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Atari VCS Easter Eggs
Right-click to download the text version of the 2600 Easter Eggs file: 2600eggs.txt
_ _ _ _____ _______ ______ ______ _ _
| | | | | _ ||__ __| ____| ____| | | | Atari.B.ugs
| | | | | |_| | | | | |__ | | | |__| | T.ricks
| | | | | __ | | | | _| | | | _ | E.ggs
_/ /| |\ \_ | |__| | | | | |___| |___| | | | C.heats
|__/ |_| \__| |______| |__| |______|______|__| |_| and.H.awaii!
___________________________________Update 95.9.2______________________
Below is a list of Easter Eggs, Cheats, Bugs, Tricks, and
whatnots in classic Atari (2600 & 7800) videogames. This is an
informal list, so I'm not expecting to win any documentation awards.
I don't really edit the entries by others unless I feel like
rewording them. The grammar (in mine anyways =^) may be bad, the
format poor, but it does give the explanations.
This list if far from complete, if you know something is missing,
(or discover something new) write an explanation of the trick and it's
effect, and I'll include it in the list. (If anyone has any 5200
BTECH, send them and I'll include it.)
** Controller Tricks **
Some tricks involve using the "wrong" controller for a game, some
involve opening up your controller (the joystick in all cases I know
of) to perform "impossible" movements (i.e. up _and_ down at the same
time.) Also, certain ones won't work on the 2600jr. or 7800.
** Frying the 2600 **
"Frying" refers to drawing out weird effects in 2600 games by
rapidly switching the power on and off. An easy way to do this is to
attempt to set the power switch "exactly" between on and off, this is
rather impossible, but the power will go on & off in your attempts.
(The older style 2600 is also reccomended, I haven't had much luck
with the newer 2600jr.)
**NOTE** the author of this file and it's contributors will not be
held responsible for any damage caused to your system.
======================================================================
Activision games [2600]
Many games will turn the score into !!!!!! (or some other message in
some games) when you max it out.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Activision Decathlon [2600] Activision
Fry until running guy is split by the screen.. Then run, run, run.
It's a never ending race. The numbers even go up to 1900 but then
they go back to 1000..
On the Pole Vault, quickly tap the button as you release the pole,
you'll go soaring. Put Bruce Jenner to shame!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Adventure [2600] Atari
Start a game then press SELECT to get the game selection screen
(with the number in the center). Pull down and Hero will appear.
(You can't do anything but move around the screen however.)
Hit SELECT as soon as you finish and you'll hear the ending
fanfare play really slow.
Placing the bridge at the bottom of the screen and crossing it (off
the screen) will sometimes get you "stuck" on top of a castle.
On game two or three, go to the maze in the Black Castle. One screen
left of the first maze screen will flicker if you carry an object in
there meaning one thing, there's ANOTHER object in there. At the
bottom center of this room is a closed off cubicle, use the bridge
to get in there and you should pick up a "dot". Carry this to the
screen just above the catacombs (one screen down and to the right of
the Gold Castle) and be careful not to lose it as it's the same color
as the outside ground. Drop it there and bring two other items onto
the screen, run right through the line on the right side of the
screen and witness the first ever Easter Egg.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Asteriods [2600] Atari
Fry the machine until the opening log is all messed up. All games
will have white Asteriods and be positioned on the right side of the
screen. Also, UFO's and Saucers will emerge from the same place and
consistently fire in the same direction.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Astroblast [2600] M-Network
If you force the system to track the maximum number of objects with
seperate velocities that it can (about five) and then shoot a large
rock, it will disappear without fragmenting into smaller rocks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantis [2600] Imagic
Fry until the game starts automatically, all ships will be of the same
type and fly right to left.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnstorming [2600] Atari
Fry until you see the plan drop from the top of the screen and land
on the bottom. You can play game one by hitting reset, but several
objects will look distorted, going into the barns doesn't decrease the
counter. The game runs forever and you play until you drop.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC Programming [2600] Atari
Turn off all the windows except "program", and keep pressing "new
line" (effectivly entering NO-OP lines). After line 9 of this empty
program, you will get "line 10" and "line 11", except that the line
numbers will be random blobs instead of "10" and "11". Apparently,
they didn't think people would write more than 9 lines of code. :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Basketball [2600] Atari
Plugging in the second joystick lets you get some control over the
computer player (and bring it down to a level humans can handle. =^)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Battlezone [2600] Atari
Frying may cause the mountains to be flattened, or on rare occasions,
infinite lives.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Berzerk [2600] Atari
Horizontal robot fire will travel harmlessly through your neck (or
lack of one.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bump 'N Jump [2600] M-Network
Don't destroy anyone and you'll get 50,000 points plus an extra car
at the end of each course.
