THE

ENCYCLOPEDIA

copy/paste:
DaddaRuleKonge
2016 - (v2) 2021
 DaddaRuleKonge
A book made for people who collect for, or are interested in, the
Atari 7800.
I have tried to make the book well presented and easy to look
through. If you are happy with the book then please look at some of
the web-sites on the “Reference Guide” page. Find a site that you
like and give them some spending money.
If you are annoyed, or the owner of some of the content i took from
you, send an email to me: sennep@hotmail.com. The book is free,
and I hope the information and pictures I use comes under free-use.
I hope you will get some use of this book, and maybe help you in
your quest on collecting, or just having fun with this great system.

Similar books/PDF`s in the same format are books on NES, SNES,

PSX, SMS, N64, Game&Watch, NeoGeo, including several other
book in the same vein, from TMNT toys to Point and Click games.
http://daddarulekonge.itch.io/

NoCopyright © 2016/2021 by DaddaRuleKonge

All rights are NOT reserved. EVERY part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, in-
cluding photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. I do not own
anything in this book. You use part of this publication on your OWN RISK though. As places in this book may have a copyright by the original
owner.
 Atari 7800
This is a short wikipedia introduction for the 7800.

The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the

Atari 7800, is a home video game console
officially released by Atari Corporation in
1986. It had simple digital joysticks and
was almost fully backward-compatible
with the Atari 2600, the first console to
have backward compatibility without the
use of additional modules. It was consid-
ered affordable at a price of US$140.
The Atari 7800 ProSystem was the first
game system from Atari Inc. designed by
an outside company, General Computer Corporation.
The system was designed in 1983-84 with an intended To address the concerns of parents that home comput-
mass market rollout in June 1984, but was canceled ers were a better investment than consoles, the system
shortly thereafter due to the sale of the company to was designed to be upgraded to a full-fledged home
Tramel Technology Ltd on July 2, 1984. The project computer. A keyboard was developed, and the key-
was originally called the Atari 3600, though was later board had an expansion port that allowed for the ad-
renamed the Atari 7800.The game pad controllers dition of peripherals such as disk drives and printers.
were more-or-less copied directly from the Game & To further enhance the gaming experience,
Watch machines, although the Famicom design team GCC had also designed a “high score cartridge”, a
originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even battery-backed RAM cartridge designed for storing
taking apart ones from American game consoles to game scores. On the side of the 7800 was an expan-
see how they worked. However, it was eventually de- sion port, reportedly for a planned connection with a
cided that children might step on joysticks left on the laserdisc player.
floor and their durability was also questioned. Kat- In contrast to the Atari 5200, the Atari 7800 can play
suyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to almost all Atari 2600 games out of the box, without
the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to the need for an adapter. In addition, it features a re-
use and had no discomfort. Ultimately though, they turn to a digital controller.
did install a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the
console so that an arcade-style joystick could be used The 7800 was initially released in southern Califor-
optionally. The controllers were hard-wired to the nia in June 1984, following an announcement on May
console with no connectors for cost reasons. 21, 1984 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show.
13 games were announced for the system’s launch,
Atari had been facing mounting pressure in the form including Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position II, Centipede,
of competition from the ColecoVision, which boasted Joust, Dig Dug, Desert Falcon, Robotron: 2084, Ga-
graphics that more closely mirrored arcade games of laga, Xevious, Food Fight, Ballblazer, Rescue on
the time than Atari’s 2600 system. At the same time, Fractalus!, and Track & Field. Atari was a sponsor of
the Atari 5200 (the original intended successor to the the 1984 Summer Olympics and planned to push the
Atari 2600) had been widely criticized for not being 7800 aggressively in time for Christmas that year.
able to play Atari 2600 games without an adapter.
On July 2, 1984, Warner Communications sold Atari’s
GCC, which had a background in creating arcade Consumer Division to Jack Tramiel. All projects
games, designed their new system with a graphical ar- were halted during an initial evaluation period. Mod-
chitecture similar to arcade machines of the time. The ern publications have often incorrectly asserted that
7800 allows a large number of moving objects (75 Jack Tramiel mothballed the Atari 7800 feeling video
to 100) that far exceeds previous consoles. Powering games were a past fad and subsequently asserted that
the system is a slightly custom 6502 processor, the he dusted off the Atari 7800 once the NES became
Atari SALLY (sometimes described as a “6502C”), successful. The reality was that a contractual issue
running at 1.79 MHz. arose in that GCC had not been paid for their devel-
opment of the 7800. Warner and Tramiel battled back lowed to do. One of the key clauses was that compa-
and forth over who was accountable, with Tramiel nies who made Nintendo games were not allowed to
believing that the 7800 should have been covered as make that game on a competing system for a period
part of his acquisition deal. In May 1985, Jack re- of two years. Because of the market success of the
lented and paid GCC the overdue payment. This led NES, companies chose to develop for it first and were
to additional negotiations regarding the initial launch thus barred from developing the same games on com-
titles that GCC had developed and then an effort to peting systems for two years. The software libraries
find someone to lead their new video game division, of the Atari 7800 and Sega Master System suffered
which was completed in November 1985. tremendously as a result.
The original production run of the Atari 7800 lan- Eleven titles were developed and sold by three third-
guished on warehouse shelves until it was re-intro- party companies under their own labels for the 7800
duced in January 1986 after strong 2600 sales the (Absolute Entertainment, Activision, and Froggo)
previous Christmas. The console was released nation- with the rest published by Atari themselves. Howev-
wide in May 1986. er, most Atari development was contracted out.
Atari’s launch of the 7800 under Tramiel was far more The Atari 7800 remained officially active in the
subdued than Warner had planned for the system in United States between 1986 and 1991 and in Europe
1984 with a marketing budget of just $300,000. Ad- between 1989 and 1991. On January 1, 1992, Atari
ditionally, the keyboard and high score cartridge were Corp. formally announced that production of the
canceled, the expansion port was removed from later Atari 7800, the Atari 2600, the Atari 8-bit computer
production runs of the system and, in lieu of new ti- line, and the Atari XE Game System would cease. (It
tles, the system was launched with titles intended for has since been discovered that Atari Corp. continued
the 7800’s debut in 1984. to develop games such as Toki for the Atari 7800 until
By the end of 1986, Computer Entertainer all development was shut down in May 1993.) By the
claimed the Atari 7800 had sold 100,000 consoles time of the cancellation, Nintendo’s NES dominated
in the United States, less than the Sega Master Sys- the North American market, controlling 80% while
tem’s 125,000 and the NES’s 1.1 million. According Atari Corp. controlled just 12%.
to Atari, due to manufacturing problems, they only Despite trailing the NES in terms of number of units
managed to produce and sell 100,000 units by 1986, sold, the 7800 was a profitable enterprise for Atari
including units that had been in a warehouse since Corp., benefiting largely from Atari’s name and the
1984. A common complaint in 1986 was a lack of system’s 2600 compatibility. Profits were strong ow-
games, including a gap of months between new re- ing to low investment in game development and mar-
leases (Galaga’s release in August was followed by keting. Nonetheless, the 7800 failed to help Atari re-
Xevious in November). By the end of 1986, the 7800 gain its dominance in the video game industry.
had 10 games, compared to Sega’s 20 and Nintendo’s
36; nine of the NES games were third-party, where-
as the 7800 and Master System had no third-party
games. A reason cited for the lack of third-party in-
terest in the 7800 was its small 100,000
install base and low market penetration.
During the Atari 7800’s life cycle, Atari
found themselves struggling to get de-
velopers to create 7800 versions of then-
popular arcade titles because of a con-
troversial policy employed by Nintendo.
When Nintendo revived the industry,
they signed up software development
companies to create NES games under a
strict license agreement which imposed PAL system with Joypad controller
serious restrictions on what they were al-
 CONTENT
Atari 7800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
You are Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7800 Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A......................................................................... 10
B......................................................................... 12
C......................................................................... 13
D......................................................................... 15
F......................................................................... 17
G........................................................................ 18
H........................................................................ 18
I......................................................................... 20
J......................................................................... 20
K......................................................................... 21
M........................................................................ 22
N......................................................................... 24
O......................................................................... 24
P......................................................................... 25
R......................................................................... 26
S......................................................................... 27
T......................................................................... 28
W........................................................................ 30
X......................................................................... 31

Unreleased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Homebrew/Reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Unreleased/Reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Label Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
 Reference Guide • 7

Reference Guide
These are web sites that I use a lot for pictures/screenshots, reference and much of the information. If I have
not used wikipedia on a game description, then I have tried to credit it at the bottom of the text.
I can recommend all of these websites, as they are very informative and fun to look through. If you are the
owner of one of these sites and feel that i have done you wrong, then please send me an e-mail and i will make
the necessary change to your wish.

