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.

Starmaster

StarMaster is a first-person space combat game designed and programmed by Alan Miller and published by Activision in 1982. You pilot a lone starfighter across a galaxy map, hunting enemy fighters before they wipe out your starbases, while…

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Spider Fighter

Spider Fighter is a fixed-screen shooter for the Atari 2600, designed by Larry Miller and published by Activision around the turn of 1982 and 1983. You guard an orchard from swarms of fruit-stealing insects, firing up from a…

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Stampede

Stampede is a 1981 Activision game designed and programmed by Bob Whitehead, the author of Boxing and Skiing. You ride a horse across a scrolling prairie and lasso runaway cattle before they slip past you. It looks gentle,…

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Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space

Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space is a 1983 flight simulator from Activision, programmed by Jessica Stevens (credited at the time as Steve Kitchen). You take the Space Shuttle Discovery through a complete mission: launch, orbit, docking with…

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Skiing

Skiing is a 1980 Activision cartridge designed and programmed by Bob Whitehead. You steer a skier down slalom courses and downhill runs, dodging trees, flags and moguls in a race against the clock. There are no enemies and…

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Sky Jinks

Sky Jinks is a 1982 air racing game for the Atari 2600, designed and programmed by Bob Whitehead for Activision. You fly a low-level P41 racer through a course of pylons, watched over from above as the ground…

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Seaquest

Seaquest is an underwater shooter designed by Steve Cartwright and released by Activision in 1983. You command a small submarine, pick up divers, fight off sharks and enemy subs, and keep an eye on an oxygen tank that…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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