Acclaimed Media

The top 1,400 most recommended games across 920 critic lists from 146 publications.

Updated: October 16, 2026

Most Acclaimed Atari 2600 Games of All Time

25 of 25

Pac-Man

#1 Pac-Man (1980) (#130)

Namco | ARC, 3, 5, DOS, NES | Maze | 38 lists

Space Invaders

#2 Space Invaders (1978) (#165)

Taito | ARC, A26 | Shooter | 29 lists

Defender

#3 Defender (1981) (#264)

Shockwave, Williams Electronics | ARC, A26 | Shooter | 21 lists

Asteroids

#4 Asteroids (1979) (#271)

Atari | ARC, A26, A8 | Shooter | 19 lists

Pitfall!

#5 Pitfall! (1982) (#314)

Activision | 4, 3 | Platform | ~36m | 20 lists

Missile Command

#6 Missile Command (1980) (#411)

Atari | ARC, A26, A52, A8 | Shooter | 16 lists

#7 Star Wars (1983) (#433)

Atari, Atari Games | ARC, 3, 7, DOS, MAC | Shooter | 12 lists

Adventure

#8 Adventure (1980) (#503)

Atari | A26 | Action-Adventure | ~12m | 9 lists

Joust

#9 Joust (1982) (#591)

Williams Electronics | ARC, A26, A52, A2, A8, DOS | Action | 9 lists

Centipede

#10 Centipede (1981) (#650)

Atari | ARC, 3, A8, C64 | Shooter | 10 lists

Battlezone

#11 Battlezone (1980) (#670)

Atari | ARC, A26, VC20, C64 | First-Person Shooter / Vehicular Combat | 7 lists

Combat

#12 Combat (1977) (#713)

Atari | A26 | Shooter | 7 lists

Track & Field / Hyper Olympic

#13 Track & Field / Hyper Olympic (1983) (#739)

Konami | ARC, A26, A8, MSX | Sports | 5 lists

Mario Bros.

#14 Mario Bros. (1983) (#748)

Nintendo R&D1 | ARC, A26, A52, 5, NES | Platform | 7 lists

Breakout

#15 Breakout (1976) (#762)

Atari | ARC, A26 | Action | 6 lists

Pole Position

#16 Pole Position (1982) (#818)

Namco | ARC, 3, 5 | Racing | ~24m | 8 lists

Spy Hunter

#17 Spy Hunter (1983) (#822)

Bally Midway | ARC, A26, CV, 6, DOS, NES | Vehicular Combat | 9 lists

Warlords

#18 Warlords (1981) (#824)

Atari | ARC, A26 | Action | 6 lists

#19 Star Raiders (1980) (#876)

Atari | A26, A52, A8 | Space Combat | ~18m | 5 lists

Zaxxon

#20 Zaxxon (1981) (#1044)

Sega Enterprises, Ltd. | ARC, 5, 4, DOS | Shooter | 6 lists

Super Sprint

#21 Super Sprint (1986) (#1115)

Atari Games | ARC, A26, 4, NES | Racing | ~24m | 3 lists

Miner 2049er

#22 Miner 2049er (1982) (#1196)

Big Five Software | A26, A52, A2, A8, DOS | Platform | ~48m | 5 lists

Donkey Kong Jr.

#23 Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) (#1261)

Nintendo R&D1 | ARC, A26, NES | Platform | 4 lists

River Raid

#24 River Raid (1982) (#1313)

Activision | 3, 3 | Shooter | 5 lists

Moon Patrol

#25 Moon Patrol (1982) (#1330)

Irem | ARC, A26, A52, 4, DOS | Shooter | 3 lists

All 25 results loaded