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The Atari 2600 was first released in North America in September 1977 and featured 9 launch titles: Air-Sea BattleBasic MathBlackjackCombatIndy 500Star ShipStreet RacerSurround 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

Wing War

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


TRANSCRIBED ORIGINAL ATARI GAME MANUAL AND INSTRUCTIONS
First of all, let me say Thanks! I never played Wing War until you started this thread. But I have now (thanks also to the Z26 emulator), and I must say that this game is a lot of fun!

The gameplay reminds me a lot of Joust. You control a dragon, which you must flap and fly around in search of other dragons to do battle with. If you can get close enough to an enemy dragon, you can kill it by breathing fire onto it. It's a little tricky: you have to be moving both upward and horizontally at the same time to shoot a fireball. Because the fireball has an extremely limited range, you have to get in fairly close to hit your enemy. A single hit is all it takes for you to make a kill. 

To make dragonslaying a bit of a challenge, enemy dragons fly in evasive and erratic motions. Although they do not shoot fireballs of their own, enemy dragons are constantly darting at you, and they weaken you every time they manage to run into you. These collisions zap your strength. The amount of strength you have remaining is indicated by the lower of the two status bars which are located at the bottom of the screen, directly below the player's score. When the Strength status bar diminishes to nothing, your dragon dies and the game ends.

All enemy dragons carry a crystal. But you cannot see the crystal while the dragon is still alive. A killed dragon vanishes instantly; in its place you see the crystal he had been carrying (the crystal looks like a blinking asterisk). You score points for killing the dragon, and you score even more points if you can pick up the crystal before it vanishes. Run into the crystal to catch it. Your dragon will change color to indicate that you have caught it.

Enemy dragons carry one of three different types of crystal, depending on which screen they are in. The three crystals represents the three basic elements known to the ancients: Fire, Water and Air. The dragons in the Castle Screen carry a FIRE crystal. The screen below the Castle Screen is the Water Screen. Dragons in the Water Screen carry a WATER crystal. To the left of the Water Screen is the Air Screen. Dragons in the Air Screen carry an AIR crystal.

Your dragon starts in an all-black Home Screen. You must fly your dragon to the right edge of the Home Screen in order to move into the Castle Screen, where you will battle your first enemy dragon. 

The first crystal you catch, a FIRE crystal, will come from killing a dragon in the Castle Screen. You now have three options: 

1)You can return the crystal to the Home Screen and collect 100 Bonus Points by laying it on the floor. This will cause a row of FIRE crystals to pulsate in the HOME Screen. Be careful not to collide with the pulsing crystals, it will zap your strength.

2) You can fly down below the Castle Screen to face yet another dragon in the Water Screen. If you kill a dragon here and catch the WATER crystal, you can then fly it up through the Castle Screen and then left into the Home Screen. Lay it on the floor and you will get the 100 point bonus PLUS your Strength status bar will be increased.

3) You can fly down to the Water Screen, and then fly left into the Air Screen to battle for the Air crystal. If you capture the Air crystal, you have to fly it back through the Water Screen and then the Castle Screen before finally returning it to the Home Screen. 

If a dragon collides with you while you are carrying a crystal, the crystal is dropped. 
As the game progresses, you also drop a crystal by running into ANY object as well.
When you drop a crystal, your access to other screens may be cut off. Regaining access to those screens will require you to first kill another dragon, and may require you (in later stages of the game) to catch the crystal too.

If you can safely return the three crystals to your Home Screen -- in the order, FIRE, AIR, and then WATER -- then you collect additional bonus points PLUS a whole new set of screens opens up to you.

What happens after that... I'm not sure. I'm still figuring it out. This is enough to get you started, though. 

If you play Wing War and figure out anything else about the game (like what happens when the upper status bar makes it to the end) please post your findings here. I'm interested.

Here are a few more observations on playing Wing War:
* The Score at the bottom of the screen serves two purposes, by alternatingly displaying:

1) The game score as a 6 digit number with leading zeroes.

2) A 4-digit crystal status indicator, showing you the number of each type of crystal you have safely brought to your Home Screen. Each of the 4 digits is color coded, matching the color of the crystal it represents. The first digit (blue) shows you the number of Water crystals you have brought home. The second digit (brown) is the number of Fire crystals. The third digit (yellow) is the number of Air crystals. The 4th digit (white) is the number of Super Crystals.

* A Super Crystal is created for you in your Home Screen the moment you bring home one of each of the three Crystal types. 

* As long as you are carrying a crystal (of any type), you can move freely from screen screen without battling enemy dragons.

* If your dragon is carrying a crystal of one type and then it catches another crystal of a different type, the old crystal is lost and the new one takes its place. 

* Your dragon changes color to match the type of crystal he is carrying. 

*If your dragon drops a crystal as a result of colliding with an enemny dragon or (as the game progresses) by colliding with any other screen object, he turns green to indicate that he carries nothing.

*Killing a dragon in one screen allows your dragon passage to the next screen. But if you fail to catch a crystal before you leave the former screen, you are stuck in the latter screen until you kill another dragon in the new screen.

* The upper status bar of the two located at the bottom of the screen is your Firepower status bar. The lower status bar is your Strength status bar.

*You start the game with 3 units of Firepower, and two units of Strength.

Firepower is increased by 1 unit each time you bring a Fire crystal to your Home Screen. Firepower is apparently limited to a maximum of 6 -- at least until you have created your first Super Crystal.

* To begin with, you can shoot off as many fireballs as you wish and your Firepower statusbar never registers a decrease. That changes, however, once you have created your first Super Crystal. Thereafter, your Firepower status bar registers your shots and decreases by one unit after a certain number of fireballs [I don't know how many yet] have been fired. 

* When your Firepower finally goes to zero, you can no longer attack enemy dragons. Although you are still alive, you may as well be dead because you are incapable of earning any more points or more firepower. There is nothing left for you to do except dodge enemy attacks until you tire and eventually get killed.

* Your Strength statusbar diminshes as enemy dragons attack you. It increments by one unit each time you bring home a Water crystal. When your Strength statusbar goes to zero, your dragon dies and the game ends.

* Fire and Water crystals annihilate each ther in your Home Screen unless there is an Air crystal already there to separate them. If an Air crystal is brought home first, it vanishes instantly if there is not already a Fire or a Water crystal home already. Therefore, in order to successfully create a Super Crystal, you must bring home the three crystal types in one of two possible orderings: WATER-AIR-FIRE or FIRE-AIR-WATER. 

* A Super Crystal, when created, pulsates in the bottom of the 4 rows in your Home Screen. As soon as it is created, GET OUT OF THERE FAST! You will rapidly lose your Strength as long as you remain in the Home Screen.



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.

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SAMPLE IPHONE GAMEPLAY SCREENSHOT

Emulation on mobile devices will drain your battery quite fast. I recommend playing while device is plugged into charger.


KEYBOARD CONTROLS

controls
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WingWar Arcade Game Emulated on the Atari 2600. Play WingWar in your web browser or mobile phone. This Atari 2600 console emulator provides very accurate WingWar gameplay. WingWar is a classic 1980s Atari 2600 video game.