Imagic 1982
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Alien Invaders, the Gorgons, are running their final assault on the city of Atlantis. The last line of defense are three guns, two positioned at the sides of the screen and one in its centre. Their lines of fire are fixed: the middle one shoots straight up, the ones on the sides fire diagonally towards the centre of the screen. The player can select which gun to shoot with by moving the controller to the left and right.

Atari 1983
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

In the not-so-distant future (1999 to be exact), the nations of the world have at last recognized the need for peace to avoid mutual destruction and ensure the survival of the human race. The plan to achieve world piece is strongly reminiscient of the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still: Automated weapons are unleashed, supposedly to exterminate anyone becoming an aggressor. Of course, technology goes awry, and the weapons are starting to exterminate all life on earth. The player jumps into a rusty old tank trying to blow up all the other thanks, fighters and flying saucers which now threaten humanity.

Activision 1983
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Boxing. I can hardly think of a less interesting 'sport'. Two sweaty fat guys beating each other up. Or actually not, because most of the time, they seem to be hugging each other anyway. No, really, I fail to see the fascination. WHY IS HE REVIEWING A BOXING GAME, THEN? Well, I've also had a lot of fun with racing games, and I wouldn't be caught dead near a real racing track. As so often, virtual reality and real reality are two pair of shoes.

Activision 1983
Genre: Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Evil mutant spiders are invading your house. These monsters are crawling up the wall, trying to enter by the windows. You're the world's last chance, and the weapon of choice is, of course, potted petunias. You throw them down, trying to hit the uglies before they reach the windows. Now, if only everyone's favourite award-winning actor William 'Captain Kirk' Shatner had thought of that in the philosophically subtle and thoughtful Kingdom of the Spiders...

Imagic 1982
Genre: Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Fire is spreading in a warehouse. Just a warehouse, no big deal, so just one single firefighter is sent to take care of it. Actually, all the other firefighters are drunk at the moment. And the one which does come is most likely drunk as well, but he lost some silly drinking game and thus had to go. Then the shock: There's a man trapped on one of the upper floors, running around in panic! The player has to save him from being roasted alive.

Activision 1980
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Being better than your opponent. It's one of life's basic struggles, repeating itself over and over again. The fight to be the best, to gain glory and have the loser hang his head in shame and admit bitter defeat.

Apollo 1981
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Space Cavern is the most complex Atari 2600 game I've ever seen, with a manual three times as thick as any other Atari 2600 game. There are countless different difficulty levels you can choose from when starting a game, selecting from options such as whether to have two or four enemies above you, whether or not to have any enemies from the sides, whether the enemies above are large (easy targets) or small, and whether the enemies above shoot straight or diagonally. All of these options are independant of one another, so you can mix and match.

Atari 1981
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: -
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari 2600

Warlords is very basic in gameplay, but is fun and fast action, and also allows for a certain level of strategy. In Warlords, you have four players (Always 4. If you have less than 4 human players, the rest will be computer controlled), and each player has a warlord, a castle, and a shield. This game uses the paddles instead of the joysticks. What you have to do is use your shield to deflect the ball away from your castle & warlord, while simultaneously trying to direct it -at- your opponents' castles & warlords.