Search games

Atari, Namco

The game is housed in a custom cabinet that includes two 8-way joysticks (one per player) meant to look like older style flight sticks. Each stick has a fire button mounted on the top. The players fly in simulated jets around the screen, engaging in a dogfight and attempting to score hits on their opponent within a limited amount of time. When a player is hit, their plane spins around and an explosion is heard. After a few seconds, the plane recovers, pointing at a random direction.

Atari, Atari, Inc., Sears, Namco, Hunter Electronics, TOPICS Entertainment

Pong is a table tennis-themed twitch arcade video game with simple two-dimensional graphics. It was the first sports arcade video game and one of the earliest arcade video games in history, helping to establish the video game industry along with the Magnavox Odyssey. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that closely mimicked its gameplay.

Atari

The game required two players, each with a gun, at opposite sides of the playfield. Each player had a vertical position knob (a potentiometer like Pong) and a fire button. Each gun could have one shot in the air at a time. There was a big ball, which started at the center, and there were small bumpers in the playfield that made the ball bounce. You tried to “push” the ball into your opponent’s goal line by shooting it. Each hit added a little energy and it took multiple hits to get the speed of the ball up, but then you had to watch out for rebounds off the bumpers. An interesting aspect of the game was the one-shot-at-a-time rule. If the ball was on your side of the field, then you could shoot more often than your opponent (unless, of course, you missed and had to wait for the shell to cross the entire screen). This made it possible to achieve remarkable come-backs from near-certain defeat.

Atari, Atari Corporation

Like in the original Asteroids the objective is to score as many points as possible by destroying asteroids and flying saucers. The asteroids come in three different sizes. If the player fires at and hits a large asteroid, it breaks into medium size asteroids. If the player fires at and hits a medium asteroid, it breaks into small asteroids. If a player fires at and hits a small asteroid, it disappears. Different points are awarded for hitting each size of asteroid, and for hitting flying saucers. The player controls a ship that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. Asteroids Deluxe replaces the hyperspace feature with shields which deplete with use. Other differences include asteroids which rotate and a new enemy which is dubbed a "killer satellite" which would, when shot, break apart into three smaller ships that homed in on the player's position. The screen of the game is wrapped both vertically and horizontally so that if any object moves past the top edge of the screen it reappears on the bottom edge at the same lateral location, and if it moves past the left side of the screen, it reappears on the right side of the screen in the same vertical location. Asteroids Deluxe swaps vector graphics of the original for bitmaps. In 2007, AtariAge self-published a cart release of Asteroids Deluxe for the Atari 7800.

Atari

Players must cooperate to drive the truck through traffic as far as possible without crashing. While the game can be played with one player, it was primarily designed for two. The front player steers the tractor of the truck sitting down, controlling the gas and brakes, while the rear player stands, and steers the tiller for the rear wheels, controlling the swing of the trailer. The cabinet also provides the players with bells and horns, although these have no use in the actual game.

Atari, Majesco Sales, Accolade

The Game Boy port of the 1981 original has features enhancements for the Super Game Boy.

Atari, Telegames

Yars' Revenge for Game Boy Color (full title: Yars' Revenge: the Qotile Ultimatum) is a port of the original 1981 Atari 2600 release, published by Telegames and developed by Vatical Entertaiment.

Atari, Superior Software, Electric Dreams Software, Atari Corporation

Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped into a tube, which is viewed from one end and is divided into a dozen or more segments or lanes. The player controls a claw-shaped spaceship (named Blaster) that crawls along the near edge of the playfield, moving from segment to segment. Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari's Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level (a system Atari dubbed "SkillStep"). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game, essentially allowing the player to continue. An official port was released for the Atari ST. An official port that bears the Atari logo was released by Superior Software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1985, and another by Electric Dreams for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987. Versions for the Atari 2600 and 5200 were in the works in Atari, Inc. during 1984, and unfinished prototypes exist for both of them.

Atari

A home console port of 1976 Outlaw for the Atari 2600 by then-Atari employee David Crane. This version is more directly comparable to Midway's Gun Fight, allowing two players to engage in a shoot-out using 2600's joysticks. There are also multiple types of play that differ slightly from the arcade game, including target practice and versions with obstacles that must be shot around or shot through.

Atari, Polyvox

Combat is an early video game by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It was based on two earlier black-and-white coin-operated arcade games produced by Atari. Combat had color graphics and numerous gameplay variations. The 27 game modes featured a variety of different combat scenarios, including tanks, biplanes, and jet fighters. The tank games had interesting options such as bouncing munitions ("Tank-Pong") and invisibility. The biplane and jet games also allowed for variation, such as multiple planes per player and an inventive game with a squadron of planes versus one giant bomber.

Atari

Atari Football is a 2-player 1978 arcade game in which the sport of American football is accurately emulated, with players represented by Xs and Os. The game was one of the most popular arcade games in its day and is credited with popularizing the trackball. Twenty-five cents would allow 90 seconds of playtime, while adding more quarters would allow longer play. Considered physically exhausting to play, Atari Football involves spinning the trackball as fast as possible to win the game. Just 90 seconds of play could result in sore palms, and longer could cause blisters.

Atari

Atari

Sky Diver is an arcade video game designed by Owen Rubin, and released by Atari, Inc. in 1978. Its interface is a simple third-person view of a parachuting drop zone. Sky Diver is a two-player game, although one player can play. The object of Sky Diver is to jump out of a plane, release a parachute and land on the landing pad. To get higher points, the player must release the parachute closer to the ground. The player has nine jumps. If the landing pad is missed, the player loses points. The highest score possible is 99 points (11 points maximum per jump).

