Most Popular Atari 2600 Games - Page 10
Turbo
Based on the 1981 Sega coin-op of the same name, Turbo is one of those prototypes that everyone was sure existed somewhere (it was shown at the 1983 CES once), but never seemed to show up. Thankfully all this changed when former Atari 2600 programmer Anthony Henderson happened to stumble across his long lost copy of Turbo while searching his attic. According the programmer, Coleco originally wanted the game to use paddle controllers in order to better simulate a steering wheel. However reading the input from paddle controllers takes up considerably more clock cycles than reading regular joysticks, and there was not enough time to animate the road edges. After pleading with Coleco, they were allowed switch the game from using paddles to joysticks, which freed up enough time to insert the road edge movement but the game was cancelled before it was actually implemented. Other missing features include the ambulance, water puddles, and the enemy car AI (although implemented in the current prototype, it was never tweakedMazy Match
Try to reach the symbols at the top of the screen before you run out of energy by walking an invisible path on a randomly generated grid while avoiding UFO's and rocks dropped by birds. You can choose a new path at the bottom of the screen. Reaching a Minus: You loose 300 points. Return to the beginning of your chosen path to get new energy. Reaching a Plus: You gain 1000 points. Return to the beginning of your chosen path to get new energy. The flashing UFO's can be destroyed (500 points) by touching them. Reaching a Sword: You gain 500 points. The grid becomes invisible and all paths are walkable now. Return to the bottom of the screen to get new energy. The flashing UFO's can be destroyed (500 points) by touching them. When you get hit by a non-flashing UFO, you will loose 1 life. When you run out of energy, you will loose 1 life. Sometimes the paths change position and you will fall off and loose 1 life. Sometimes you can teleport from one vertical path to another. The game has a 2 player mode and 8 difficultyMcDonald's: Golden Arches Adventure
The existing prototype uses the Tutankham game code. As such, PARKERBROS 83DAVEENGMAN can be found at the very end of the compiled code listing, along with a few of the Tutankham explorer graphics. Also, the characters 0123456789, ABCDEFTWV, and PLAY are in the code. Although McDonald's is far from finished, the game's designer Isabel Garret was able to give us the details on how the game would have been played: 'You are Ronald McDonald flying in your spaceship. Hungry aliens are descending on the Golden Arches below to eat them. You must fly down to the ground and pick up McDonald's food to bring up and feed the aliens, but certain aliens will only eat certain McDonald's fast food (shakes, fries, hamburgers) so you need to feed them the right food. If you don't feed them in time, they start to eat the Golden Arches, but not to worry, you can fly back down to the ground and pick up pieces to rebuild the Golden Arches'.Frogger
1983
Frogger
1983
This version of Frogger is different than the Parker Brothers cartridge-based release in 1982. The 1983 Starpath version of Frogger utilized the Starpath Supercharger expansion peripheral created by Starpath for playing cassette-based proprietary games on the Atari 2600. Although Parker Brothers owned exclusive rights to cartridges of Frogger, they did not own the magnetic media rights, opening the door for Starpath to create their own version. The game is one of a few cassette based games ever released for the Starpath Supercharger. Unlike the first two games Landrum designed for Starpath, this one does not contain a secret way to see the designer’s initials.Gauntlet
1983
Gauntlet
1983
This game has nothing to do with the Atari arcade game or any of the home-ported versions. You are the great explorer, Sir Robert Wittenbottom. You have discovered an ancient civilization deep within the forest of a mysterious island. Since you're a likable old fellow, they have decided to induct you into their council of warriors. But first you must prove your worthiness by running the gauntlet. You are given three glasses of water. You must run through the gauntlet to the ceremonial fires and use your water to put them out. You current glass of water will then be refilled then it is off to the next fire. Of course, it is not that easy. You must jump over rocks and logs, duck under stones, arrows and tomahawks, and avoid hitting trees or touching the sides of the gauntlet.You can ease the thirst of the old men you come across for points but it will cost you water. The game is over when you run out of your third glass of water. To jump, just press the fire button. To duck, pull back then press the fire button.My Golf
