The Atari 2600

Real Faux Woodgrain!

Ahh, who doesn't remember opening that wondrous box full of fun and excitement? You pulled out that sleek black/faux woodgrain/silvery switched machine, and quivered with excitement. For many people, this opened up a whole new horizon in their life. (I probably fit in that category.) It came with the game of all games:

COMBAT

Driving your clunky little tanks around, flying the neat formation of jets or biplanes, that humoungous bomber... and all for the sake of blowing the bejeesus out of your best friend. Much simpler than the current crop of friend-killers (MK series, etc), but probably has a lot more gameplay, sadly enough. If you collect Ataris, at this point you've probably accumulated at least 6 copies of this cartridge. They're the ones that refuse to die. You could buy 3 million copies of combat, and only have 2 of them not work. Other, harder to find games, however, seem to have a fail rate that's proportional to how much I want to play it.

Emulator!

Here's an atari 2600 emulator I found that seems to work fairly well for DOS:

Atari12.zip

It's 755K, and written by John Dullea (jxd230@psu.edu).

If you're going to use the emulator, you'll need roms to run it with- Remember: You can only legally use roms to cartridges you OWN!!!

Here's a 1.1M chunk o' games

This is the remainder.!

This is one big .zip file containing everything.

The following is a list of games that I own, and have given a small review to. If you've got a frame capable browser, check out my framed catalog.

One more ambitious side project I never quite got around to fixing... A linked list of games. The format is really wonky, and I'm not going to go through and fix too much of it, because now my goal is to get a big SQL database going. So When the time arises, I'll get it done. But for now, this is the ruins of what I started.

Return to the other systems




Wondered what they're like?


