Game Highlights

The following is a list of some of my (Bill Kendrick's) favorite games from all of my Atari systems. Some are games I know you remember fondly... or remember hating. Others are titles released in the last few years, long after the original incarnations of "Atari" were gone.

I've done my best to note when and where you can play each game, based on the schedule. Many of these games aren't being focused-on in the schedule, so you'll have to take a turn at one of the 'freeplay' stations, and track down the cartridge or disc.

// Adventure // Ballblazer // Battlesphere // Boulderdash // Castle Crisis // Championship Rally // Chip's Challenge // Combat // Crown Land // Dandy // Dig Dug // Dragon's Lair // E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial // Enduro // Fishing Derby // Frogs and Flies // Galaxian // Indy 500 // Iron Soldier 2 // Joust // Kaboom! // Klax // Mario Bros. // Maze Craze // Missile Command // M.U.L.E. // Pac-Man // Pitfall! // Rampart // RoadBlasters // Robotron: 2084 // Space Invaders // Stampede // Star Raiders // Star Wars: Jedi Arena // Star Wars: Return of the Jedi // Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back // Steeplechase // Steel Talons // S.T.U.N. Runner // Super Breakout // Superman // Tempest 2000 // Warlords // Yars' Revenge // Yoomp! //

Adventure

Players	1 player	An attempt at recreating a text-based adventure game from mainframes and turning it into a graphical adventure. You — a little rectangular cursor — traverse a warped maze of rooms and dungeons, picking up — only one at a time! — objects to help you on the way. Use keys to open castle gates, use the sword to kill the ~~weird looking ducks~~ dragons. The first video game with an Easter Egg, and the first signs of Atari programmers being fed up with lack of credit or royalties for their works.
Play it on	Atari 2600
Find it at	Station 2, 6pm-7pm Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 5, all evening (freeplay)

Ballblazer

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended)	Created by Lucasfilm, I believe this game premiered at the party after the premier of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. (I was at the party, and remember seeing this and Rescue on Fractulus). Futuristic soccer on a beautifully animated (and anti-aliased!) checkerboard field.
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (disk)
Find it at	Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 3, 8pm-9pm

Battlesphere

Players	1 player (at this party)	Development started on Battlesphere while the Jaguar was still being produced. Despite the death of Atari Corp., these folks still finished the game and released in in 2000. Full of bizarre humor and references to sci-fi, it includes a gameplay mode similar to Star Raiders, among others. If I had 15 more Jaguars and TVs, we could play 16-player mode...
Play it on	Jaguar (cart)
Find it at	Station 4, 8pm-9pm (freeplay)

Boulderdash

Players	1-2 player, alternating	An incredibly fun action puzzle game where you dig around the earth trying to collect diamonds, and avoiding being crushed by rocks. Avoid various deadly creatures, though sometimes you need to use them (read: explode them) to finish the level. Hint: Hold [Fire] and move the joystick to remove dirt adjactent to you, or push a rock or diamond away, without walking into the adjacent spot...
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (disk)
Find it at	Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Castle Crisis

Players	1-4 players (4 recommended!)	This game was released very recently, and is an amazing recreation of the original Warlords arcade game. (Which was never created for the Atari computer by Atari themselves.)
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 3, 6pm-7pm

Championship Rally

Players	1-2 players (ComLynx)	This is a fun little top-down-view racing game for the Lynx, released in the early 2000s. Be sure to look for shortcuts, and try multi-player mode, using the ComLynx cable.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

Chip's Challenge

Players	1 player	This tile-based walk-around puzzle game includes elements from Sokoban, Boulderdash and others.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

Combat

Players	2 players (only!)	The game everyone remembers from the Atari. Along with multi-player tank battles, it also includes dog-fights between a formation of biplanes versus a hilariously-deformed 'Red Barron', and a jet fighter game. Hit [Select] to check out all the variations, including bank-shot bullets, bouncy bullets, invisible tanks, and various mazes and cloud cover.
Play it on	Atari 2600
Find it at	Station 2, 6pm-7pm Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 5, all evening (freeplay)

Crown Land

Players	1 player	This is one of the most incredible games I've seen for the Atari computers. It's as close as I've seen anyone come to Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo, on a system that came out years before the original Nintendo. Overlapping parallaxed scrolling, numerous multicolored and animated sprites, smooth gameplay. This, all on mostly-1979 (and a little 1982) technology!
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (800XL, PAL) (disk)
Find it at	Station 3, 8pm-9pm

