Review Friday: Atari 2600
The iconic video game console of the late 70s and early 80s, the Atari 2600 is still one of my much loved consoles (and last week a second one arrived with some games, so I have a spare). I own one of the first production units, passed down through my family (well, my mum used to play it and I found it in my nan’s house).
(Atari company logo, taken from the Wikipedia entry on Atari [Wikipedia.org]
In this review I will explain a little about the console, it’s history and look at five games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Centipede and Missile Command) with videos of my incredible gaming skills (Ahahah).
The Atari 2600 was the first major console to use the concept of plug and play cartridges, nearly all ‘consoles’ before consisting of specialist hardware with the games built in, such as Pong (also made by Atari). First manufactured in 1977, the original consoles are made with heavy RF sheilding and thicker plastic, than those produced in the later years.
(Photo of my Atari, a 1977 “Heavy Sixer”)
The six switches on the console control Power, Color/B&W output, Player A difficulty, Player B Difficulty, Game select and Game Reset, respectively. The hardware is incredibly simple, compared to todays games consoles, indeed it is the equivalent to some scientific calculators! And to think it entertained a generation. Later revisions moved the difficulty switches to the back of the console.
Although the games are simple, variety is added through various game modes, selected by the game select switch. Variations range from allowing a second player, to invisible invaders on space invaders (quite challenging). Progressively harder levels are made more difficult by making the enemies (or action in the game) faster and faster. Controls are very limited, with a 4 way joystick and a single button, but this creates very easy to pick up, simple gameplay. There are no huge key shortcuts to remember, it’s just you, the stick and that button.
Onto the games, with video goodness. (Sorry for the flickering, it’s because it’s a CRT.)
Space Invaders
Space Invaders is the well known game, where you have a small tank at the bottom of the screen and have to destroy the ever advancing alien invaders (from space no less!) before they reach the ground. The joystick moves your tank left and right, the button fires. When set to ‘hard’ difficulty the tank is fatter.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man. The game featuring the pill chomping, ghost fearing pizza-with-a-slice-gone hero. There are power pills at the corners that let you hunt the ghosts, but only for a short time. The objective is to eat all the dots. The joystick moves pac-man. The ghosts in this game are really one ghost, drawn in different places once every four frames (due to hardware limitations). This makes them really flickery.
Asteroids
This game is hideously evil. It enjoys spawning asteroids on top of you, or spawning you when an asteroid is near. And no shields, like some of the newer versions. The joystick moves your spacecraft (left/right rotate, up is for thrust), the button fires.
Centipede
Not entirely sure where the idea for this game came from. You have to destroy a ‘centipede’ that comes from the top of the screen, touches the baseline, then goes back up; whilst dodging the spiders that appear from the sides of the screen. On hard difficulty collisions with spiders are fatal.
Missile Command
It’s nuclear war, and for some reason YOU have to target the missiles. Use the blast from you weapons to destroy the warheads before they destroy all your cities. Watch out for smart bombs.
The joystick moves your cursor, the button fires missiles.
Summary
The Atari 2600 is a great console to own. It’s fast paced gaming (no loading times, no long intros, just flick the power button and hit the game reset button), with a shallow learning curve (no long key combos) and addictive game-play (just one more go…). If you ever get the chance to get one with some of these games, I’d advise you to get one. And when those TVs with analog tuners are no use anymore (after the digital switchover) that little 14″ will still play this console fine.Also, please post some comments! I want to know if I’m doing this well, or poorly. Perhaps requests for things to review? Whether you like it or not, post something. Blogging relies on contributions not just from the author, for what is the point of writing if there is no audience?Have a good weekend, Jason.