1990
My Golf
1990
Welcome to MY GOLF! The latest state-of-the-art golf simulation for your ATARI 2600. It's amazingly real with rivers, sand traps, ponds, trees, roughs and out of bounds. Play alone or join a friend into a relaxing game of MY GOLF. But don't be fooled, you need skill, strategy and great concentration.Power Lords: Quest for Volcan
'Adam, Leader of the Lords, and Shaya, Queen of Power, are extra-terrestrial warriors who battle deadly aliens on the mystical Volcan Rock. Using lasers to fight the alien space serpent, the Power Lords can gain entry into the rock and search its endless chambers for the glowing touchstone that activates powerful anti-alien weapons and devices.' Power Lords was based on the 1983 toy line of the same name. North American Phillips (NAP) must have thought that it was going to be a huge hit, because games were developed for the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Odyssey 2. Of these games only the Odyssey 2 version was released and is considered to be the rarest US released game for the system. All three versions play similarly, but the Atari 2600 and Colecovision versions have an additional stage which makes the game slightly more interesting. Like the other versions, the 2600 version of Power Lords is not all that fun to play and the overall difficulty of the game is also rather high. Had Power Lords been released, it probPursuit of the Pink Panther
Pursuit of the Pink Panther was based off the famous cartoon series and inspired by the Pink Panther movies starring Peter Sellers as inspector Clouseau. This game actually started out life as Trail of the Pink Panther by U.S. Games (based on the then current movie), but when U.S. Games went out of business they sold the rights to North American Phillips (NAP) who decided to release their own version of the game through their Probe 2000 division. It is unknown if any work was already done on the U.S. Games version or if any of those ideas were used in the Probe 2000 version of the game. Although Pursuit of the Pink Panther was heavily marketed at the June 1983 CES, it was never released, most probably because the special RAM/ROM chip that NAP used to squeeze all the graphics and gameplay elements into the game couldn't be reliably manufactured. When the first batch of chips came back defective from the manufacturer NAP decided to cancel the game rather than try and find a new source for the chips. The crumbling gamPygmy
Embark on a riveting pixelated adventure with Pygmy, an Atari 2600 game that transports you to a world of tiny wonders! As a courageous pygmy explorer, navigate treacherous landscapes, battle inventive enemies, and solve mind-bending puzzles to uncover ancient secrets. With its charmingly simplistic graphics and addictive gameplay, Pygmy invites you to rediscover the joy of classic gaming. So grab your joystick and prepare for a pint-sized journey like no other!Stone Age
1983
Stone Age
1983
The player controls a caveman whose mission over a 75 second time clock is to kill dinosaurs by throwing rocks and gaining game points. If the player misses the target the rock turns to dust. Stone Age was released in Brazil by CCE. A planned North America version by TechnoVision was never released.Planet of the Apes
You play the role Col. George Taylor (who looks a bit like Pitfall Harry's long lost brother). Your mission is to guide Col. Taylor through a series of screens as he avoids an army of apes and makes his way towards the Forbidden Zone. There are three different kinds of apes in this game, and they all move in a straight line across the screen from right to left. For years Planet of the Apes had been misidentified as another 20th Century Fox prototype called Alligator People. This was because the first Planet of the Apes prototype was found in case labeled Alligator People and since no screenshots of either game existed, there was no reason to doubt the name on the label. However, after much research it was discovered that this game was in fact really John Marvin's lost Planet of the Apes game. It's obvious that Planet of the Apes still had some work to be done, but was finished enough to go through initial play testing. However, before programmer John Marvin could finish it, he left 20th Century Fox to go work for EConfrontation
1983
Confrontation
1983
Confrontation is a strange strategy game which was never commercially released, but was available directly from Answer for a short time. Only people who saw it on display at the 1983 CES show would have know about it and ordered it so while it's not technically a prototype, it's close enough. I've racked my brain on how to best describe the gameplay of this game, and after much searching I've determined the best description is in Leonard Herman's "ABC's to the VCS" (pick up a copy today!). Since Confrontation uses a programming trick to display so many objects on the screen at once, screenshots will only show one players pieces at a time. Take my word for it, they're really all there.Depth Charge
