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Activision's
"Forgotten" Years
When most of
us think of Activision's 2600 games, we think
of the classics. Immortal games such as Pitfall!,
Pitfall II, and River Raid, as well as numerous
others. These are definitely some of the best
games for the system, both graphically and gameplay-wise.
However, there were two halves to Activision's
2600 cartridge run. The games previously mentioned
were during its "golden" years. Starting in
around 1985, when the market was really suffering
from the crash, Activision's games began to
change. Let's look at these carts.
1985 brought
two carts (to my knowledge), both worth owning.
Ghostbusters and Cosmic Commuter. Ghostbusters,
obviously based on the movie of the same name,
was a simplified port of the 1984 Commodore
64 game. The 2600 version is considered the
best version by some (though I'm devoted to
the Nintendo and Sega Master System versions)
due to its simplicity and overall easier gameplay.
No digital speech, but the Ghostbusters theme
sounds okay.
Cosmic Commuter
was a fun, but not especially memorable, space
game, which to save time I won't dive deep into.
The object was to conserve fuel and blast various
objects.
Jump ahead a
few years, to 1987. Off the top of my head,
I can only think of one game really worth mentioning.
Kung-Fu Master, an interesting port of Irem's
coin-op. The graphics were certainly good, but
the gameplay was less so, these types of games
prove difficult with just one button (as 1989's
Double Dragon learned the hard way, but more
on that later). The best reason I can think
of for Activision putting this port out was
to combat the NES version that had came out
(earlier, I believe).
![[Photo: Kung-Fu Master and Double Dragon]](images/2600game.jpg)
In 1988, there
were two games worth talking about. The first
one was a sequel to one of Activision's most
beloved games, titled River Raid II. The game
was much more advanced this time around. This
time you had to watch how high or low you were,
as well as keeping an eye on your fuel. The
graphics were better, but the game doesn't top
the classic original.
Also released
in 1988 was Commando. Interestingly, Atari did
the 7800 port of this game, but Activision got
the 2600 one. It's passable, but not much better
than the earlier Front Line, or the later Ikari
Warriors (which I doubt very many people played
due to its rarity).
1989 was Activision's
last real year on the 2600, and the focus was
on ports. 1989 saw the release of Rampage and
Double Dragon, both successful arcade games,
but not especially suited to the 2600 (though
I do love Double Dragon). Rampage played well
enough, but with the limited graphics capabilities
of the system, it wasn't nearly as much fun.
The graphics were decent, though. Double Dragon
sported great graphics and backgrounds, as well
as some fine music, but was kept from being
much fun due to the insane difficulty and controls.
Once you get the controls, the game becomes
much easier, but few people had the patience
to give it much more thought after getting pummelled
by the first enemy over and over.
That ended Activision's
cartridge run in the US, but interestingly,
it did program a version of Ghostbusters II
in 1990, but once it saw the failing US market
for the 2600 games, it gave the releasing
rights to Salu, who released it in 1992. The
graphics were bright and colorful, especially
in the second level, though the game was insanely
difficult.
So, that was
Activision's run on the 2600. While the games
are neat, they can't hold a candle to its
earlier efforts, which, with a few exceptions,
were brilliant.
larry@myatari.net
Thanks to
AtariAge for the game box scans.
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