Combat [Model CX2601]

49 Years old Atari 2600 cart. Atari, Inc. [CA, USA]
Combat [Model CX2601] screenshot

Combat © 1977 Atari, Incorporated.

A 2-player tank game where the object is simple - shoot your opponent's tank before they shoot yours. There are 27 game variations, some of which let you play with airplanes instead of tanks.

The levels include:

1-5: Tank levels. Levels 3 and 5 are "straight missile" levels where the players' projectiles simply fly forward. On the guided missile levels (1, 2, 4) the projectiles can be controlled with a joystick after firing.

6-9: "Tank-pong" levels, where the players' missiles bounce off walls. In the "billiard hit" levels (8 and 9), there's an additional rule that a missile must bounce at least once before it can hit the enemy tank.

10 and 11: Invisible tank levels, where the tanks only become briefly visible when they shoot, bump into a wall, or are hit by a missile. Both of these give the players guided missiles.

12-14: Invisible "tank-pong" levels. Levels 13 and 14 use the "billiard hit" rule.

15-20: Biplane levels, where the players fly planes that are constantly moving forward and wrap around to the other side when they fly off the screen. Levels 15 and 19 use guided missiles; 16 and 20 use straight missiles; on 17 and 18, the players use rapid-fire machine guns. Additionally, level 19 is a "2 vs. 2" level - both players have two planes each that move and shoot together - and level 20 is "1 vs. 3", where one player has three planes while the other has a single large plane.

21-27: Jet fighter levels. The jet planes move faster than biplanes, but other than that gameplay remains similar. 22, 24, and 27 are straight missile levels, the rest are guided-missile levels. Additionally, 25 and 27 are "2 vs. 2" levels, while 26 is a "1 vs. 3" level.

TECHNICAL

Model CX2601

TRIVIA

Combat for Atari 2600 was released on October 14, 1977 in the USA. It was re-published in 1978 with the same catalog number and a slighty different back cover.

Export releases:
PAL Combat [Model CX2601P]

STAFF
👥
Programmer: Larry Wagner, Joe Decuir
PORTS
CONSOLES

flag Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) Atari Anthology [Model 26084]
flag Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]
flag Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]
flag Sony PlayStation 4 (oct.18,2016) Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1
flag Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1,2016) Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1

HANDHELDS

flag Nintendo DS (mar.8, 2011) Atari Greatest Hits Vol.2 [Model NTR-BR7E-USA]

COMPUTERS

flag PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1997) "Activision's Atari 2600 Action Pack 3"
flag PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]
flag Steam (mar.24,2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"

OTHERS

flag "Atari Flashback 2" (2005)
flag Atari Flashback 3 (sept.16, 2011) by AtGames
flag Atari Flashback 4 (nov.13, 2012) by AtGames
flag Atari Flashback 5 (oct.1, 2014) by AtGames
flag Atari Flashback 6 (sept.15,2015) by AtGames
flag Atari Flashback 7 (oct.1,2016) by AtGames
flag "Atari Flashback 8" (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
flag "Atari Flashback 8 Gold Edition" (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
flag "Atari Flashback 8 Gold Activision Edition" (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
SOURCES
🔗
ROM dump (MAME).