Planned as a pack-in cassette title for Amiga's never released Power Module peripheral and described as 'the first machine-interactive video game', offering head-to-head play, with one player the submarine commander and the other the destroyer captain. Each player would have had their own screen display and set of commands. The Power Module was dropped in favor of the Power Play Arcade carts, and the game’s development only went as far as this version. Catalog description: 'You know he's down there. But where? Your sonar is picking up indiscriminate blips. Then a pattern emerges. You've found him. You launch a round of depth charges over the side, and the explosions rock the ship. You smile confidently and check the scanner: completely blank. Suddenly, there's a blip. And another. Or... You know he's up there. But where...' The cart, box and manual are reproductions from 2010 with permission of Jerry Lawson.Cubicolor
You know those cheap little tile puzzles, where you shift tiles one space at a time to try to reform a picture that has been mixed up? That's what this game is like. Move the tiles on the big square (5x5) one at a time, and try to form the pattern shown on one of the little squares (3x3) within the middle 9 tiles of the big square. The game is set up with two big squares for grueling two-player competition. Cubicolor was designed by Rob Fulop of Imagic fame. Supposedly, only 50 were produced, and each cartridge is numbered. The rarity and legend of this game make it potentially the most sought-after 2600 game in existence.Dune
Based off the 1984 movie, Dune was to be an action/adventure game along the same lines the classic 2600 game Adventure. Dune was originally started by veteran programmers Bruce Poehlman and Gary Stark before they began working on the 5200 game "The Last Starfighter" (which also went unreleased). Unfortunately Gary and Bruce had only gone through the brainstorming process when work was stopped. However it appears that another programmer may have been assigned to pick up and continue work on Dune. Unfortunately only preliminary coding had been started before Jack Tramiel shut down 2600 game development and fired most of the staff.Elf Adventure
A sequel to Adventure? Yes it appears that Warren was tinkering with a sequel to his smash hit Adventure in his spare time while working at The Learning Company which he founded in 1980 after leaving Atari. It’s unknown if Atari actually ordered a sequel or if Warren was doing this on his own and hoping to sell it to Atari. However since Atari was considering calling "SwordQuest: Earthworld" Adventure II (and "Fireworld" Adventure III) the later scenario sounds more plausible. Either way, this prototype has an air of mystery about it.Elk Attack
Silly name aside, Elk Attack is really a Pac-Man type game but without a maze. You control a Yo-Yo type machine, which must use its string to latch onto and destroy all the colored blocks on the screen. Along the way you'll encounter strange worm like creatures, which will attempt to disrupt your Yo-Yo. To help you fight the worms there are power squares scattered around the board which when grabbed will render your Yo-Yo temporarily invincible and increase your speed. However unlike Pac-Man touching a worm while invincible will only net you points, and will not destroy of them. Because of this its best to just go about your business and clear the maze instead of hunting down the worms. Elk Attack is a port of the obscure Taito arcade game Electric Yo-Yo! Programmer Mark Hahn named the game Elk Attack as a joke, and probably would have changed the name had it been published. The game was left in its current state. The following is hidden in the code: ELK ATTACK (c) 1987 Mark R. HahnEntity
The Entity is an unreleased 20th Century Fox game based on a horror movie sharing the same name. It's odd that Fox decided to go forward with this project, given the movie's adult themes. This could very well be why Fox didn't release the game, although the game itself has little in common with the movie's subject matter. The Entity was programmed by Mark Kline, who was responsible for two other unreleased Fox games, Pick Up and Look Ahead. The cart, box and manual are reproductions from 2003 with permission of programmer Mark Klein.Radar
1983
Radar
1983
Radar is an Action game, published by Zellers, which was released in 1983. Released by Sancho in Europe as Exocet.