SELECT lets you continue from where you last finished your game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Burgertime [2600] M-Network
Fry until your chef appears on the top ledge on the left, you won't be
able to move and you'll die, but you'll have 100 lives (minus that
first one). However you won't be able to make any burgers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Breakout [2600] Atari
Select a "catch" game and catch your last ball. Press SELECT and
release the ball. You'll play in the attract mode (complete with
color shift!) score no points, but you'll keep getting new balls when
you miss.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carnival [2600] Coleco
Holding down the fire button as you power the system on causes a dot
to appear in the top row of targets. Shooting the dot before it
leaves the screen (it then turns into a duck) will reveal the
programmer's name. ("Programmed by S. Kitchen" S=Steve)
Fry the game until the screen is blank but for one duck may produce
the following results: pipes stay the same color, invisible pipes,
high game speed, and the dot (see above)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Canyon Bomber [2600] Atari
The game calls for paddles, but the Land Bomber games can be played
with a joystick. Pushing right and left causes teh red and yellow
planes to fire, respectively.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Centipede [2600] Atari
Frying results in a white background instead of a black one. Gameplay
is otherwise normal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess [2600] Atari
Select game 6 or 7, while thinking it's next move, the computer will
move pieces! [well, these are the _hard_ levels. =^) ed.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Combat [2600] Atari
Holding down RESET and the fire button lets your shot travel all the
way across the screen.
Positioning your tank just right and firing into the upper left corner
causes your shot to "warp" and come out from the top right corner.
Open up your joystick and push down on all the contacts to let your
tank do warp speed. Similiar can also be done by plugging in paddle
controllers and pressing both buttons.
"Dancing Tanks" Get the tanks together and set things up so one's
turret is flat against the other tank, thrn the tank so the turret
runs into the other tank and both tanks will sometimes go spinning
in circles.
Flying Tanks - Pick game 9. Rotate left player's tank 180 degrees,
and fire. The shot will ricochet around and hit the opposing tank,
causing both tanks start flying to the left, scrolling the screen
3-4 times, then stopping. Using the right player's tank in the
procedure will cause the two tanks to switch sides.
Move your tank into one of the corners along the edges of the screen,
flush up against the clockwise wall (the one to your right if you
point into the corner), and face the counterclockwise wall (such that
you have one wall to your right and the other in front of you). Now
push your stick up, and you'll start bumping into the wall in front of
you. Then move your stick to the up-left diagonal. Your tank will
turn left slightly, bump into the wall in front of you, and get moved
back through the wall to your right a little bit, and deposited in the
next corner counterclockwise from you (which can be at the far side of
the screen). This can be used strategically. ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Communist Mutants from Space [2600] Arcadia/Starpath
Hold down the joystick button while loading and the "HI" on the score
screen will change to "SHL", the author's initials. (Steven H.
Landrum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cosmic Ark [2600] Imagic
Some carts lets you turn the star field to be turned on and off
with the TV-Type switch. (These have smaller & lighter type on their
labels.)
Frying causes all meteors to come from the left. Various sprites in
the game will be scrambled however. (your score for one)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Crazy Climber [2600] Atari
Pressing SELECT at certain will produce various effects:
--before the opening tune ends, the game will freeze on the last
note, RESET unfreezes the game.
--when a girder falls, the game will pause momentarily as all sprite
data is cycled through the girder's location.
--when the evil doctor drops things will pause things momentarily,
as sprite data is cycled through the dropping item. He will not
drop anything else after and the last sound for him will play for
a bit longer.
--when the eagle is dropinn eggs, breaks them!
--while you're climbing or hanging on, freezes things. RESET resumes.
