showing 10 games
| name | publisher(developer) | year arrow_upward | tags | description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder Dash | First Star Software;AtariAge | 2012 | boulderdashlike claiming digging homebrew subterranean | labelimageminimize | |
| Caverns of Mars | Atariage;Atari (APX) | 2005 | caveflyer fbd lives mars score subterranean | Greg Christensen submitted his game to the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. It was published by APX on floppy disk (1981), cassette (1982), and cartridge (1983, RX8021) for the Atari 8-bit platform. In 2005 the game was released for the 2600 platform via the [gametag=flashback2.0 Atari Flashback 2.0 system]flashback2.0 Atari Flashback 2.0 system[/gametag]. In 2006, Atariage published a cartridge version called Conquest of Mars. [Zerothis] | labelimageminimize |
| Venture II: The Abysmal Abyss | AtariAge;Coleco (Coleco) | 2001 | crossbows gems heroprotagonist langinsignificant medieval monsters snakes subterranean | labelminimizeminimize | |
| H.E.R.O. | Activision;CCE (Activision) | 1984 | alone caveflying chiroptera lives score spiders subterranean | Miners are trapped in molten heat! With the aid of your compact power-pack, you must come to the rescue! Fly through the red-hot mine, blast through magma walls, flow down lava rivers and zap volcanic vermin with your micro-laser beam! H.E.R.O. - pure dynamite for the Atari 2600!*** [190]*** [126]*** [131]***[media=youtube]uOyj0TQ5qKc[/media]***Published by Activision / CCE / Tron / Ariola*** [49]*** [48] | labelimagesubject |
| Montezuma's Revenge | Parker Brothers (James Wickstead Design Associates) | 1984 | cemetery ladders lives mesoamerican-theme metroidvania montezumasrevenge-series score snakes spiders subterranean | labelimageminimize | |
| Pitfall II: Lost Caverns | Activision;Ariola (Activision) | 1984 | aerostat earth electriceels ending frog goldbars hasmusic jumping latemodernperiod naturalistic pitfallseries platformer primates retrypoints southamerica subterranean swimming underwaterdiving walking | [48]*** [48]***Perhaps the most impressive VCS 2600 game ever. Great graphics, music and a gameplay that is superior to many other - mostly very repetitive - VCS 2600 games. | labelimageminimize |
| Dig Dug | Atari (General Computer) | 1983 | digdug digging lives monsters score subterranean | labelimageminimize | |
| E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Atari;CCE (Atari) | 1982 | alienprotagonist aliens alternativesolutions city consoleclassix defenseless difficulty earth ending ettheextraterrestrial exploration forest healingitems hoverflight humans ingamecinematics inventory magic movie nocombat nudity-inhuman openworld optionaltasks outdoors psychicpowers score secrets serious subterranean urbanlegend walking wrappingworld | [125]***If you ignore the expectation created by the success of the movie. If you consider this as an unfinished game (it is [i]barely[/i] finished). If you read the instruction book in detail. If you compare this to Atari 2600 games from 1977. If you consider it is not a sequel of another game and did not spawn a mediocre or bad series of sequels. If you consider that any game based on a movie will have a very hard time being decent on Atari 2600 hardware and only four directions and 1 button. If you consider most movie games suck. If you consider all the other carp games that 1982-83 threw at us. IT STILL SUCKS! But, it doesn't suck quite as bad as it's reputation. There are worse games for the 2600. Learn to avoid some of the glitch-like aspects of the game, take all the advice previously listed in this article, and your left with not all that terrible of a game. So it doesn't deserve a ½ star. I certainly do not dismiss Howard Scott Warshaw's achievement of realizing such a complex game on the 2600 in just 5 weeks. The game essentially has 6 levels, 20 hidden areas, 3 polychromatic characters (E.T. of the 4 characters of the game is monochromatic), 5 polychromatic items, a space craft, and an easter egg with an additional 3 polychromatic items. Much more of everything compared to the average 2600 game. Makes me wonder what the game could have been if he'd had 6 months instead. But, that didn't happen. The game was released as-is in 5 weeks. I think what speaks most about the quality of the game was the fact that no previous Atari game experienced customer returns in numbers Atari bother to note.*** [48]*** [48]***One of the biggest commercial failures in the history of video games. A botanist collecting plant samples from Earth is left behind when his ship must depart unexpectedly to avoid being captured by Earth scientists. He is called "E.T." by an Earth child who takes him in. E.T.'s uses a lot of energy to do most anything here on Earth. Gather 3 Reese's Pieces to restore E.T.'s energy. Collect 9 and call Elliot who will bring a piece of technology E.T. can use to make his communication device (to phone home). Unused Reese's Pieces result in bonus points when (if) E.T. departs Earth. There are 3 parts needed to make the phone home device which can also be found in wells (the pits). Earth scientists will try to capture E.T. and confine him for study. Earth's F.B.I. will try to confiscate E.T. communication device