Publisher: Activision

Activision was the first company other than Atari to sell games for the Atari 2600. It was founded in 1979 by programmers who had left Atari, among them David Crane, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, and it started out in Crane’s garage. Its first four cartridges, Boxing, Dragster, Fishing Derby and Checkers, appeared in the summer of 1980. Many more followed from designers such as Carol Shaw, Steve Cartwright, Garry Kitchen and Larry Miller. Activision kept making 2600 cartridges long after the 1983 crash, including late arcade conversions such as Kung-Fu Master, Commando and Double Dragon.
The site has 50 pages from Activision, including several unreleased prototypes. A few to start with:

River Raid (1982): Carol Shaw’s river shooter, the second best-selling 2600 game of 1983.
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984): David Crane’s underground sequel, with swimming, balloon rides and a full musical score.
Seaquest (1983): rescue divers before your submarine’s oxygen runs out.
Kaboom! (1981): catch the Mad Bomber’s bombs in water buckets, using the paddle controller.
H.E.R.O. (1984): fly a backpack helicopter down mine shafts to reach trapped miners.
Enduro (1983): a long-distance race through day, night, snow and fog.

Browse the full list below and play any of them in your browser.

Pitfall!

Pitfall! is the Atari 5200 version of David Crane's 1982 Activision jungle adventure, converted by Beck-Tech and released in March 1984. Pitfall Harry has 20 minutes to collect 32 treasures spread over 255 screens, jumping rolling logs, swinging…

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Double Dragon

Double Dragon is the Atari 7800 version of Technos Japan's 1987 street-fighting arcade game: brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee punch and kick their way through a gang to rescue Marion. Imagineering made the conversion and Activision published it…

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Rampage

Rampage is Activision's 1989 Atari 7800 conversion of Bally Midway's 1986 arcade game, in which giant monsters climb and smash city buildings until they fall. Pick George the ape, Lizzie the lizard or Ralph the wolf and wreck…

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Pitfall!

About the Game Pitfall! is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a…

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Crackpots

Crackpots is a 1983 Activision game for the Atari 2600, and the first 2600 game by designer Dan Kitchen. You play Potsy, a rooftop gardener in Brooklyn, whose building is being eaten by bugs crawling up from the…

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Checkers

Atari 2600 Checkers Instructions A New Twist on a Classic Game Checkers, a classic game known by many, has been transformed to allow an entire family to challenge the Activision computer across three difficulty levels. Before jumping into…

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Bridge

Bridge is a card game cartridge from Activision, released in December 1980 and programmed by Larry Kaplan. It lets one person bid and play contract bridge, with the computer handling the opponents and your partner's bids. It is…

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Frostbite

Frostbite: Chilling Adventures on the Atari 2600 In 1983, Activision released Frostbite, an action-packed game for the Atari 2600. This exciting game is centered around a daring protagonist who must survive the freezing cold by building an igloo…

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Private Eye

Private Eye is a detective game for the Atari 2600, designed by Activision co-founder Bob Whitehead and released by Activision in early 1984. You play the French detective Pierre Touché, driving a jumping Model A car around a…

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Oink!

Oink! is a 1983 Activision game designed by Mike Lorenzen and based on the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs. The wolf, here called Bigelow B. Wolf, blows holes in the wall of a pig's house, and…

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