--while you're falling, produces a momentary pause.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Castles [2600] Atari
Frying gives unlimited lives until 20,000 points.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Crossbow [2600] Atari
Frying until a lot of dots appear on the map produces a generally
easier game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Defender [2600] Atari
Get to the 25th wave, and capture a humanoid. Fly to the 25th line
of resolution (the height your ship starts from) and any remaining
enemies will change to "BP", Bob Polaro.
Fry until the game stars (automatically) with only bombers on the
screen. You get killed, but don't lose lives (you may just have a
lot of guys.. I haven't tried dying that much yet.)
If a Baiter is chasing you, position yourself so it is above you,
screech to a halt and it will "land" on you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Demon Attack [2600] Imagic
On some/most/all? copies of the game, the game will "shut off" after
wave 84 is completed. (games 5-8 begin on wave 13 so it "appears" to
stop after 72)
Fry until game starts. The guys won't fire at you (well, they CAN'T)
you can move normally except after moving for about 10 seconds you
have to take a 10 second break. (your ship changes colors) also
guided missile is on.. [I haven't tried it yet but I think it's in
the "alternating-player" selection (the last game option) ed.]
Keep shooting the middle demon until only the top & bottom ones
remain. Now shoot the bottom one and go get something to drink,
the remaining demon (at the top) won't drop down.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Desert Falcon [2600] Atari
Get a superpower and swim near the top of a lake (before you lose it)
to make the programmer's initials to appear. Easiest way is to get
invincibility (bird-cane-feather).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dragonfire [2600] Imagic
Let a fireball catch your legs just as you leave the treasure room,
this seems to hurt the next player more than it does you.
Jump, then immediately pull opposite the direction you're facing
(keeping the button down), you'll seemingly run "backwards" for a bit
before turning around. (nothing useful really.)
Frying may cause all prizes to be of one type and in a column. If
you fry until the game starts with a black and white castle, all
prizes will be in a row and look like the word "in". The dragon will
spout few, if any, fireballs. Touch one of the prizes without
running it over and you just keep collecting points, nonstop!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dragonstomper [2600] Starpath
Enter "use shield" command while the image of the axe is on the screen
and "SHL" will appear. (SHL = programmer's initials, same as
Communist Mutants. On a side note, the Supercharger version of
Frogger, SHL's 3rd game, does not contain a "name" egg.)
During the first load, arrange to die near a castle. Then press reset
and run into a castle trap before the copyright at the start of the
game clears the screen, and you may leave it without any loss of
strength or use of normal escape trap procedure, though the trap will
appear and the screen will say "Trap". The trick only seems to work
1-3 times, though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Empire Strikes Back [2600] Parker Bros.
If you have a rapid fire controller (or very fast fingers) you can
destroy the Walkers twice each and be awarded double points. Every 8
shots weakens it one color, and 48 shots destroys it. Blast a yellow
Walker to hell and if you can hit it 8 more times after the 48th hit
before it disintegrates you'll destroy it again. Saving the last shot
for the bomb hatch will give over 250 points.
Frying produces various effects with the walkers such as fast walkers,
backward walking ones, or walker-free planets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial [2600] Atari
Fry until E.T. walls in a well, hit SELECT and game "0" will
appear. The only power zone available are a few "Call Elliot" zones,
who btw, is not present in game 0.
Extend E.T.'s head just as the mother ship arrives. E.T. will be too
tall and his "butt" will stick out the bottom of the ship.
"Kill" E.T. on the landing pad while waiting for the ship. If Elliot
is able to make it to the screen, but not save you when the ship
arrives, the ship will crash down and so will the game.
E.T. can be turned purple, which is the first step for revealing the
author's signature, "HSW3". Procedure?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fast Eddie [2600] Sirius-Fox
TV-Type pauses game. When paused, the maze cycles through a rainbow
of colors. Flip it up and it stays on that color. With good timing,
you can choose the mazes color! Holding down Reset lets you choose a
ladder arrangement.
Frying once in a while procudes Rainbow Eddie. In this game, the bodies
of the enemy critters disappears, leaving only their feet and making
them much easier to jump over.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatal Run [2600PAL] Atari
Frying will sometimes cause the ending victory music to play.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fathom [2600] Imagic
After releasing the mermaid the seventh time, Imagic's address will
appear at the bottom of the screen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Frogger [2600] Parker Bros.
