Halo 2600
Encyclopedia
Halo 2600 is an action-adventure video game
developed for the Atari 2600
video game console, inspired by the Halo series
of video games.
Halo 2600 was written by Ed Fries
, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft
,
who was involved in Microsoft's acquisition of Halo developers Bungie Studios. It was one of four new Atari 2600 titles released by AtariAge
at the 2010 Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, including Duck Attack!
, K.O. Cruiser (a boxing game) and a port of Sega
's 1981 arcade game Turbo
.
According to Fries,
he was inspired to write an Atari 2600 game after reading the book Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System
by Ian Bogost
and Nick Montfort
.
to control the character of Master Chief
as he makes his way through 64 screens, divided into four zones: outdoors, covenant base, ice world, and a final boss area.
Weapons and power-ups are available to combat the many enemies that appear.
There are two upgrades in the game. Both are guarded by what appears to be nine enemies but is actually three. The first is a gun with a faster rate of fire. The second is a pair of boots that allows you to move faster. In addition to these the player can obtain energy shields from killing various enemies that will take one shot to prevent the loss of one of the player's three lives.
After successfully completing the game once, the game returns to the menu screen, but has a red sky. If you choose to play again from that screen the game is in "Legendary" mode where the player goes through again, but this time they start out moving and shooting slower.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
video game console, inspired by the Halo series
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
of video games.
Halo 2600 was written by Ed Fries
Ed Fries
Ed Fries was vice president of game publishing at Microsoft during much of the Xbox's lifecycle. He was a prime evangelist of the platform to game developers and had an important role in the acquisition of developers Bungie Studios, Ensemble Studios and Rare....
, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
,
who was involved in Microsoft's acquisition of Halo developers Bungie Studios. It was one of four new Atari 2600 titles released by AtariAge
AtariAge
Atari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...
at the 2010 Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, including Duck Attack!
Duck Attack!
Duck Attack! is an action-adventure video game developed for the Atari 2600 video game console. It was created by Will Nicholes and released by AtariAge in July 2010 at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.- Plot :...
, K.O. Cruiser (a boxing game) and a port of Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's 1981 arcade game Turbo
Turbo (video game)
Turbo is a racing game released in 1981 by Sega. The game was brought into arcades in both the standard upright cabinet format, and a semi-enclosed sit-down version to better simulate driving a real car.. The cars in the game resemble Formula 1 race cars. It was the first game to feature the now...
.
According to Fries,
he was inspired to write an Atari 2600 game after reading the book Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System
Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System
Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System is a book by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort describing the history and technical challenges of programming for the Atari 2600 video game console.-Content:...
by Ian Bogost
Ian Bogost
Ian Bogost is a video game designer, critic and researcher. He is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a founding partner at Persuasive Games...
and Nick Montfort
Nick Montfort
Nick Montfort is an associate professor of digital media at MIT in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. He is also a poet, computer scientist, and author of interactive fiction. Montfort has collaborated on the blog Grand Text Auto, the sticker novel Implementation, and the contemporary...
.
Gameplay
The player uses the joystickJoystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
to control the character of Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
as he makes his way through 64 screens, divided into four zones: outdoors, covenant base, ice world, and a final boss area.
Weapons and power-ups are available to combat the many enemies that appear.
There are two upgrades in the game. Both are guarded by what appears to be nine enemies but is actually three. The first is a gun with a faster rate of fire. The second is a pair of boots that allows you to move faster. In addition to these the player can obtain energy shields from killing various enemies that will take one shot to prevent the loss of one of the player's three lives.
After successfully completing the game once, the game returns to the menu screen, but has a red sky. If you choose to play again from that screen the game is in "Legendary" mode where the player goes through again, but this time they start out moving and shooting slower.