14)
63. Astro Chase 2.75 3.62 (8)
Meteorites 2.75 2.25 (4)
Star Wars ROTJ: Death Star 2.75 2.75 (4)
Battle
66. RealSports Football 2.73 2.64 (11)
67. Space Invaders 2.69 2.62 (13)
68. Road Runner (Proto) 2.67 2.67 (3)
Zenji 2.67 2.67 (3)
70. Decathlon 2.6 3 (5)
71. Battlezone (Proto) 2.5 2 (4)
72. Space Shuttle 2.43 3.43 (7)
73. James Bond 007 2.29 2.57 (7)
74. Congo Bongo 2.27 2.27 (11)
75. Quest for Quintana Roo 1.2 2.4 (5)
76. Miniature Golf (Proto) 1 1.33 (3)
PROVISIONALLY RATED (not enough responses for these games yet)
Super Pac-Man (Proto) 5 5 (2)
Centipede ("Killer") 5 3 (1)
Tempest (Proto) 4 5 (2)
Final Legacy (Proto) 3.5 3.5 (2)
Track and Field (Proto) 3.5 3.5 (2)
K-Razy Shootout 3.5 2 (2)
Black Belt (Proto) 2.5 3.5 (2)
Sport Goofy (Proto) 2 2 (2)
Looney Tunes Hotel (Proto) 2 1.5 (2)
Micro-gammon SB (Proto) 2.5 3 (2)
Spitfire (Proto) 2 3 (2)
Asteroids (Proto) 1.5 2 (2)
RealSports Basketball (Proto) 1.5 1.5 (2)
COMMENTS FROM THE GAMERS
The ratings after each comment are the scores given by that
particular individual.
A "5/4" would stand for Gameplay=4 Graphics=5.
Asteroids
(KI) - It's no wonder Atari canned the game. Sloppy isn't
a brutal enough description of the controls. (1/2)
Astro Chase
(TL) - I don't understand it. What's the point? Graphics are
good though. (score not given)
Ballblazer
(BW) - One of my all time favorites on any platform! (4/5)
(KI) - Split screen, first person perspective and two player
simultaneous gameplay. Who could ask for anything more?
(4/5)
Battlezone (Prototype)
(DM) - How did they manage to make this game so bad? Redefined
character sets made the tanks and obstacles unscalable,
and just made the whole thing look like a bad game you
typed-in on your own 8-bit from Antic magazine or
something. (3/1)
(KI) - No wonder this game was never released. (2/2)
Berzerk
(TL) - This cool game taught me how to fight like a robot
instead of chicken. (4/4)
(EB) - Best home version of this game. Speech is cool! (4/4)
Black Belt
(KI) - A very early and unfinished fighting game. Shows
promise but the lack of collision detection makes it
hard to judge the game. (2/3)
Bounty Bob Strikes Back
(KHe)- All I can say is "WOW!" I thought Miner 2049er was great
(and it still is), but Bounty Bob is king! This game is
incredibly fun AND challenging. It takes the best
elements of Miner, then expands on them. There is so
I like about this game: Lots-o-levels, tons of strategy,
humor, warps, and a special configuration page to boot.
Even the high score entry and display pages are great.
This game is a definite 5/5 for graphics/playability.
Thank you Bill Hogue! (5/5)
(DER)- Game play is really different. Takes all the fun of
Miner 2049er out, sometimes it's hard to tell the
difference between the two except for the different
colors. It's really difficult to jump from one level to
another. I'll say it again; game play is really
difficult. (1/2)
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
(DER)- A game I like except I wish they would have taken it
further and made the graphics a bit better a la
Ballblazer. A distant predecessor to games like 1942.
(4/3)
Centipede
(DM) - My 5/5 rating is really based on the fact that this is a
port, it's just a plain good 5200 version. Smooth moving
enemies, fantastic sound, and the trak-ball makes this
probably one of my favorite 5200 titles. (5/5)
(KHe)- Gameplay improves when using trak-ball.
(EB) - Different from (and better than) the Atari 8-bit Computer
version. (4/3)
(JJ) - Beats Atari Computer version by a mile. (5/5)
Congo Bongo
(JT) - Hate this damn game. Cheezy 3-D perspective doesn't work
at all. (1/2)
(DER)- It's an OK game. I liked playing it in the arcade, but
the 5200 version is kinda lame. The opening level seems
like a big splotch of yellow with some brown added to it.
(3/3)
(EB) - Awful, just awful. (1/2)
Countermeasure
(TL) - The 5200's version of Combat. (4/2)
Decathlon
(KI) - If you want to kill your joystick by playing this game,
be my guest. Don't say that I didn't warn you, though.
