21+ — flagged for gore
Horror GamesNo. 5815 · The 2026 edition
Halloween
Step into the shadows of 1983 with a chilling Atari 2600 title inspired by the iconic horror film. As a teenage babysitter, you must protect a group of children from a silent, blade-wielding threat lu
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at en.wikipedia.org.
Released in 1983 for the Atari 2600, this horror video game draws its inspiration from the 1978 movie of the same name. Players assume the role of a young babysitter tasked with keeping a group of kids safe from a nameless killer armed with a knife. Developed by MicroGraphicImage and published by Wizard Video, the title distinguishes itself by including more intense gore than the original film. A notable feature is the unique death animation where the babysitter's head vanishes and is immediately replaced by a pool of blood upon being defeated.
About this
A Wikipedia article on Halloween, the 1983 Atari 2600 horror game from Wizard Video that adapted John Carpenter's 1978 film. It covers the game's origins, the gameplay of a babysitter rescuing children from a knife-wielding killer, its development under Charles Band's Wizard Video, its CES showing and reception, and its legacy among Atari collectors. The page also documents the franchise context and cited sources.
Facts from the original
- Halloween is a horror video game for the Atari 2600, released in October 1983 by Wizard Video.
- It is based on the 1978 horror film of the same name.
- The game was programmed by Tim Martin.
- When Games by Apollo went bankrupt, Martin and another former employee, Robert Barber, developed Halloween.
- Although the game used the Halloween name and the film's theatrical poster as cover art, plus the movie's main music theme, it never refers to any characters, including the killer, by their film names.
- Players take the role of a teenage babysitter (Laurie Strode) trying to save as many children as possible from an unnamed, knife-wielding killer (Michael Myers).
- Most versions of the game had no label on the cartridge, only a piece of tape with "Halloween" written in marker, as a cost-saving measure.
- The game contained more gore than the film: when the babysitter is killed, her head disappears and is replaced by blood pulsating from her neck as she runs around exaggeratedly.
- The game's primary similarity to the film is the theme music that plays when the killer appears onscreen.
- Players score points by rescuing children and taking them to "safe rooms" at both ends of each floor of the house, and by stabbing the killer with the knife if it can be found.
- A level is advanced either by rescuing five children or by stabbing the killer twice.
- The killer gets faster with each level increase, and the game continues until all three of the player's lives are lost.
- Film director Charles Band created the independent home video company Media Home Entertainment in 1978 and shortly after founded Wizard Video.
- Band had already licensed home video rights to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978).
- Wizard Video presented The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 1983; both games were incomplete at that presentation.
- Both games were initially announced for release on March 1, 1983, for the Atari 2600.
- Tom Shea of InfoWorld wrote in February 1983 that versions would be made for the Atari 400 and 800 computers and the Commodore VIC-20 by June.
- Halloween had a slightly better reception than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- The limited number of copies sold has made both games highly valued items among Atari collectors.
- An AllGame retrospective reviewer said most mature-themed Atari 2600 games of the early 1980s were crude in quality and subject handling, but found Halloween among the best of them, creating suspense despite repetitive gameplay and "cartoonish stabs at violence".
- AllGame gave Halloween a score of 2.5/5.
- Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost wrote in Racing the Beam (2009) that Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were designed to create controversy; with the Atari 2600 already hurt by the 1983 video game crash, neither title "didn't manage to create much of a stir".
From the original
Halloween is a single-player action horror game for the Atari 2600, published by Wizard Video in October 1983 and based on the 1978 film of the same name. It was programmed by Tim Martin, with Robert Barber as co-designer after both left the bankrupt Games by Apollo. Although the title, theatrical poster cover art and the film's main music theme were used, none of the characters are named in the game. Players control a teenage babysitter trying to rescue children from an unnamed knife-wielding killer. Points come from carrying children to safe rooms at both ends of each house floor and from stabbing the killer with a knife; levels advance by saving five children or stabbing the killer twice, with the killer speeding up each level until the player's three lives run out. The game was gorier than the film and most cartridges shipped with only a hand-marked tape label. Charles Band, who founded Media Home Entertainment and Wizard Video, licensed home video rights to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978) and moved into games after seeing Atari's early-1980s success. Wizard Video showed both licensed games, unfinished, at the January 1983 Winter CES in Las Vegas; both were first announced for a March 1, 1983 Atari 2600 release, with InfoWorld reporting planned Atari 400/800 and VIC-20 versions by June. AllGame rated Halloween 2.5/5, and it received slightly better notices than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; scarce sales later made both valuable collector items. Racing the Beam authors Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost noted both games were built to court controversy but failed to make much of a stir amid the 1983 crash.