Adventure
You're wandering around in a land of castles, dark mazes, and dragons, desperately trying to find the magic chalice and take it home. Before you can accomplish this, you need to obtain keys to open the individual castles, as well as deal with the aforementioned dragons. You are portrayed as a block, with the ability to pick up a sword, chalice, bridge (makes some inaccessible places visitable), keys, chalices, and a micro dot. But there's a bat that likes to pick the stuff up too, scattering it around. (rule #1 of video games: bats suck.)
Asteroids
One of the classics. A ship. Bullets. Big clunky rocks threatening to bash your brains in. Hyperwarp. Big scores. It's pretty simplistic, but it's got playability beyond many other games of today or yesterday. Everyone knows what this one is. Atari, 1981.
Crystal Castles.
You're Bently Bear, a bear running around picking up dots and avoiding the monsters. You can jump over the monsters (trees, witches, bees, you know. The regular stuff.) and pick up some powerups like the sorceror's hat and pots full of honey. It's a popular game, mostly because of the original arcade game, but possibly overrated. 7/10.
Dukes of Hazzard
A prototype cartridge I got from Best Electronics, this game is... well, let's just say I won't cry because I didn't get it until now. You're a little car with an X on top of it (maybe I should clarify- you are the General Lee). At the top of the screen, you see Boss Hogg on the left, and Daisy on the right. Boss Hogg is steadily advancing towards Daisy, and I assume that if he ever reaches her, your time is up. Your job is to race your car up the screen while avoiding police cars (little white cars with blinking stuff on top). There are small dots in the road that cause you to crash if you drive over them, but you can lure the cop cars over them, and make them crash, thereby making your passage a little easier. Sometimes the pole-lease will get near you, and then kamikaze- a quick burst of acceleration, and they'll turn your car into scrap. If you make it all the way to the top of the maze, you see 'Jail.' Making it to the jail advances you to level 2. (See level one, but add more cops.) In between each level, you're treated to a side shot of the General Lee jumping over a bridge. Amazing! How'd they do that?!
Swordquest: Earthworld
Well, you walk around a maze while managing a limited inventory. In each screen you can pick stuff up or drop it off, and sometimes there's a little arcade sequence to get through. You'd have to give me a jeweled chalice to play this game. (When this game first came out, it was the first in an intended 4 part series- and solving the first cartridge would supposedly make solving the second (Swordquest: Fireworld) easier, and that would make Swordquest: Waterworld easier, and then Swordquest: Airworld. Whomever was the first person to beat the last cartridge would win a jeweled chalice. Atari gave up on the contest, and the 4th cartridge never came out.)
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
A must have game for any Star Wars fans. You're piloting a snow speeder while fending off the AT-ATs that are threatening to blow up the rebel base. You fire a contant barrage of lasers at them, and after a lot of hits, they blow up... but occasionally a bomb bay door will open up on the AT-AT. If you're vigilant and quick, you can manage to stash a shot in there, which will cause the walker to blow up immediately. After you play for 3 minutes, the Star Wars theme song starts playing, and you become invulnerable! Parker Brothers, 1982
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
You're the infamous Dr. Jones, wandering around the desert looking for the Ark of the Covenent. In this game, you've got an inventory bar at the bottom of the screen, and you manipulate your inventory with one joystick while you move your character with the other. This game is very complex, but pretty fun. I can't solve it. Maybe someone will show me some day.
Joust
Another one of the great games. This cartridge has fairly decent graphics, and fun gameplay. You're a competitor that's flying around on an ostrich. Fly around and bop other jousters on the head with your pointy stick- then pick up the eggs. One of the greats. Williams, Atari, 1982
E.T
Ok. We all had this game, after seeing that touching movie. Run around, eat Reeses Pieces, stay away from the guy in the suit, and pick up parts to the phone. The trickiest part is trying to find the little signal to phone home from. Eliot! Atari, 1982.
Frogger
Frogger is one of the games with music that just won't let you go. The chirp every time you hop, and the incredibly catchy theme music seem to ingrain themselves in your soul. Not to mention the great sound effect every time you smash your poor little froggy. This is a truly fun game, with plenty of action. This is probably also one of the best home versions of this game. Parker Brothers, 1982.
Gorf
Four funfilled *different* levels, which is pretty nonstandard for an Atari game. Astro battles, Laser attack, Space warp, and the Flag Ship. This game is still fun today. ne of the best varieties in a single cart I can recall. CBS, 1982.
Missile Command
Another classic. Granted, the gameplay wasn't quite up to snuff without the trac-ball, but if you use a sega joy-pad, it compensates moderately. You need to save your cities from sure-fire destruction, and keep the world safe from nuclear baddies. Atari, ?
Omega Race
This game came with an extra button that slipped over the joystick handle. Way cool! That's about all I can remember about the game- without the extra button, I can't really play it. Hrrm. CBS, 1983
Phoenix
Atari's entry into the 'shoot everything' category- it flies, it drops bombs on you, shoot 'em before they get you. Amazingly enough, it's a fun example of a tired genre. This one has a mothership shootout though, as well- reminicient of the Gorf mothership scene. Atari, 1982.
Popeye
Keep Popeye full of spinach, and knock Bluto on his can. Catch the hearts on the ship and whatnot. A pretty good game- a lot better than some. Parker brothers, 1983
Seaquest
Swim around, get treasure, and take it to the surface. Don't get eaten by sharks! I've been playing this game a lot recently; give it a shot if you find it. I recieved the patch for this game when I sent in my picture for pitfall!. do i have to mention what a disappointment it was? Activision, 1983
Space Invaders
Ok, ok, I'll quit referring to games as 'one of the classics' and 'one of the greats' sooner or later. But how could I leave off Space Invaders? something like 500 levels of variety! Granted, they're all the same game, but when you wanted something slightly different, you got to pound the 'level select' until your fingers fell off. Atari, 1978.
Spider Fighter
