Halloween on the Atari 2600 is another “classic” horror movie license [that was sarcasm, by the way], developed by VSS, Inc. and published by Wizard Video Games in 1983. It is based on John Carpenter‘s classic 1978 film of the same name, and in it you play as a babysitter, trying to save children from the unstoppable murderer, Michael Myers.
Tag Archives: 1983
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Atari 2600
Developed by VSS, Inc. (of Texas), and published by Wizard Video Games in 1983, the Atari 2600 version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* is a travesty of a video game, and a perfect example of the kind of careless rubbish being released to market that triggered the North American video game market crash of the mid-Eighties.
*= The correct title of Tobe Hooper‘s classic 1973 film is “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (note the words “Chain” and “Saw” are separate), and NOT “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre“. Wizard Video Games got the title wrong, so I’m sticking with the correct title for the film, rather than bastardising it incorrectly, like they did.
Choplifter, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version of Choplifter was ported by Dane Bigham and first published by Brøderbund in 1983. While the game is definitely smoother and more playable than the earlier Apple II and Atari 8-bit versions, it’s still not without its problems.
Moon Patrol, Atari 5200
Developed and published by Atari, Inc. in 1983, the Atari 5200 conversion of Moon Patrol is an adequate, but hardly ‘dazzling’, port of the classic Irem arcade game.
Robotron: 2084, Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 version of Williams Electronics‘ classic arcade shooter, Robotron: 2084, was published by Atari, Inc. in 1983.
Pooyan, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 8-bit version of Konami‘s classic arcade game, Pooyan, was coded by Scott Spanburg, with graphics by Kelly Day, and was published by Datasoft in 1983.
Qix, Atari 5200
Taito‘s 1981 arcade game, Qix, was ported to the Atari 5200 and published by Atari, Inc. in 1983. It was written by Eric Manghise and is a pretty good version of the box-drawing action/puzzle game.
Flip and Flop, Atari 8-bit
Flip and Flop is an isometric action/maze/platform game designed by Jim Nangano and first published for Atari 8-bit computers by First Star Software in 1983.
Rocky Super-Action Boxing, ColecoVision
Developed and published by Coleco Industries in 1983, Rocky Super-Action Boxing is based on the 1982 film, Rocky III, and was the first licensed video game based on the smash-hit series.
Uncle Poo, Arcade
Now here’s a bizarre one from the dim and distant past… Uncle Poo, created by Diatec in 1983, is a weird old vertical screen game in which you play an old man who collects gems and money from a maze that is patrolled by monsters, and is slowly being flooded by water.
The King of Grabs 