[Tanukitsune]

Most people laugh when you mention Adventure for the Atari 2600 as an adventure game, but is there really anything that you could call an adventure on the Atari 2600?

First things first, the Atari 2600 games take 4K, which already more than ten times LESS that the Colosal Cave Adventure, you must take in mind how extremely limited these games are...

Using a mouse on an Atari? Laugahble! A keyboard? Yes... there was a keyboard for the Atari but I don't think you could play a text game with it...


As a matter of fact with it's limited resources text games were out of the question anyway!

They have too much action you say? Some ancient text games did have a monster, pirate, dwarf or similar attack you once in a while, either in certain places or at certain intervals. And frankly killing a dragon or two is that much action... We are talking early 80's and late 70's you know...

So what does the Atari 2600 have to offer?

Well Adventure, which actually was inspired by the Colosal Cave Adventure and was made in 1978. So maybe all you did was pick a key or a sword and a few other things, but comparing it to adventure games of that era, it's not that different... Just imagine doing the commands with a parser instead of a joystick and you'll see what I mean...

And then there is the Swordquest saga from 1982, an adventure game that is quite clue dirven. The objective was to place a certain object (or objects) in a certain room to get a clue, which you looked up in the comic included in the game (which had a few red herrings too), until you got all the clues right and got the Magic Sword.

Yes, the game did have quite a few action sequences, but with the right object, you could either never lose or simply bypass them. If you had the PAL version, you got a "castrated" version that doesn't even include the comic...

And then there is Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982 as well), which was quite heavy on the action, but had more adventure elements than any other Atari 2600 game.

For starters, you had to pulg a second controller to control your inventory while in the game, and this time it wasn't just put an item here and put another there, it's was quite complex and puzzling. You have actual money that can buy you items like a flute that prevent snakes from poisining you and other items that you figure out how to use if you want to beat the game.

Some of you will think there is no way these games are adventures, but who knows, maybe after reading this maybe a few of you will...

[Brian]

It's hardly official but you can sort games by Genre and Console at MobyGames.com and come up with this list of games.

[Tanukitsune]

Hmm, the Quintana Roo game is a bit adventure-like, you have an inventory as well and there is a puzzle you must solve to reach the next level...