Set the difficulty so that your frog may travel off the screen (on the
back of a turtle or log), jump on a right moving log and go off the
edge of the screen. The instant you see your frog reappear on the
left side, jump left and you'll be warped to the middle of the screen.
(and perhaps die if nothing is there.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghostbusters [2600] Activision
(see 2600Connection #10)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G.I.Joe [2600] Parker Bros.
In the two player cooperative game (difficulty 1), the eighth hit on
the fifteenth cobra causes "JE" to appear. [what's "JE"? ed.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gorf [2600] CBS Games
Rolling the score produces weird digits. Moreso every time you roll
it over. Secret message at some point?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Halloween [2600] Wizard
As you're about the leave the left or right edge of the screen, gently
edge up to the exit (without leaving) and a dash will appear on your
head. Most likely just a glitch in the software.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Haunted House [2600] Atari
Fry until there are no walls and possibly an enemy walks by the
screen. Reset the game and there are no objects in any of the rooms.
Useless but interesting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
H.E.R.O. [2600] Activision
Fry until all you see is a miner and spider (but no hero), let the
power run out. The game will start with about 250 lives.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human cannonball [2600] Atari
Frying can cause the "window" to invert itself. In other words, you
have mostly open space and a small rotating wall.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Indy 500 [2600] Atari
In the race variations, an invisible line down the center of the
screen is used to count laps. You can fool the computer by driving
small circles in the center.
If you don't have the driving controllers but have a keypad controller
(the touch pad with Star Raiders and children's controllers will work
too) you can still play. Pressing 0 and # simultaneously gives you
gas. To turn 90 degrees clockwise, press and hold 5, press and hold
2, release 5, release 2. Do the reverse to turn counter-clockwise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Joust [2600] Atari
Fry until the game starts automatically, the game will begin on level
0, with one life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser Blast [2600] Activision
Fire quickly so you don't leave aim mode, this will prevent you from
being pushed up after shooting the three tanks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaboom! [2600] Activision
Score 10,000 points and "surprise" the Mad Bomber. =^o
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Krull [2600] Atari
A rapid fire controller will make grabbing objects much easier.
If you're touched by the spider in the web, keep jumping and you'll
hear the sound effect even after you've been killed.
On the web screen, just over and below the Cocoon are spots where
your score will increase if you keep jumping there. It only works
when web strands are moving away (on the easy levels).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maze Craze [2600] Atari
Fry until you see rows of alternating blocks and spaces. For all the
games the red player will appear to be "shifted" one place to the
right. He can move around the maze normally, but to see where he
really is you need to look at the block on his left.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Missile Command [2600] Atari
SELECT game 13(?). Let missiles rain on all your cities and waste
all your missiles without scoring any points. The rubble of the
rightmost city will change to "RF", the programmer's initials
(Rob Fulop)
When the game first begins, fire three missiles at the top part of
the screen (the highest the cursor will go). Then, RESET the game
before the missiles explode. You'll still see the missiles, and
when they explode you may get some free points. Sometimes it takes
a few tries, but once in a great while you get a jackpot of points
(I think my highest cheat was around 1200 points on a Level 1 game).
(This one is rather useless) Frying Missile Command can give you a
variation of the game where you can move the little targeting dot VERY
VERY fast, but your shots are all fired continuously at wherever the
pointer is, so they get used up really fast. Your score starts at
roughly 400000, but once you start playing kinda' flikers around
between various scores and garbled messes...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Moon Patrol [2600] Atari
Frying can start you with anywhere from 10,000 to 900,000+ points.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mountain King [2600] CBS Electronics
[the following two etries are in the words of their contributors, I
haven't tried them (haven't gotten to playing the game yet) so don't
ask me questions on them...I also have a feeling they both describe
the same trick... ed]
This one is really hard to do. There are two jumps you can make in
Mountain King. One is a short jump and the other is a long jump that
can only be done immediately after a short one. Do a long jump from
the top of the highest peak (the one with the campfire on it) and let
the guy go as high as he can. On the way down you will notice a
couple of platforms a few ladder spontaneously appear in midair. If
you can make this same jump from as far right on the mountain peak as
possible, you can catch one of the ladders in midair as you are coming
down. If you catch it, you can climb up it an there is whole lot of
weird stuff up there you can explore. Nothing that gives you points
are even helps in the game, but its an interesting bug. NOTE: Things
tend to spontaneously appear and disappear up there. While exploring
in this region take a lot of time and very carefully watch what you
do. I have had platforms dissapear from underneath me and send me
crashing back down to the regular mountain.