Dandy

Players	1-4 players (4 recommended!)	This game was called Thesis of Terror, and was developed as a student's bachelor thesis at MIT. ("Dandy" comes from "D&D", by the way.) It includes almost all of the gameplay features found in Atari Games' later arcade game, Gauntlet, and was resurrected by Atari Corp. as Dark Chambers on various Atari game and computer systems in the late 1980s.
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (disk)
Find it at	Station 9, 7pm-8pm

Dig Dug

Players	1-2 players, alternating	A great port of Dig-Dug, the bizarre arcade game where you pop underground bad-guys using, what, a bike pump?
Play it on	Atari 7800 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Dragon's Lair

Players	1 player	Dragon's Lair was one of, if not the, first laser disc games in the arcades. Full Disney-quality animation played on the screen, and you twitched the controller in response to the action, to keep your daring knight from getting sliced, bitten, strangled, drown, burned, etc. Downsampled to fit on a CD, it doesn't look superb, but it was about the best console port at the time it was released. (Also check out Space Ace.)
Play it on	Atari Jaguar (disc)
Find it at	Station 4, 8pm-9pm (freeplay)

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Players	1 player	One of the most disappointing and hard-to-play games for the Atari 2600, it (together with 2600 Pac-Man) is considered part of the reason the game industry died in the early 1980s. Maneuver E.T. — carefully! lest you fall down into that pit again! — around multiple screens, trying to find parts of a phone so you can "you-know-what home." Avoid FBI and science dudes, and call Elliot for help. Oh, and there are Reese's ~~Pieces~~ Pixels to be eaten. Good luck.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Enduro

Players	1 player	Your car might look more like some bizarre farm tractor than an Indy racer, but this game is one of the best racers for the 2600. The day progresses and weather changes throughout the game: nighttime, snow and ice, fog, back to a sunny day, repeat...
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Fishing Derby

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended!)	A somewhat silly game, where the objective is to dangle your lure in front of little yellow fish. But with two players, and the shark there to *chomp* your bounty, it can get a bit frenetic.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Frogs and Flies

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended!)	In this game you play a frog. Who eats flies. Not too much else to explain, but it's a fun game nonetheless.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Galaxian

Players	1-2 players, alternating	Atari systems never got a good Galaga port, but they got a pretty good Galaxian (more-or-less Galaga's predecessor). Shoot the bosses when they dive and all the bad guys will stop firing at you for a few moments. It's like Space Invaders, but they dive-bomb.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 800XL Station 9, 8pm-9pm (freeplay), 800

Indy 500

Players	1-2 players	This game came with its own pair of controllers. They look like Paddles, but they're rotary knobs ("Indy 500 Driving Controllers"), meaning they go around and around as many times as you want. This top-down racing game is old, and looks pretty basic, but it's a fun enough game. Compare it to some arcade titles like Sprint or, one of my favorites, OffRoad.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Iron Soldier 2

Players	1 player	In the Iron Soldier series, you're in control of a 40-foot tall robot. Did I mention it's stolen? You're objective depends on the level, but often includes wreaking havoc on the enemy's buildings. I find the grenades and gigantic chainsaw effective, but your giant robot fist and giant shotgun do pretty well, too. Also, don't waste bullets on tanks. Just use your feet. (Iron Soldier (cart) will also be at the party. FYi, there's also Iron Soldier 3 for the original Sony PlayStation, which is gorgeous... I just like the Jaguar controllers more than the PSX ones, for this game.)
Play it on	Atari Jaguar (disc)
Find it at	Station 1, 7pm-8pm Station 4, 8pm-9pm (freeplay)

Joust

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended)	Considering games like Pac-Man and Dig-Dug, I suppose it's not that bizarre that this game involves people riding on ostriches and vultures as though they were horses. Or the fact that when you 'kill' a bad guy, they devolve into an egg (which hatches into an even more agressive bad guy). There you have it.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 800XL Station 9, 8pm-9pm (freeplay), 800

Kaboom!

Players	1-2 players, alternating (also versus on 800/800XL)	Similar to an old arcade game, Avalanche, your objective in Kaboom! is to collect everything that's cascading down at you from above. In this case, bombs with lit fuses. If you miss, well... kaboom.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 3, 6pm-7pm (800XL) Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 800XL Station 2, 8pm-9pm, 2600 Station 9, 8pm-9pm (freeplay), 800

Klax

Players	1 player	Klax is a beautiful puzzle game involving a conveyor belt of tiles coming at you, and a well in which to place them. Like most other "Tetris-like" puzzle games, creating matches of similar-colored tiles causes them to disappear, and you progress through the game. Originally an arcade game, the Lynx version looks spot-on, and includes stereo sound and synthesized voices and golf-clapping.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

Mario Bros.