parts. The communication device will not work just anywhere. But, once activated in a suitable area, E.T. will have a limited amount of time to reach the landing site (in the forest) and rejoin his team in their space craft. Dennis Debro created source code for the game through reverse engineering in 2006. In 2013 Neocomputer.org released a bug-fixed version and instructions on how owners can modify the ROM of the game to achieve the same result. Fixes include: E.T.'s color is corrected. Walk, Run, Hover, controls are not as difficult. The edges of wells are more forgiving so falling in is not as easy. Entering a screen over a well does not result in an instant fall. E.T.'s Space craft can no longer crush Elliott (oops!) The scoring now matches what the manual says. The Easter Egg works more correctly The Scientist-Only game variant is restored. Feature addition: Switch to Color for fixes, switch to B&W for original version. Tags: There is a persistent, widely know, widely believed rumor that, on the night of September 28-29, 1983, Atari (for tax purposes) smuggled millions of unsold ET cartridges to an undisclosed location in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico using a fleet of semi-trailer dumpers. Once their, the Extra Terrestrials, were crushed, encased in cement and buried. This is supposedly one of Atari's drastic actions taken as a result of the 1984 market crash. Its just too silly to believe, A big cooperation covering up aliens in a secret location near Roswell for financial gain. No doubt whatsoever it is a humorous fabrication. OR... Maybe that's exactly what Atari wanted the IRS to believe ;) On September 29, 1983, the Alamogordo Daily News of Alamogordo, New Mexico began publishing a whole series of articles describing a fleet of trucks that came late in the night from an Atari distribution center in El Paso, Texas. Eye witnesses accounts vary but report the destruction and burial of cartridges, systems, and/or controllers. It gets better, turns out the area where the supposed burials took place is a landfill protected by high security! When questioned as to why anyone would encase garbage in cement then bury it, an employee of the landfill, who wished to remain anonymous, told the reporter that they didn't want any kids or scavengers to dig up the creatures they'd buried! The surrounding populations centers could have cared less about Atari's finances, and what exactly they'd buried in the desert. They resented the fact that some big out of state corperation was coming to their corner of the united states to dump as many as 20 loads of trash. Local commissioner Guy Gallaway stated, "We don't want to be an industrial waste dump for El Paso." Local manager Jack Keating officially bolcked Atari from doing anything like this again in their area. Locals passed two laws, the Emergency Management Act, and the Emergency Management Task Force, against outside interests. Mayor Henry Pacelli commented that, "We do not want to see something like this happen again." So, maybe, maybe not. EDIT: It's all true! An archaeological dig in cooperation with the city of Alamogordo uncovered bran new games under cement at the bottom of the old land fill. However, only 10% of the approximately 728,000 cartridges in the land fill were ET cartridges. Many different unsold and [i]and returned[/i] games were found. 5 million ET carts were made, 1.5 million units were sold, but many were returned. 3.5 million were unsold. That means the ultimate fate of most of the world's ET carts are still unconfirmed. Oh, the carts were not initially buried under cement. This action was taken after some local children took some for themselves. But, after playing the game, they gave many away and put the rest back ("game sucked ... you couldn't finish it", reported one of them). It is notable, that these kids only found ET carts. [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Dragonstomper | Starpath;Arcadia (Starpath) | 1982 | ♫mountainking ♫taps 1life adv-objects alternativesolutions amoeboids axes bossbattles bows bribing cave combatmode containers currency demo doors dragons dragons-western earth encounters-random ending falldamage fantasticearth forest gameplayinn insects keys ladders loot-random magic meleeweapons minions monsters multisequence potions primates resuscitation secrets serious shopping snakes sorcery spiders subterranean supercharger temple town toxins traps walking | The story goes; a magician created an amulet that he could use to subdue the great dragon. On his way deep into the lair where the dragon slept, the amulet was lost and the magician was forced to leave without accomplishing his task. But the dragon found the amulet and used it to increase his intelligence and power. He recruited monsters and allied with evil men, terrorizing the surrounding kingdom. The king selected a dragon hunter to build up to become, "The DragonStomper". An actual RPG on the lowly 2600. Made possible by the Super Charger adapter that loads multiple portions of the game that is stored as digital audio data on a cassette. It even has two music clips. Uses the joystick for a menu based interface. The game has multiple 'locations', including an expansive The Wilderness, churches, villages, castles, wilderness huts, bridges, trading shops, magic shops, The Scorpion Pit and The Dragon's Cave. The game has 3 distinct modes corresponding to its three loads. [list][*]Battling monsters to build up strength and become The DragonStomper. [*]Recruiting warriors to protect oppressed villages whilst buying, selling, and trading supplies. [*]Descending into The Dragons Cave, attacking it with a unit of warriors, and slaying it.