A compilation of 150 Atari games, encompassing arcade, Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 releases. Also available as three separate volumes on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Developer: Code Mystics
Publisher: Atari, AtGames
Available on: Nintendo Switch and others (see above)
Atari A to Z Flashback
Articles about Atari Flashback Classics
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Soccer - Yes, it’s yet another RealSports game! We’re nearly done, though. Hang in there! This time around, we take a look at RealSports Soccer for the Atari 5200 which, like its American Football counterpart, offers a somewhat more realistic, in-depth experience, perhaps at the expense of some accessibility. It’s still a much more approachable game than either incarnation … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Soccer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Soccer - In real life, I despise soccer, or “football” as we call it over here. But there have been a number of soccer games over the years that I’ve rather enjoyed — and RealSports Soccer for the Atari 2600 is one of them. The reason for this is that RealSports Soccer for the Atari 2600 resembles … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Soccer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Football - Yes, yes, yes, it’s RealSports time again here on Atari A to Z Flashback, and this time around it’s another one I’ve been dreading: the 5200 incarnation of RealSports Football. I was actually quite surprised to discover that the single-player “practice” mode in this one is a very good means of experimenting with the mechanics … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Football 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Football - If it was not already painfully obvious from previous dalliances with digital adaptations of the sport, I do not “get” American Football. I get the basic idea, but I do not understand the execution at all. This is made particularly apparent by RealSports Football on the Atari 2600, a game which, to someone like me, appears to … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Football 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Boxing - Fighting game fans whinge a lot these days, but a lot of them don’t know how good they have it now. Back in 1987, the genre was still in the process of figuring things out and determining the best way of doing things — and whether there should be a contrast between “sports fighting” games … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Boxing 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Basketball - Ever wanted your Atari 5200 to trash-talk you? Enter RealSports Basketball, a game that is more than happy to give you a mouthful. This is another unreleased prototype sports game in the RealSports series, originally set to come out in 1983 but never quite making it. It’s a tad better than the rather bare-bones RealSports Basketball for Atari 2600, … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Basketball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Basketball - As we’ve seen a few times already on this series, one of the great things about the Atari Flashback Classics collection is that it provides an official way to enjoy some games that never got released back in the day. One such example is RealSports Basketball for both Atari 2600 and Atari 5200, neither of which made … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Basketball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball - We’re back once again with the RealSports series, and this time we’re looking at RealSports Baseball for the Atari 5200. While the Atari 2600 version of RealSports Baseball really struggled to provide a convincing game, particularly when played against a computer-controlled opponent, the Atari 5200 fares much better in this regard, offering the potential for a much … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball - The time I’ve been dreading is finally here — it’s time to run the RealSports gauntlet, with a variety of different sports games for both Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. To be fair, I’ve actually had way more fun with the sports games in Atari Flashback Classics than I ever thought I would, and part of that … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Radar Lock - It is a ballsy developer who tries to recreate the After Burner experience on a machine as humble as the Atari 2600. But Doug Neubauer was nothing if not ballsy. Radar Lock made use of the same engine he had developed for Star Raiders follow-up Solaris, but transplanted the action from the black void of space to the blue skies … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Radar Lock 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Race - Of all the genres that have been with us since the earliest days of the medium, racing games have probably been through the most significant changes. There’s still an undeniable appeal to classic single-screen top-down affairs, though, particularly when they control as elegantly as Race (aka Indy 500) for Atari 2600 does. Originally making use of a custom … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Race 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Quadrun - It’s fun times four with Quadrun, which is one of the rarer Atari 2600 games thanks to its original status as a mail order-only game for Atari Club members. It’s a shame this didn’t get a wider release, because it’s an intriguing, unusual, experimental and rather fun game once you get your head around its … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Quadrun 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong Sports - Are you ready for the Video Olympics? Because that’s what we’re playing today! Yes, today’s game from Atari Flashback Classics, known as both Pong Sports and Video Olympics depending on where you bought it and from whom, offers an array of rough approximations of sports based on Pong mechanics. It’s a simple set of games and there’s almost nothing here if you’re a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong Sports 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Outlaw - It’s time for the original deathmatch! Outlaw was one of the first games available for the Atari 2600, and it remains a beloved competitive multiplayer game today. Unlike its stablemate Combat, Outlaw actually also offers a single-player mode. Okay, it’s not a particularly