GameFAQs

“Founded in 1995, GameFAQs has over 40000 video game FAQs, Guides and
Walkthroughs, over 250000 cheat codes, and over 100000 reviews.”

•Used for pictures and the review score.

A great webiste regarding many of games released with loads of information, faqs
and pictures.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/

AtariAge

“Have You Played Atari Today?”

•Used for some pictures, information and rarity score.

A giant site on Atari. Maybe the most important site for an Atari collector. It consist
of a huge forum, detailed information, pictures, and a great rarity score list. With-
out this site, I don`t think I could had made this book...

https://atariage.com/index.php

Moby Games

“MobyGames is the oldest, largest and most accurate video game database for
games of every platform spanning 1979-2014.”

•Used for info and information.

A good site for information and pictures on much of the games released.

http://www.mobygames.com/
8 • Jaguar Games

7800 Games
This is the main portion of the book. A collection of every official Atari 7800 game with cover art, title screen,
a screen-shot and some information about the game.

Page Break-Down
This is a break-down on what the pages consist of:

B C
A E

7.9 Donkey Kong Junior

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade-style platformer by

Nintendo. It first appeared in arcades, and, over the
course of the 1980s, was later released for a variety
of platforms. Its eponymous star, Donkey Kong Jr. is
trying to rescue his father Donkey Kong, who has been
imprisoned by Mario.
This version of the game has only three levels, omit-
ting the ‘Spark’ level.
Rarity: 1

F G D

A. Cover-Art
This represent the cover art. I used GameFAQs for much of the pictures.
B. Info
This is the Info box. I used mainly wikipedia and atariage.com for help for information on
the Developers and Publishers. I suspect some of the information is wrong, as often the
developer credited is actually the makers of the original game, e.g. arcades, and not the one
who did the home console port for example. Also, information often differ from different sourc-
es. “Mode” are what the maximum players the game support. I used the information found
on both atariage.com and Wikipedia.. In the info or trivia section, I wanted some content that
would reflect on what the game is about, or an interest part of trivia. If I used another site for
information and did a direct transcript, I would try to credit the source material. The
credit is in italic.
C. Title Screen
This is a screenshot from the title screen of the game, found wherever. More often then not on
gametrailers.com or atariage.com.
D. Screen-shot
This is a random screenshot from the game. I mainly used gametrailers.com or atariage.com.
 jaguar Games • 9

E. Web Reviews
The review score SHOULD and MUST be taken with a grain of salt. I used the review score
from “GameFAQs.com”, cause` they can often be seen as fair, as they usually are reviews by
several users. Though, some of the more obscure games often had few reviews, and could be
seen as biased. If the site did not have a review, i would not include one, as seen on the many
unlicensed games.
F. Rarity
In this section is used the rarity info found on atariage.com. The rarity scale is a general indica-
tor of how easy or difficult it is to come across a game. The scale starts at 1 (very easy to find)
and finishes at 10 (nearly impossible to locate). Thanks to auction sites such as eBay, even
extremely rare games come up for auction frequently enough, but these often command a fairly
high price depending on the rarity. Remember, you should just take these scores with a grain
of salt, and should only be used as a reference point, and not to be taken all too literally.
G. Release
These indicate what sort of release the game had. Red “N” for North-America and blue “P” for PAL/
European. The information are from wikipedia, so it may be wrong...
.

Collecting for the System.

The Atari 7800’s small library doesn’t make it terribly exciting to collect for. But it
is one of those game systems that one can build a relatively complete collection for
without too much trouble. Ironically, most of the hard-to-find titles for the 7800 were
also produced by Atari. These include games like Fatal Run, Mean 18 Golf, Planet
Smashers, and Motor Psycho.
Only three third-party companies produced games for the 7800: Absolute Entertain-
ment (6 games), Activision (2 games) and Froggo (2 games). Unlike their 2600 of-
ferings, Froggo’s games on the 7800 (Water Ski and Tank Command) are actually
halfway decent. They’re also the two most difficult titles to locate. Of the third-party
titles, Absolute’s are the easiest to find in the wild (or on eBay if that’s your thing!)
“atariage.com”
10 • Ace of Aces

32 in 1
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Compilation
Mode 1 Player

This is simply a relabled 2600 32-in-1 cartridge. The

games are all 2600 versions. A random game started
after every time the Atari 2600 or Atari 7800 was
turned on.
Some of the games include: UFO, Flag Capture, Hu-
man Cannonball, Reversi, Activision’s Checkers, Slot
Rarity: 6 Racers, Blackjack, Fishing, Freeway Rabbit, Space
War, Fun with Numbers, Golf, 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, Sur-
round, Miniature Golf, and Activision’s Boxing.

9.0 Ace of Aces

Developer Accolade
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Simulator, Shooter
Mode 1 Player

Ace of Aces is a combat flight simulator taking place

during World War II. The player flies a RAF Mos-
quito long range fighter-bomber equipped with rock-
ets, bombs and a cannon. Missions include destroying
German fighter planes, bombers, V-1 flying bombs, U-
boats, and trains.
The game was designed by Nova Game Design for
Atari.
Rarity: 2

7.0 Alien Brigade

Developer Ken Grant
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Shooter
Mode 1 Player

Alien Brigade is a side-scrolling shooting game. Simi-

lar in style to Operation Wolf, Alien Brigade tells the
story of a soldier who is forced to do battle with aliens
that are invading the planet and taking over the bodies
of fellow soldiers in the process.
One of the last releases for the Atari 7800, Alien Bri-
gade is one of the few games for the system to use
scrolling graphics.
Rarity: 6
12 • Ballblazer

7.6 Asteroids
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

The Atari 7800 version of the arcade game was a launch

title and features co-operative play. The asteroids re-
ceived colorful textures, and the “heartbeat” sound ef-
fect remains intact. The game was confusingly called
Deluxe Asteroids in some early catalogs, but since this
was not the released arcade sequel entitled Asteroids
Deluxe (which featured shields instead of clumsy hy-
perspace), that name was dropped.
Rarity: 1

7.2 Ballblazer
Developer Lucasfilm Ltd.
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Ballblazer is a simple one-on-one sports-style game

bearing similarities to basketball and soccer. Each side
is represented by a craft called a “rotofoil”, which can
be controlled by either a player or a computer-control-
led “droid” with ten levels of difficulty. The basic ob-
jective of the game is to score points by either firing or
carrying a floating ball into the opponent’s goal. The
game takes place on a flat, checkerboard playfield.
Rarity: 1 - Red label: 3

5.5 Barnyard Blaster

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Light-gun
Mode 1-2 Players

Barnyard Blaster is a shooting gallery type game for

use with the Atari XG-1 light gun or the joystick. There
are three levels plus one bonus level. The goal is to rid
the farm of vermin by shooting targets in each of three
levels. Between each level players play Gramps’ bo-
nus screen where they can brush up on their shooting.
But in order to proceed through each level, they must
achieve a certain percentage of shooting accuracy.
Rarity: 1 “mobygames.com”
 Ballblazer • 13

Basketbrawl 5.0
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Basketbrawl is a sports simulation while also a beat-

em up at the same time. The object of the game is to
outscore the player’s opponent either by scoring more
points at basketball or knocking them out cold.
The name is a portmanteau of the words basketball and
brawl. Brawl sounds similar to ball and is spelled simi-
larly, allowing for an easy substitution.
Rarity: 5

Centipede 7.8
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Centipede, like many other Atari arcade games, was

ported to Atari’s own systems, such as the Atari 2600,
Atari 5200, Atari 7800. The player defends against
centipedes, spiders, scorpions and fleas, completing a
round after eliminating the centipede that winds down
the playing field.
Centipede was one of the first arcade coin-operated
games to have a significant female player base after
Rarity: 1
Pac-Man.

