TOM BONNER'S TOP TEN ATARI CONSOLE AND COMPUTER GAMES cbonner@mail.llion.org I figured I might as well put my two cents in. I've been in video games since the first Odyssey 100. I've owned just about every system, at one time or another, and played an uncountable amount of games. I was a visitor at the Chicago Electronic Show since 1978 until its end a few years ago. I remember when Activision was a small little booth on the lowest floor level at the show. (A place where you showed you were nothing). Activision had a small table set up and a few games showing. David Crane sat there with Bob Whitehead. I remember thinking Atari will sue and they'll be gone. It was amazing to see them later battling Atari on the same floor. Any ways...it's impossible for me to pick the top ten for all of the Atari systems, so I'll just pick the 2600 for now. These are my favorites for special reasons, which I'll try and explain. 10. Basketball (2600/Atari) It was the first game I played on the 2600. It was at a Sears store, and it's the game that made me buy the Atari 2600 instead of the Fairchild system. The Salesman claimed I couldn't win against the 2600 Basketball. (at the time he was right) 9. Dragster (2600/Activision) It was unbelievably hard to learn, but when you got two people that knew how it went, IT WAS TOTAL WAR! You had to be quick to shift and not over rev, or you blew the engine. This game and one other changed my idea on how game play should be. 8. Super Breakout (2600/Atari) It was the sounds that made me a fan. the game was simple and I usually played it when I was on the phone. 7. Air Raiders (2600/Mattel M-Network) This game looked simple and didn't appeal to me at first. I later got hooked into try different controllers to see if I could find an edge. 6. Tennis (2600/Activision) I was impressed with the ease of how easy this game was to learn, and yet it gave a good challenge. It was 3D Pong. 5. Warlords (2600/Atari) The first Pong game that brought in four people. I remember betting quarters with friends, on who could last till the end. It was a room of screaming and yelling on friday nights. 4. Dragonfire (2600/Imagic) I helped build a Video Store (I'm a Carpenter by trade) for some guys and they asked me to stick around and help to sell games on weekends since I had some knowledge on games. On Friday and Saturday evenings after the store closed we ordered Pizza and played this game among others. It was another reflex game (like Dragster) that made it a favorite. 3. Star Raiders (2600/Atari) Actually I played the other versions (including the 400/800) more. This was the ultimate game for reflexes and skill for its time. We turned off the shields and played Chicken with the enemy. We tried to see how many ship we could destroy before we were wiped out. without shields on difficult it was instant death...if hit. 2. Missile Command (2600/Atari) It was a favorite at the Arcade, and I wasn't expecting much from the 2600. It surprised me. It was good enough, it made me buy a Track Ball. One of the greatest games for the limitations of the 2600 at that time. 1. Tunnel Runner (2600/CBS Electronics) This game was the first game that I got completely involved with. I bought it on a Friday night after working at the Video Store and got home about AM. (This is also the game along with Dragster, that showed how games should be. . . involved). The RAM PLUS on the box made me curious. I was going to wait until morning, (my wife was asleep) but I had to find out if the RAM PLUS chip meant anything. I turn out the lights and turned on the TV. Like usual I didn't read the directions, and figured out I was looking for a key to get off of the level. By not reading the directions, I managed to play the game in a way that I never changed. I didn't use the map, so I was going through the maze basically blind. It was the greatest thing in the world. The sounds of the creatures (Pacmen) coming from different directions was indescribable. My heart pounded and hands started to sweat... This is the number one memory and game for me. . . P.S. -- Now Keita, let's do a Top Ten most worthless Atari games. I'd like to start with Racquetball from Apollo.