good single-player mode, but at least you can get in a bit of target practice by yourself … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Outlaw 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Off the Wall - As we’ve previously seen a few times on this series, the Atari 2600 managed to stick around for an astonishingly long time, particularly considering how quickly gaming technology was evolving in the early days. From about 1986 onwards, Atari decided to try and give the platform a “second wind” by releasing a variety of new … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Off the Wall 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Night Driver - Legend has it that some people will drive all night just to buy you some shoes. Some other people will drive through the night just to try and score as many points as possible. In Night Driver for Atari 2600, you’re presented with the opportunity to do the latter in one of the earliest examples of the … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Night Driver 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Motorodeo - The Atari 2600 had such a long lifespan that there is a huge difference between games that came out in its early days and those which appeared in its twilight years. Motorodeo is one of the last games to be officially released for the platform, and it’s an ambitious affair, to be sure. It’s got a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Motorodeo 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command - It’s Missile Command time once again, and this time it’s the Atari 5200 version that we’re turning our attention to. The Atari 5200 is straight port of the Atari 8-bit version, which was also built in to the ROM of the Atari XE Games System computer-console hybrid. If you turned the XEGS on without a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command - It’s time for another one of those games that shows up on Atari Flashback Classics several times! This time around, it’s Missile Command putting in its second appearance. The 2600 version of Missile Command is actually a really solid port of the game, albeit lacking some of the features like the satellites and planes. Most importantly, though, … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Miniature Golf - Miniature Golf on the Atari 5200 is absolutely nothing to do with Miniature Golf on the Atari 2600. It’s another unreleased game for the Atari 5200 that was a casualty of Atari not really knowing what they wanted to do with this console — and eventually canning it and its games altogether. Thankfully, we now … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Miniature Golf 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Miniature Golf - Miniature Golf was a popular pastime in the 1970s, so it made a lot of sense for there to be an adaptation for the shiny new Atari Video Computer System when it released in the latter years of the decade. In those early days, though, game developers hadn’t quite mastered what made the 2600’s innards … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Miniature Golf 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede - You might wonder what the appeal of having several different versions of the same game in one compilation is. Indeed, dear viewer, I was right there with you until recently. Then I played the Atari 5200 version of Millipede — an unreleased prototype that was essentially a port of the version for Atari home computers. And I … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede - Millipede may look like Centipede, but it’s considerably more chaotic and frantic than its predecessor. Rather impressively, the Atari 2600 version, while not quite capturing the visual style of the arcade original, manages to keep pace with the game’s iconic chaos, providing a challenging and enormously addictive arcade blaster for the platform. In fact, some … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Micro-Gammon SB - Do you like backgammon? How about if it was a bit smaller? Well, that’s not at all what Micro-Gammon SB for Atari 5200 offers, though it does have very tiny (for the time) pixels. Micro-Gammon SB is a previously unreleased Atari 5200 game that hit the cutting room floor due to not being “arcadey” enough. It’s … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Micro-Gammon SB 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Maze Craze - If you’ve ever called your local bobby to come and sort out some youths in your neck of the woods, only for them to turn up four hours later well after they were actually needed, Maze Craze may provide some explanation. Apparently coppers like nothing more than getting lost inside randomly generated city blocks with … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Maze Craze 
Atari A to Z Flashback: International Soccer - It’s time for another sports game! Hooray, hoorah, hooroo! This time around, we’re looking at International Soccer for Atari 2600, which is one of Mattel’s numerous M Network cartridges. If you’ve not come across these before, these were ports of games from Mattel’s Intellivision console, often scaled down a little bit to fit the limited hardware of … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: International Soccer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Human Cannonball - Are you a bad enough dude to fire a small black stick figure out of a cannon into a rough approximation of a water tower? If so, Human Cannonball for Atari 2600 may be for you. It’s a game probably best described as an early example of a physics puzzle, and it has its roots in the … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Human Cannonball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Home Run - I live in a country where there have, for most of my life, been fairly strict rules in place saying that advertisers should advertise their own products rather than say how shit their competitors are. It’s for this reason I always find it rather amusing when I come across titles like Home Run, and Intellivision’s rather mean-spirited … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Home Run 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Holey Moley - As we’ve seen a number of times on this series, the late ’70s and early ’80s were a period of experimentation, where developers were trying to figure out exactly what a video game really was. One angle of attack some people took was to recreate well-known physical games