Defender

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

The Atari 2600 port of Defender wasn't awful, but it wasn't anywhere near the quality of the arcade original. As a result, it left a lot of people disappointed. Looking to bring an experience closer to the arcade game, Atari went back to the drawing board and returned with this port for the Atari 8-bit computer family that does a much better job of bringing the arcade game home, without the need to plop quarters in a machine or use joysticks covered in pizza grease from the previous players' hands…unless you live with a slob, that is. Everything here is an improvement over the Atari 2600 version from the gameplay to the graphics, and it really does feel like a nice, solid port. If you've never played Defender before, the concept of the game is that you want to shoot at enemy ships, but sometimes you may want to zoom past a ship to attack a different ship. There's a map at the top of the screen, and if you happen to see a ship trying to steal a person on the planet, your goal should be to shoot that specific ship and then (if the ship is high enough in the air) your goal switches from shooting to saving, as you want to catch the falling person and safely bring them back to the surface. That's where the "defender" name comes from - you're defending these people from the alien invasion. If you fail to take down a ship before they carry that person off, the person becomes mutated and then comes after you. It all results in a fast, hectic game that was unlike anything before it in the arcades and a game that ported over very well to Atari's home computers at the time.

Review added: 07/19/2026

Donkey Kong

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

This Atari-made port of Donkey Kong is actually pretty faithful to the arcade original, though with some changes made due to hardware constraints. All four levels from the arcade, for example, are here, where most ports are missing at least one. There are mild changes in the placement of rivets and ladders due to memory constraints of the computer, but it's not anything that affects the gameplay much. The graphics also aren't quite as nice as the arcade, but they're not particularly bad, either. Neither Donkey Kong, Mario, nor Pauline look as good as their arcade counterparts, or even their Colecovision counterparts, but they aren't as offensive-looking as they looked in some other ports of the game. They're fine for what they are, just like the graphics of the level design and obstacles. The gameplay itself is where this port shines, though. Everything feels pretty smooth and, again, with all four levels of the game included, the only real sacrifice that you make with playing this instead of the arcade game is that it doesn't look as pretty. I, personally, prefer the Colecovision port over this one, but to my surprise, this port actually has the higher score when I tally up the averages, second only to the arcade original. Anyway, if you like Donkey Kong and have an Atari 8-bit computer, then this is well worth tracking down.

Review added: 07/20/2026

Donkey Kong Junior

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

It seems like a lot of people prefer Donkey Kong Junior over the original…which is kind of ironic because developers struggled this game to home consoles and computer much, much more than they did with the original Donkey Kong. Unfortunately, the Atari 8-bit port is no exception. The game looks fine, with DK Junior, himself, looking quite dapper when compared to some other variations of the game, like the dreaded Intellivision port. It's nowhere near the level of the arcade original, but I don't think most folks would expect it to be. The restricted color palette of the Atari computers, though, do make this version look a little depressing and drab, compared to the brightly-colored arcade game. The gameplay is where this game stumbles the most, though. While still playable, jumping and climbing in this game just does not feel as tight as it does on the arcade original. Add in an increased difficulty, and even veterans of dropping fruit on the craniums of snapjaws may have a more difficult time getting past the first stage than they'd think. This port of Donkey Kong Junior isn't bad. It's still an okay game…but it has too many flaws to make it a port that I'd recommend…especially when the Colecovision and NES ports are light years better.

Review added: 07/20/2026