Atari 2600

Atari 2600

Supercharger

Homebrew

For emulators, see Atari 2600 emulators, and for system information, see Atari 2600.

"Have you played Atari today?"

Ah, good old 2600 — originally called the Video Computer System, or VCS, but widely know simply as "the Atari". Folks, this is the definition of classic gaming. It's impressive to see how far some developers have pushed a machine with a measly 128 bytes of RAM - yes, one 8192nd of a megabyte. To put this in perspective: if you combined the RAM of every 2600 console ever produced (some 30 million units), you'd get 3.6 GB, less than one typical PC nowadays. Unfortunately, it has the most shovelware of any console to date, so we're here to help you pick the right games from those garage sale bins.

The console itself is worth owning because it looks nice and isn't too costly. The Atari 7800 is backwards-compatible with the 2600's games (and has a pause button); and there are adapters to play them on the Intellivision II and the ColecoVision.

Also, the 2600 had an interesting add-on, the Starpath Supercharger, which greatly expanded the system's RAM and loaded games from cassette tapes.

Much thanks to http://virtualatari.org/ for their java emulator-in-a-browser "Play it now" links.

The list

Cover	Title	Genre	Description	Screenshot
	Adventure	Action Adventure	One of the earliest action-adventure games, Adventure is a rather abrupt little adventure game that is often considered the predecessor to games like Zelda. The replay value is almost zero, once you've played all three maps and found the magic pebble to get to the famous easter egg, but you should play it at least once. "Somebody get this freakin' duck away from me!" play it now
	Asteroids	Shoot 'em Up	If you haven't heard of Asteroids, clearly you've been living under a rock for the last fourty years. Move your ship around, shoot the asteroids for as long as you can. Simple and addicting. Obviously not the same as the arcade original, which had vector graphics, this port used colored sprites (because the 2600 couldn't do vector), which makes it a bit more cheerful I think. play it now
	Atlantis	Defense	Basically like Missile Command but with some added depth for good measure. Three guns to take out the invaders! Since you're protecting Atlantis, I always figured you're shooting down humans, which would be ironic and awesome. play it now
	Beamrider	Shoot 'em up	This is a typical "shoot aliens coming from above" game, but you see it from a tilted perspective, which was not usual at the time. Even though it's a port from the far more powerful Intellivision, it's still reasonably close. Truly one of the best-looking games for the system. play it now
	Berzerk	Shmup / maze	Robots, maze, blaster and you. It's self explanatory. play it now
	Centipede	Shoot 'em Up	Hide behind mushrooms, shoot mushrooms, shoot bugs, next level. Great fun. play it now
	Chopper Command	Defense/Shoot 'em Up	Oh shit is dis sum Chopper Command? This game stands as one of the best Defender style games on the Atari because YOU'RE FLYIN' CAP'N! Seriously dickloads of fun, it added some much needed speed to a dulling genre. Also one of the first games with HUD-map. Hoo-rah! play it now
	Combat	Shooter	One of the launch titles for the 2600, it still stands as a great multiplayer game. Combat has been remade and remade again (even though technically it is itself a remake of the arcade game Tanks), none of them beat how much fun the multiplayer was and the sheer amount of content for an early 2600 game this cart packs. play it now
	Demon Attack	Shoot 'em Up	Fun shooter that was pretty popular in its heyday. Also notorious due to a lawsuit: Atari thought it was a ripoff of Phoenix. play it now
	Dig Dug	Arcade	All the gameplay is perfectly intact, one of the better ports and Atari games even as it's one of the few games to even have music too! play it now
	Donkey Kong	Arcade / Platformer	Now, obviously, this is not the best port of the original Donkey Kong by any means. If you want an arcade perfect port, look no further than the one of the various NES releases. However, it's a almost a rule to own Donkey Kong if you have an Atari 2600. Why? I'm not sure. But it is. Still fun after all these years, but if you want extreme-authenticity, you're looking at the wrong edition. Note: also released on Colecovision with the same must own status. play it now
