The Atari 8-bit home computer range played host to a large variety of ground-breaking games in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and this week we’re going to be celebrating that fact.

Many classic video games appeared on the Atari 8-bit format first – later being ported to the Commodore 64 and becoming more famous; a common occurrence back in the mid-Eighties. Although the Atari brand had serious respect, and the Atari 8-bit machines many fans, it did not do as well – sales-wise – as the Commodore 64 and therefore the games weren’t quite as well-known.

There were a number of different Atari 8-bit computer systems available to buy over the years, but the main two were the Atari 400 and Atari 800, with 16K and 48K of RAM respectively (at their peak – earlier models had less RAM). Later Atari 8-bit systems included the XL and XE.

Atari 8-bit games have a solid feel about them and are often still very good to play. It depends on the title, of course. There are quite a few excellent emulators out there which will run the games, a good selection of which are easy to find online.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy our Atari 8-bit Special this week!

Here’s a list of the games we covered:
Miner 2049er
Bounty Bob Strikes Back
Spindizzy
Rescue On Fractalus
Koronis Rift
Jumpman
Fort Apocalypse
Pastfinder
Mercenary
Dropzone
International Karate
Boulder Dash
Bruce Lee
Rainbow Walker
Star Raiders II
Spelunker
Ballblazer
Montezuma’s Revenge
Dandy
Dark Chambers
Summer Games
Cavernia

More: Atari 8-bit family on Wikipedia