Choplifter! 6.2
Developer Ibid Inc.
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Shooter
Mode 1 Player

In Choplifter, the player assumes the role of a com-

bat helicopter pilot. The player attempts to save hos-
tages being held in prisoner of war camps in territory
ruled by the evil Bungeling Empire. The player must
collect the hostages and transport them safely to the
nearby friendly base, all the while fighting off hostile
tanks and other enemy combatants. According to the
backstory, the helicopter parts were smuggled into the
country described as “mail sorting equipment.” Rarity: 2
14 • Crack’ed

5.8 Commando
Developer Brøderbund
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Run and gun
Mode 1-2 Players

Commando, originally released as Senjō no Ōkami,

is a run & gun, vertically scrolling arcade game first
released in 1985. Its influence can be seen in various
later games in the shooter game genre.
The player takes control of a soldier named Super Joe,
who starts by being dropped off in a jungle by a heli-
copter, and has to fight his way out singlehandedly,
fending off a massive assault of enemy soldiers.
Rarity: 4

7.2 Crack’ed
Developer Robert Neve
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Shooter
Mode 1 Player

As a professional ornithologist, players are thrilled to

find out that some rare South American hornbills have
nested in their “old yolk tree.” But while the hornbills
are out feeding, a group of mischievous bluebirds,
owls, and snakes begin raiding their nests and stealing
eggs. Players get out their slingshot and begin hitting
the marauding creatures.
“mobygames.com”
Rarity: 2

5.7 Crossbow
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Light-gun
Mode 1 Player

Crossbow is a arcade game originally released by Ex-

idy in 1983. Gameplay requires the player to protect
a band of adventurers from afar by shooting objects
that threaten them. The adventurers enter from the left-
hand side of the screen and attempt to cross the screen
unharmed. If the player helps them reach the opposite
side of the screen safely, the adventurers survive to the
next scenario, and new adventurers are occasionally
Rarity: 3 granted between scenarios.
 Desert Falcon • 15

Dark Chambers 5.6

Developer Sculptured Software
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Action-adventure
Mode 1-2 Players

Dark Chambers is a dungeon crawl, originally de-

signed by John Palevich in 1983 as Dandy. The game
was the direct inspiration for the popular 1985 Atari
Games coin-op, Gauntlet.
The game takes place in a maze-like dungeon, seen
from an overhead view. The dungeon has multiple lev-
els, connected together using stairwells. Portions of
the mazes are blocked by locked doors, which can be
Rarity: 2
opened with keys scattered through the maze.

Desert Falcon 5.8

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Desert Falcon is an arcade style shooter. Many of the

Pharaoh’s great treasures are lost throughout the desert,
and the players goal is to steal as many as they can to
earn points. The game features a scrolling, isometric
point of view as they control their falcon through the
various desert landscapes. The treasures are guarded
by desert creatures including vultures, warriors, flying
fish, sphinxes.
“mobygames.com” Rarity: 2

Dig Dug 7.8

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Maze
Mode 1-2 Players

Dig Dug was originally released by Namco an 1982

arcade game. The objective of the game is to eliminate
underground-dwelling monsters by either inflating
them with an air pump until they explode, or by drop-
ping rocks on them. There are two kinds of enemies in
the game: “Pookas” (a race of round red monsters, said
to be modeled after tomatoes, that wear yellow gog-
gles) and “Fygars” (a race of green dragons that can
breathe fire while their wings flash). Rarity: 1
16 • Donkey Kong Junior

7.6 Donkey Kong

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Donkey Kong, first released by Nintendo in 1981 as

an arcade game, is an early example of the platform
game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering
the main character across a series of platforms while
dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game,
Mario must rescue a damsel in distress, from a giant
ape named Donkey Kong.
This version of the game has only has three screens,
Rarity: 1
missing the Pie Factory.

7.9 Donkey Kong Junior

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade-style platformer by

Nintendo. It first appeared in arcades, and, over the
course of the 1980s, was later released for a variety
of platforms. Its eponymous star, Donkey Kong Jr. is
trying to rescue his father Donkey Kong, who has been
imprisoned by Mario.
This version of the game has only three levels, omit-
ting the ‘Spark’ level.
Rarity: 1

1.8 Double Dragon

Developer Activision
Publisher Mediagenic
Release date 1989
Genre Beat em` up
Mode 1-2 Players

Set in a post-apocalyptic New York, Double Dragon is

the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers trained
in the fighting style of Sou-Setsu-Ken. One day, Billy’s
girlfriend, Marian, is kidnapped off the street by a sav-
age street gang. Using whatever techniques they have
at their disposal, from the basic punches and kicks to
the invulnerable elbow strike, as well any weapon that
comes into their hands, the Lee brothers must pursue
Rarity: 4 the gang through the city slum.
 Fatal Run • 17

F-18 Hornet 5.5

Developer John Van Ryzin
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1988
Genre Simulation, Shooter
Mode 1 Player

F-18 Hornet is a one-player fighter simulator in which

the player pilots a Navy F-18/A Jet through a series of
simulated combat situations including carrier take-offs
and landings, bombings, strafings, and air combat.
In each of four missions, players are confronted with a
variety of opponents and must perform a series of com-
bat objectives in order from the Naval Aviator rank.
“mobygames.com” Rarity: 4

Fatal Run 7.3

Developer Sculptured Software
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Racing, Action
Mode 1 Player

Developed by Sculptured Software for Atari in 1990,

Fatal Run is a car combat/racing title set in a post-
apocalyptic world. Of all of the games on the system,
Fatal Run probably takes the most amount of time to
beat. However, it features a password system that will
save players from having to sit still for more than 2
hours racing over the most boring terrain imaginable
(think Idaho without the charm).
“atariage.com “ Rarity: 5

Fight Night 5.0

Developer Imagineering Inc.
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Fight Night was originally designed by Accolade in

1985 for personal computers, and Imagineering Inc.
adapted this game for the Atari 7800 in 1988. The
game boasts 12 playable boxers, but it really only has
six different character templates. The pugilists are
large, detailed, and humorous, but the audio is poor.
This game features a short “career” mode, a training
mode, 2-player exhibitions and a tournament mode.
“atariage.com “ Rarity: 3
18 • Galaga

8.1 Food Fight

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Food Fight is a port of the 1983 arcade game by Atari.

The player guides Charley Chuck, who is trying to
eat an ice cream cone before it melts, while avoid-
ing four chefs bent on stopping him. The chefs appear
from holes in the floor of the level and will chase after
Charley. The chefs are identified by the shape of their
toques: Angelo’s is short and rectangular; Jacques’ is
curved; Oscar’s is big and round; and Zorba’s is tall
Rarity: 2 and slender.

7.8 Galaga
Developer GCC
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Based on the popular Namco space shooting coin-op,

this version was designed by GCC (General Computer
Corporation) in 1984. GCC is the same company that
designed the 7800 system for Atari. Besides the fun
gameplay, this game’s greatest selling point when it
was released was the fact that this title was not avail-
able on the 2600 or 5200.
“atariage.com”
Rarity: 1

6.4 Hat Trick

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Based on the Bally Sente coin-op from 1984 this is a

top-down hockey game. Each player controls a goalie
and a skater. The object is to shoot the puck into the
opposing teams goal. Each game lasts two minutes.
The game comes complete with difficulty selections
for the computer AI and a Zamboni to clean up your
mess after the two minute game is over.

Rarity: 1
20 • Impossible Mission

5.8 Ikari Warriors

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Run and gun
Mode 1-2 Players

Ikari Warriors is based on the 1987 SNK coin-op and

was released for the Pro System in 1989. The player
takes the role of commando-like warriors who must try
to reach the village of Ikari. Enemy units attempting to
kill the player include tanks, enemy soldiers and heli-
copters. A number of power-ups along the way help
the player achieve victory.
This was one of four games featured in Atari’s “Get In
Rarity: 6
a Fight After School” 7800 ad campaign.

