New Atari 2600 Games - Page 21
Picnic
1983
Picnic
1983
You call this a picnic!!?? Just when you are ready to sit down and eat your juicy cheeseburgers, a swarm of nasty bugs comes along intent on beating you to the munch. They start eating and you start swatting, and the battle has begun. It's a good thing you brought along your bug zapping trap. Now, swat those critters into the trap, and just maybe there will be something left for you to eat for lunch.Squeeze Box
1983
Squeeze Box
1983
Squeeze Box is a single player, full color game designed to be played on the Atari Video Computer System or the Sears Video Arcade. There are six game variations to test your skill and judgment. Squeeze Box is the ultimate escape game. Our pistol packin' jailbird has got to shoot like crazy to knock out an escape route through the walls... before they close in on him. The longer it takes, the faster they come, so aim carefully. But don't rush out too fast because the next room is worse, and you're getting points for each block you shoot out. Test your endurance! Wait too long and you might touch the wall. Three touches and its all over - except for the hottest finish you have ever encountered in a video game.M.A.D.
1983
M.A.D.
1983
M.A.D. (which stands for Missile Attack and Defense) is an arcade action game somewhat similar to Missile Command. You control a photon cannon at the bottom of the screen, and your goal is to protect six energy stations located to your left and right. Waves of rockets and other ships will fly by on the screen, and occasionally one will drop in an attempt to destroy one of the stations (as a warning on most levels, the enemy will turn white just before it drops). You need to make sure you shoot it before your energy station is destroyed! When all six energy stations are gone, the game is over. A two player variation is also included; one player will control the photon cannon, and the second player controls a cursor and can select when and where an enemy will drop. The players alternate between offense and defense in this version.Ram It
1983
Ram It
1983
From the left and right sides of the screen colored columns stretch towards the center of the screen in order to connect with their counterpart on the opposite side. The player is at the center of the screen where he can move up and down and has to shoot left and right at the extending columns before they connect.Jawbreaker
1982
Jawbreaker
1982
Atari 2600 Port of "Jawbreaker". Because of technical limitations, Atari 2600 Jawbreaker is not a Pac-Man clone and is different than the Atari 8-bit game. A rough sketch of the 2600 game was used as the basis for new computer versions from programmers other than Harris. The new game was, confusingly, sold as both Jawbreaker and Jawbreaker II and was not as successful as the original.Spider Maze
1982
Spider Maze
1982
This rare game from K-Tel Vision was probably sold exclusively in Canada. It is easier to find in PAL format, as it had more distribution overseas. Game play is similar to Donkey Kong. The player controls an "adventurer" and has to reach the treasures the evil octopus hid away. Each level consists of a series of platforms that are interconnected by ladders. The only action the player can take besides moving around is pressing fire to make the hero jump. This is necessary to get across the gaps between some of the platforms. At the same time, the player has to avoid the smaller octopi as well as clouds of poison gas which move around the screen randomly. Once the player reaches one of the treasure chests at the top of the screen they won the level and a new round starts. Game can also be played by two players in an alternating fashion.Guardian
1982
Guardian
1982
Guardian is an arcade action game for one or two players. In an intergalactic war, an enemy ship called Dromeda is attacking your home planets and you need to defend them! The planets are located at either the top or the bottom of the screen, and are defended by a shield. Dromeda is in the middle of the screen, and will be launching explosive devices at the planets. You control a spaceship which is the last hope to save the planets. Unfortunately, your ships lasers are unable to reach Dromeda, so you you must shoot the explosives as they come in. If you miss any explosives, they will destroy part of the shield. If a large enough hole forms, an explosive could get through and destroy an entire planet. The game ends when all of your planets have been destroyed.Defender
1982
Defender
1982
Defender is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Williams Electronics for arcades. The game is set on either an unnamed planet or city (depending on platform) where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis's first video game project and drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Defender was demonstrated in late 1980 and was released in March 1981. It was distributed in Japan by Taito. Defender was one of the most important titles of the golden age of arcade video games, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best-selling game and one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever. Praise among critics focused on the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the video game industry and one of the most difficult video games. Though not the first game to scroll horizontally, it created the genrCarnival