Decent enough game for those who don't mind the risk of
thrashing their controllers. (2/4)
Defender
(DER)- I consider this game the "feel-good" game of the Atari
series. It seems no matter how bad you are playing, you
can always rack up a high score. I like Defender a lot,
it's one of my all-time faves. (5/3)
(TL) - Not a big fan of the game but the graphics are
outstanding! (3/5)
(KI) - Smooth gameplay coupled with the absence of flicker
(unlike the 2600 version) combine to make this one of
the most faithful ports of Defender on any classic
system. (4/4)
Dig Dug
(DER)- I've seen better ports of this than the 5200 version, but
there's something about Dig Dug I like that I can't put a
finger on. An entertaining game. (3/3)
Final Legacy
(KI) - None of the sub-games is good enough to stand on its own,
but judged as a whole it's slightly more enjoyable than
Countermeasure. (3/4)
Frogger
(JT) - Friggin' retarded control scheme. (2/5)
(TL) - What a sissy concept for a game. (2/3)
(KHe)- Looks good, but button/joystick combo that you have to
use to control Frogger's movement is a pain. Keypad
controlling is even worse. (2/4)
(KI) - Play this game with the Masterplay and you'll change your
mind, guys :) (4/4)
Frogger II: Threeedeep!
(DER)- I like this game a lot. One of the last games I got
before they became impossible to get. As a matter of
fact, this game IS impossible to get. I like the
graphics and it's a big improvement over the first one.
(4/4)
(KI) - Great sequel, but this game is bound to frustrate even
the best gamers with its absurd difficulty. (4/4)
Galaxian
(BW) - Looks and plays like Galaxian, but just lacks something.
(4/3)
(DER)- This game is haunted by the fact that the game play and
screens never change. (See also Space Invaders). I like
this better than Space Invaders, however. (3/3)
Gorf
(TL) - I can't give it a 5/5 because they forgot the Galaxian
level. Otherwise it is awesome! (4/5)
Gyruss
(JT) - Fantastic music. (4/5)
(KI) - Along with Ballblazer, Pengo and Moon Patrol, this game
is a showcase title of the 5200's remarkable audio
capabilities. (4/3)
James Bond 007
(KI) - An insanely difficult game, and an awful one to boot. (2/3)
Joust
(KI) - A faithful home port of the Williams coin-op. (4/4)
Jungle Hunt
(KHe)- Is it just me or is the final scene much more difficult
than in the original coin-op? (3/4)
(KI) - Most people either love this game or despise it. I'm
somewhere in between, however. (3/4)
K-Razy Shootout
(KI) - A decent ripoff of Berzerk on a system that already has
an (almost) pixel perfect port of the real thing. (3/2)
Kaboom!
(DM) - Although many people believe playing Kaboom! without a
paddle is some kind of sacrilege, I love this version of
the game. With the 5200 joystick, you're simply
controlling the same potentiometer in the controller, but
with a knob on the 2600 and a stick on the 5200. Output
is analog either way. Plus, the 1812 Overture really
gets me pumped up! (5/4)
(KI) - The option of allowing a second player to play as the Mad
Bomber is a cool feature not found in any other version
of Kaboom! (4/3)
Kangaroo
(TL) - This game is downright stupid. The graphics are even
worse. I bet they had Commodore shaking in their boots
at the time. (1/1)
(KI) - Controlling Mama-roo is tricky with the standard 5200
joystick, but this game truly shines for those lucky
enough to have a third-party controller. (4/4)
Mario Bros.
(KHe)- Great port. Fun, especially with two players. (5/4)
Megamania
(TL) - Cool graphics, but redundant as #@$%. (3/4)
(DM) - I love this game. Apart from the fact that this game
just feels a little different from the 2600 version that
we're all used to, this game is terrific in every way.
And aside from the game, the label and box art are quite
superior to its 2600 counterpart. If this one had come
out first, they would have laughed the 2600 version out
the door. (5/5)
Meteorites
(KI) - A pretty decent Asteroids clone. Speaking of which,
whatever happened to Asteroids??? (4/3)
Micro-gammon SB (Prototype)
(DM) - I'm glad they used the highest resolution possible for at
least one game. The computer may not be a very good
backgammon player, but they really had a great idea here
and I'm sorry it wasn't released. (3/5)
Millipede (Prototype)
(KI) - Absolutely phenomenal. The trak-ball option puts this
version above the technically superior NES edition. (5/4)
Miner 2049er
(DER)- This game is everything that BBSB isn't. Easy to play,
not too difficult, OK graphics, just a lot of fun. (4/2)
(KHe)- Great game! Was my favorite as a kid. (5/5)
Missile Command
(TL) - This game has it all! Easily my favorite 5200 game and
among my favorites of all time. Anyone have a trak-ball
for sale? (5/5)
(DM) - With two buttons and a keypad available, having only one
missile base is inexcusable. They even fit two bases
into the Atari ST version, using each button on the
mouse. Why couldn't Atari port their own game worth a
"bleep"? (2/3)
Mountain King
(KHe)- Fun; are the higher levels winnable? (5/3)
Mr. Do's Castle
(DM) - After seeing the Colecovision version, this is just plain
sad. The 5200 could certainly have moved the Do-meister
and the Chameleon Unicorns around better than it did.