3.2 Impossible Mission

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Action
Mode 1 Player

Impossible Mission is a video game for several home

computers. The original version for the Commodore
64 was programmed by Dennis Caswell and published
by Epyx in 1984. The game features a variety of game-
play mechanics, from platform, adventure and action
games.
In one of the most notorious game glitches of all time,
the NTSC version of the Atari 7800 is actually impos-
Rarity: 4
sible to beat.

9.7 Jinks
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Breakout
Mode 1 Player

Jinks added a largely new concept to the Breakout type

games, offering much freer paddle movement (both
horizontally and vertically), a horizontally scrolling
screen and the ability to flip the triangular paddle as
needed.
The objective is to survive on the planet Jinks - an ex-
ploration mission on this resource-rich planet has gone
wrong. As hazards, there are objects that can destroy
Rarity: 1
the paddle or make it smaller.
 Karateka • 21

Joust 6.6
Developer GCC
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Based on the 1982 Williams coin-op, the 7800 ver-

sion was designed by GCC in 1984 but not released by
Atari until 1987.
Joust is a platforming game where the player controls
a yellow knight riding a flying ostrich or stork, from
a third-person perspective. The objective is to defeat
groups of enemy knights riding buzzards that populate
each level, referred to as a “wave”. Upon completing
Rarity: 1
a wave, a subsequent, more challenging wave begins.

Karateka 3.6
Developer Ibid Inc.
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Action
Mode 1 Player

Karateka is a 1984 martial arts action game by Jordan

Mechner, and was his first published game, created
while attending Yale University. It was originally pro-
grammed for the Apple II, then widely ported.
The game exhibits a combination of a side-scrolling
platform and fighting game elements similar to a beat
‘em up. The player uses punches and kicks to defeat
Akuma and his guards and make his way deeper into
Rarity: 2
the fortress.

Kung-Fu Master 4.0

Developer Absolute Entertainment
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1989
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Kung-Fu Master is a side-scrolling action game pro-

duced by Irem that was originally released as an arcade
game in 1984. The players control Thomas, the titular
Kung-Fu Master, as he fights his way through the five
levels of the Devil’s Temple in order to rescue his girl-
friend Sylvia from the mysterious crime boss Mr. X.
It is considered to be one of the precursors to the beat
‘em up genre.
Rarity: 4
22 • Mat Mania Challenge

8.2 Mario Bros.

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Mario Bros. is a platform game first published and de-

veloped for arcades by Nintendo in 1983. The objec-
tive of the game is to defeat all of the enemies in each
phase. The mechanics of Mario Bros. involve only run-
ning and jumping. Unlike future Mario games, players
cannot jump on enemies and squash them, unless they
were already turned on their back.

Rarity: 3

3.0 Mat Mania Challenge

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Mat Mania was first released as a 1985 Japanese pro

wrestling-themed arcade game developed by Technōs
Japan. The 7800 version was faithful in some aspects
like graphics and controls. However, it was reviewed
poorly by most magazines and game players because
it was missing all the villain characters (due to the
amount of low memory Atari cartridges were known
for).
Rarity: 4

5.6 Mean 18 Ultimate Golf

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Released first for DOS in 1986, it was quickly ported

to other popular home computer platforms of the era.
The game was designed by Rex Bradford with graph-
ics by George Karalias.
Some collectors consider this to be the second rarest
title in the library.

Rarity: 7
 Midnight Mutants • 23

Meltdown 5.0
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Light-gun
Mode 1 Player

Meltdown is an arcade action game similar to Reac-

tor. On the screen players will see a representation of
a nuclear reactor; numerous control rods are located in
the center of the screen, with the reactor walls around
the edges. Inside the reactor are numerous (and dan-
gerous) particles which will damage the control rods
if they collide. Using the light gun, they need to shoot
and destroy the various particles before the control
rods are destroyed. Rarity: 2

Midnight Mutants 8.5

Developer Radioactive Software
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Action-adventure
Mode 1 Player

Midnight Mutants is an action-adventure game for the

Atari 7800. It features a likeness of Al Lewis, dressed
as Grandpa Munster, playing the role of “Grampa.”
The game is displayed from a pseudo-isometric view-
point and features a completely free-roaming world
design.
The game, along with Sentinel, was one of the last re-
leases by Atari for the Atari 7800.
Rarity: 3

Motor Psycho 5.0

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Racing
Mode 1 Player

MotorPsycho is similar in feel to Pole Position, but

with motorcycles substituting the cars. The object is to
complete each race within the alloted time while dodg-
ing other motorcycles. Ramps strewn throughout the
track allow the motorcycle to jump over obstacles and
the other motorcyclists. Players can shift between high
and low gears, but there are no brakes. A player can
customize their motorcycle by adjusting the “straight-
en” and “turn” response times before the race. Rarity: 5
24 • Ninja Golf

7.9 Ms. Pac-Man

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Maze
Mode 1-2 Players

Ms. Pac-Man was originally conceived as an enhance-

ment kit for Pac-Man called Crazy Otto, created by
programmers employed at the General Computer Cor-
poration (GCC). While Crazy Otto was under develop-
ment, GCC settled a lawsuit with Atari over their Mis-
sile Command conversion kit Super Missile Attack.
Part of the settlement terms barred GCC from selling
future conversion kits without consent from the origi-
Rarity: 1 nal game manufacturer.

7.2 Ninja Golf

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Sports, Beat em` up
Mode 1 Player

Ninja Golf is an Atari 7800 video game which com-

bines scrolling beat ‘em up with golf simulation game-
play. Released in 1990, it later gained some renown
for its outlandish subject matter and unique blend of
gameplay styles.
The player starts each hole by aiming his ball and
shooting it toward the green. He then runs toward the
ball, in traditional sidescroller fashion, fighting various
Rarity: 4
enemies encountered along the way.

6.3 One-on-One Basketball

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

One on One, is a 1983 computer basketball game ini-

tially released for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family,
then ported to a variety of other systems.
In this game, the player can assume the role of bas-
ketball greats Julius Erving or Larry Bird in a game
of one-on-one against another player or the computer.
Featuring outstanding animation for its era, the game
allows for play to a certain score or timed games.
Rarity: 1
 Planet Smashers • 25

Pete Rose Baseball 6.0

Developer Absolute Entertainment
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1989
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Pete Rose Baseball is a baseball game for the Atari 2600

and 7800. The game was a notable improvement over
previous Atari 2600 baseball games such as Home Run
and RealSports Baseball. The game features a “behind
the pitcher” viewpoint for pitching and batting, a view-
point which was introduced by the classic computer
game Hardball. In addition, the game features different
“bird’s eye” views of the field depending on where the
ball is hit. Rarity: 4

Planet Smashers 7.0

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Planet Smashers is a vertically scrolling shooter simi-

lar to Xevious. Power ups can be captured by destroy-
ing cargo ships. Power ups include improved weapons,
shield restoration, and cloaking ability.
One difference in this game that sets it apart from oth-
ers of the same type is the Earth Shield. Every time the
player lets a ship go by unscathed the Earth Shield de-
pletes a little. If the shield is destroyed, it’s game over.
Rarity: 5
“mobygames.com”

Pole Position II 6.8

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Racing
Mode 1 Player

Based on the Namco coin-op of 1982, the 7800 version

of Pole Position II was released in 1987. This is the
game that was packaged with the 7800 and is therefore
the most common.
The gameplay is the same as in original arcade Pole
Position, plus slightly improved graphics, a new open-
ing theme song, and new tracks.
Rarity: 2 Alt. label: 1
26 • Realsports Baseball

6.0 Rampage
Developer Activision
Publisher Activision
Release date 1989
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Rampage was first released as a 1986 arcade game by

Bally Midway. Players take control of gigantic mon-
sters trying to survive against onslaughts of military
forces. Each round is completed when a particular city
is completely reduced to rubble.
On November 18, 2011 it was announced that a theat-
rical film adaptation based on the game is in tentative
development by New Line Cinema with John Rickard
Rarity: 5
set to direct.

