Tag Archives: Atari 2600

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Soccer

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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 real soccer on only the most superficial level, and is instead simply a highly enjoyable video game, particularly if you have the opportunity to enjoy it with a friend or two. Its mechanics, which make no logical sense from a “realism” perspective, make it a ton of fun — and I can attest from personal experience that this is a game that can produce genuine howls of laughter that stem from genuine enjoyment.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Football

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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 amplify all of the most obnoxious things about the sport while stripping out anything even vaguely enjoyable about it. Your mileage may, of course, vary if you are already a football fan — but if you were hoping that a 2600 football game might be a good means of learning the ropes before graduating to the Maddens of this world… think again!

Admire my experiences in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Boxing

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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 and “street fighting” games.

RealSports Boxing for Atari 2600 is a late-era release for the system that adopts the sporting approach, with a points-based system and long matches bound by a clear set of rules. There are some interesting features, though, particularly considering the era — most notable of which is the fact that you’re able to choose between several different characters to play as.

While it’s not necessarily something you’ll want to spend a lot of time with today, it is worth checking out from a historical perspective. And you can do just that in the video below. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more when you’re done!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Basketball

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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 it to release back in the day despite being listed on Atari’s schedules up until quite late. The great “video game crash” of 1983 probably didn’t help matters, but… well, make your own mind up.

Check out the 2600 version in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball

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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 is down to the fact that most of them have been designed as fun video games rather than accurate adaptations of the sports. Does RealSports Baseball for the Atari 2600 live up to that description? Well, only one way to find out.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Radar Lock

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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 of Earth. Radar Lock also ditched the strategic adventure aspect of Solaris in favour of something a little more arcadey, and is a well-regarded game from the latter years of the 2600.

Check it out in the video below — including my repeated failed attempts to understand what the manual is quite clearly telling me — and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari Collection 2, Evercade, Shmups

Yars’ Revenge: This Game Has Bugs

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Yars’ Revenge is, it’s fair to say, one of the most well-known and respected Atari 2600 games out there.

Indeed, back in the day it was one of the platform’s best-selling games, being one of several examples from the 1981-1982 period that actually broke a million copies sold. This was, as you might imagine, a pretty big deal back in the early days of video gaming.

It’s enjoyed enduring popularity over the years for good reason. So with it being part of the Atari Collection 2 cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system, let’s take a closer look at what it’s all about.

Continue reading Yars’ Revenge: This Game Has Bugs →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Race

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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 “Driving Controller” and today mapping excellently to the analogue sticks on our standard joypads, Race remains a fine way to while away a few minutes, whether you’re by yourself or in the company of a friend.

Check out the solo experience in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Quadrun

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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 core mechanics, which see you moving around four distinct quadrants of a playfield to dispatch enemies and rescue “Runts” from the dreaded electric toaster grids.

Check it out in the video below, and please subscribe on YouTube for more.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong Sports

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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 solo player, but if you’ve got a friend or three to play with there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

Enjoy the competition between me and my wife in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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