in the digital realm. To that end, … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Holey Moley 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Haunted House - It’s time to once again enter the world of survival horror with one of the earliest examples of the genre: Atari’s Haunted House. Haunted House can be seen as an evolution of the Adventure formula in that it involves navigating a preset map, manipulating objects and avoiding enemies. The twist this time around is that you’re in … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Haunted House 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Hangman - The early days of the 2600 consisted of developers trying to figure out what a “video game” really was. A significant part of this experimental period consisted of adaptations of simple board, card and parlour games. Some proved to work well in the digital format; others less so. Hangman? I’ll let you be the judge. Enjoy … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Hangman 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Gravitar - It’s another Atari 2600 port of a classic arcade game! This time around we’re taking a look at Gravitar, one of the most legendarily difficult games of all time. Its Atari 2600 incarnation is arguably somewhat more accessible than the challenging arcade version, since it has a variety of different ways to play that affect … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Gravitar 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Golf - Ah, golf. The one sport I can get behind in that it involves minimal physical activity (aside from walking about a bit and occasionally giving a small ball a hefty thwack) and is mostly about being very quiet. Video game adaptations of the game that spoiled many a good walk have been around for a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Golf 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Frogs and Flies - Hmm, doesn’t something seem a bit familiar about this Atari 2600 game…? Of course! Frogs and Flies here is the game that Atari ripped off with Frog Pond. Only Frogs and Flies (or Frog Bog as it was known in its original Intellivision incarnation) is a much better game. It is still a ripoff in its own right, however — in this case … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Frogs and Flies 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Frog Pond - A fair few titles in the early days of gaming were shameless clones of other companies’ work. Atari’s Frog Pond, a game that ended up not being released because Atari wasn’t willing to spring for a monster 8K cartridge for a “children’s game”, was a clone of Mattel’s Frog Bog for Intellivision (which ended up being ported to 2600 … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Frog Pond 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Football - FOOTBALL! It’s time to play some FOOTBALL! YEAH! Those of you who have been following this series for a while will be all to familiar with my general lack of experience with sports games — particularly those focusing on American sports. Despite my wife once referring to American football on camera as “shit rugby”, I … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Football 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Flag Capture - Flag Capture is one of those games that looks laughably simple today, but there’s still some good, honest fun to be had — especially with two players. The concept couldn’t really be much simpler — there’s a flag somewhere in a grid, and you have to find it using both directional and numerical clues. The … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Flag Capture 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Final Legacy - Yep, it’s Final Legacy again — this time for the very final time, I promise! Final Legacy’s unreleased Atari 5200 conversion forms part of the Atari Flashback Classics compilation, and thus it wouldn’t be right and proper to pass it by without appropriate acknowledgement, now, would it? Thankfully, it’s pretty much identical to the excellent Atari 8-bit version, … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Final Legacy 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Fatal Run - Wouldn’t you know it? A comet has hit the Earth, bathing the entire planet in deadly radiation that, apparently, we will have developed a “vaccine” against by the late 21st century. Naturally, rather than attempting to organise some sort of large-scale relief effort to distribute this life-saving vaccine to the world’s population, the only possible … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Fatal Run 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Double Dunk - I don’t “get” sports games at the best of times, but throw in the need to select “plays” before you can do anything and my comprehension of what is going on goes right out the window. Enter Double Dunk, then; one of the latest games to be officially released for the Atari 2600, and a game which … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Double Dunk 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Dodge ‘Em - The dot-eating maze game formula is most readily associated with Namco’s Pac-Man — but the genre had actually been around for a while already by the time our hungry hero had made his first appearance! Atari’s Dodge ‘Em released for Atari 2600 in 1980, providing a peculiar combination of racing, dodging and dot-eating — but this wasn’t … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Dodge ‘Em 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Desert Falcon - Today’s game hails from the latter days of the 2600, and was actually an Atari 7800 launch title. For one reason or another, Atari 7800 games rarely make it onto these compilations of old Atari stuff — though the Evercade, coming later this year, corrects this oversight somewhat — so we tend to be stuck … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Desert Falcon 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Demons to Diamonds - Today’s Atari Flashback Classic is a one- or two-player blastathon with a couple of twists: firstly, it’s paddle-controlled, and secondly, it involves firing an extendable “beam” rather than the more common shots. Yes, it’s Demons to Diamonds, a simple but enjoyable shoot ’em up designed for younger players — but there’s still some fun to be had … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Demons to Diamonds 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Dark Cavern - It’s always interesting to look at a very old game and see the earliest glimmer of a subgenre that became well-established much later. Mattel’s Dark Cavern, actually an Atari 2600 port of their Intellivision title Night Stalker, is a good example. On paper, it’s a simple maze game, but in practice, you can see just a hint of what would become … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Dark Cavern 