5.0 Realsports Baseball

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

This was the only game from the Realsports line of

2600 and 5200 sports titles to make it to the 7800 li-
brary. The game allows players to bunt the ball or try
for a homerun, steal bases, and throw several types of
pitches from a fast ball to a curve ball. Several game
variations are included which allow them to select
whether the home or visiting team is at bat first, and
whether or not a player can swing only at pitches that
Rarity: 1 are a strike, or they can swing at any pitch.

7.6 Robotron: 2084

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1986
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Robotron: 2084 was first released as a arcade game

developed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid
Kidz and released by Williams Electronics in 1982. It
is a shoot ‘em up with two-dimensional graphics. The
game is set in the year 2084 in a fictional world where
robots have turned against humans in a cybernetic
revolt. The aim is to defeat endless waves of robots,
rescue surviving humans, and earn as many points as
Rarity: 2 possible.
 Sentinel • 27

Scrapyard Dog 8.2

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1990
Genre Platformer
Mode 1 Player

In Scrapyard Dog players take the role of Louie, the

junkyard guy, who’s companion Scraps has been dog-
napped by the dastardly Mr. Big. Louie has bombs and
cans at his disposal to use against the enemies, which
include gangsters, rats, and mice. He can also use
shields to protect himself on route to the sixteen check-
points in the game. Louie must reach each checkpoint
in a certain amount of time in order to save Scraps.
“mobygames.com” Rarity: 3

Sentinel 6.0
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1991
Genre Light-gun
Mode 1-2 Players

Sentinel is a side scrolling action game. Several worlds

have fallen victim of an alien attack, and players need
to free them. To do this, a glowing orb called the Senti-
nel has been sent which can absorb the alien energy. As
the Sentinel floats above the various, scrolling land-
scapes, they need to protect it from attacks by using the
light gun to destroy enemies and enemy fire.
This was the only game for the 7800 that was origi-
Rarity: 3
nally released in PAL format only.

Summer Games 8.0

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Sports
Mode 1-8 Players

Released in 1984 for the Commodore 64, it was also

eventually ported to the Atari 7800. The game is pre-
sented as a virtual multi-sport competition called the
“Epyx Games” with up to eight players each choosing
a country to represent, and then taking turns competing
in various events to try for a medal.

Rarity: 3
28 • Super Skateboardin’

8.0 Super Huey

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Simulation, Shooter
Mode 1 Player

Super Huey UH-IX is a helicopter simulation game.

Players take the role of a pilot of the experimental heli-
copter UH-1XA and need to test it out in several game
modes. In the flight school mode, they can learn how
to fly. In reality mode, they will need to fly a mission
to locate and bomb an enemy base and return home
safely. The last mode is arcade mode where they have
an unlimited amount of ammo to try and shoot down as
Rarity: 3 many enemy aircraft as possible.

5.0 Super Skateboardin’

Developer Absolute Entertainment
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1 Player

Super Skateboardin’ is a game where a young skate-

boarder is hired by his dad’s company to do what
he does best, Skateboard. The job is to navigate the
many rooms of the factory and turn off all the electri-
cal equipment in 15 minutes, or else the electricity bill
will skyrocket. The wage is based on how fast players
complete the task, and they need that money to enter
the Skateboarding Championship.
Rarity: 4 “mobygames.com”

7.5 Tank Command

Developer Froggo
Publisher Froggo
Release date 1988
Genre Shooter
Mode 1 Player

The 7800 is pretty much void of super-rare games like

the 2600’s Tooth Protectors and Chase the Chuckwag-
on, but tracking down Tank Command in a box will
come at a price.
In the game, players control a tank on a mission to cap-
ture the enemy flag as well as earn as many points as
possible. To do this, they will need to blast their way
through their defenses on three levels of increasing
Rarity: 7
difficulty.
 Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator • 29

Title Match Pro Wrestling 4.0

Developer Absolute Entertainment
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1989
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

Title Match is a wrestling game which can be played

by one or two players. There are four different wres-
tlers players can choose from, and two modes of game-
play (one on one, or tag team). Each wrestler can kick,
punch, and perform several moves such as the airplane
spin, body slam, power lift, and more. Using the avail-
able moves they need to deplete their opponents en-
ergy and pin him for three counts.
“mobygames.com” Rarity: 4

Tomcat: The F-14 5.5

Fighter Simulator
Developer Absolute Entertainment
Publisher Absolute Entertainment
Release date 1989
Genre Simulation, Shooter
Mode 1 Player

The gameplay like other simulation games consists of

taking off, flying, combat and landing. Though most of
the gameplay focuses around dogfighting with enemy
bogeys (dodging missiles). In addition to that, there
are also night-flying missions that add difficulty due
to limited vision.
“mobygames.com”
Rarity: 4

Touchdown Football 3.0

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Sports
Mode 1-2 Players

This simple football game is the only one for the 7800
and it is based on the 1985 Electronic Arts title with
the same name. Besides the NTSC version of Impos-
sible Mission, this is the buggiest game in the 7800
library: it is impossible to hit a field goal at any range.
Players create every play at the line of scrimmage by
giving the receivers specific routes to run and by tell-
ing the line how to block.
“atariage.com” Rarity: 2
30 • Water Ski

7.4 Tower Toppler

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Nebulus is a video game created by John M. Phillips

and published by Hewson Consultants in the late 1980s
for various home computer systems.
The game is a platform game with some distinctive
unique features. The player character, a small green
creature, is on a mission to destroy eight towers that
have been built in the sea, by planting bombs at the
towers’ peaks. Pogo’s progress is hindered by enemies,
Rarity: 1
which he has to avoid in order to reach the top.

6.0 Water Ski

Developer Froggo
Publisher Froggo
Release date 1988
Genre Sports
Mode 1 Player

Water Ski was one of two games released by Froggo,

a controller manufacturer, for the Atari 7800. In the
game players are water skiing on the Pharonna River.
They control both the boat and skier in this vertically
scrolling action game. The goal is to reach the finish
line before time runs out and to earn as many points
as possible. The river is quite dangerous, and features
many twists and turns along with rocks, logs and other
Rarity: 4 obstacles.

6.6 Winter Games

Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1987
Genre Sports
Mode 1-8 Players

A snow-and-ice themed follow-up to the highly suc-

cessful Summer Games, Winter Games was released
in 1985 for the Commodore 64 and later ported to sev-
eral popular home computers and video game consoles
of the 1980s.
The game was presented as a virtual multi-sport carni-
val called the “Epyx Winter Games” with up to 8 play-
ers each choosing a country to represent.
Rarity: 3
 Xevious • 31

Xenophobe 6.6
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1989
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Xenophobe was first released as a 1987 arcade game

by Bally Midway. Starbases, moons, ships, and space
cities are infested with aliens, and the players have to
kill the aliens before each is completely overrun.
The goal of each level is to defeat all the aliens be-
fore time runs out. Some rooms routinely display the
percentage of alien infection and time remaining until
self-destruct when the level ends (but a nearby button
Rarity: 4
can temporarily deactivate the count-down).

Xevious 6.8
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date 1988
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Xevious is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game

that was originally released by Namco in 1982. The
player must pilot a combat aircraft called a Solvalou,
which is armed with a forward-firing Zapper for aerial
targets and a Blaster which fires an unlimited supply
of air-to-surface bombs for ground targets. The game,
presumably set in Peru, was notable for the varied ter-
rain below, which included forests, enemy bases, and
mysterious Nazca Lines-like drawings on the ground. Rarity: 1
32 • Unreleased

Unreleased
As with most game consoles, there were many more games in development for the 7800 than
were actually released. However, very few prototypes have been located, due to Tramiel Atari’s
reluctance to make them in the first place. Atari 7800 prototypes tend to be highly coveted by col-
lectors, often fetching hundreds of dollars when sold. Some collectors are unwilling to share the
rare items publicly as doing so is assumed to decrease the value of their prototype.
Nonetheless, some unreleased Atari 7800 games, as well as early versions of released games have
been released to the public. A few have been manufactured and sold.
Some 7800 games remain lost, despite indications that development occurred. The most notable
of these are Skyfox (shown on the back of the original system box) and Electrocop (artwork has
since been uncovered).
The cover pictures used here (excluding the two games that feature EPROMS) are reproduction
covers, not officialy released for the game.