	E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial	Top-down Adventure	THE WORST VIDEO GAME EVER!!!! ...except not really. E.T. has this reputation as the single cause of the Great Video Game Crash of 1983. But come on. While it did not help, it could not wreak so much havoc alone. In all fairness, there were much worse games for the 2600 that rarely get mentioned. As for the game itself, it is an interesting top-down adventure where you must search for phone parts to call your spaceship to get back home, all while avoiding those pesky FBI agents. At the time, it was very unique and innovative. But due to a very rushed development, it ended up with a number of infuriating design issues. There is now a fan-made hack that fixes most of them and makes E.T. a far more enjoyable game. play it now: original version / fixed version
	Enduro	Racing	A very solid racing game by Activision. Enduro itself stands for endurance race, so the point is to pass a certain number of cars each day to progress. There are some neat ideas to create challenge, such as fog. Probably the best racing game on the 2600. A classic. play it now
	Fast Food	Arcade	Weird-ass fucking game, an arcade-ish title where the object is to eat as much fucking food for you as possible. You control a pair of lips, and you literally just try to eat fast food as it flies by you (fast)! The only thing you don't wanna eat are the purple pickles, they're bad. Something great for wasting a bit of time. Every time you 'level up' the screen scrolls "You're getting fatter!" which is just fucking hilarious. The rate of the food flying at you then speeds up (or did you slow down because you're fat?). play it now
	Frogger	Arcade	You should help a little frog to cross a street, while cars trying to smack you, and then a river, with dangerous obstacles. Note that, while the cartridge version is decent, the Supercharger port is far more faithful to the arcade. play it now
	Frostbite	Platformer	Activision was the king of the Atari 2600, and made better games than Atari did. In this game you have to jump over ice blocks collect stuff and try not to die, pretty basic. You can use up the ice blocks you earn to change the current. play it now
	Haunted House	Survival Horror	Quite possibly the first survival horror title, Haunted House plays a lot like Adventure in concept. While not really scary by any means, it's still a solid little title especially if you're looking for another title that plays like Adventure. play it now
	H.E.R.O.	Platformer	It is the Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation! You play with a badass equipped with a mini-helicopter on his backpack, who must descend on a dangerous cave to rescue miners trapped within. play it now
	Jawbreaker	Maze	Out of all the Pac-Man clones, Jawbreaker is one of the most interesting ones: the maze itself is in constant motion. The pacing of the game is pretty damn fast, and the graphics are very well done. play it now
	Joust	Arcade	Just like the arcade game, but within Atari limits! play it now
	Jr. Pac-Man	Maze	The only home port of the game, and it's really good! The graphics and sound are great for an Atari game. Has more content than Ms. Pac-Man and is more fast paced. play it now
	Jungle Hunt	Platformer	A damn good arcade port. You are an explorer in Africa, and cannibals are about to turn your wife into dinner! Oh, man, this shit would never fly today. But anyway, this game has a lot of variety for a 2600 title; you swing on vines, swim in a river full of crocodiles, dodge an avalanche, and finally overcome the savages to save the lady. The graphics are great, with well-animated sprites and some cool parallax scrolling effects. play it now
	Kangaroo	Platformer	A Donkey Kong like game by what would become Sunsoft, not as good as the Atari 5200 version but still fun and worth a buy if you don't have the stronger systems. play it now
	Kaboom!	Puzzle	Some crazy jack-hole is dropping bombs everywhere! Using the paddle controller, douse the flames on the bombs before they explode! Multiplayer is endless fun, and allows for some serious friend-trolling. Quite possibly, the world's first counter-terrorist simulation. play it now
	Keystone Kapers	Platformer	A criminal has escaped from prison and is hiding in a mall. As a policeman, it is your duty to chase him down and bring him to justice! play it now
	Mario Bros.	Arcade	Obviously not the best port, but it still has must own status for Atari fans. play it now
	Megamania	Shoot 'em up	A fast-paced and batshit crazy retro-shmup. You're a space pilot having a food-induced nightmare, and your enemies are random objects like hamburgers, cookies, tires, and dice. play it now
	Millipede	Shoot 'em Up	Centipede but with bombs, so it's arguably better. play it now
	Missile Command	Defense	Plenty of missiles were launched towards the city you've sworn to protect, be a man and shoot those fuckers down! If you can get your hands on a Trak-Ball controller, it greatly improves the game and makes it more arcade-accurate. play it now
