I think that most people who once loved this game moved on from videogames a long time ago. Like almost all games on the Atari, it won't interest the younger generations for more than a few minutes. But I still remember it fondly.
I think it holds up well enough. These older games that implement their controls well have a "feel" distinct to their respective console that's hard to get anywhere else.
The only reason most people ignore home consoles before the NES is precisely this lack of showcasing of the best.
Having introduced my younger siblings, who grew up with much later systems like the PS3 and Nintendo Switch, I would have to agree with this statement. The Atari 2600 is pretty graphically primitive (feel like I read somewherre that it was only designed to display 5 movable objects on the entire screen at once) even though its super impressive what they were able to accomplish with it.
Another thing to remember: the NES sort of cheats in a sense, because the cartridges themselves could include onboard chips like the MMC3/5 [1] that extended the capabilities of the original NES, stretching its lifetime far further.
As a kid I found the gameplay for most Atari 2600 games so shallow I could barely stand to play a game more than a few minutes… except for Combat. Man with two players, that was fun.
The only reason most people ignore home consoles before the NES is precisely this lack of showcasing of the best.
Another thing to remember: the NES sort of cheats in a sense, because the cartridges themselves could include onboard chips like the MMC3/5 [1] that extended the capabilities of the original NES, stretching its lifetime far further.
[1] - https://nicole.express/2022/the-nes-as-an-artifact.html
Combat was great fun though because you could "curve" the bullets!