Atari A to Z: Crystal Castles (2600) - Back in the ’70s and ’80s, players of home consoles weren’t looking for “arcade perfect” — mostly because the home systems of the time weren’t up to it. Rather, they were looking for a roughly equivalent or perhaps complementary experience to that which could be had in the arcades. This meant that sometimes games underwent … Continue reading Atari A to Z: Crystal Castles (2600) 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Countermeasure - Today’s title from Atari Flashback Classics is one of the few genuine exclusives for the Atari 5200: it’s Countermeasure! Countermeasure is an interesting strategic shooter in which you navigate a “supertank” through a perilous environment in an attempt to destroy a selection of missile silos. Yes, it’s another “Cold War paranoia” sort of game, but … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Countermeasure 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Concentration - A lot of early Atari 2600 games (or, sorry, “Atari Video Computer System”, as it was called back then) were adaptations of games that could be played on the tabletop. The convenience of playing them on the television was, of course, that you didn’t have to worry about physical components getting scattered all over the … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Concentration 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Combat Two - One of the coolest things about the Atari Flashback devices and compilations that have been released over the course of the last few years is the number of prototypes included. In many cases, these prototypes were complete games that just didn’t get released for one reason or another; such is the case with Combat Two, a game … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Combat Two 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Combat - One cannot talk about the Atari 2600 — or the Atari Video Computer System, as it was originally known — without mentioning Combat. The original deathmatch, one of the original competitive multiplayer titles and a game that is still an absolute ton of fun to play today — Combat really is an all-time classic, with the only sticking … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Combat 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Codebreaker - With the digital revolution, many classic tabletop experiences have fallen by the wayside. But back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, you could count on most households having a copy of Mastermind. Mastermind was a code-breaking game developed by an Israeli telecommunications expert named Mordecai Meirowitz, and it was based on an earlier pen-and-paper game … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Codebreaker 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Circus Atari - Today’s Atari Flashback Classic is Circus Atari, an interesting and challenging twist on the Breakout formula. The origin story of this one is quite interesting, too; it began life as a third-party spin-off of the Breakout arcade hardware, then was subsequently ported by Atari itself to the 2600 platform. Original developer Exidy, who were struggling to … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Circus Atari 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Championship Soccer - I detest most real-life sports, but I’ve been known to have a bit of fun with digital recreations of sporting activities over the years; they make great, easily understandable competitive affairs, after all. My favourite sporting games are those that don’t try too hard to be realistic simulations; those that simply make use of straightforward, … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Championship Soccer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede - It’s that time again! Yes, Centipede is back for a third time — this time in the form of the speedy and challenging Atari 5200 version. Technically speaking, this version is probably closest to the arcade version, but it’s also one of the most difficult — particularly if you dare to play it with the … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede - Centipede is one of Atari’s all-time classics, so naturally it appears in Atari Flashback Classics no less than three times: once in its original arcade incarnation, once on the 2600 (today) and once on the 5200 (next time). Each version has its own subtle differences, though, and the 2600 version here is particularly impressive for … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Casino - As we’ve previously seen, the Atari 2600’s launch lineup included a competent but fairly no-frills adaptation of the game of Black Jack. A year later, creator Bob Whitehead followed it up with the much more substantial Casino, which not only expanded Black Jack’s gameplay with hand splitting and insurance betting, but also included stud poker for up to four … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Casino 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber - David Crane is probably most well-known for his classic (and genre-defining) platformer for Activision, Pitfall! But the prolific programmer worked on a bunch of things for Atari before jumping ship to a company that was more than happy to credit its developers for their hard work. One such example was the Atari 2600 version of Canyon Bomber. … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Breakout - Bip! Boop! Bip! Boop! It’s an iconic sound of the late ’70s: a computerised simulation of some sort of bat-and-ball game. And few games of this type are more classic or influential than Breakout. The Atari 2600 version of Breakout offers a variety of ways to play, including several multiplayer modes. This technically made the home console … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Breakout 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Brain Games - It’s good to give the ol’ noggin a bit of a workout now and again, and that’s exactly what 1978’s Brain Games for Atari 2600 intended to do. Consisting