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.
River Raid
River Raid is a 1982 vertically scrolling shooter by Activision, designed and programmed by Carol Shaw. You fly a jet up an endless river, shooting tankers, helicopters, jets and bridges, and you can never let the fuel run…
Play ▸River Raid II
River Raid II is Activision's 1988 sequel to River Raid, designed by Dan Kitchen and programmed at Imagineering. You fly an F-14 from an aircraft carrier, cross the sea to a river delta, destroy an enemy bridge and…
Play ▸Robot Tank
Robot Tank is a first-person tank battle for the Atari 2600, designed by Alan Miller and released by Activision in 1983. You look out through the viewscreen of a remote-controlled tank, hunt enemy robot tanks with your radar,…
Play ▸Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is David Crane's 1984 sequel to his own Pitfall!, published by Activision. Pitfall Harry leaves the jungle and goes underground into a huge cave system below Machu Picchu in Peru. With no time limit,…
Play ▸Plaque Attack
Plaque Attack is a 1983 Activision shooter designed by Steve Cartwright, the creator of Megamania and Seaquest. You play a tube of toothpaste defending a mouth full of teeth from waves of hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and sweets.…
Play ▸Pressure Cooker
Pressure Cooker is a 1983 Activision game designed and programmed by Garry Kitchen. You play Short-Order Sam, a cook at a burger restaurant called "The Grille", who builds hamburgers to order while toppings fly out of a machine…
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