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Imagic's fantastic side-scrolling shooter still holds up even today. It's challenging, nice to look at, and fun to play, and frankly, I'd love to see a remake or an update of it. The chances of that happening, though, are slim to none... and slim was just shot and killed.

04. Tutankham - Parker Bros./Konami - 1983

Konami's classic Egyptian-themed arcade contest became an excellent 2600 game. This was one of the games that I used to play for hours on end, trying to find all of the treasures and escape the pyramids. I'd love to find the arcade game someday, but until then, I still have this.

03. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Parker Bros. - 1982

The first video game I ever owned in my life. Based on the Battle of Hoth sequence from the film, you flew a snowspeeder in an attempt to save the Rebel base from being destroyed by the Empire. Sure, it was repetitive, and there was no way you could hold off the Imperial Walkers forever - but it was pure, addictive fun, and that's what counts the most.

02. Yar's Revenge - Atari - 1981

This game did what very few 2600 games ever did - it sparked my imagination. I actually wrote a (never completed) series of stories based on Yar's Revenge that I'll pull out and work on from time to time, even to this day. The game itself is definitely one of the best 2600 games ever - I still enjoy playing it, even now.

01. Pitfall II: Lost Caverns - Activision - 1984

This game is the reason I will never sell my 2600. As much as I loved the first Pitfall, I loved Pitfall II even more. When I pull my system out of storage, this is the first game that goes in - and I always have to play through it at least once while I have the system hooked up. This has been, and always will be, my favorite Atari 2600 game.

Because I only listed my top 25 favorite Atari 2600 games, I've decided to even things out by including my top 5 favorite Atari 7800 games.

One of the first flight sims I ever played (which I found out later was a port of the computer title). It may be hopelessly outdated by today's standards, but I'll always enjoy playing it. Besides, you get to dogfight with Nazis - how much more do you need?

04. F-18 Hornet - Absolute Entertainment - 1988

I found this to be just that much more fun than Ace Of Aces. While it may be looked at as being completely primitive these days, it remains one of the only flight sims I actually enjoy playing. I'll never forget the first time I played it - I had my F-18 heading out of the hangar at full speed, but in my haste to get the game going, I neglected to read the part in the instructions about taking off or stopping the plane. So, not knowing what to do, I began frantically steering the plane left and right - and ran into a cactus, dying instantly.

03. Food Fight - Atari - 1987

Why this hasn't been resurrected on one of the modern systems is beyond me. You get to throw food at chefs and eat ice cream - what could be better? A true classic in every sense of the word.

02. Robotron: 2084 - Atari/Midway - 1987

A great port of the classic arcade game, Robotron: 2084 was one of the games I used to stare at wistfully in Kay-Bee Toys, hoping someday my parents would get it for me - which of course, they finally did. I can't say I was disappointed, either. I can't say I prefer it over the actual arcade game, but this always gets a few hours of play whenever I hook up the 7800.

01. Desert Falcon - Atari - 1987

Atari's answer to Zaxxon, but with an ancient Egyptian theme. I'd have to say this is the best looking, best sounding, best controlling and just plain fun to play games for the 7800 - and that is not something I say lightly. Add the ability to land and go on foot to the classic Zaxxon style of gameplay, throw in the ability to get all sorts of extra powers by picking up different combinations of hieroglyphics, and you have a real classic.