3D Asteroids
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date n/a
Genre Shooter
Mode n/a

This is an unencrypted pre-release version of the game

that became Asteroids for the 7800.

GATO
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date n/a
Genre Simulation
Mode 1 Player

GATO is a submarine simulator originally released

for several personal computers, such as the Apple II,
Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64. Atari had plans to port
GATO to the Atari 7800 and even put together a simple
demo, but it doesn’t appear the game ever got beyond
that stage. The demo consists of four screenshots that
players can cycle through by pressing the fire button.
“atariage.com”
 Unreleased • 33

KLAX
Developer Ibid Inc.
Publisher Atari
Release date n/a
Genre Puzzle
Mode n/a

Klax only exists as a prototype unfortunately, and only

about 10 copies are known to exist.
Klax was first released as a 1989 computer puzzle game
designed by Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce. The
object is to line up colored blocks into rows of similar
colors to make them disappear, to which the object of
Columns is similar.

Missing in Action
Developer Sculptured Software
Publisher TNT Games
Release date n/a
Genre Beat em` up
Mode 1 Player

Having been shown several years ago at classic gam-

ing events, the Atari 7800 prototype Missing in Action
has finally seen the light of day. AtariAge user Mitch
recently acquired the only known prototype of this
game to exist and has shared the binary with the com-
munity so everyone may enjoy it. Missing in Action is
a side-scrolling beat ‘em up, taking place in Vietnam
during the height of the Vietnam War.
“atariage.com”

Pit Fighter
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date n/a
Genre Fighting
Mode n/a

This prototype is a very early version of the game.

There are issues with collision detection, and the
graphics are quite simple. Although this is understood
to be a port of Pitfighter, it could really be any number
of fighting games based on the generic graphics.
“atariage.com”
34 • Unreleased

Plutos
Developer Tynesoft
Publisher Tynesoft
Release date n/a
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Plutos is a long lost unreleased prototype developed by

Tynesoft for the Atari 7800, and appears to be a loose
port of the ST/Amiga game of the same name. The ex-
istence of Plutos has been known for some time, as a
physical prototype has been in hands of a collector for
years, but this prototype was known to be unstable and
crash frequently.
“atariage.com”

Rescue on Fractalus
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Release date n/a
Genre Simulation
Mode 1 Player

In 2004 Curt Vendel of AtariMuseum.com uncovered

several Atari 7800 prototypes, including the unreleased
game Rescue on Fractalus. While the game is not
complete, it is fairly far along, runs pretty smoothly,
and can be played with the excellent MESS emulator.
There is a glitch in the emulation with the rendering of
the view outside the cockpit, but is expected to be fixed
in an upcoming release of MESS.
“atariage.com”

Sirius
Developer Tynesoft
Publisher Tynesoft
Release date n/a
Genre Shooter
Mode 1 Player

Sirius is a long lost unreleased prototype developed

by Tynesoft for the Atari 7800, possibly a port of the
1990 Amiga game Sirius 7. Sirius’ existence has been
known for some time, as a physical prototype has been
in hands of a collector for years, but this prototype was
known to be unstable and crash frequently. The source
code for Sirius was discovered in 2008 and several
7800 enthusiasts were able to get it compiled and run-
ning properly on stock 7800 hardware.
 Homebrew/Reproduction • 35

Homebrew/Reproduction
Following the debate over Custer’s Revenge, an Atari 2600 VCS title with adult themes, Atari had concerns
over similar adult titles finding their way onto the 7800 and displaying adult graphics on the significantly
improved graphics of the MARIA chip. To combat this, they included a digital signature protection method
which prevented unauthorized 7800 games from being played on the system.
The digital signature long prevented homebrew games from being developed until the original encryption
generating software was discovered. When the original digital signature generating software was turned over
to the Atari community, development of new Atari 7800 titles began. In addition, the Atari community has
slowly uncovered the original 7800 development tools and released them into the public domain. New tools,
documentation, source code and utilities for development have since been created which has sponsored addi-
tional homebrew development. Several new commercial Atari 7800 titles such as Beef Drop, B*nQ, Pac Man
Collection, Combat 1990, Santa Simon, and Space War have been created and released.
Included here are some of the more known homebrews released. If you are interested in owning or seeing
other homebrew games, atariage.com has a store front were they sell official releases of homebrews.

Armor Attack II
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2013
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Armor Attack II is a continuation of the addicting ar-

cade game made by Cinematronics in 1980. Like the
original, this is a one or two player battle-action game
where the jeeps (equipped with rocket launchers) de-
fend war torn landscapes with 16 different terrains that
are randomly chosen at the beginning of each level.
Armor Attack II includes the game cartridge and four-
page color manual. The game can be bought at atar-
iage.com.

Asteroids Deluxe
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2007
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Asteroids Deluxe brings new graphics and gameplay

elements into play, such as the Killer Satellite that
when shot breaks into smaller pieces that take direct
aim for the ship. There are also two new game vari-
ations: Competition Asteroids where players compete
against another player for points (and the shots destroy
the other player.), and Team Asteroids where two play-
ers share reserve ships and don’t need to worry about
friendly fire.
36 • Homebrew/Reproduction

x.x Astro Blaster

Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2014
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Astro Blaster is an Atari 7800 port of the arcade game

of the same name. In the game, one or two players must
advance through squadrons of alien ships in an attempt
to dock with the mother ship. Players move their ship
left or right and shoot at attacking squadrons. A special
warp button allows the player to slow down the alien
space ships and their laser fire, while maintaining his/
her own ship and laser fire at normal speed.
“atariage.com”

Beef Drop
Developer Ken Siders
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2006
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Beef Drop is an attempt to bring a better version of the

coin-op game BurgerTime to the Atari 8-bit computer
and any version to the Atari 5200 and Atari 7800. The
game play is the same as the coin-op game. The player,
as the chef, must make burgers by walking on the parts
so they drop down to plates below. He is pursued by
Mr. Yolk (a fried egg), Mr. Dill (a pickle slice) and
Frank (a hot dog). If he are cornered, he can throw pep-
per on the food to stop it for a short time.

Beef Drop VE
Developer Ken Siders
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2007
Genre Platformer
Mode 1-2 Players

Beef Drop VE is a 7800 exclusive, and features better

graphics than the 5200/8-bit version, making the 7800
version the definitive release of Beef Drop VE.
The VE version of Beef Drop does not contain the
POKEY audio chip that the earlier, numbered release
of Beef Drop contains. This means the audio uses the
internal 7800 TIA audio circuitry, just as nearly the en-
tire 7800 library does.
“atariage.com”
 Homebrew/Reproduction • 37

b*nQ
Developer Ken Siders
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2007
Genre Puzzle
Mode 1-2 Players

Ken Siders has created a faithful reproduction of

the popular arcade game, Q*bert, for the Atari 7800
ProSystem. This is Ken Siders’ second Atari 7800
homebrew written from the ground up.
The object of the game is to score as many points as
possible by jumping on cubes, jumping on green ob-
jects, and luring the Snake to his death. When all of the
cubes have been changed to the “change to” color, the
player will advance to the next round.