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended!)	After Donkey Kong and before Nintendos flew off the store shelves because of Super Mario Bros., there was Mario Bros. No monkeys named Donkey, and no construction site... this time you're plumbers jumping around platforms. (And honestly, I see it as a rip-off of Joust.)
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (800XL) (cart)
Find it at	Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Maze Craze

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended!)	On the surface, Maze Craze seems pretty simple. One player chases the other in a big maze on the screen. Bit hit [Select] a few times to change the options, and you get invisible mazes, partially visible mazes, etc., to really screw you up.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 5, all evening (freeplay)

Missile Command

Players	1-2 players, alternating	A game that caused nightmares of a nuclear holocaust for 6 months... in the game's creator. And a game that does not end, until you've finally been inihilated. On the Atari computers, hook up a Trakball, make sure its switch in the back is flipped to "T" mode (not "J"), and press [Control] [T] to start the game the way it was meant to be played.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 3, 7pm-8pm, 800XL Station 9, 8pm-9pm, 800 Station 5, all evening (freeplay), 2600

M.U.L.E.

Players	1-4 players (4 recommended!)	Wikipedia tells me: "M.U.L.E. is a seminal multiplayer video game written in 1983 by Dani Bunten of Ozark Softscape. It was published by Electronic Arts. ... While it played like a strategy game, it also incorporates aspects that simulate economics. M.U.L.E. is widely lauded by players and the gaming press. In 1996, Computer Gaming World named M.U.L.E. as #3 on its Best Games of All Time list." Enough said. (Except that I've never had a chance to really play it, not having 3 other people interested in it.)
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (disk)
Find it at	Station 9, 6pm-7pm Station 9, 8pm-9pm (freeplay)

Pac-Man

Players	1-2 players, alternating	A fairly good rendition of the original dot-chomping game on the Atari computer. On the 2600, a flickery nightmare, infamous for how poorly it was received by players. (I remember as a kid being disappointed.) Play the computer version if you like Pac-Man. Play the 2600 version if you want to remember how bad it was. (And then check out Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Jr. on the 2600 to see how well it could be done on that system!)
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 6pm-7pm, 2600 Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 3, 7pm-8pm, 800XL Station 9, 8pm-9pm, 800 Station 5, all evening (freeplay), 2600

Pitfall!

Players	1 player	One of the best-selling games for the 2600. These days I don't enjoy it that much, but at the time it was pretty incredible. You have 20 minutes (yes, 20) to collect all of the treasure on 32 different screens. You'll fall down some pits, but nothing like E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial. You'll also swing over ponds, jump on allegator (crocodile?) heads, and dodge snakes, scorpions, and many other things I'm pretty sure Indiana Jones 'hates'.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 6pm-7pm Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 5, all evening (freeplay)

Rampart

Players	1 player (at this party)	In Rampart, you begin a level being dealt some suspiciously Tetris-tetrad-looking shapes. Use these to build your castle. Then place your cannons. Then it's time to sink some ships, and hope they don't pulverize you too badly. Repeat.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

RoadBlasters

Players	1 player	Yet another spot-on arcade conversion on the Lynx. RoadBlasters looks a lot like Pole Position, Outrun and other similar 3D racers. But it's the future, and you have guns. Sometimes even nukes.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

Robotron: 2084

Players	1-2 players, alternating	The Lynx version of Robotron is pretty good, and they get around the lack of two joysticks. On the Atari computer and 7800, you can just use two joysticks. One moves. The other shoots. And you will be shooting a lot, in your attempt to save the last human family from the murderous robots that fill each screen.
Play it on	Atari 7800 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart) Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 7800 Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 800XL Station 9, 8pm-9pm (freeplay), 800 Station 7, all evening (freeplay), Lynx

Space Invaders

Players	1-2 players, alternating (plus cooperating on 2600)	The Space Invaders arcade game caused coin shortages in Japan. The 2600 version was, I believe, the first non-Atari title Atari created for the 2600. The 2600 version doesn't look or play precisely like the arcade, but it's the one many of us in our 30s grew up with. Even my mom played it with my brother and I. And it's got over 250 variations, including various 2-player competition and cooperative modes.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart) Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 4, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 800XL Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600 Station 1, 8pm-9pm, 800XL

