Back to main list of All our 2600 Games
The Atari 2600 was first released in North America in September 1977 and featured 9 launch titles: Air-Sea Battle, Basic Math, Blackjack, Combat, Indy 500, Star Ship, Street Racer, Surround and Video Olympics. The final licensed Atari 2600 game released in North America was Secret Quest in 1989, and the final licensed game released in Europe was Klax and Acid Drop in 1990 and 1992. Even with their 1980s limited colors and block graphics these games are still entertaining to play today! We have over 500 Atari 2600 games for you to play online for free using our Atari 2600 Javascript Emulator.
This game is mobile device friendly and Iphone compatible. Enjoy!
Instructions and Keyboard Controls towards bottom of page.
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Start Game
INSTRUCTIONS:
If you grew up in the 80’s you shouldn’t need instructions!! You might find some help at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atari_2600_games and look up the game you need assistance playing.
CONTROLS:
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Begin/Restart Game
Arrow Keys – Move
Space bar to fire/action button
BOWLING NOTE: This manual is in 2-column format. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. GAME PLAY 1 2. USING THE CONTROLLERS 1 3. CONSOLE CONTROLS 2 4. GAME VARIATIONS 2 5. SCORING 3 6. GAME SELECT MATRIX 4 --- 1. GAME PLAY Your objective is to roll as high a called a "spare". Spares are mark- score as possible, whether you're ed with a "/" on the screen. playing a one-player or a two-player xxx game. There are ten "pins" to xxx knock down. You have two tries (or xxx rolls) to knock down the pins each An "open frame" occurs when you time you're up. Each game consists fail to knock down all then pins in of ten "frames" (or turns). two rolls. Open frames are in- dicated with a straight horizontal If you succeed in knocking down all line (-) on the screen. the pins on your first roll, it's called xxxxxxxxx a "strike". A strike is marked with an "x" on the TV screen. The ultimate goal in BOWLING is xxx xxx to roll 12 consecutive strikes for xxx a "perfect" score of 300. See the xxx xxx SCORING section for a more If you leave pins standing, but "pick detailed breakdown of point them up" on your second try, it's scoring. 2. USING THE CONTROLLERS --- Joystick with the red button to your | | upper left, toward the television | | screen. See Section 3 of your +-------| |-------+ owner's manual for further details. | ** .| |. | | . | | . | Move your Joystick forward (away | ..... | from you), back (toward you), +-----------------+ Use your Joystick Controllers with Forward the ATARI(R) Game Program(TM) car- ^ tridge. Be sure the Joystick Con- _ | _ troller cables are firmly plugged |\ | /| into the CONTROLLER jacks at the \ | / back of your ATARI Video Com- <--- NEUTRAL ---> puter System(TM) game. For one- / | \ player games, use the Joystick |/ | \| Controller plugged into the LEFT - | - CONTROLLER jack. Hold the v Back --- to position the Bowler. Press the controls the positioning of the red button on your Joystick Con- Bowler. After pressing the red but- troller to relase the ball. ton, the Joystick controls the direc- tion of the ball as it moves down NOTE: Before pressing the red but- the "alley". ton to release the ball, the Joystick 3. CONSOLE CONTROLS GAME SELECT AND GAME the screen. (Player number 1 is RESET blue; Player number 2 is green.) To start the action: DIFFICULTY SWITCHES * Press the game select switch to choose the game you wish to When the difficulty switch is in play. The number of each game the a position, the computer appears at the upper left corner makes it more difficult for you to of the screen. A 1 or a 2 is roll strikes and spares. (Use the displayed at the upper right cor- left difficulty switch is in the b ner of the screen to indicate position. whether the game is for one or two players For the beginning player, it is easier * Press the game reset switsh to to obtain high schores when the begin play. difficulty switch is in the b position. During game play the number of each frame is displayed at the up- TV TYPE SWITCH per left corner of the screen for one-player and two-player games. Set this switch to color if you have In two-player games the number of a color television set. Set it to b-w the player who is currently up is if you are playing the game in black shown at the upper right corner of and white. 4. GAME VARIATIONS In GAMES 1 and 2 the ball stays in tion. The ball does not come out of a steady curve pattern once the this pattern until that roll is com- Joystick is moved in either direc- pleted. --- To Curve ball up +------------------------------+ ^ | | _ | _ | | |\ | /| | | \ | / | SCREEN | <--- NEUTRAL ---> | | / | \ | | |/ | \| | SHOT | - | - | | v | | To Curve ball down | | | | +------------------------------+ * Push the Joystick forward to curve the ball up toward the top of the screen. GAMES 5 and 6 are straight ball * Pull the Joystick back to curve games. In these games the direc- the ball down toward the bottom tion of the ball cannot be altered of the screen. after it is released. Positioning the In games 3 ahd 4 you can steer Bowler is the most important move. the ball up and/or down while it is moving down the alley. If the GAMES 1, 3, and 5 are one-player Joystick is returned to its neutral games. GAMES 2, 4, and 6 are position the ball straightens out. two-player games. 5. SCORING xxx xxx xxx STRIKE +------------------------------+ xxx xxx | | | | xxx | SCREEN | xxx SPARE | | xxx | | | | xxxxxxxxx OPEN FRAME | SHOT | | | You have the possibility of scoring | | from 0 to 30 points in each frame. | | However, the difference in your | | score depends on whetehr you +------------------------------+ strike, spare, or leave an open frame. --- For instance, in an open frame the * In one-player games the score is number of pins you pick up (for on the left. both rolls) is simply added to your running score. The following is an example of how a game might be scored. However, when you pick up all the pins on the second roll for a spare, +--+---+--+---+--+---+--+---+ your running score is not totalled | |_X_| |_/_| |_X_| |_/_| immediately. Instead, the score for | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 | that frame remains empty until your +------+------+------+------+ next roll. At that time, 10 is added +--+---+--+---+--+---+--+---+ to the number of pins you pick up. | |_X_| |_/_| |_-_| |_-_| This subtotal is then added to your | 100 | 117 | 126 | 135 | total running score. +------+------+------+------+ +--+---+--+---+---+---+ Whenever you roll a strike your run- | |_/_| |_X_|_X_|_X_| ning score is not totalled until after | 155 | 185 | | the next TWO rolls. Ten points are +------+------+-------+ then added to the total number of pins you pick up for those rolls. TENTH FRAME BONUS Therefore, if you roll three con- secutive strikes, you score 30 If you spare in the tenth frame, you points for the frame in which the are allowed one more roll. The first strike occurred. number of pins you pick up, plus 10 (because of the spare), is then add- * In two-player games, the score ed to your score. for the left player is displayed at the top left corner of the screen; If you strike in the tenth frame, the the right player's score is shown pins you pick up for the next TWO on the right. rolls are added to your total score. 6. GAME SELECT MATRIX +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | Game Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | Number of Players | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | Game Number | | | X | X | | | +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | Number of Players | | | | | X | X | +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | Game Number | X | X | | | | | +-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ -------------------Atari 2600 Instructions Archive-------------------
REQUIRMENTS:
Our Atari 2600 emulator utilizes Javascript to run in your browser. No plugin is required, but a fast modern web browser will enhance the game play.
Emulation on mobile devices will drain your battery quite fast. I recommend playing while device is plugged into charger.
KEYBOARD CONTROLS