of several different games relating to memory and perception, Brain Games is a surprisingly fun little package that is all the more remarkable when you consider how early … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Brain Games 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Black Jack - I’ve never been especially good at gambling. Largely because I don’t do it a lot. Experimenting with simulated gambling doesn’t fill me with a ton of confidence, you see, because games like this are an excellent way to see that, inevitably, if you keep going you’ll end up with nothing more often than not. Here’s Black … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Black Jack 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Basketball - Sports games have always been a staple of video gaming. In fact, in the earliest days of the medium, they were a good source of basic rules and mechanics for designers to rely on. Basketball for Atari 2600 was a noteworthy example of one of these early sports games for being an early title that didn’t … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Basketball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Basic Math - You know how much people judge a new gaming system by its launch lineup these days? Well, the Atari 2600 had a game called Basic Math among its initial titles. It is exactly what it sounds like. Be grateful for what you get today! To be fair, we’re talking about the late ’70s here, where … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Basic Math 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Backgammon - A big part of the early Atari 2600 library consisted of digital adaptations of tabletop games — including several that could be played solo against a computer opponent. One such example was Backgammon, a fairly comprehensive package that allowed one or two players to play Backgammon or Acey Deucey, with or without a “doubling cube” to facilitate … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Backgammon 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Video Cube - The puzzle game genre as a whole arguably didn’t really hit its stride until the 16-bit home console era rolled around. But there were numerous attempts prior to that “golden age” to provide mind-bending puzzles for gamers at home. One fascinating example was Atari Video Cube, a three-dimensional colour puzzle loosely based on the famous Rubik’s Cube. … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Video Cube 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Astroblast - Mattel’s “M Network” label brought over a variety of classic Intellivision titles to Atari’s 2600 platform. One of these games that seems to have always proven quite popular is Astroblast, originally known as Astrosmash on its original host platform. It’s a fairly simple fixed shooter in which you blast space rocks into smithereens while attempting to protect your planet… … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Astroblast 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Asteroids (5200) - Hey look everybody, it’s Asteroids! Again. You’ll be pleased to hear that this is the last time Asteroids appears in the Atari Flashback Classics compilation, at least. Today we’re looking at the Atari 5200 version of the game, which didn’t actually see a commercial release despite originally being intended as a launch title for the … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Asteroids (5200) 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Asteroids (2600) - It’s that time again: the time when we strap ourselves into a small triangle and blast some space rocks into increasingly smaller space rocks until they disappear. Yes, it’s Asteroids again, this time in its Atari 2600 incarnation. This was a well-regarded port at the time of original release, and noteworthy from a historical perspective for being … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Asteroids (2600) 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Armor Ambush - With a few exceptions, Mattel’s “M Network” label was established to port a number of well-received Intellivision titles to Atari’s 2600 platform. Due to the disparity in capabilities between the two platforms, however, this porting process wasn’t necessarily completely straightforward. The Atari controller had considerably fewer buttons than the Intellivision’s weird monstrosity, for one thing … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Armor Ambush 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Aquaventure - One of the most interesting things about retro platforms like the Atari 2600 is that they still play host to tons of undiscovered treasures just waiting to be explored, decades later. Many of these treasures — usually in the form of unreleased or prototype games — have been unearthed and shared with the world through … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Aquaventure 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Air-Sea Battle - An all-time classic of the Atari 2600’s library is launch title Air-Sea Battle, a simplistic but enjoyable fixed shooter with a variety of different ways to play. Air-Sea Battle is an excellent example of what you could expect from early 2600 titles that promised “27 video games” or similar. Those “27” video games would be a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Air-Sea Battle 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Air Raiders - Let’s check out what is regarded by some as one of the best flight simulators on the Atari 2600! To be fair, this isn’t a particularly high bar to clear or anything, but Air Raiders is a solid, enjoyable enough game, so long as you pay attention to its unusual structure and mechanics. It’s also historically noteworthy … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Air Raiders 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure II - One of the most interesting things about the retro scene is how these old, supposedly defunct platforms still have plenty of people developing for them. In some cases, these projects that began as homebrew affairs end up being official follow-ups to established classics, thirty or more years later! Such is the case with Adventure II, which … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure II 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure - Hey! Listen! Do you like Zelda? If so, then take a moment to give thanks to 1979’s Adventure for Atari. Adventure is an early example of a top-down action-adventure, and has been cited as an important influence on the development of subsequent titles such as The Legend of Zelda. While it may look primitive today, its abstract … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure 