There is a whole secret level(room). It is very hard to get to, but
with pratice I can reach it within 10-15 minutes. If you go to the
very top of the mountain where the fire is, and go one ledge below
standing just to the left directly under the flame. Then jump to the
left, if you do it right the character will sortof hop skip and take
a very high flying leap. As you are flying upward, just when you are
about to start descending, there will be a patern of 4 dashes
- -
- -
If you hit the upper right (or lower right, cant remember) dash
correctly and hop, you will go even higher to a ladder. Grab the
ladder and welcome to the secret level. There are all kinds of weird
stuff, usually your character will turn very large and the game will
freeze, but sometimes you can go pretty far. As you move ladders will
disappear and objects will move on the screen. There was a pattern,
and every time I made it up there I would get a little farther without
locking the game. There may very well be something up there if you
keep trying. The location of the dashes and ladder leads me to
beleive that they wanted someone to find it and it was just not by
accident!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Pac-Man [2600] Atari
Press up & down at the same time. Ms. Pac-Man will go left and get
stuck in a wall.
Let the game enter the demo mode, then play with Game Select. The
monsters will appear and disappear as they move around, depending on
the difficulty that's currently selected. Useless, but amusing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Omega Race [2600] CBS
If you don't have the booster grip, you can use a Colecovision
joystick to play, using the left and right buttons. or...
You can "play" with paddles. The buttons turn your ship, and turning
the paddles clockwise will fire and thrust, but you must turn them
back counter-clockwise to keep firing or stop thrusting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pac-Man [2600] Atari
Enter escape-tunnel, quickly go up & down in tunnel a few times
without coming out. Go down as your last move and Pac-Man will "wipe"
into the screen. He can now move up & down in this vertical plane
through the walls, but not sideways. Hey may eat vitamins and get
killed by ghosts. (Not particularly useful, but interesting.)
Frying can cause the walls to starting "glowing" at irregular
intervals during the game. Game play is otherwise the same, but its
pretty annoying (consider it another level of difficulty =)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Rose Baseball [2600] Absolute Entertainment
When your team is coming off the field after the third out, hold down
the button. As soon as you come up to bat the opponent's pitcher will
automatically throw a strike over the place for an easy hit (for two
player game)
Fry until the screen is garbled and RESET. The computer will always
bunt. Your batting options too will be limited.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix [2600] Atari
Frying will fairly consistently give you a garbled mess for the number
of lives, which appears to be infinite. It changes everytime you die,
though so if not infinite, it might be some large number.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitfall! [2600] Activision
(See 2600 Connection #9 for map.)
Frying can sometimes produce "ninja" Harry, dressed in black.
Pressing the button makes him drop from trees. There's only one
screen however.
Use the stock Atari joystick, climb to the top of a ladder and pound
straight down on the joystick (I usually slap down flat down like I'm
trying to "impale" my palm.) Harry will jump straight up...and fall
back down. Nothing useful, just interesting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns [2600] Activision
(See 2600 Connection #10 for map.)
Frying the game may let you start from one of three locations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Planet Patrol [2600] Spectravision
Pull down to the bottom of the screen immediately after rescuing the
stranded pilot, and the "randomly located" enemy bases will always be
in their three lowest postions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Popeye [2600] Parker Bros.
Fry until the screen rolls. Wait until it stops (rolling) and the
game will start automatically with 255 lives.
Get nine or more hearts, and then purposely die. Once you start your
next life, you go to the right off of the ledge, immediately get the
spinach and hit Bluto/Brutus. If you do it quickly, your score will
become 155,120 (or thereabouts), and if you have died twice already,
your score will be 144,120 (or something like that).
Start playing and then hold down the reset button--the music will
play about an octave lower. Seems only to work on the older 2600
console, and not on the 2600jr and 7800.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q*Bert [2600] Parker Bros.
Jump to the top of the pyramid. When Coily's on one of the cubes
below you and ready to pounce, jump up-right off the pyramid. Coily
will follow you, you'll get the points for killing him, and you won't
lose your life!!! With this trick you could potentially reset the
score counter without ever leaving the first pyramid.