[/list]This 3 step process is the recommended path, yet there are several alternatives that will work equally well (none of them are really shortcuts). For instance, if the player manages to find destroy the legendary amulet, the dragon will lose his power; after this, there is the choice of two more options. The Wilderness area is HUGH, considering most 2600 games were no more than 3 screens in size. There are no experience points or levels, rather stats can be directly improved (or lost) with items collected from defeated enemies. A Charm, Cross, Potion, Ring, or Staff will randomly: add strength and heal you, add dexterity, decrease strength, decrease dexterity, or reveal traps. An Axe and a Shield are the only weapons and armor available for use in The Wilderness. Keys can be used to open locked doors and treasure chests. Vitamins will restore strength. Elixir increases dexterity. Medicine protects against fever and acts as an antidote. Lanterns will reveal traps. A Rope or Chain can be used to descend into pits or into The Dragon's Cave. Rubies and Sapphires are more efficient than gold. Bow and Arrows can be used against the Dragon. The Flash spell will momentarily show all traps. The Vision spell will completely reveal traps. The Blast spell is for attack. The Protect spell makes to invincible to enemy attack for its duration. The Stun spell will stun enemies. The Unlock spell will dispel magic barriers. Was originally advertised as "Excalibur" but the name was changed before publishing. "The best title ever made in the history of U.S. videogaming." - Forbes Magazine November 2005 Without doubt, DragonStomper would have been the shaper of things to come as the first RPG on the 2600. With subsequent RPGs for the system having better graphics, music, cut sequences, and more in-game story and dialog. Multi-loading from cassette (or CD, first available the same year as this game) and/or more ROM and RAM in the cartridges, would have allowed for chapter structured gameplay and/or each location to have its own load, complete with talking characters and side quests. An audio CD with voice and game data, couple with second generation supercharger like device(s), would have effectively became the first CD drive for consoles and could have included voice for characters and/or many tracks of music. Alas, the videogame market crashed in 1983-84 and DragonStomper remains the only RPG for the system. A huge setback for game quality but a boon for game hardware because the 2600 officially hung around until 1992 with a relative few innovative games. More innovative games, especially RPGs, may have extended its life even longer and delayed the success of consoles with more capabilities. [spoiler=Always good advice;Close]Pray.[/spoiler][spoiler=Programmers Initials;Close]While the Axe is on-screen, use your shield.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: In the Dragons Lair;Close]In the Dragons Lair, The Dragon has hidden many traps. They can be avoided[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: The Rope & Chain;Close]The rope and chain are not entirely necessary. The player can simply jump down if they don't mind taking damage. Choose wisely.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Stealing the Amulet 1;Close]The "Unlock" spell has a random chance of opening the gate the the amulet is behind[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Stealing the Amulet 2;Close]A large army can be an large distraction to a large enemy[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: The Guards 1;Close]The guards are corrupt which is fortunate for the Dragon. However, if you were to offer a larger payoff than the Dragon gives them... Or you can work the system and get yourself a bureaucratically acceptable ID[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: The Guards 2;Close]The guards like Rubies and Sapphires[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: The Guards 3;Close]You have the option to murder Guards. Their hit points do not regenerate.[/spoiler][spoiler=Spoiler: The Guards 4;Close]Attack guards while distracting them with your ID and conversation. They will lash out at everyone nearby but won't know it was you who started it.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Resurrection;Close]When your character dies, simply hit the reset button to resurrect your character on the spot. You will have lost your improved skills, items, and gold, but at least you don't have to start the game over[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Improving Stats;Close]Stat altering items are random in their effect, except for Elixirs. Monsters some times drop them after being defeated. You don't have to battle monsters to gain stat altering items, they are hidden in many of the locations[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Axe and Shield;Close]Axes and a shields are hidden in many of the locations[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Darts;Close]When your ready, you can dodge bullets. Well, darts maybe.