	Montezuma's Revenge	Platformer	The best platformer for the system, or any other system of the era. Makes Pitfall look woefully primitive. play it now
	Pengo	Maze / Puzzle	Classic Sega arcade game where you have to break blocks in a strategic manner. Very fun, though it's on much stronger systems. play it now
	Pitfall	Platformer	It's Pitfall, one of the original platformer / explore adventures. What more do you need to know? It's probably the most loved Atari 2600 game of all time, though there are much better games. However, still one of the best. play it now
	Pitfall II: Lost Caverns	Platformer	It's Pitfall, only way more complex now: instead of exploring the jungle, you hunt for treasure in carverns that go many screens deep. One of the most advanced 2600 games, thanks to a special chip built into the cartridge. play it now
	Planet Patrol	Shoot 'em up	A little-know horizontal shmup with good gameplay and some rather unusual features. This game has a day and night cycle, and by night you can't see anything, except when your own shots light the sky. Also, unlike most of this genre, it scrolls to the left rather than right. play it now
	Plaque Attack	Shoot 'em Up/ Dental Hygiene Simulator	Another Activision gem. This one-screen shmup has you play as a tube of tooth-paste defending what appears to be a British person's mouth against the evil damage of not-to-scale junk food. Fast-paced action and an ammo limit (your tube of Colgate doesn't last forever does it?) makes this a fun but nonetheless strategic shooter absolute bliss. Highly recommended. play it now
	Pressure Cooker	Simulation	A game where you have to make hamburgers according to the chart at the bottom of the screen. It starts out pretty easy, but soon the game turns evil and shafts you on ingredients and speed. It's also pretty addictive, and it's from Activision, so what the fuck are you waiting for? play it now
	Q*Bert	Puzzle	Better than your sloppy NES port I tell ya what, the controls are great since it's joystick. play it now
	Q*Bert's Qubes	Puzzle	Only on this and the Coleco, this is the inferior but still great version. Hop on blocks and collect stuff like in regular Q*Bert but the blocks reset. (An actual cart is quite expensive!) play it now
	River Raid	Shoot 'em Up	A vertical scrolling shooter. While it lacked the variety of stages of Vanguard, most 2600 fans tend to remember it more fondly, probably because it was a much more accessible and easy to pick up title. Usually makes then top ten list of 2600 games. A solid title. On the Shumps evolutionary ladder, this game is homo erectus to Raiden's Homo sapiens (and Touhou's homo weeaboo). play it now
	Solaris	Rail Shoter	The best looking game on the Atari 2600, pew pew shoot the aliens and asteroids and stuff! You have to refuel and try to save stranded people along the way while navigating through space to find planet solaris. Lots of depth for a 2600 game! Play it now!
	Space Invaders	Shoot 'em Up/Arcade	Do I really even need to introduce Space Invaders? One of the few games that actually shaped the gaming industry into what it is today. Shoot dem' aliens man. play it now
	Tapper	Acttion/Arcade	A very impressive port, the graphics, the sounds, very accurate and very impressive. Customers want a drink and they want it now! It's your job to get it to them as fast as possible! Also cleary not "Mountain Dew". Play it now!
	Vanguard	Shoot 'em Up	One of the original shmups, Vanguard set the way for a lot of your favorite spaceship/airplane shooters to follow! Has levels of both horizontal and vertical scrolling, fast-paced action, and the ability to fire in all four directions! Very fun and challenging. Way before its time, Vanguard stands up as an extremely solid shmup that should definitely get an update. play it now
	Video Olympics / Pong Sports	Pong	It's fuckin' Pong. There's really nothing else you need to know. There was so many Pong clones on the Atari 2600 that it became a nuisance and even constitutes its own category. Pong itself though, just good old, official Pong, is always fun. This version is well known for its AI. You can look up the exact algorithm on Google; suffice it to say that it was so good that modern Pong remakes still use it. play it now
	Yars' Revenge	Arcade/Defense	Yars' Revenge is easily one of the best Atari 2600 games ever made. Which is hilarious considering it was made by the same guy who made the abysmal E.T. game. This game is hard. And amazing. The gameplay has a lot of depth and yet is really simple; it simply cannot be described here. It's in your best interest to look up this game! They're doing a modern remake of this, as a rail-shooter with a smexy chick in power armor. play it now