Combat 1990
Developer Harry Dodgson
Publisher Video 61
Release date 2005
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Combat 1990 plays homage to the classic Combat that

was packed with millions of 2600 systems. Unlike the
original Combat, this version offers both single and
two player games (although the two player game is
cooperative, as opposed to head-to-head). Each play-
er starts with five tanks, and the goal is to destroy as
many enemy tanks and saucers as possible.
“atariage.com”

Crazy Brix
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2011
Genre Breakout
Mode 1-2 Players

Crazy Brix is a breakout clone with 32 levels. Players

start the game with three Deflectors and lose one each
time they allow both balls to escape off the bottom of
the screen. They must keep both in play for as long as
possible to rack up the big points.
The game also feature three skill levels and supports
Joystick and Paddle Controllers.
“atariage.com”
38 • Homebrew/Reproduction

Crazy Otto
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2013
Genre Maze
Mode 1-2 Players

Crazy Otto was first developed as an enhancement kit

for Pac-man cabinets by General Computer Corpora-
tion (GCC).
Atari 7800 programmer Robert DeCrescenzo has tak-
en Atari’s version of Ms. Pac-Man for the 7800 and
updated the graphics to match the Crazy Otto arcade
game. As this is a graphics hack, gameplay is un-
changed from Ms. Pac-Man.
“atariage.com”

FailSafe
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2010
Genre Strategy
Mode 1 Player

In FailSafe players must make their way through five

different terrains in search of the Depot where they
will pick up Fail-Safe clues. One letter in the code, in
its correct position, appears in the center of the fuel
gauge. The sixth terrain is the most dangerous of all
- the missile silo is heavily guarded by all enemies,
including a mine field. If they make their way past that,
they will have to enter the four-digit hexadecimal code
to stop the launch and save the world.

Frenzy
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2013
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Atari 7800 veteran Decrescenzo brings arcade classics

Frenzy home to the 7800, complete with all the details
one would find in the arcade games. The game is re-
produced with careful attention to detail to match their
arcade counterparts as closely as possible. The original
speech from the arcade that helped make the games
memorable is also included.
The game is packaged with a an eight-page, full-color
manual and game cartridge.
 Homebrew/Reproduction • 39

Jr. Pac-Man
Developer Bob DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2009
Genre Maze
Mode 1-2 Players

Jr. Pac-Man was an arcade game, released by Bally

Midway in 1983. It is based on Pac-Man and its de-
rivatives, but is not officially part of the Pac-Man se-
ries, this game was created without the authorization
of Namco.
Bob DeCrescenzo’s 7800 rendition of the game brings
new features such as a large, side-scrolling maze and
bonus items that move about the maze and destroy
power pills they come into contact with.

K.C. Munchkin
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2014
Genre Maze
Mode 1-2 Players

K.C. Munchkin is an Atari 7800 port of one of the

better known games on the Odyssey 2 console. K.C.
Munchkin is a maze game similar to Pac-Man, in
which players must navigate their Munchkin through
a maze to eat all twelve Munchies, all while evading
the Munchers. If they eat the special Munchie (which
flashes different colors), the Munchers turn purple, al-
lowing them to eat them.
“atariage.com”

Meteor Shower
Developer Robert DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2011
Genre Action
Mode 1-2 Players

Meteors are falling to Earth. Players must defend

Earth’s surface by blasting away at the falling rocks.
But alien forces have learned what was happening and
are taking advantage of their vulnerability to attack
them.
The game includes cartridge and full-color, four-page
manual, and is available in NTSC and PAL television
formats.
40 • Homebrew/Reproduction

Pac-Man Collection
Developer Bob DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2006
Genre Compilation
Mode 1-2 Players

Pac Man Collection is a round-up of the various official

(and some not so official) releases of one of the most
popular games in history. Within this game cartridge
is: Pac-Man, Puck Man (Same game, more difficult
maze), Hangly Man (Empty Mazes. Vertical Tunnels.
Invisible Mazes.), Ultra Pac-Man (6 New Mazes for
a new variety), Random Mazes*, Ms. Pac-Man, Ms.
Pac-Attack (more challenging mazes), and Ms. Ran-
dom Mazes*, (Random Mazes).

Santa Simon
Developer Matthias Luedtke
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2006
Genre Memory
Mode 1 Player

In this game, Santa’s workshop elves need a sharp

mind if they are to correctly build the millions of toys
needed for Christmas every year. With that in mind,
Santa has developed a program he calls Santa Simon
to help the elves improve their memory. The premise
is pretty simple--all players need to do is remember
the sequence that the Christmas Tree, Reindeer, Snow-
man and Santa signal to them and then play back that
sequence in the proper order.

Space Duel
Developer Bob DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2007
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

Space Duel is a port to the Atari 7800 of the third gen-

eration of Asteroids-style shooters from Atari, follow-
ing on the heels of Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe.
Unlike Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel is a more radical
departure from its predecessor, featuring a wide vari-
ety of colorful geometric shapes players must destroy,
and several new types of enemies each with unique
behaviors they have to contend with in order to stay
alive.
 Homebrew/Reproduction • 41

Space Invaders
Developer Bob DeCrescenzo
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2008
Genre Shooter
Mode 1-2 Players

DeCrescenzo brought this arcade hit to the Atari 7800.

DeCrescenzo gave Space Invaders fans a myriad of
options in this game. Moving Shields, No Shields,
Zigzagging Laser Bombs, No Laser Bombs, Fast Laser
Bombs and Invisible Invaders. One or two players can
play, with two different two-player modes.
The game includes cartridge and four-page, full-color
manual, and is available in NTSC and PAL television
formats.

Wasp!
Developer Mark Ball
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2009
Genre Action
Mode 1 Player

Wasp! is Mark Ball’s first foray into Atari 7800 pro-

gramming, and may be the first 7800 game written in
the C programming language. Wasp! was originally
written as a demo, but quickly evolved into a playable
game.
The goal in Wasp! is fairly simple--players collect as
many mushrooms as they can while avoiding the angry
wasps.
“atariage.com”

Worm!
Developer Mark Ball
Publisher AtariAge
Release date 2010
Genre Maze
Mode 1 Player

Players must help Brian the worm avoid the mush-

rooms and eat the flowers to escape from the garden. If
he eat the mushrooms, bump into a wall or bite himself
he’ll lose a life. Every time he eat a flower he get a
little longer until he’ve eaten his fill. Both the flowers
and mushrooms are placed in the gardens randomly.
As players progress through the game they start each
level longer than the last with more flowers to eat and
mushrooms to avoid.
42 • Hardware

Hardware
These pages consist of different 7800 hardware. While the 7800 can use the extensive library of 2600 periph-
erals and accessories, very few items were made specifically for the system. In the same vein, there is not an
extensive catalog of prototype items either. Very few unreleased games have been discovered, and there is
only a handful of hardware, but there are certainly some interesting items.
Most of the information on these pages are form atariage.com.

Atari Proline Joystick

This is the specially designed joystick that was included with the 7800. It
has the advantage of two independently functioning fire buttons, but suffers
from an awkward design that makes it uncomfortable.

Atari 7800 Joypad

In response to criticism over ergonomic issues in the 7800’s Pro-Line
controllers, Atari later released joypad controllers with European 7800s,
which were similar in style to controllers found on Nintendo and Sega
Systems. The Joypad was not available in the United States. Although
rare in the US, they are not hard to find in Europe. However, they were
sold separately in very small quantities in their own box, and this is very
hard to find.

Best Joystick
Available from Best Electronics, this is similar to the standard 7800 controller, but
is a bit sturdier, and also features auto-fire.

Telegames Super Deluxe Joystick

Similar to the original 7800 ProController, this unit is made by Telegames and
features a switch for “Quick Fire”. The controller is also very similar to the Best
Joystick. The only difference between the two, is likely just the label of “Quick”
for the Telegames controller, and “Auto” for the Best controller, concerning the
buttons functionality switch.

Atari XE Light Gun

The XG-1 lightgun came bundled with the Atari XE Game System. The
XG-1 was fully compatible with the 7800 and was sold separately for other
Atari systems. Atari released four 7800 light gun games: Alien Brigade,
Crossbow, Meltdown, and Barnyard Blaster.
 Haardware • 43

Best Light Gun

Available from Best Electronics, this is a compatible light gun for the
7800 made by a long-time Atari dealer.

Diagnostic Test Cartridge

This cartridge was used by Atari service personnel to test controllers, color qual-
ity, and picture quality.
The cart has a rarity score of 8.

Unreleased/Reproduction
Due to the acquisition of the Atari Consumer Division by Jack Tramiel in 1984, a number of planned peripher-
als for the system were canceled.

