Front Cover: Alright, we have an astronaut, wizard, cowboy,
policeman, and soccer player all lined up to play some Atari.
Introduction: Apparently consumers were wary of video game
consoles in 1981. So much so that Atari had to include the explanation
"It does not interfere with normal television viewing" in the
introduction.
Asteroids: I thought Asteroids was one of the better arcade
translations on the 2600. They did a good job keeping the game play in
line with the arcade version.
Missile Command: No game is such a reminder of the cold
war as Missile Command is. Yeah, I know it says you're fighting
aliens but everyone who played it thought it was about the Soviet
Union.
Space Invaders: If the Earth is ever invaded by aliens let's hope
they fly in a predictable, repetitive pattern.
Breakout, Casino, Concentration: Hmm.. why did the change the
title of "Hunt & Score" to "A game of
Concentration"? I personally prefer the former name.
Bowling, Football, Human Cannonball: When I started this I swore
I wouldn't bash any of the games. I grew up on these games and still
enjoy them today. However, these three games are all indeed terrible. I
thought they were bad then and I think they're even worse now.
Chess, Checkers, Night Driver: Alright, on to some better games.
Night Driver was fun, albeit with a soundtrack that makes dupstep
sound pleasant. I also admire how well they pulled off the AI in Chess
with limited memory resources.
Othello: I have an Othello clone on my cell phone that's called
something else. I wondered why it wasn't called "Othello"
until I saw on this page that "Othello" is a trademark of CBS.
How'd they pull that off?
Air-Sea Battle, Sky Diver, Surround: Quick! Fred from Scooby Doo
is trapped in a box with really short walls, I hope he can get out in
time!
Blackjack, Brain Games, Circus Atari: Yeah, you read right..
Brain Games contains a game called "Touch Me". Samantha Foxx
could not be reached for comment.
Pele's Soccer: Pele is the most famous soccer player of all time
and I still have no idea who he is..
Adventure, Indy 500, Hangman: Adventure is easily my favorite
Atari 2600 game. Not only was it the first console adventure game, but
it also introduced the Easter
Egg to millions of gamers.
Video Pinball: For those of you that didn't live in the 80's, the
bomber jacket was oddly popular then.
Street Racer, Dodge 'Em: Dodge 'Em was a fairly addictive game.
Flag Capture, Fun with Numbers, Video Olympics: When oh when will
Foozpong get the respect it deserves in the Olympics?
Slot Racer, Canyon Bomber, Basketball: There is no
way you could use that drawing of the basketball player today. We have
people deeply offended by a Mr.
Potato Head Statue, imagine what they'd think about that drawing.
Warlords: In this picture we have a Viking battling the Huns. I
don't know where to begin on the historical inaccuracies.
Maze Craze: I never played Maze Craze but from this page it
appears to be a mix of Lock 'N Chase and the snail maze game that's
built into the Sega Master System ROM.
Atari Game Club: You have no idea how tempted I am to send in
that form.I did a Google search for "George Dakota" but
couldn't find him, I hope everything's alright.
Back Cover: This is tagged CO16725 Rev. C. From what I
understand there were several different revisions of these catalogs. I
can't tell you the difference though.