FEATURE ATARI 2600
HOMEBREW
2600 HOMEBREW
KEEPING THE GRANDDADDY OF CONSOLES ALIVE
Who would have thought that
so many years later the Atari
2600 would still be alive? Amongst
a community of Atari fans and
programmers on the internet, the 2600
is very much alive, with new games
coming out each and every year!
Just looking through the threads of
sites like AtariAge for instance, we see
announcements for new titles coming
out all the time. In many cases this
is just a ROM that can be played via
emulation. But in some cases, it has
resulted in full fledged cartridge releases
that can run on the original hardware.
Let's talk about a couple great examples
of homebrew releases shall we?
Chunkout by James Todd is a fantastic
little game that is quite the challenging
puzzler. As Brock Starblaze, you must
use your mining lazer to take apart
34 | classic console
Above Left: Chunkout
Above Right: Crazy Balloon
the planet Xotec's Pulsar field particle
by particle. If you hit a piece of a
particular color it will also destroy all
connected particles of the same color.
Another fantastic example is Crazy
Balloon by Manuel Rotschkar. Guide your
balloon through dangerous mazes filled
full of spikes and other obstacles. This is a
great game that will have you on the edge
of your seat the entire time you play!
Look for future installments of
2600 Homebrew coming soon in the
pages of Classic Console Magazine!