If you time it carefully, you can jump right through coily or a red
ball; jump toward the square something is on just as it's about to
move toward you (this is easiest just as coily coils to spring). Once
you get the timing down, it becomes difficult to actually die.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick Step [2600] Activision
Fry the game untilit begins automatically. The squirrel won't jump as
much, and the waves will be either 3 or 4 trampolines across. The Exit
will always be the third row from the left, the fourth row will always
be gold mats, but there won't be any magic mats.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Raiders of the Lost Ark [2600] Atari
(See 2600 Connection #7.)
Go to the flying saucer mesa with the Chai and parachute (latter
optional.) Walk off the mesa and drop the Chai when you start
falling. The _Yar_ will appear at the top of the screen.
With a sufficiently high score (which will include the above) puts
"HSW2" in your inventory when you finish the game. ("HSW" = Howard
Scott Warshaw, the game's author "2" indicates his second game.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Realsports Boxing [2600] Atari
Fry until there are no fighters in the ring. Press the button to
begin the game. This results in a two player game with Jabbin
Jack v. Jabbin Jack. Once you hit select you lose this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Return of the Jedi [2600] Parker Bros.
If you lose your last ship while avoiding the Death Star explosion
and you are about 200 points from earning an extra ship, you'll get
the extra ship, but the game will still end, with the extra ship
being displayed!
The game can be fried until it begins with the Death Star blowing up.
Other effects may happen but with less frequency.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reactor [2600] Parker Bros.
While in "attract mode" you can move your ship around. After the game
ends, if you move your ship to the top of the screen and get as close
to the top corner as you can, your ship will bump some sort of
invisible thing and you will get points.
top wall
------------------------
the * represents the "magic corner" / *\
By bumping into this "magic corner" after the game is over, you can
earn enough points to get a free guy and continue the game where you
left off. It's ok if you hit the wall while you are trying to do
this, but it may slow your progress down a bit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Runner [2600] Atari
(see 2600 Connection #19)
There are rumors of the programmer's initials in the game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robot Tank [2600] Activision
Fry until you get to a night scene. The game will already be in play
mode. Tank shots are less accurate and the only damage you can take
your turning capability. You basically have an invincible tank that
turns slow, but you can work with it well enough to play sucessfully.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Skiing [2600] Activision
To make the game easier, flick the left difficulty B A B to reenter
your skiier.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sky Jinks [2600] Activision
Frying produces a row of trees on the left side of the screen.
Starting a game from this creates a course spanning one-third of the
screen width.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Solar Fox [2600] CBS Games
The layouts on the first six screens spell out H-E-L-I-O-S.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Solaris [2600] Atari
(See 2600 Connection #8.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorcerer's Apprentice [2600] Atari
Frying will sometimes create a "super" expert level. Fry until you
see the mountain screen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Invaders [2600] Atari
Fry the game until the UFO flies by. Start the game, and you'll have
double shots. This will only work for game #1. A much easier way to
get this is by holding RESET when you power on the system.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Jockey [2600] U.S. Games
Frying can result in games in which everything is backwards (including
the numbers in the score.) Play really isn't all that different.
Sometimes without any enemies and without any terrain below you, and
with odd garbled little dots for enemies...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Spider Fighter [2600] Activision
The left difficulty switch sets the game easy or hard. The hard (A)
setting gives you more points, but if you switch it back to the easy
setting, you'll get the "hard difficulty" points while the game is
at easy difficulty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stampede [2600] Activision
Frying the game until your horse moves slowly produces a slow version
of the game. The game will eventually return to normal speed after a
few minutes.
Rolling over the score causes steer heads to appear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Star Raiders [2600] Atari
After finishing the game you can sometimes change your rank & rating
by pressing the Hyperwarp Key (3):
Scout 3 --> Cook 5
Pilot 1 --> Atari 3
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Star Wars: Death Star Battle [2600] Parker Bros.
Hitting SELECT pauses the game (blanks out the screen) touching the
joystick resumes play.
