The Atari 2600 was one of the first commercially successful home consoles in video game history. It helped revolutionize home gaming, turning it into a huge market in the 1970s. Sure, some of its choices helped crash the market in the next decade, but for a few years, the Atari 2600 was on top of the world. During the console’s heyday, developers were lining up to release games, some of which were among the toughest of the era. It might be known as “Nintendo Hard,” but the Atari 2600 had a few monsters of its own.
Here are the six hardest Atari 2600 games ever.
6) Dodge ‘Em
Like a few games on this list, Dodge ‘Em isn’t that difficult on the lower levels. This driving game has players driving around the map, trying to avoid head-on collisions with computer-controlled vehicles. As you putter around the map, you’re trying to grab pick-ups from the maze-like motorway, which might remind you of Pac-Man.
Once you figure out the patterns, you can reliably make it through the first few levels. The issues start once more computer cars are added to the mix. It’s possible to figure it out after enough tries, but the learning curve for Dodge ‘Em makes this a frustration point for many players.
5) Swordquest
Swordquest is a series of action-adventure games that were developed as part of a fan contest. Each game came with a comic book that explained the plot and had a clue to the larger puzzle, which would eventually reward some lucky players with a real-life prize worth thousands of dollars.
To be fair, Swordquest isn’t too difficult these days, thanks to how easy it is to pull up a strategy guide. However, if you’re going in blind and trying to figure out all of the puzzles and mysteries on your own, you’ll be beating your head against the wall for hours. It was a neat gimmick with a fun prize, but not exactly the kind of game you’d spend a relaxing weekend with.
4) Kaboom!
Kaboom is a simple game. There’s a mad bomber dropping lit explosives off a ledge. You have a water bucket and need to catch the bombs before they hit the ground and explode. Again, there’s not much depth to Kaboom, so you can probably guess why it starts to get difficult as you progress.
If you guessed that the bomber starts to drop bombs much faster, congratulations. On the toughest difficulties, you’ll need to be on your A game. Not only are the bombs coming faster and in greater numbers, but your bucket gets smaller. Kaboom has a nice curve to ease players into the deep end, but once you’re there, you’ll wish you could go back to simpler times.
3) Double Dragon
Double Dragon might be the weirdest game on this list. If you’re scoring at home, the Atari 2600 came out in 1977. So, by the time Double Dragon came to the platform in 1989, it had been on store shelves for 12 years. Why they decided to make this port is anyone’s guess.
Unfortunately, it’s mostly a mess. It looks incredibly primative. If you look at screenshots, you’ll probably wonder how this could be a Double Dragon port. It feels impossible to reliably get off any attacks, as these enemies waste no time pounding your head into the pavement. If you can master the backward elbow timing, you’ll have a chance, but you’re much better off checking out another version of this great game.
2) Jr. Pac-Man
Jr. Pac-Man is technically similar to the other Pac-Man games you likely know and love. However, it has a few key differences that make it much more challenging. Not only are the maps now twice as big, which makes keeping track of Ghosts much more difficult, but the game also ups the speed quite a bit.
On top of all that, the Ghosts are generally more aggressive, trying even harder to hunt you down. Once all four of them are on the move, it’s almost like trying to run away from an intelligent wolf pack. They seem to know exactly when to group up and when to split from each other to catch you in one of their traps.
1) Gravitar
Gravitar is one of those games where players with cat-like reflexes might laugh at you if you think it’s difficult. This shooter requires a steady hand and precise control if you want to have a chance to clear its toughest levels. You control a tiny spacecraft through 12 different planets, trying to navigate through the world while fending off attacks.
You’ll lose a life if you hit any part of the landscape or if an enemy catches you with a laser. If you finish all of the levels, you’ll warp to a new universe where the gravity now pushes you away instead of pulling you toward the planet. In the third universe, the landscape is now invisible. The best advice is to take it slow and hope for the best.
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