The Atari 2600 version of Commando was programmed by Mike Reidel and first published by Activision in 1985. Considering the console’s limitations this is a surprisingly good conversion of the vertically-scrolling shooter.

Expectations shouldn’t be set too high, though, because – like all Atari 2600 ports of arcade games – this is a rough approximation of the original.

The graphics are chunky and basic and the gameplay is simplified, but the overall gist of the game is still Commando. You can still throw grenades (by holding the fire button down), but I didn’t see any enemy soldiers throwing any at me. Enemies do adjust their fire to aim at you though.

Probably the biggest surprise about Atari 2600 Commando is the fact that it has a rudimentary (but recognisable) version of the famous Commando music, which I didn’t expect. It doesn’t affect the gameplay, though, which remains playable and somewhat challenging, but maybe a touch too basic for its own good.

More: Commando on Wikipedia