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Steeplechase [2600] Sears
Play with joystick instead of paddles to control two horses (push left
and right)
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Street Racer [2600] Atari
In number cruncher, "wiggling" paddle will sometime cause you to get
"jammed" on a number. Usually you'll rack up points to 99 quickly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Scan [2600] Sega
Fry until no zeros appear in the score counters, your ship in pieces,
and the lower right counter under the sonar garbled. Hit the first
command sub (gold) and you'll jump to the eigth level. Sometimes the
game may begin with the subs moving fast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Super Challange Baseball [2600] M-Network
Normally the player at bat can only run clockwise or counter clockwise
around the bases. However, if you move the joystick back and forth
fairly quickly, your man will "walk" out into the outfield. You can
make him go off the top of the screen and appear back at the bottom!
Many strange effects can happen when the man is far from his normal
place, such as an invisible batter, the pitcher will be in the wrong
place, etc.
Use the 2600 trackball (in trackball mode) while pitching.
Unpredictable results!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Supercharger Games [2600] Arcadia/Starpath
On all multi-load games (Dragonstomper, Escape from the Mind Master,
possibly others), the Supercharger may "feint" if you play the wrong
load when it says "Press Play". In a feint the Superchager will go
through the loading sequence with the screen filling with purple, but
after loading the "Stop Tape" message does not appear and the screen
turns black again. I believe this qualifies as a majorly annoying
bug, and is not mentioned in any of the Starpath game manuals I have
(I don't have a manual for the Supercharger unit itself, however).
It is worst in Escape from the Mindmaster, where if you lose all you
lives on the first or second level the unit will feint twice before
reaching the load that tells you your score.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Super Football [2600] Atari
When a team jucjs a good field goal or extra point as the time
expires, both teams wave in victory. Also happens if the winning team
score rolls over, giving a seemingly lower score.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Superman [2600] Atari
Hold down the button down as you power on the game. Wait for two
seconds to pass and release. Superman won't change into Clark Kent,
and the bridge won't explode. You'll find the bridge pieces in the
subway, but don't worry about it. All you need to do is capture Lex
Luthor and his men (and return to the Daily Planet). This big may
only work on text-label copies.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Swordquest Earthworld [2600] Atari
Fry until only a sword appears on the title screen, start the game and
you'll have six keys.
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Tape Worm [2600] Spectravision
Good timing and a gentle touch on reset will allow you to choose where
the first prize dot appears.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax Avoiders [2600] American Videogame
If you pick up ALL the objects on the first screen (including the Red
Tape which you normally want to avoid) the screen will begin to
flicker, like the vertical hold on your TV was mis-adjusted!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunnel Runner [2600] CBS
Instant Transport - Anytime during a Run, if you are in need of a
quick escape, HOLD the button down and rotate the joystick in a circle
(either left or right) and it will perform an emergency transport.
Can be used only ONCE per Run.
The game will go completely crazy after you complete 127 levels.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Turmoil [2600] CBS
TV-Type pauses game. When paused, the maze cycles through a rainbow
of colors. Flip it up and it stays on that color.
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Tutankham [2600] Parker Bros.
Hold down RESET while turning the system on, release after the intro
music begins to play. The game will begin with no key, gun, special
weapon or meters. When you die, two of your meters will reappear, and
you'll get your special weapon. You can't exit this level.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vanguard [2600] Atari
Fry until your ship is black instead of pink (it will either start
playing automatically, or on the map screen, where you won't be visible
because the background is black too). The number of lives will be
random, and not change accordingly to when you die, just sort of on its
own whim. Eventually, your ship will revert to pink, and you'll have
to use the other controller, but you'll still have unlimited lives.
If you fly long enough on the board where you have to kill all the
enemies on the screen, you will automatically veer into a wall and the
board will be finished. So you can play more or less forever. Its been
running on its own for several hours now and should be up to at least
500,000... When you get the little E-boxes, you can extend the duration
of the invincibility a long time, because every time you run into an
enemy while the music plays, it plays that bit of the music over again,
so if the enemies are spaced out right, it can last for a really long
time...
In the Stripe Zone, you can choose to go either right or left. If
you go right, then only the enemies which reside on that side will
show up, and the same goes for the left side. The trick: stay on
the right side until the Energy Pod appears. Then take the left
path. The Energy Pod will rhythmically switch between a forward E
and a backward E.
