I was stuck in the Atari days up to around 1989 or so when my brother got me a NES for Christmas. I must admit, once I got that, my Atari didn't get much playtime outside Missile Command and Asteroids (two titles I looked for on the NES but never saw).
Nintendo certainly marketed their NES right, and even illegally behind the scenes, to take advantage of the market.
Combat and Ms. Pacman were my faves on the Atari.
Combat was another game my father played with me after work - though it could not replace Maze Craze as our favorite two player game to play.
Ms. Pac-Man is a classic, gamers are either fans or they hate it, no real in between with it. I love it myself, that and Jr. Pac-Man and all the amazing little things that game did on the Atari 2600 just blew my mind.