Thwocker is an unreleased Activision prototype for the Atari 2600, discovered in 2001 at a thrift shop alongside other prototypes. Developed by Charlie Heath, who also created Reactor, Thwocker has been described as “Joust with musical instruments.” The player controls a little conductor character, resembling a bowling ball, and must bounce around a maze collecting … Read more
Atari 2600 Tennis is a simple and enjoyable tennis simulation game that offers singles matches for one or two players. In the game, one player is represented by a pink character, while the other is blue. The game features two selectable speed levels, allowing players to choose the pace of their match. One of the … Read more
Starmaster is s similar to Atari 8-bit family game Star Raiders. The game never ported to other consoles. Starmaster gameplay The opening jingle of Starmaster features Also Sprach Zarathustra, which was used as the theme for 2001: A Space Odyssey. The player pilots a starfighter, with the purpose of destroying a number of enemy ships … Read more
Spider Fighter is a fixed shooter game for the Atari 2600, in which the player’s goal is to protect three pieces of fruit in each level. The player controls a blaster that moves left and right along the bottom of the screen, firing shots upwards towards four types of attackers. Each level has a set … Read more
Stampede is a horizontally-scrolling action game with a cattle round-up theme where the player moves from left to right. The goal is to round up all the cattle by lassoing them without letting more than two pass by. If a third one escapes, the game ends. Although all cattle run in the same direction as … Read more
Skiing is a single-player Atari 2600 game that simulates the experience of skiing downhill or through a slalom course. The player uses the joystick to control the speed and direction of a skier at the top of the screen, while the background graphics scroll upwards to create the illusion of the skier moving downhill. Players … Read more
Sky Jinks is a vertically-scrolling, air racing-themed video game for the Atari 2600 that puts the player in control of a low-flying Seversky XP-41 airplane in a time trial challenge. The objective is to complete each game level by banking around a specified number of pylons—left for blue pylons and right for red pylons. The … Read more
Seaquest is a video game for the Atari 2600 in which the player controls a submarine to shoot at enemies and rescue divers. The enemies include submarines and sharks, which shoot missiles at the player’s submarine. The player must defend their submarine by firing unlimited missiles while trying to rescue divers who swim through the … Read more
River Raid is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Viewed from a top-down perspective, the player flies a fighter jet over the River of No Return in a raid behind enemy … Read more