20 Classic Atari 2600 Games

Adventure

For a lot of kids in the early ’80s, this was the first video game they ever played that was kind of like an RPG. It wasn’t really an RPG, more of a hide-and-seek game within a maze, but it still felt like an RPG to kids. Of course it had those flat, square early graphics the Atari 2600 was infamous for, including dragons that looked like chickens. But still, the game was a lot of fun, at least until you defeated the dragon, unlocked the gate and placed that golden grail within the castle; after that is was sort of, “Well, what do I do now?”

Asteroids

Despite the fact the asteroids in this version didn’t look much like the ones in the actual arcade game, the game play was similar to the arcade version. And boy could you rack up the points! Once you got good at this game, it could keep you busy for hours blowing away those floating blobs in space. Oops! Sorry, those were floating asteroids in space.

Berzerk

One of the first, basic maze shoot-em-up games. You’re a guy running through a never-ending maze while defending yourself while shooting at robots. It doesn’t get much more simple than that. And because it was such a simple game, it made a good port from the arcade to the Atari 2600. Really, it looked like you were playing the arcade version at home.

Carnival

Not the most popular of games, but I have found memories of shooting those bears and the flying ducks and all the other little targets moving across the top of the screen. Basically “Carnival” was just another of “Space Invaders” but with different graphics and a few extras tossed in. The graphics on the Atari 2600 version weren’t as good as those in the arcade, but they were still pretty good, and the game play was somewhat compatible.

Centipede

The Atari version didn’t look a whole lot like the arcade version, but it was close enough you could tell it was the same game. The play was decent, though sometimes a little jerky and not nearly as good as the arcade game of the same name.