Horror GamesNo. 6952 · The 2026 edition
Halloween for the Atari 2600
Experience the terror of Haddonfield in this classic 8-bit adaptation.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at web.archive.org.
In this 1983 Atari 2600 game, you guide Laurie Strode through a maze of rooms, collecting keys and avoiding Michael Myers to survive until dawn.
About this
A 2005 Rogue Cinema article by Danny Runion reviewing Halloween for the Atari 2600. It sets the game against the early-80s wave of horror franchises and horror-licensed videogames, then walks through its gameplay of escorting children to safe rooms while dodging Michael Meyers. It also covers the game's presentation touches and compares it, favorably in playability, to Wizard Games' Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Tips
- Lead each child to a safe corner room on the first or second story after hitting the fire button to make them follow.
- Grab the knife when it appears in a room only if it is convenient, since finding and using it is harder than simply running past the Shape.
- Because Michael Meyers can't be stopped, focus on dodging him rather than fighting him.
Facts from the original
- The early 1980s saw the start of big-name horror franchises like Freddy and Jason.
- At the time very few horror villains would have been popular enough to carry a videogame.
- Atari 2600 games were for the most part very kid friendly.
- Adult games could seriously cut into Atari's profits if the public started a boycott.
- The game based on 1979's hit Alien was nothing more than a glorified Pac-Man clone.
- Wizard Games created the infamous and reviled Texas Chainsaw Massacre game.
- Wizard Games was far more successful with their other game, Halloween.
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre game is impossible and futile and nothing like Halloween.
- Halloween is fairly accurate to the movie's climax.
- In Halloween you are Laurie Strode and must rescue the kids from the house while avoiding the knife-wielding Shape.
- The game's premise text describes a homicidal maniac escaped from a mental institution returning on Halloween night, with the player as babysitter in a large two-story house where the murderer has gotten inside.
- Running by a kid and hitting the fire button makes the kid follow you.
- The children sometimes don't follow you and keep running around.
- Children must be led to safe zones: corner rooms on the first or second story.
- Once the kids are safe you are given points and must rescue the next kid.
- To reach the next level you must save 5 kids.
- Most of the time there is no offense against the Shape.
- In some rooms a knife is left on the floor; Laurie can grab it and use it on Michael Meyers to drive him away temporarily.
- Michael Meyers can't be stopped; the Shape just keeps coming.
- Because finding and using the knife is hard, it is easier not to bother with it.
- Your only hope is to run past the Shape without having your head cut off.
- After decapitation, Laurie's body runs away from Michael Meyers and pumps blood from the neck.
- The killer goes after any nearby kids after Laurie's accident.
- There is no title screen adorned with pumpkins, but the number of lives is indicated by the number of jack-o-lanterns at the top of the screen.
- The haunting John Carpenter theme is used whenever Michael Meyers appears.
- No plump digitized Donald Pleasance mentions 'the evil.'
- The characters are typical pixelized stick figures and the Atari 2600 isn't known for realistic or detailed graphics.
- It is surprising that such a game was released in the early 80s.
- A justification for Atari not preventing its release was that you were trying to defend kids and battling a killer.
- The game was sold from behind counters and there was no way to promote it.
- It was one of the first actual R-rated horror movies licensed as a video game.
- Nintendo developed games based on Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.
- Many horror fans consider the Nintendo horror games the original horror game franchises, but they were just more widely promoted than the nearly mythical Wizard Games Atari 2600 titles.
- Halloween isn't a great game but it is at least playable and not as frustrating as its brother game, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- After losing the last life you keep a little dignity because no one runs on screen and kicks you in the butt.
- That fact elevates Halloween several levels above Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
From the original
Danny Runion's article looks at Halloween for the Atari 2600, placing it in context: the early 80s launched big horror franchises like Freddy and Jason, but few villains were popular enough to carry a game, and Atari 2600 titles were largely kid-friendly, so adult-oriented games risked boycotts and lost profits. He notes that the game based on 1979's Alien was little more than a Pac-Man clone, and that Wizard Games made the reviled Texas Chainsaw Massacre before finding more success with Halloween. Unlike that game, Halloween is fairly faithful to the movie's climax: you play Laurie Strode, rescuing kids from a two-story house while avoiding the knife-wielding Shape. Running past a child and hitting the fire button makes them follow you, though they sometimes wander off; you lead them to safe corner rooms on the first or second floor, earn points, and must save five kids to advance. There is rarely any way to fight back: occasionally a knife lies in a room and Laurie can use it to temporarily drive Meyers off, but he can't truly be stopped, so running past him is usually the better option. Being caught means decapitation, with Laurie's body running off and pumping blood while the killer turns to nearby children. The game's few recognizable flourishes are its jack-o-lantern lives counter and the use of John Carpenter's theme whenever Meyers appears; characters are simple pixel stick figures, and there's no Donald Pleasance voice-over. Runion finds it playable and less frustrating than Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and notes it was sold behind counters with no promotion, making it nearly mythical among the few gamers who might have wanted it. He also points out it was one of the first R-rated horror films licensed as a videogame, predating Nintendo's Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street titles that horror fans often treat as the originals.
More photos
Photos hosted by web.archive.org.
