The covers of the games Atari 2600 they were cool This is so. They were fun, simple and almost always colorful. I especially like the choice of a flat background color on which the illustration of the day was later added. We are mainly talking about the 80s, so yes, a good handful of years have passed and things were done differently.
Looking at these covers now I come to the conclusion that they are not outdated to me. Or not as much as you might have imagined. Granted, a current game with a cover art like this would be quite a shock, but leave me to my stories. I WANT TO BELIEVE.
So yeah here you go 17 porters so that you can judge for yourselves. They are not in any specific order, I have been getting carried away and this is what has come out:
Superman (1978/79)
It seems that it is not very clear if the game came out in 1978 or 1979, but in any case our mission was to repair a bridge destroyed by Lex Luthor, capture him and his henchmen, enter a phone booth to disguise ourselves as Clark Kent and return to the Daily Planet. All in the shortest possible time.
The cover is a delight. It is taken from number 300 of the comic starring Superman published in 1976 and is the work of Curt Swan.
Space Invaders (1980)
Portadón for which it became the first licensed arcade to come out in a domestic format. The illustration is truly delicious, with that characteristic UFO design and also housing cities inside. In poster format it could fit perfectly into Fox Mulder’s “office”.
Asteroids (1981)
Another fantastic cover (they all are, that’s why they’re here) that took us directly to that war between humans and asteroids. Look how elegantly the ship destroys that damned rock. He asteroids The original was an arcade game released in 1979. Two years later ports were made for a multitude of systems, including the Atari 2600.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1982)
who wouldn’t buy this ‘tar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back just for its cover? I don’t even want to imagine the fans of the saga with this in front of them. Of course, the difference between what we see in all these illustrations and what the game later shows on the screen are abysmal. We are talking about the 80s and a machine with very limited power. Surely many were disappointed when introducing the cartridge into the console. But what about those portadenos, what?
Pressure Cooker (1983)
It is not that cooking games are very abundant, but we can find some out there. As for their covers? None as amazing as this one pressure cooker. That’s style and knowing how to convey the message of a game starring a chef with an ass. If you’ve even dropped a slice of tomato on your shoulder, please.
Basketball (1978)
Currently, when choosing the cover of the current basketball game, companies go crazy to get the star of the moment to appear on them. And now admire the simplicity and good taste that the Basketball from Atari 2600. With its pastel colors and all.
As a curiosity I can tell you that the flight controllers in the film Land as you can They come out playing this title instead of being what they have to be. Then what happens happens.
Brain Games (1978)
Brain Games It’s nothing more than a set of games designed to exercise your memory, but watch out for that piece of cover. It could work perfectly as an illustration for a fantasy book with wizards and strange worlds. Okay, the floating numbers and puzzle pieces would be a bit misleading, but hey. Go look for covers of current games of this type and tell me.
Casino (1978)
Probably the one of casino It is one of the covers that I like the most of those that I have selected. The girl in the elegant white dress is able to convey joy like nothing else. Then you get in and of course, it’s a casino and you lose money through a tube, but that doesn’t matter now. That idyllic location, the chosen colors, the composition with that poker card as a frame… everything is cool.
Basic Programming (1979)
I really like the cover of Casino, but the cover of this cartridge, one of the few non-games released by Atari, is perhaps one of the craziest. It was about learning to program in a language similar to BASIC, but from there to becoming a kind of astronaut in a strange suit surrounded by a thousand machines and buttons from the future is a very long way. What would go through the illustrator’s head when they told him that this was about what was going on? Wonderful illustration, nobody can take that away.
Enduro (1983)
Another work of art for a drag racing game that couldn’t be more magical. Far from betting on a rough and greasy cover, he opts for placing that kind of infinite road that folds over and over again. The sun on the horizon that is not missing. And neither did the red car. Oh, in 1984 the game took home the award for Best Sports Game at the Arkie Awards.
Pitfall! (1982)
Fantastic cover! The protagonist is risking his life by passing with a vine over three crocodiles, but the feeling of danger that the illustration gives off is nil. The bugs seem to be smiling and that trail that the guy with the liana is leaving in the form of waves of bright colors doesn’t help. There are shiny gold bars behind a tree! There is a wall holding an impossible terrain! There is a very crazy ladder and a bored scorpion!
Circus (1980)
Any poster you see announcing the arrival of the circus in your town pales before the cover of circus, sure. Here are guys jumping happily, colored balloons, clowns in baskets, horses with feathers on their heads, and elephants posing on their hind legs. This cover has something that catches.
Slot Racers (1978)
the one of slot racers It is the darkest and most serious cover of all those that are collected here. And it’s wonderful in its representation of what cars and cities of the future could be (the game is from ’78). Cars that travel through impossible rails and shoot while going at full speed. And the guy in the back, what kind of helmet is he wearing? And what is he doing activating things (bombs?)? It’s all very enigmatic.
Megamania (1982)
Great illustration for the cover of one of the many games that tried to take advantage of the Space Invaders mechanics, although here I am missing something very important: burgers. The enemies were not alien ships, as the cover implies, but all kinds of strange objects. And burgers. And cookies.
Grand Prix (1982)
Ah, again the traces in the form of colorful waves, like on the cover of the Pitfall!. Notice that the pink car had to do this maneuver to avoid a puddle of oil. And yes, they are Formula 1 cars. Between the years that have passed and the translation of the models of the time to the simplified format of this simple illustration, I couldn’t even say what they look like.
Road Runner (1985)
the cover of roadrunner It doesn’t have much of a mystery: the bloody coyote continues in his efforts to catch the Road Runner no matter what. And this time he goes with a knife, fork and bib. The thing is, it’s never a bad time to see this couple in their element. Too bad we couldn’t take control of the damn coyote in the game.
Yars’ Revenge (1982)
Yars’ Revenge it was Atari’s best-selling original game. And it is the work of Howard Scott Warshaw, the same man who designed the mythical ET. The porter leaves no room for doubt: you must control an insect-like creature. And look, she’s armed to the teeth. In fact, everything is threatening, from the perspective to the evil glint in his eyes.
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