High Score Cartridge

The High Score Cartridge was designed to save player high scores for up to 65
separate games. The cartridge was intended as a pass-through device (similar to
the later Game Genie). Nine games were programmed with the feature but the
cartridge was canceled before it was released. In 1999, a limited run of cartridges
were produced by Atari historian Curt Vendel using ROM code from Gary Rubio
(the former Atari liaison to GCC on the Atari 7800 project). This feature has been
included in many homebrew releases in recent years.

Atari 7800 Keyboard Prototype

Announced at the launch of the 7800, the keyboard was unfortunately
never released. The keyboard plugs into joystick port #2 on the 7800 and
theoretically turns it into a full blown computer, allowing it to use the
full line of Atari 400/800 computer peripherals (software would still be
incompatible however). It was also going to be packaged with system
BASIC and a word processor called VideoWriter.

Monitor Cartridge
Created by hobbyist Harry Dodgson, this cartridge allowed the programming of
simple games for the 2600 and 7800.
The cart has a rarity score of 9.
44 • Hardware

Dual joystick holder

A dual joystick holder was designed for games like Robotron: 2084 and
future games like Battlezone and others, but not produced.

Atari 7800 to 5200 Prototype adapter

Not really a 7800 prototype, but more a 5200 prototype, this adapter would
have let you play Atari 7800 games on your Atari 5200.

Atari 7800 prototype console

Prototypes were sometimes created from translu-
cent plastic such as this. Only a few of these were
made with the clear plastic to test the original molds.
The Atari Proline controller prototype was also
made of the same translucent plastic.

Atari 7800 Grey Signature Series console

This is one of 10 to 20 prototype grey Atari 7800 units featuring the
“Nolan Bushnell” signature, “ProSystem” in the center with “Signature
Series” on the right. There is no Atari Logo on the front, but it is featured
in the bottom of the case.
This system was never mass produced and very few of these 7800’s were
ever offered. This system features the pro-production plastic housing
that is only held together by front screws.
Powering up the system and it has a Green LED on the front.
“gamesniped.com”

Atari 7800 White Signature Series console

In early 2000, plans were contracted to produce a new Atari 7800 units.
They were to be emblazoned with Nolan Bushnell’s signature, a large
Atari logo on the front of the case, and “Signature Series” over on the
right.
Unfortunately, this project never entered production, and very few of
these 7800’s were built.
On eBay in 2006, one console went for over $1,027.00.
“gamesniped.com”
 Label Variation • 45

Label Variation
This page displays all the different label variations produced for the Atari 7800. The only variations within any
given company are those produced by Atari. Some cartridges were produced with a gray label, while others
were produced with a color label. And Pole Position II (which was included with the 7800) has a unique label
all its own.
Most of the information on these pages are form atariage.com.

Standard - Absolute Entertainment

Absolute cartridges for the 7800 are very similar to their 2600 counterparts. They
come in Activision style carts with black labels. The game title is written in a styl-
ized font, unique for each game. This same text is translated to the end label, al-
though reduced in size to better fit. The Absolute Logo is also featured on the front
of the label. One Absolute game, Tomcat F14, was actually produced with two
different labels.
Standard - Activision
Activision’s two releases for the 7800 use their standard 2600 cartridge shells. Both
cartridges have similar labels in that they’re both white with single color printing.
Double Dragon has black text and Rampage has blue text. Double Dragon is a rath-
er boring looking cart, while Rampage is improved only by the fact that it shares the
Rampage logo from the arcade game.

Color - Atari
Except for Pole Position II, all games Atari produced for the 7800 have a gray back-
ground. At the top of the label is the 7800 logo (generally in maroon). Under that is
a color graphic unique to each game. Copyright text appears in black placed under
the image. The end label is also gray, with the title text in maroon or black, followed
by “ATARI 7800” in black text underneath the title in a smaller font. Some games
also have the model number in black text on the end label.
PolePosition - Atari
For whatever reason, Pole Position II has a label that is unique to the 7800. It is a
white label with black printing and the end label is black with white printing. This
is a clear contrast to every other label produced by Atari for the 7800. One guess
is these cartridges were produced in 1984 when the 7800 was supposed to initially
ship, and the rest of the cartridges for the 7800 were produced in 1986 when the
7800 did actually ship, giving Atari time to modify the label design.
Gray - Atari
Except for Pole Position II, all games Atari produced for the 7800 have a gray back-
ground. At the top of the label is the 7800 logo in black. Under that is a grayscale
graphic unique to each game. Copyright text appears in black placed under the
image. The end label is also gray, with the title text in black, followed by “ATARI
7800” also in black text underneath the title in a smaller font. Some games also
have the model number in black text on the end label.
Standard - Froggo
Froggo only made two games for the Atari 7800, and unlike their 2600 efforts these
are actually halfway decent original titles. Both cartridges have a white label remi-
niscent of their 2600 games. The text “7800” appears at the top of the cartridge, and
the name of the game is displayed in a large typeface along with a graphic unique
to the game. The end label contains Froggo’s stylized name and logo (a frog sitting
on a lilly pad).
46 • Checklist
Checklist
These two pages consist of (hopefully) every official 7800 game. The games are only listed in one categorie,
with difference on end labels. This list include both PAL and NTSC releases.
I used the site atariage.org for making this list.
The Checklist are made for people to cross out the games they have. “C” measn the cart, or CD. “I” is the
manual/information. “B” is the box. And “S” is for collectors who collect sealed games.

Game Title Label Game-ID Pg C I B S

32 in 1 n/a n/a 10
Ace of Aces Color CX7846 10
Alien Brigade Color CX7855 10
Asteroids Gray CX7802 12
Ballblazer Red end label CX7815 12
Ballblazer Color CX7815 12
Barnyard Blaster Color CX7859 12
Basketbrawl Color CX7880 13
Centipede Gray CX7801 13
Choplifter! Color CX7821 13
Commando Color CX7838 14
Crack’ed Color CX7836 14
Crossbow Color CX7844 14
Dark Chambers Color CX7837 15
Desert Falcon Color CX7811 15
Dig Dug Gray CX7803 15
Donkey Kong Color CX7848 16
Donkey Kong Junior Color CX7849 16
Double Dragon Standard AM-050 16
F-18 Hornet Standard AP-044 17
Fatal Run Color CX7854 17
Fight Night Color CX7851 17
Food Fight Gray CX7804 18
Galaga Gray CX7805 18
Hat Trick Color CX7829 18
Ikari Warriors Color CX7862 20
Impossible Mission Color CX7832 20
Jinks Color CX7857 20
Joust Gray CX7806 21
Karateka Color CX7822 21
Kung-Fu Master Standard AM-039 21
Mario Bros. Color CX7850 22
Mat Mania Challenge Color CX7863 22
Mean 18 Ultimate Golf Color CX7847 22
Meltdown Color CX7875 23
Midnight Mutants Color CX7889 23
Motor Psycho Color CX7852 23
Ms. Pac-Man Gray CX7807 24
Ninja Golf Color CX7870 24
 Checklist • 47
Game Title Label Game-ID Pg C I B S
One-on-One Basketball Color CX7824 24
Pete Rose Baseball Standard AV-045 25
Planet Smashers Color CX7868 25
Pole Position II Color CX7808 25
Pole Position II PolePosition CX7808 25
Rampage Standard AM-049 26
Realsports Baseball Color CX7834 26
Robotron: 2084 Gray CX7809 26
Scrapyard Dog Color CX7879 27
Sentinel Color CX7869 27
Summer Games Color CX7826 27
Super Huey Color CX7828 28
Super Skateboardin’ Standard AV-047 28
Tank Command Standard FG2003 28
Title Match Pro Wrestling Standard AV-041 29
Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator A2600 Label AV-046 29
Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator Standard AV-046 29
Touchdown Football Color CX7823 29
Tower Toppler Color CX7856 30
Water Ski Standard FG2002 30
Winter Games Color CX7831 30
Xenophobe Color CX7858 31
Xevious Gray CX7810 31