Mattel Electronics was the toy company’s video game division, best known for its own Intellivision console. From 1982 it also sold Atari 2600 cartridges under the M Network label, including versions of Intellivision games and licensed arcade titles. The site has five of them:
Star Strike: bomb the missile silos in an alien space station’s trench, based on the Intellivision game
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man: the first He-Man video game, from 1983
Kool-Aid Man: a 1983 mascot game, first sold only by mail order
Bump ‘n’ Jump: Data East’s arcade driving game, with cars to knock off the road
BurgerTime: a chef building burgers while dodging enemies
Each M Network cartridge is below, playable in your browser.
In “Burgertime” for the Atari 2600, you guide a chef through a labyrinth, rushing to assemble hamburgers while dodging enemies. Navigate atop burger parts to make them fall; complete a burger to progress. Earn points by dropping ingredients on foes, squashing them, or catching them on descending parts. Use pepper to freeze enemies momentarily. Avoid … Read more
Star Strike is the Atari 2600 version of the 1981 Intellivision game of the same name, released by Mattel under its M Network label. AtariAge credits Dave Akers with the 2600 programming. You fly a small ship down the launch trench of an alien space station and have to bomb eight missile silos before the Earth drifts into range overhead. The idea came from the Death Star attack in the 1977 film Star Wars. You can play it here in your browser.
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man is a 1983 action game from Mattel Electronics, released for the Atari 2600 under the company’s M Network label. It was the first video game based on the He-Man toy line. You fly He-Man’s Wind Raider to Castle Grayskull, then face Skeletor on foot in a dungeon. Two very different halves make it more varied than most licensed games of the time. You can play it here in your browser.
Kool-Aid Man is a 1983 Atari 2600 game starring the big red pitcher from the Kool-Aid drink commercials. It was made by Mattel Electronics, designed and programmed by Steve Tatsumi, and sold under Mattel’s M Network label. You fly around above a swimming pool and grab the little Thirsties before they drink it dry. It is a short, simple action game from the era of brand mascot cartridges. You can play it here in your browser.
Bump ‘n’ Jump is the Atari 2600 version of Data East’s 1982 arcade driving game, released in 1983 by Mattel Electronics under its M Network label. You drive up a winding road, knocking other cars off the track and leaping over water. The other cars are targets rather than rivals, which makes it more aggressive than an ordinary racer. You can play it here in your browser.