Atari 2600

Reactor

If you've never played Reactor in the arcade, you probably wouldn't even notice the sacrifices made in terms of gameplay. The 8-direction joystick performs admirably here and while clearly lacking the precision of a trak-ball, this isn't a game where you'll feel frustrated with the controls. They work. In fact, you can set the difficulty switches to increase the sensitivity of your ship while simultaneously increasing it's "power" to bump particles around. This "power" is another sacrifice that you may not immediately realize is missing. You see, in the arcade you pressed a button to flare your ship, which gave it a quick boost in power for repelling particles. The 2600 version, lacking this, requires the player to more carefully use decoys and tempt fate by pulling up short of deadly walls. The trade-off is a good one, and you will probably find the home version is significantly easier to get the hang of as a result.

Even so, the game takes a terrible toll on your wrist. Reactor does provide a substantial challenge, but it's far more aggravating than it is rewarding. If this is what it's like to work in a nuclear power plant (and I'm almost sure it is), then I feel sorry for those people.