Keep the spiders from eating your fruit, and blow 'em to smithereens! basically in the 'shoot everything' category, it's from Activision, so you know you could at least earn a keen patch. Activision, 1982
Starmaster
Activisions attempt at the famed 'star raiders' game... but Activision was able to do it without the keypad. Pretty decent game in the 'fly to this sector without running out of fuel' section of games. Activision, 1982
Strategy X
One of Konami's games.. I figure it was an arcade 'port'. Zip along the y axis in a tank, shoot bunkers, planes, whatnot, and pick up fuel. Good music when you get to the end of a level. Konami, 1981
Canyon Bomber
Drop bombs, and knock big chunks out of the big pixellated valley. Mmm. Atari,?
Air Sea Battle
One of the originals. Two player madness- shoot crap that flew over head, with a whopping 2 degrees of fire (90 or 45). You can move your cannon left or right, as well. Good 2-player challenge. Atari, 1981
Pac Man
Let's face it. We were all disappointed with this game. We were just too hyped up to admit it at the time. Maybe someone forgot to code the game until 3 days before release. Atari, 1981.
Night Driver
Keep your little blob of a car in between the white lo-res chunks. Atari, 1978
Flash Gordon
This is a fun game! Fly your ship around the maze, keeping away from whatever it is. I found this game recently, sans instructions, so I don't know what exactly everything is named... but it's pretty keen. Fox, 1983.
Fathom
Hey! I love this game! You're a dolphin. Then you're a seagull. Then you're a dolphin again. and then I kinda don't know what else to do. Anybody remember this game? Tell me what i have to do! Darnit, it's fun. Imagic, 1983.
Speedway II
Keep your blob away from the other blobs, using the paddles. Atari, 1977.
Star Raiders
This came with the funked out key-pad controller for the 2600. Plot your course to sectors, blow stuff up, don't get hit or run out of fuel. Basically just save the galaxy.
Circus
You're a clown, popping balloons on a seesaw. This is an original idea, and it's moderately fun. atari, 1980
Warlords
Very good 4 player game- use the paddles, chuck a ball at each other, and destroy their home base. We should settle world disputes by sitting people down in front of this game. Atari, 1981.
Space Attack
Keep stuff from hitting your spaceship on the little radar screen. This genre really gets tiring to me. mattel, 1982
Superman
Fly around and don't get hit by kryptonite, or you have to smooch Lois! Put all the baddies in jail, and rebuild the bridge so you can get back to work at the paper. Fun game, but the map is so damned confusing. Atari, 1979.
Video Olympics
How many permutations of 'hit a ball with a sliding brick' are possible? This cartridge attempts to find out. atari, 1978
Yars Revenge
From the airbrushed cover, you knew this was gonna be a goodie. Fly your little fly ship, eat the shield, and blow the bazooie outta the baddie inside, all without being hit by his little superbombs. People are nuts about this game. atari, 1981.
Video Pinball
Sure, it's a square table. You can tilt it way too easily. you can't control your shots. It's impossible to get the ball through the upper shots without a good dose of pure luck. But it's still an Atari player magnet. Go figure. (My cat loves to watch it too.) Atari, 1981
Tennis
A fairly decent tennis game. I suck at it, but Ryan Kallberg could take anyone on at this game. He's the world champion. and if you doubt it, there's no way to prove me wrong. It's Activision, which means you can get a patch for this one. Still fairly fun. Activision, 1981.
Space War
Zip your little ship (which looks like it just escaped from asteroids) around a sun with neat gravity, and blow up your buddy. Combat goes high-tech. A good buddy-blower-upper. Atari, 1981.
Bermuda Triangle
You're an ugly little ship picking up ugly little treasure avoiding ugly little baddies. Only get this game if it's free. Data Age, 1982.
Lock N Chase
Pac Man with doors you can close. This game blows the doors off Pac Man, if you'll forgive me saying so. Mattel, 1982
Astroblast
I found a working copy of this game, and to tell the truth, I was fairly disappointed. You're at the bottom of the screen, shooting objects that streak down towards you. Oohhh, boy!
Pole Position
This is a fairly decent driving game- don't crash your decent looking car. Atari, 1982. (Namco liscence.)
Amidar
You're a house painter being chased by crazy little things. You need to paint the entire house. It's basically pac man. But better than atari's pac man by far. On par with lock n chase, if just because it's a nice variant. Parker Brothers, 1982.
Reactor
The supremetest of your reflexes. I think they could test Air Force pilots with this. Zip your little guy around a reactor, and slam the baddies into the walls, without crashing yourself. Oooh, tough. Parker Prothers, 1982.
super breakout
One of the really fun brick/lo-res pixel games. we all know what it is. Atari, 1978
Kaboom!
Don't drop any bombs! One of the best paddle games ever. I love it. You're 3 buckets of water, attempting to sabotage the Mad Bombers plans to drop bombs all over the floor. There was supposed to be a Kaboom! released for the 16 bit systems. I've never seen it. I'm sure it'd have been ruined without a paddle anyways. I'm glad it never surfaced. Activision, 1981
Donkey Kong
Another crappy arcade port. But that didn't stop us from playing it, did it? Coleco, 1982.
Donkey Kong Junior
A slightly better port than its father. Actually a good game with good variety. Coleco, 1983.
Demon Attack
Shoot everything that moves. See phoenix, Spider Fighter, et. al. But this game seems to do it with a little flair- It's one of my favorites. Imagic, 1982.
Sub Scan
You're a ship on sub patrol. Throw depth charges, and nail the suckers before they get out of range. Sega, 1983.
Deadly Discs of Tron
This is nowhere near as good as the arcade. You're shooting stuff, and running into the wall. Wheeeee. Mattel, 1982.
Attack of the Killer Beefsteak Tomatoes
Don't laugh- it's pretty fun! Shoot the tomatoes, and build a wall to keep 'em out. I enjoy this muchly. Fox, 1983.
Pitfall
The greatest Atari game of all time. Activision, 1982.
Armor Ambush
A slightly souped up Combat. Each player gets *two* tanks, and you blow the bejeesus outta each other, on varied terrain. You can switch from tank to tank, increasing your tactical capabilities! Mattel, 1982.
Adventures of Tron
Run around, stay away from Maximillian, catch the arrows, jump in the transporter. And don't fall. Fairly fun, but not overwhelmingly so. Mattel, 1982.
Defender
One of the holy classics. Space invaders, Defender, Missile Command, Asteroids. Bow down before the power. You're the savior of the human race- fly your space ship above the earth, preventing nasty aliens from scooping up humans and turning them into dreaded mutants! Atari, 1981.