On Vanguard, toggle select and you can see what appears to be .531
(the one is underlined) or .53L (the L is backwards) in a vertical
column flash on the screen. Freeze framing it on a VCR reveals that
there are two variations: one a brief flash, the other a picture of
the first level with the number and an unusually colored background.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Video Pinball [2600] Atari
When you hit the bonus-points rollover a few times, RESET the game.
When you lose the first ball on the next game, the bonus points will
count down!! Depending on how many times it counted, it'll stop on
some number other than 1, and that will be the base number for the
rest of the game.
When you shoot the ball, hit the SELECT button and enjoy the
2600's first true Demo Mode. Complete with the color-cycling!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xenophobe [2600] Atari
Flip the TV-Type switch back & forth once to pause the game. For 7800
users, this means just pressing the Pause button once.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wizard of Wor [2600] CBS Electronics
Two different things can happen on frying. The first produces really
strange looking mazes, ones where you can walk through walls but can't
shoot through and other weird stuff. The second thing is harder to
produce, and starts with the two players standing at the bottom of the
field as if someone had reset the game, only there are no aliens on the
screen. The left player appears to have infinite lives (or at least
a lot of lives) but the right player only had 3. Resetting returns the
game to normal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yar's Revenge [2600] Atari
Kill Swirl in mid-air. Position Yar so that spot on it's back is in
the same vertical plane as the black "streak". Programmer's initials
will appear after explosion (HSWWSH = Howard Scott Warshaw)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Double Dragon [7800] Activision
When you face the Shadow Boss and his henchmen, avoid fighting with
his lackies and concentrate on attacking the Shadow Boss himself.
When the Shadow Boss is killed, his hench-men automatically disapear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dig Dug [7800] Atari
When you lose your last life, you can continue the game by hitting the
left button repeatedly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatal Run [7800]
To skip the first 28 levels, enter the code "TURTLE" during the title
screen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scrapyard Dog [7800] Atari
The left (difficulty) switch toggles background music.
To jump the large gap in world 2-3, jump up onto the middle sewer pipe
and then onto the pipe on the left. Walk to the leftmost edge of this
pipe and then run to the right. Continue running until you reach the
edge of the third (lowest pipe) in the sequence and then press the
jump button. This should send Louie sailing over the sludge!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tower Toppler [7800] Atari
If you're a 7800 Tower Toppler addict, you may be aware of these
cheats. Then again, you may not, so:
- The difficulty switches normally have to both be set to the RIGHT
in order play the games (see the instruction manual).
- The left difficulty switch is the cheat mode toggle. To skip ahead
to higher towers, move the switch to the left. The game will begin
to cycle through towers. When you get to the tower you want to try,
move the switch back to the right.
- To gain unlimited lives, using the left difficulty switch, move to
the tower which is RIGHT BEFORE the tower you want to start playing,
and then move the switch to the right. Kill off all your lives. As
soon as the you have lost your last life, but BEFORE the "Game Over"
sign displays, move the left switch to the left (you have to be fast
and time it just right). You will cycle to the next highest tower
and will be granted an infinite number of lives. Move the switch to
the right and begin playing.
______________________________________________________________________
Contributors: thanks!
(many "frying" and other tricks pulled from "The 2600 Connection")
Christopher Mark Donnell 7236@ef.gc.maricopa.edu
Ed Federmeyer ed@iitmax.acc.iit.edu
Vineet Gossain vin@po.EECS.Berkeley.EDU
Kirk Israel kisrael@Jade.Tufts.EDU
David C. Jones djones@ponder.csci.unt.edu
Kris Kelley gt6005a@prism.gatech.edu
Brian Kendig bskendig@netcom.com
Ken Kuhns ken@genesis.mc.maricopa.edu
Craig Pell (VGR) vgriscep@wam.umd.edu
Mark mrathwel@uoguelph.ca
Joshua See smtc104@uoft02.utoledo.edu
Scott Stone TAFOID@delphi.com
Bob Schultz ras2441@engult.lxe.com
Marc Sira ub675@freenet.victoria.bc.ca
Phil stewarpj@bigvax.alfred.edu
Noel Tominack NOEL@UMBC2.UMBC.EDU
--
.,--,_
,-._,'x <--KYZYL
(_,-.__ ,-.,' gkomatsu@hawaii.edu
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