Atari A to Z Flashback: 3D Tic-Tac-Toe - One of my favourite things about working on this series is how I come across interesting bits of trivia during my research. Did you know, for example, that today’s game, 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, was the work of Carol Shaw, an immensely talented programmer perhaps best known for one of my favourite games of all time: River Raid? It’s not … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: 3D Tic-Tac-Toe 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Warlords - Pong and Breakout were winning formulae for Atari, so it makes perfect sense they would want to try and do everything possible with this style of game over the years. Warlords was one of the more interesting experiments, adding a healthy dose of theme, four-player competitive (or team-based) action and a couple of interesting additional mechanics. … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Warlords 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Soccer - Yes, yes, yes, I know the “A to Z” angle in this series is already questionable and this one following Tempest makes it even more so, but we only just managed to find time to have a two-player match! Indeed, today’s game is Atari Soccer, an arcade title which can only be played with two or four … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Soccer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Tempest - Dave Theurer, creator of the beloved Missile Command, is back once again with another all-time classic: “tube shooter” Tempest. Tempest featured Atari’s then-new multi-coloured Quadrascan vector graphics display, plus an interesting feature whereby you could start later in the game based on how far you (or the previous player) had managed to progress on the previous … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Tempest 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Super Bug - While a bit different from what we know today as the “arcade racer”, Atari’s early attempts in this regard were all rather enjoyable. Of the three included in the Atari Flashback Classics collection, Super Bug was the earliest and, consequently, the simplest. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time, however — if anything it makes it a great … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Super Bug 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Sprint 2 - Back before makers of arcade games figured out how to do a vaguely convincing 3D effect, racing games tended to be strictly top-down affairs. Sprint 2, developed by Kee Games (actually Atari in disguise so as to get around contractual obligations) was one of several examples from this early era. Pitting either one player against a … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Sprint 2 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Space Duel - How do you make Asteroids better in a more substantial way than just adding “Deluxe” to the name and making it look a bit nicer? Start by chaining two ships together and work from there. Atari’s Space Duel was designed as another successor to Asteroids after the aforementioned Asteroids Deluxe regrettably failed to replicate the success and popularity of its influential … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Space Duel 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Pool Shark - It might be hard to imagine now, but there was a time in gaming history when it was considered to be a seriously impressive technical achievement to get more than two or three things moving simultaneously on a screen. Atari’s 1977 release Pool Shark is an early example of the company continuing to push the fledgling medium … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Pool Shark 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong - It’s Pong! The grandaddy of them all. Well, okay, not the absolute first ever computer game ever EVER, but it was certainly the first widely successful one. If you have the slightest familiarity with gaming, surely Pong needs little to no introduction, but you might be surprised to know that it actually still holds up rather well … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Monte Carlo - Say the words “racing game” to someone these days and they’ll typically think of a game with at least a passing impression of a 3D perspective. Prior to titles like Namco’s Pole Position and Sega’s Out Run popularising this viewpoint, however, Atari was happily churning out top-down racers that were a lot of fun to play, beginning with Super Bug before … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Monte Carlo 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command - Dave Theuer’s Missile Command is an absolute classic of the “golden age” of arcade games, and still puts up a formidable challenge today! Embodying the paranoia many people were feeling towards the Cold War and potential nuclear conflict in the early ’80s, Missile Command is a relentless, frantic affair. Despite that, it’s more important than anything to … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Missile Command 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede - Legend has it that in the Davison household, the usually entirely justified righteous fury of our matriarchal figure towards yet another example of silly men and boys doing silly men and boys’ things could only be quelled by one thing: Millipede. And for sure, Millipede makes for a great stress-reliever, with its frantic, non-stop blasting action not … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Millipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Maze Invaders - This one’s a cool addition to the Atari Flashback Classics collection: a “lost” game from the Atari archives. Maze Invaders sadly never saw an official release either as an arcade machine or a home port, languishing in the archives until recently. The International Centre for the History of Electronic Games managed to acquire a whole bunch … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Maze Invaders 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Major Havoc - Major Havoc is one of the more unusual games from Atari’s back catalogue of arcade titles, and it’s interesting from a historical perspective