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Avoiding Traps 2;Close]Traps must be set each time the game starts or when you are resurrected. This takes time. Hurry past them while the copyright notice is still displayed.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Another way to heal;Close]Bribe the church with 200 gold for a secret healing prayer and to rescue someone from purgatory (jk about the second part).[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Maximum Stats;Close]Maximum dexterity is 49 with random stat building items, and 52 with Elixirs. Maximum strength is 50. Strength has a random chance of increasing when you are healed.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Skeleton Key;Close]Just smash the door with your Axe. Although some doors are to strong.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Recruitment tactics 1;Close]Volunteer Warriors are better than hired ones[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Recruitment tactics 2;Close]Warriors like Rubies and Sapphires[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Recruitment tactics 3;Close]You can recruit a maximum of 3 warriors and send out a maximum of 2 simultaneously.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Recruitment tactics 4;Close]You can murder your own warriors. Why? Well, they might get in the way should you want to recruit something better.[/spoiler][spoiler=Spoiler: Recruitment tactics 5;Close]Smash the amulet and you can will become the dragon's master, or just leave the powerless beast to live out the rest of his now peaceful life in his lair.[/spoiler][spoiler=Spoiler: Maximum Funding;Close]You'll need 2500-4000 gold (depending on how much you sell) to buy a full set of equipment.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Monkeys;Close]Monkey's hangout in trees and often carry potions[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Snakes;Close]Snakes hangout everywhere in the Wilderness and often carry rings[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Bugs, Beetles, Spiders;Close]Beetles, Bugs, and Spiders often carry potions[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Secret Enemy;Close]A Slime is the rarest enemy in the game.[/spoiler][spoiler=Hint: Secret Item;Close]A Stave is the rarest item in the game. You may never see one.[/spoiler] [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Pitfall! | Activision;CCE;Ariola (Activision) | 1982 | consoleclassix crocodiles flashback2.0 flipscreens giantanimals giantinsects giantscorpions goldbars jungle lives lutris maleprotagonist pitfallseries progressleft realtimelimit ropeswinging snakes southamerica subterranean | [media=youtube]sHax8GTY41M[/media]***David Crane originally designed the game with an entirely mortal Harry (1 death ends the game). Sadly, two weeks before production, he made the game easier by giving Harry multiple lives. Still, this is one of the most challenging games for the 2600, very few gamers have gotten all 32 treasures in the alloted 20 minutes. The world record for the fastest time is 18:52. (1:06 left on the clock). The best player in the world can only achieve a time that is 5.66% faster than required. A 'Perfect Game' can be achieved by collecting all 32 treasures and never dying, never falling and never being damaged by a hostile object. The resulting score will be 114,000. There are 256 screens that connect end to end (screen 1 connects to screen 256). The underground (tunnels) skip around the ring of screens in a different order than the overworld. You can go left or right on any screen that doesn't have a brick wall in the way. The general consensus is that it is easier to go left from the starting screen because of the direction logs travel and dying starts you on the left side of the screen. However, to take the most efficient path to get all the treasures in time, start by going right. Also, unless you have a photographic memory, make a map. There are many hacks available for download. Here is a few of the notable ones. Pitfall Trainer: Timer removed & INF Lives, usefully cheat for cartography and practice. Jungle Jane: A faster, meaner, better sounding, more colorful version with a female star. Enhanced Pitfall +: 3 levels of difficulty, including 'Practice'. Scorpions climb ladders and travel screen to screen. There are additional treasures and enemies. Underground tunnels are smaller. Bottomless Pitfall: Graphically enhanced. Can't go left from the start. Logs roll both ways. You restart a screen (after dying) from the side you entered. 10 hour clock and unlimited treasures, so a maximum scores are much more varied. Harry has hit points. The rattlesnakes are not out of place in this game's setting, they are crotalus durissus, found in most countries in South America. [Zerothis]***This is the game that makes a 2600 worth owning. Pitfall is an adventure game classic. Gameplay is simple yet challenging, repetitive yet enduring. In an age of multi-level 3D gaming worlds, Pitfall has yet to be equaled. | labelimagesubject |