Atari, Adventure International, Atari Corporation

Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. The object is to pilot a lunar landing module to a safe touchdown on the moon.

Atari

Rebound is a 2 player arcade game that simulates a volleyball match by having players volley a ball back and forth over a net with their paddles.

Atari, Polyvox

Swordquest is an unfinished series of video games produced by Atari, Inc. in the 1980s as part of a contest, consisting of three finished games and a planned but never released fourth game. All of the games came with a comic book that explained the plot, as well as containing part of the solution to a major puzzle that had to be solved to win the contest. Each game had essentially the same gameplay: Logic puzzle adventure style gaming interspersed with arcade style action gaming. The character wanders through each screen, picking up and dropping items, playing simplified variants of current 'twitch' games of the time between screens. If the correct items are placed in a room, a clue shows up, pointing the player to a page and panel in the comic book included with the game. There, the player would find a word that was hidden in that panel. If the player found all five correct clues, amongst all the hidden words (hinted by a hidden clue in the comic), they could send the sentence to Atari and have a chance to compete in the finals and win a prize. Earthworld was the first of the four games. Its room structure was based on the signs of the zodiac.

Atari

Swordquest is an unfinished series of video games produced by Atari, Inc. in the 1980s as part of a contest, consisting of three finished games and a planned but never released fourth game. All of the games came with a comic book that explained the plot, as well as containing part of the solution to a major puzzle that had to be solved to win the contest. Fireworld was the second of the four games. Its room structure was based on the tree of life.

Atari

Swordquest is an unfinished series of video games produced by Atari, Inc. in the 1980s as part of a contest, consisting of three finished games and a planned but never released fourth game. All of the games came with a comic book that explained the plot, as well as containing part of the solution to a major puzzle that had to be solved to win the contest. Waterworld was the third of the four games. its was based on the seven centers of chakra. It was originally released only through the Atari Club.

Atari, Video Games GmbH

Canyon Bomber is a black-and-white 1978 arcade game, developed and published by Atari. The game was rewritten in color and with a different visual style for the Atari 2600, also in 1978. The player and an opponent fly a blimp or biplane over a canyon full of numbered, circular rocks, arranged in layers. The player does not control the flight of vehicles, but only presses a button to drop bombs which destroy rocks and give points. Each rock is labeled with the points given for destroying it. As the number of rocks is reduced, it becomes harder to hit them without missing. The third time a player drops a bomb without hitting a rock, the game is over.

Atari

Players attempt to shoot demons in a "cosmic carnival" and then pick up the diamonds left behind by them, while dodging shots from enemy skulls. The player operates a laser base at the bottom of a multi-row playfield, using the paddle controller to move it from side to side and the controller's action button to fire a laser beam vertically up the playfield. The player can control how far onto the playfield the beam advances by releasing the button at the desired height. The player receives one point for each demon and ten points for each diamond successfully shot. Points are multiplied by the distance from the base to the target. For example, a demon shot one row above the player is worth one point, while a demon shot four rows above the player is worth four points. In multiplayer mode, the second player operates a laser base at the top of the screen, firing from top to bottom. Again, the second player must shoot demons that match the color of its gun in order to produce diamonds. However, diamonds may be shot by either player. Also, skulls are capable of shooting both up and down the playfield. In select variations of the game, the players can shoot their opponent's laser gun in order to deplete their stock of extra lives. In both single and multiplayer versions, players begin with five lives. One life is lost when the player's laser base is hit by a laser beam fired by a skull or by an opponent, depending on the game variation being played. The game ends when all lives are lost; in multiplayer versions, the surviving player receives a bonus for each life remaining.

Atari

Dodge 'Em is a 1980 Atari 2600 video game, a driving game based on Sega's Head On (1979). The player controls one car and has to drive counter-clockwise, avoiding computer-controlled cars whose sole aim is to produce a head-on collision. The player's car can travel at two speeds, a 'normal' speed which is the same speed as computer-controlled cars, or if the player presses the controller button, his or her car travels at a 'fast' speed double its normal speed. The computer-controlled cars have only one speed. Players change lanes by pushing the controller in the appropriate direction when their car is near one of the gaps in the roadway.

Atari

Flag Capture was one of the eleven Atari 2600 titles that were part of the second wave of games released in 1978. It can best be compared to a very early and primitive Minesweeper. One or two players must attempt to discover which tile a flag is hidden under. Players are given clues such as directional arrows which indicate the flags location, or numeric tiles which indicate the flag's distance. Players must also watch out for bombs which explode if revealed.

Atari

In Human Cannonball your goal is to fire a man out of a cannon and have him land in a bucket of water. To do this you need to adjust your cannon so the position, angle, and firing speed are just right. You score a point for each successful landing, and the game ends after seven attempts. Several game variations are included which allow you to have the position, angle and speed all set by the player, or have one or more of these in a fixed position, or have one or more of these randomly set by the computer. If you wish to make the game more challenging, you can also set a moving wall in front of the bucket which will make your timing more critical.

Atari, Midway Manufacturing

Asteroid was originally developed by Atari for Midway in fulfillment of a contract to supply one video game and one pinball machine. Atari had initially offered Pong during its development to fulfill the contract, but had been rejected. After finishing Asteroid Atari developed a near identical version of the game and released it themselves under the title "Space Race".