for being one of the first games Mark “PlayStation” Cerny was involved with. Making use of vector graphics to provide seamless transitions between three very disparate types of gameplay, Major Havoc challenges you to … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Major Havoc 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Lunar Lander - I was extremely intimidated by Lunar Lander as a kid. Revisiting it today, I see that it’s not really anything to be scared by… but it still puts up a pretty stiff challenge, particularly on its harder levels! Providing one of the earliest examples of a completely non-violent arcade game — and one with significant … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Lunar Lander 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Liberator - All right, Atarian. Are you man enough to join Commander Champion’s Atari Force and liberate the planets suffering under the oppression of the Malaglon army? Described by some as the opposite of Missile Command, Liberator sees you taking to the skies and firing orbital strikes on enemy missile bases… while attempting not to get hit by … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Liberator 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Gravitar - We all know “harder than Dark Souls” is a cliche today. If you really want to show your hipster retro gaming cred, describe something as being “harder than Gravitar”. Gravitar is indeed monstrously difficult, at least partly because of its “turn and thrust” control scheme, but there’s an undeniably addictive quality that keeps you wanting to … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Gravitar 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Football - Well, I knew this time would come. Not only do I have to tackle a sports game again, but a sports game that only supports two players at once! Fortunately, while I may not have any friends, I did somehow manage to get married, so my wife Andie generously agreed to assist me in playing Atari … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Football 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Fire Truck - If, in 1978, you ever entertained any childish fantasies of being a fireman, then Atari had the video game for you! Fire Truck was an unusual spin on the top-down driving game in which you took control of a distinctly retro (even at the time) fire engine on its way to deal with some sort of … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Fire Truck 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Dominos - Dominos, another black and white title from Atari’s early days, surprised me by not at all being what I expected. I was anticipating a fairly faithful adaptation of the tabletop game Dominoes — which wouldn’t have been altogether difficult to put together even with the rudimentary technology of the time — but instead I got … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Dominos 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Destroyer - As we’ve previously seen with Canyon Bomber, sometimes all you need to make an addictive, enjoyable game is a simple concept… and perhaps some gimmicky controls. Such is the case with Destroyer, a game that featured some satisfyingly clunky physical controls on its original arcade release, which are obviously lost somewhat in this home translation. Interestingly, this … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Destroyer 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Crystal Castles - Do you know what “trimetric projection” is? If not, take a good look at Atari’s Crystal Castles. That, dear reader, is trimetric projection at work. This 3D perspective take on the Pac-Man formula is a popular game from Atari’s early days, and enjoyed numerous home ports over the years, particularly on Atari’s own platforms. It’s a fun … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Crystal Castles 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede - Not every retro game has stood the test of time quite as well as others. But one I think we can all agree remains just as fresh today as it was back in the day is Centipede. Developed as a specific attempt to appeal to a broader audience than just the stereotype of young male … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber - Time after time in gaming, we’ve seen that the simplest concepts can be some of the most effective and addictive. Atari’s Canyon Bomber, originally released to arcades in 1977, is a prime example of this. You only need one button to play, and that button drops bombs. The concept is so simple anyone — even someone not … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Canyon Bomber 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Black Widow - I don’t like spiders. I do, however, absolutely LOVE Black Widow, a delightful vector-based twin-stick shooter. In Black Widow, you play a spider trying to defend their web from all manner of incoming creepy crawlies. And, unfortunately, it seems that they are sick and tired of you doing your spidery thing, and as such are more than … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Black Widow 
Atari A to Z: Atari Basketball - Basketball is another sport I know next to nothing about, but I know more about it than I do baseball, in that I understand how to win and what the players on the court are actually supposed to do. Therefore, I am much better equipped to comment on Atari Basketball than I was for Atari … Continue reading Atari A to Z: Atari Basketball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Baseball - I don’t… really play sports games. I don’t generally like them, I don’t generally understand them and I am certainly not good at them. However, I have discovered over the course of the last few years or so that late ’70s/early ’80s sports games are about on a level I can understand for the most … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Atari Baseball 
Atari A to Z Flashback: Avalanche - 1978 arcade title Avalanche is a game I’d not heard of prior to encountering it on Atari Flashback Classics for Nintendo Switch, and it’s entirely possible you might not have come across it either. The reason for this is that its official home port (developed by the creator of the arcade game, Dennis Koble) only … Continue reading Atari A to Z Flashback: Avalanche Gallery
Full list of games
Because someone will ask. Thanks to D. Lambert on Amazon.com for taking the time to compile this list so I don’t have to.
