Combat Review – The Pack-In Game for the Atari 2600 Is More Fun Than It Has Any Right To Be!

One aspect of gaming that has been lost to some extent is the joy of couch co-op gameplay. Sure, we can play multiplayer titles online with fancy cameras and microphones today. But back in the 1970s and ’80s, we could only do so in person with family and friends. So, looking at the Atari 2600, it isn’t entirely shocking that its pack-in game was Combat, a multiplayer-only title.

Gameplay

As the title implies, you play as one of a few different military vehicles with the goal of defeating your adversary by hitting them with your weapons. These tend to be fired one shot at a time, with the winner being whomever scores more points in a set period of time. The current tally for each player is shown at the top of the screen.

Like many of the other titles for the system, Combat has over a dozen different game modes. Some are straight forward, such as playing in an open playfield or with mazes of differing complexities. There are also options for having your gun shoot straight or allowing bullets to be steered as they fly through the air. The latter reminded me of Breakout (Review), which has a similar option as part of its gameplay.

Beyond those, there’s also some odd ones:

• Invisible Tanks can only be seen when they fire their weapon.
• Tank-pong causes your bullets to ricochet off walls, allowing you to hit your adversary from around corners.

You can also play as a biplane or jet, but these have fewer options than the tank games. At least they provide a couple of gun options and flying with or without clouds. My kids and I liked the ones where your weapons had a short range, but could be fired rapidly like a machine gun.

As one would expect from the screen shots, Combat allows you to move around the screen freely. This is in stark contrast to Air-Sea Battle (Review), which has limited movement options. Here, the point is simply to get to your adversary and blow him or her away. If you score a hit, they spin around for a second and then reappear somewhere else on the map at a random location. Although, it should be said that sometimes the new place they go to isn’t very far away, thus providing a strong advantage to the one who is currently scoring points.

Due to its various options, and the fact that the game is multiplier only, it really comes off as a party title. At least that is what my kids and I thought as we played it. This was surprising because I didn’t expect to enjoy the game as much as I did. But all of us did! We’d share controllers with each other, talk trash, and try to score points whenever possible.

Graphics

Owing to it being an early Atari 2600 release, the graphics in Combat are very primitive. The expected abrasive color schemes are also present, but at least I can tell what the different vehicles are. The graphics are really not the reason to play the game.

Sound

Also similar to other Atari 2600 games from this time period, there’s no music in Combat. However, the sound effects are more effective than I would have hoped. The reason being that the sound effect for driving your tank is pretty good, if in a basic sort of way. I feel that it adds something extra to the game’s atmosphere, at least for a title from 1977.

Final Thoughts

That said, I think it shouldn’t be overlooked that Combat is a game from the 1970’s. It’s old, the graphics are basic, and so are the sound effects. Even so, it became a hit with the family as we played it and explored its options. The varying modes for the tanks were significantly diverse. They even compelled us to change our play styles as needed based on the different challenges we faced.

I liked to keep the other player guessing while playing Invisible Tank, and Tank-pong was just funny all around! On top of those modes, the control for the biplanes and jets were different enough to view them as decent added value to the title. Plus, we just had a great deal of fun with it!

With all those things in consideration, I think Combat deserves a Positive rating. I almost gave it a Very Positive rating, but the graphics and sounds are too basic for me to be able to give it a higher rating. Of course, I know the title was considered out of date and boring by the 1980’s, but for a pack-in game in the 1970’s? Yeah, I think it’s a great choice!

Hopefully you can get a few of your friends together and give the game a chance again. You may have more fun with it than expected.

Title: Combat (Price Charting)
Genre: Multiplayer Top-down Shooter
Year Released: 1977
Developer: Atari
Available On: Atari 2600 and multiple modern systems, such as the PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One and Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, GOG, and Steam via the various Atari 50th Anniversary releases.
Price Paid: $0.19, or $20.00 as part of a bundle.

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid. Please see my Review Rating Scale to know more of how I rate games.