Developer: Activision
Activision was founded in 1979 by four Atari programmers, David Crane, Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead and Larry Kaplan, who wanted to make games for the Atari 2600 outside Atari. In the summer of 1980 it released its first four cartridges, the first 2600 games ever sold by a company other than Atari, and showed that an independent publisher could succeed on the console. Many of its games came with a mail-in patch for players who reached a target score.
The site has 39 Activision games, from those first releases such as Boxing, Dragster and Fishing Derby to late titles such as Ghostbusters (1985). A few good places to start:
Kaboom! (1981): Larry Kaplan’s paddle game about catching the Mad Bomber’s bombs in buckets.
Megamania (1982): Steve Cartwright’s shooter, with waves of hamburgers and steam irons.
River Raid (1982): Carol Shaw’s scrolling shooter along an endless river.
Enduro (1983): Larry Miller’s long-distance race through day, night, snow and fog.
H.E.R.O. (1984): John Van Ryzin’s rescue mission down a maze of mine shafts.
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984): David Crane’s huge underground sequel to Pitfall!
Scroll down for the full list and play any Activision game right here in your browser.
Cosmic Commuter
Cosmic Commuter is a 1985 Activision game for the Atari 2600, designed and programmed by John Van Ryzin. You drive the Astrobus, a space-age bus service of the year 2075: land it on a planet, fly along a…
Play ▸Chopper Command
Chopper Command is a horizontally scrolling shooter designed by Bob Whitehead and released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. You fly a helicopter gunship over the desert, shooting down enemy jets and helicopters before they can…
Play ▸Barnstorming
Barnstorming is a 1982 Activision race against the clock, designed by Steve Cartwright. You fly a biplane low over the countryside and try to thread it through a set number of open barns as fast as you can,…
Play ▸The Activision Decathlon
The Activision Decathlon is a track-and-field game designed by David Crane and published by Activision in 1983. It packs all ten events of the Olympic decathlon onto one cartridge, from the 100-meter dash to the 1500-meter race, for…
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