Coin-Op Arcade Games:
1. Asteroids
2. Asteroids Deluxe
3. Avalanche
4. Baseball
5. Basketball
6. Black Widow
7. Canyon Bomber
8. Centipede
9. Crystal Castles
10. Destroyer
11. Dominos
12. Fire Truck {* a.k.a. Smokey Joe}
13. Football
14. Gravitar
15. Liberator
16. Lunar Lander
17. Major Havoc
18. Maze Invaders
19. Millipede
20. Missile Command
21. Monte Carlo
22. Pong
23. Pool Shark
24. Red Baron
25. Sky Diver
26. Soccer
27. Space Duel
28. Sprint2
29. Super Breakout
30. Super Bug
31. Tempest
32. Warlords
Atari 2600 Cartridges (unless noted as 5200):
33. 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe
34. Adventure
35. Adventure II
36. Air Raiders {* M Network prototype}
37. Air-Sea Battle
38. Aquaventure
39. Armor Ambush {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Armor Battle}
40. Asteroids
41. Asteroids 5200
42. Astroblast {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Astrosmash}
43. Atari Video Cube
44. Backgammon
45. Basic Math
46. Basketball
47. Blackjack
48. Bowling
49. Brain Games
50. Breakout
51. Canyon Bomber
52. Casino
53. Centipede
54. Centipede 5200
55. Championship Soccer
56. Circus Atari
57. Codebreaker
58. Combat
59. Combat Two
60. Concentration
61. Countermeasure 5200
62. Crystal Castles
63. Dark Cavern {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Night Stalker}
64. Demons to Diamonds
65. Desert Falcon
66. Dodge ‘Em
67. Double Dunk
68. Fatal Run
69. Final Legacy 5200
70. Flag Capture
71. Football
72. Frog Pond
73. Frogs and Flies {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Frog Bog}
74. Golf
75. Gravitar
76. Hangman
77. Haunted House
78. Holey Moley
79. Home Run
80. Human Cannonball
81. International Soccer {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s NASL Soccer}
82. Maze Craze
83. Micro-gammon 5200
84. Millipede
85. Millipede 5200
86. Miniature Golf
87. Miniature Golf 5200
88. Missile Command
89. Missile Command 5200
90. MotoRodeo
91. Night Driver
92. Off the Wall
93. Outlaw
94. Pong Sports {* Telegames: Sears-branded version of Atari’s Video Olympics}
95. Quadrun
96. Race {* Telegames: Sears-branded version of Atari’s Indy 500}
97. Radar Lock
98. Realsports Baseball
99. Realsports Baseball 5200
100. Realsports Basketball
101. Realsports Basketball 5200
102. Realsports Boxing
103. Realsports Football
104. Realsports Football 5200
105. Realsports Soccer
106. Realsports Soccer 5200
107. Realsports Tennis
108. Realsports Tennis 5200
109. Realsports Volleyball
110. Return to Haunted House
111. Saboteur
112. Save Mary
113. Sea Battle {* M Network prototype}
114. Secret Quest
115. Sentinel
116. Sky Diver
117. Slot Machine
118. Slot Racers
119. Space Attack {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Space Battle}
120. Space War
121. Sprint Master
122. Star Raiders
123. Star Raiders 5200
124. Star Ship
125. Star Strike {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Star Strike}
126. Steeplechase {* Telegames: Sears exclusive}
127. Stellar Track {* Telegames: Sears exclusive}
128. Street Racer
129. Stunt Cycle
130. Submarine Commander {* Telegames: Sears exclusive}
131. Super Baseball
132. Super Breakout
133. Super Breakout 5200
134. Super Challenge Baseball {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s Major League Baseball}
135. Super Challenge Football {* M Network: 2600 version of Intellivision’s NFL Football}
136. Super Football
137. Surround
138. Swordfight {* M Network prototype}
139. Swordquest: Earthworld
140. Swordquest: Fireworld
141. Swordquest: Waterworld
142. Tempest
143. Video Checkers
144. Video Chess
145. Video Pinball
146. Warlords
147. Wizard
148. Xari Arena 5200
149. Yars’ Return
150. Yars’ Revenge