1982
Carnival
1982
In this adaptation of the original arcade game by Sega, try to prove your skill at hitting targets in a carnival shooting gallery. Shoot rabbits, ducks, and owls, but look out! Ducks can swoop down and eat your ammo Get extra ammo by shooting one of the "8"s. You'll have to hit all of the pipes spinning around then clear the board of animals before you can move on to the next level. The game ends when you're out of bullets.Polaris
1982
Karate
1982
Karate
1982
Karate is a video game for the Atari 2600 originally published by Ultravision in 1982 for NTSC systems, then re-released in the latter half of the 1980s by Froggo. Supposedly the game was designed by black belt Joseph Amelio. In 1991, Digital Press chose Karate as one of the worst Atari 2600 games of all time.Inca Gold
1982
Final Approach
1982
Final Approach
1982
You are an air traffic controller at an international airport. You must guide planes in to landing safely. Your first screen is the Approach Control Radar screen or ARC. You must guide the aircraft , using the cursor, until they are headed left to right along the yellow line headed towards the black stripe. Make sure the other planes are headed where they won't immediately head towards each other or off screen. After the plane gets near the black stripe, move the cursor to the center red light and press the button. You will then be on the Ground Control Approach screen or GCA. Here you must center the plane's nose on the glide slope and localizer before it arrives at the end of the runway. If the landing is successful, the plane will disappear from the ARC screen and a new one will appear soon to take its place. If not, when you press your joystick button and return to the ARC screen, the plane will still be there. If a plane starts flashing on the ARC and you hear an emergency sound, this plane has an emergency anLochjaw
1982
Lochjaw
1982
You are a diver in an underwater maze. Throughout the maze are valuable diamonds, and your goal is to retrieve as many as you can. In the middle of the screen is a shark cage where you begin. As you collect diamonds you need to bring them back to the shark cage in order to earn points. Swimming back and forth constantly is a deadly shark. If the shark encounters any of the diamonds, it will eat them; likewise you can also be eaten by the shark, causing you to lose a life. You have no defense against the shark, however you are immune if you are in the shark cage and the doors are closed. Somewhere in the maze the Loch Ness monster remains hidden. If you disturb the monster, it will continuously chase you unless you can lead it back into one of the caves located in the corners of the screen. This game's name was changed from Lochjaw to Shark Attack because, being the game was about an attacking shark, there was a lawsuit that the game's name was too close to the movie title Jaws.AstroBlast
1982
Submarine Commander
1982
Submarine Commander
1982
You're the commander of a submarine in enemy waters. Use your skills, radar, and luck to take down the enemy ships. With 8 difficulty settings there is a lot of the game to master as you must start to keep an eye on your fuel, torpedoes, radar, and enemy while avoiding depth charges as the difficulty rises. You can fire up to two torpedoes at a time. While enemy shows go by your periscope sink as many as you can. The periscope can turn 360 degrees and look off into the horizon or close to your sub. Some ships move slower than others, and one of the ships moves so fast that the only way to hit it is by tracking it by radar instead of visually. This game was never released under any name by Atari. It was a Sears exclusive.Dishaster
1982
Dishaster
1982
Dishaster is an action game released for the Atari 2600 in 1983 by Zimag. Another version of the game was released by Bit Corporation under the name Dancing Plates which features oriental-themed graphics and adds eight game variations. Dishaster was inspired by the circus tradition of keeping spinning plates suspended on poles. The player controls a girl attempting to keep a group of several spinning plates balanced on poles from falling. The game received negative reviews; criticism focused on the game's repetition and monotony. The girl can stabilize wobbling dishes by pressing the button on the controller. If a plate falls, the player is able to capture it if the girl touches it before it hits the ground, and a new one appears at the top of the pole. The number of poles to spin varies between the selected skill level; there are six on the easiest setting, and ten on the hardest. The player loses if they let four dishes hit the groundDragon Defender
1982
Eli's Ladder
1982
Eli's Ladder
1982
Eli's Ladder is an educational game aimed at children, where math problems need to be solved to help Eli and his crew climb a ladder to his space ship so they can then journey to the Moon. The game included a wall chart and stickers designed to help motivate children progress through the problems. This is one of the rarest Atari 2600 games and apparently saw fairly limited distribution.
