KEN MCCLAIN'S TOP TEN ATARI CONSOLE AND COMPUTER GAMES shortermfx@aol.com I've been playing videogames since I was about 2 (wasn't really the best then...) and had a home console by age four, and bingo! It was the Atari VCS! Since I was kid I didn't get my hands on a 5200 until years after but I had every Atari system running on my TV at one point... Atari just had this kind of magic that no other game, system or company could have, and still haven't reproduced. My life now leaves litle time for videogames which sadly breaks the Atari fantasy world for me, but as a youth I played non-stop! So here is my top ten from when I was a kid , when games were games and Atari was number one! (still is #1 in my heart!) 10. Tempest 2000 (Jaguar/Atari) I thought FOR SURE this game would go beyond cult status and really push the Jag into non-Atari homes.... In any event, this game STILL blows away many Playstation, N64 and Dreamcast games. I was rather ticked about the traditional Atari "non-ending" ending where it would just say "congratulations" rather than have some cinematic ending, but sure enough the gameplay does make up for it. 9. Food Fight (7800/Atari) This game friggin' rules! One of the best 8-bit games ever. Oh the way I laughed when the first "replay" came up on my screen... I'm not sure but I swear my game would glitch up and alter that replay so it didn't look at all like what my last board did.. if anyone else knows of this how 'bout telling me? 8. California Games (Lynx/Epyx) Though this was the first Lynx game, it doesn't mean the rest aren't any good. But in 1989, after my disgust with green and black Gameboy, this blew my mind, especialy the scaling graphics! I thought for sure that this game machine (and the hype of "Panther") would show the big N who is really boss...but at least I had my moment. 7. Grand Prix (2600/Activision) While I had many Activision titles, the most replay came out of Grand Prix (which as a kid I though was pronounced "pricks"). Looking back it is a kid's fascination with driving, and as an adult the abilty to drive fast and wreck and not die! 6. Summer & Winter Games (7800/Epyx) With the burning of the torch scenes and multiple sports to choose from (and maybe the 1988 Olympics too perhaps?), Summer and Winter Games makes for one of the best games the 7800 could put out, sports wise anyways. When I periodically re-open the good ol' Atari box from the attic, this is the first 7800 cart I grab for. 5. Missile Command (2600/Atari) Wow! a real life cold war in your own room! Haha with that image aside I LOVED Missile Command more than life itself. At one point I played it and nothing else for weeks much like the rest of this countdown. My favourite moment is when I "double-flipped," meaning I got more than 2 million points. 4. Jr. Pac-Man (2600/Atari) I was not too sold on Ms. Pac-Man, and certainly not at all on the original as far as 2600 goes. However, Junior Pac does the job me for me -- faster play, bigger boards and his little beanie spins!! 3. Star Raiders (2600/Atari) If I would have been, say, 12 when this game came out on 2600, it would undoubtedly be number one. But I was only 7 when I got my hands on it. The idea of the video touch pad was SO cool and with it on my left side it really felt like I was in a fighter space craft. Sadly, the touch pad broke on me and that was it for a long time.... 2. Frogs 'N Flies (2600/M-Network) I have never seen this on anyone's countdown! But this game was the best! Especially when I learned to toggle the back switch to make the little frogs jump off thier pads. When it became dark, it was really cool with the sounds of crickets and all. Get this game if you don't have it! it is a MUST!! 1. Yars' Revenge (2600/Atari) Yes, Yars' Revenge is my favorite. Athough it's hard to pick out of all of the other great games on my top ten, this one has never been dethroned as my fave. I can always come back and play it for days and that bright flash still impresses me -- I still play it to figure out what the heck it's about!