Release date: 1987

By 1987 the Atari 2600 was a budget console, and its new games leaned on names players already knew from arcades and home computers. Activision’s Kung-Fu Master arrived in September, a side-scrolling fighting game that was a real programming feat on this hardware. Epyx brought its multi-event sports games Summer Games and Winter Games in October, each for up to eight players.
Absolute Entertainment, the company Garry Kitchen founded after leaving Activision, appears here with Title Match Pro Wrestling and David Crane’s Skate Boardin’, one of the first skateboarding video games. Atari Corporation added RealSports Boxing. The budget label Froggo is here too, but its Sea Hunt and Spiderdroid are older games re-released under new names. Elk Attack is an unreleased Atari prototype from the same year.
Several dates on this page are disputed. Atari Archive dates Desert Falcon to December 1987 and Wikipedia to December 1988, and Crossbow and California Games most likely reached shops in 1988.
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Choplifter!

Choplifter! puts you in a rescue helicopter, flying into enemy territory to free 64 hostages and bring them home. Dan Gorlin created it for the Apple II in 1982, and Ibid, Inc. made this graphically enhanced version for…

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Karateka

Karateka is Jordan Mechner's 1984 karate adventure, converted for the Atari 7800 by Ibid, Inc. and published by Atari in 1987. You fight through the warlord Akuma's palace one guard at a time to rescue Princess Mariko, and…

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One-on-One Basketball

One-on-One Basketball puts Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Larry Bird on a half court for a head-to-head game. Atari released this 7800 version in 1987, based on Electronic Arts' best-selling 1983 computer game. Play against the computer or…

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Crossbow

Crossbow Overview “Crossbow” is an innovative light gun shooter game, initially launched in arcades by Exidy in 1983 and subsequently brought to the Atari 2600 by Atari Corporation. This game stands out for its unique control mechanism, which…

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California Games

California Games on the Atari 2600 Introduction:Welcome to the heart of action sports, California, where the sun kisses the shores and the streets buzz with the thrill of competition. California Games is your ticket to the ultimate sports…

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Sea Hunt

Sea Hunt is an underwater treasure-diving game for the Atari 2600, released in 1987 by Froggo. You dive from your boat, spear the fish that guard the water, and slip into a sunken Spanish galleon to grab three…

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Winter Games

Winter Games is the Atari 2600 version of Epyx's 1985 multi-event sports game, which started out on the Commodore 64. The cartridge packs seven snow and ice events, from the slalom to the luge, and lets up to…

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Title Match Pro Wrestling

Title Match Pro Wrestling is a 1987 wrestling game for one or two players, published by Absolute Entertainment, the company Garry Kitchen founded after leaving Activision. It came out late in the Atari 2600's life, and it packs…

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Summer Games

Summer Games is the Atari 2600 version of Epyx's multi-event sports game, which first appeared on the Commodore 64 in 1984. The 2600 cartridge came out in 1987 and packs seven events, from the hurdles to the pommel…

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Spiderdroid

Spiderdroid is a 1987 Atari 2600 cartridge from Froggo Games, a small budget label from California. It is not an original game: it is Parker Brothers' 1982 version of the arcade maze game Amidar, re-released under a new…

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