Stampede

Players	1-2 players, alternating	The premise of Stampede is simple: round up the cattle using your lasso. Don't let too many of them get past you (off the left edge of the screen) or the game ends. However, looking back at it, there's one gameplay feature that's lot like Klax and other action puzzle games... while it's possible to nudge some cattle forward so you can focus on some slower-moving cows, you end up turning it into a juggling game, trying to keep them all on the screen. Then you lose.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay), 2600

Star Raiders

Players	1 player	This was undoubtedly one of the first 3D games on home computers, and is definitely the reason many Atari 400s and 800s were sold. With obvious inspiration from Star Trek, Star Wars and even Battlestar Galactica, this game puts you in command of a starship and gives you the tasks of: 1. destroy all enemies, 2. protect your star bases. Various ship components can become damaged or destroyed, imparing your mission (visit a starbase for repairs).
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (cart)
Find it at	Station 4, 7pm-8pm, 800XL Station 1, 8pm-9pm, 800XL

Star Wars: Jedi Arena

Players	1-2 players (2 recommended!)	This interesting paddle-based game is a lightsaber duel involving a 'combat remote.'
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 2, 8pm-9pm

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Players	1-2 players, alternating(?)	Control the Millennium Falcon as it waits for an opening in the Death Star's shield. Once that happens, warp through and take pot shots at the Death Star, until you can hit the core. Watch out, it is a "fully armed and operational battle station!"
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Players	1-2 players, alternating(?)	Fly your speeder on Hoth and battle Empiral AT-AT Walkers. Every once in a while, a weak spot will appear; aim there for an instant kill. Land on the ground to repair your ship.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Steeplechase

Players	1-4 players (4 recommended!)	Based on a very old arcade game, this simple 2600 game is a horse steeplechase race. Use the paddle knob to adjust your jump height, and push the button to jump. Run or jump onto a steeple and you lose some momentum.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 2, 8pm-9pm Station 6, all evening (freeplay)

Steel Talons

Players	1 player	In this handheld version of an early 3D polygonal Atari arcade game, you pilot an attack helicopter in various situations. This was at a time when everyone was still excited about Tetris on the black-and-~~white~~ barf-colored Nintendo Gameboy.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

S.T.U.N. Runner

Players	1 player	I've seen S.T.U.N. Runner in the arcade (after first seeing it on the Lynx)... you sat down on it, like motorcycle racing arcade games. Aside from the simpler graphics and lack of motorcycle seat, this futuristic, high-speed, shoot-the-enemies Lynx racing game appears to be identical to the arcade.
Play it on	Atari Lynx
Find it at	Station 7, all evening (freeplay)

Super Breakout

Players	1-2 players, alternating	The super version of the classic Breakout — use a ball and paddle (like in Pong) to break all of the bricks at the top of the screen. Younger folks may remember the Breakout-inspired game Arkanoid, and all of its clones.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 2, 8pm-9pm Station 6, all evening (freeplay)

Superman

Players	1 player	The first Superman movie just came out (R.I.P., Christopher Reeve), and Atari creates one of (if not the?) first movie-themed home video game. Use your super strength, x-ray vision, and flight to track down Lex Luthor and his goons and drop them in Metropolis jail. Pick up all of the pieces of the exploded bridge and make things right. Lois Lane will give you a kiss if you need help. (I'm serious.)
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay)

Tempest 2000

Players	1-2 players, alternating (plus versus mode)	This game is one of the main reasons to own an Atari Jaguar. It's a phsychadelic interpretation of the classic Tempest arcade game, with an amazing soundtrack. I've even got a rotary contoller to play it with (it also works the the Jaguar game pad).
Play it on	Atari Jaguar (cart)
Find it at	Station 1, 7pm-8pm Station 4, 8pm-9pm (freeplay)

Warlords

Players	1-4 players (4 recommended!)	Take Breakout and turn it into a four-player game. Each player sits in a corner, and has to defend their bricks, while trying to break down everyone else's.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 2, 8pm-9pm Station 6, all evening (freeplay)

Yars' Revenge

Players	1 player	The famous Yars' Revenge (named after Ray Kassar, a fellow some of the Atari programmers apparently didn't like very much) is actually an interpretation of the arcade game Star Castle.
Play it on	Atari 2600 (cart)
Find it at	Station 2, 7pm-8pm (freeplay) Station 5, all evening (freeplay)

Yoomp!

Players	1 player	Another recently-released game for the Atari computer, this is a 3D world where your ball bounces around the edges of a tube. Some tiles on the tube are special (extra points, change the colors to make things easier/harder to see, save-game spots, warp to a different point on the edge of the tube, etc.).
Play it on	Atari 8-bit computer (800XL) (disk)
Find it at	Station 3, 8pm-9pm