(3/2)
Ms. Pac-Man
(DER)- The successor to Pac-Man is more challenging than the
original, and gameplay is better. (4/3)
Pac-Man
(TL) - The screen is just too wide. And what happened to the
great sound effects that were included in the 2600
version? (3/2)
Pengo
(KHe)- Fun! I liked the arcade game, but wasn't too good at it.
Played this version a lot! Great port (5/3)
(KI) - A pixel perfect port of the coin-op cult classic. (4/5)
Pitfall!
(BW) - I actually like 2600 Pitfall better! (3/3)
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
(KI) - For an additional challenge, try the secret Adventurer's
world! (5/4)
Pole Position
(BW) - Made me want a 5200 back in the day (4/4)
Popeye
(TL) - Graphics leave a bit to be desired. (3/2)
(KI) - Never cared for Nintendo's coin-op version, so the 5200
one doesn't do much for me. (3/3)
Q*Bert
(JT) - Retarded controls (like Frogger). (2/4)
(KHe)- Not one of my favorite games, but seems to be a good
port. Of course, it's missing the "thwack" of the
original when Q*bert or Coily jumps off the side of the
pyramid. (3/3)
Qix
(TL) - A true classic. Decent graphics. Great concept! One of
the best ever! (5/5)
RealSports Baseball
(DER)- This game is fun! I like playing the higher levels,
because the easy level is too easy. On the easy level,
you can bunt for home runs. The voice in the game is
cool, but can get old after a long time of playing. (4/4)
RealSports Basketball (Prototype)
(DER)- I played this game for two weeks as part of an Atari
survey my Dad got in '83 in the Northwest suburbs of
Chicago. The graphics were terrible and the gameplay
wasn't too much better. I suppose it would have been
better if I had really good joysticks, or that I should
have played it on the two-port version. (2/2)
RealSports Football
(DER)- This game is just above average. The playbooks are cool,
but I can run the same play over and over again and
demolish the computer. I don't understand how a player
can run around the screen and end up on the other side.
(2/2)
RealSports Soccer
(DER)- I'm a big fan of Soccer, and this game is an OK version.
It seems that most of the time the other players are out
just wandering around. (3/2)
Rescue on Fractalus!
(KI) - The system of fractile geometry which was used to
generate the planetary landscape was a gaming first.
(5/5)
River Raid
(BW) - I don't like the jagged river edges, and the stick ruins
it for me. (4/3)
Space Dungeon
(TL) - Berzerk in outer space with a little more meat in it.
(4/4)
(JJ) - Simply put, this game rules! (5/5)
(KI) - Robotron meets Berzerk meets Zelda. A closet classic
that begs to be played by everyone. (5/5)
Space Invaders
(DER)- I know it's an older game, but Galaxian and Megamania
picked up where this one left off. Gameplay is OK and
graphics are weak, but that's what it's like to be an
original. (2/2)
(KHe)- Not really like the original but kind of fun. The mother
ship comes out constantly! (3/3)
Star Raiders
(BW) - Great, even with the 5200 stick! (5/5)
(DER)- Predecessor to X-Wing and Wing Commander. Really
involved for a 5200 game. It had one of the largest
manuals for any game, 40-some pages. (5/3)
(KHe)- I guess this is considered to be a "classic," but I just
can't get into this game. Yuck! (1/1)
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
(EB) - Boring translation of a game that has no good home ports
(vector to raster). (2/3)
Star Wars: The Arcade Game
(DM) - After this guy got fired from Atari for Battlezone, he
must have went to Parker Brothers. Same crappy blocky
Battlezone graphics ruined this one too. (3/2)
(KI) - It (sort of) looks like the arcade version, and it sure
sounds like it, too. But it plays nothing like its
color vector parent. (2/3)
Super Breakout
(KHo)- The 2600 version blows this one out of the water! (1/1)
(BW) - How do you rate graphics on Breakout? Of course they're
blocky. (3/4)
Super Pac-Man
(KI) - Absolutely superb. The graphics are sharp and colorful,
and everything that was found in the coin-op original is
featured in the SuperSystem adaptation. (5/5)
Tempest
(KI) - Incomplete, but what's there shows tremendous promise.
Control is spot-on, and the sound effects seem to have
been taken straight out of the arcade version. (4/5)
Vanguard
(TL) - I liked the 2600 version better but credit is due for a
great game like Vanguard. (3/5)
(KHe)- Captures the spirit of the original. Sadly, the four
fire button arrangement of the coin-op couldn't be
duplicated. I hate how the ship doesn't move easily
while firing. (3/3)
Wizard of Wor
(TL) - Cool game. Decent graphics. (4/4)
Xari Arena (Prototype)
(DM) - Good marks just based on originality. What a nifty game
this was. (5/4)
(KI) - If you liked Warlords, you'll absolutely love this
prototype game. (4/3)
Zaxxon
(KHo)- Blows away the Colecovision and C-64 versions by a mile!
(5/5)
Zone Ranger
(TL) - Playability is awesome. (4/4)