The 13 best 2nd generation console games

All systems together, ranked by the scores that magazines gave these games when they came out. Systems: Atari 2600, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Odyssey² / Videopac, Vectrex, Atari 5200, Arcadia 2001, Astrocade. The list draws on 938 review scores of 514 games.

#	Game	Platform	Year	Score
1	Ms. Pac-Man	Atari 2600	1982	100
2	The Activision Decathlon	Atari 2600	1984	100
3	Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Cartridge	Intellivision	1982	98.8
4	Venture	ColecoVision	1982	97.8
5	Rocky Super Action Boxing	ColecoVision	1983	97.5
6	Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space	Atari 2600	1983	97.5
7	Web Warp	Vectrex	1982	97.2
8	Cookie Monster Munch	Atari 2600	1983	94.3
9	Phaser Patrol	Atari 2600	1982	93.3
10	Slither	ColecoVision	1984	91.7
11	Lady Bug	ColecoVision	1982	91.1
12	Miner 2049er	ColecoVision	1983	91.1
13	Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle	Atari 2600	1983	91.1

Highly rated, with fewer than 3 reviews

57 titles have a score of 90 or more, but from only one or two reviews, and no Metacritic score.

Game	Platform	Year	Score
Alpha Beam with Ernie	Atari 2600	1983	100
BC's Quest for Tires	ColecoVision	1983	100
Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in the Park	ColecoVision	1984	100
Cosmic Chasm	Vectrex	1982	100
Donkey Kong	ColecoVision	1982	100
Donkey Kong Jr.	ColecoVision	1983	100
Popeye	ColecoVision	1983	100
Q*bert	ColecoVision	1983	100
Turpin	Arcadia 2001	1982	100
Utopia	Intellivision	1981	100
Wing War	ColecoVision	1983	100
B-17 Bomber	Intellivision	1982	100
Blockade Runner	Intellivision	1983	100
Bomb Squad	Intellivision	1982	100
Chopper Command	Atari 2600	1982	100
Decathlon	ColecoVision	1983	100
Dig Dug	Atari 5200	1983	100
Encounter at L5	Atari 2600	1982	100
Escape from the Mindmaster	ColecoVision	1990	100
Frog Bog	Intellivision	1982	100
Frogger	ColecoVision	1983	100
Horse Racing	Intellivision	1980	100
Joust	Atari 5200	1983	100
Jumpman Junior	ColecoVision	1984	100
Kangaroo	Atari 5200	1983	100
Moonsweeper	ColecoVision	1984	100
Morse	Odyssey2	1983	100
Ms. Pac-Man	Atari 5200	1983	100
Pac-Man	Atari 2600	1982	100
Pitfall!	ColecoVision	1983	100
Pole Position	Atari 5200	1983	100
Qix	Atari 5200	1982	100
RealSports Tennis	Atari 5200	1983	100
Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle	Atari 2600	1983	100
Space Attack	Atari 2600	1982	100
Sub Hunt	Intellivision	1981	100
Syracuse	Odyssey2	1981	100
The Incredible Wizard	Astrocade	1982	100
Track & Field	Atari 2600	1984	100
Tunnel Runner	Atari 2600	1983	100
Tutankham	Intellivision	1983	100
Vanguard	Atari 5200	1983	100
Word Zapper	Atari 2600	1982	100
Antarctic Adventure	ColecoVision	1984	91.5
Dragonstomper	Atari 2600	1982	91.5
Fathom	ColecoVision	1983	91.5
Ghost Manor	Atari 2600	1983	91.5
Hyper Chase	Vectrex	1982	91.5
Jump Bug	Arcadia 2001	1982	91.5
Pick Axe Pete!	Odyssey2	1982	91.5
Spike's Peak	Atari 2600	1983	91.5
Swordquest: Fireworld	Atari 2600	1983	91.5
War Games	ColecoVision	1984	91.5
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin	Intellivision	1983	90
Boxing	Intellivision	1981	90
Bump 'N' Jump	Intellivision	1983	90
Ballblazer	Atari 5200	1986	90

How the ranking works

The scores are the ones magazines gave when the games came out, all converted to a 0–100 scale. Only one review per magazine counts for a game: the most recent.
A game's score is half the average, half the median of its magazine reviews. A title opens the game's page on uvlist.net; a score opens the report with every review behind it.
A game needs at least 3 magazine reviews to be ranked. With equal scores, the game with more reviews comes first.
Metacritic already sums up many reviews, so it is never mixed with the magazines: it is used only for games with fewer than 3 magazine reviews, as their only score.
Each list shows every game with a score of 90 or more. Games with fewer than 3 reviews and no Metacritic score are shown apart: their score is promising, but rests on one or two opinions.
A title released on several systems of the group appears once, at the rank of its best version; every version good enough to make the list is shown under it.

The lists are rebuilt each time reviews are added. To filter by genre, year, magazine or publisher, explore all the scores in the report.

More lists

Best 3rd generation (8-bit) console games Best 4th generation (16-bit) console games Best 5th generation (32/64-bit) console games Best 6th generation console games Best 7th generation console games Best 8th generation console games Best 9th generation console games Best 4th generation handheld games Best 5th generation handheld games Best 6th generation handheld games Best 7th generation handheld games Best 8th generation handheld games Best 8-bit home computer games Best 16/32-bit home computer games Best PC (MS-DOS and Windows) games All the lists