Play Combat Online

Game Overview

Combat on the Atari 2600 is one of those classic two-player showdowns where you either blast your friend’s tank or outmaneuver their plane—simple, but surprisingly addictive. The first few rounds feel straightforward (just tanks in a maze, shooting straight missiles), but then things get weird fast. By level 3, you’re steering shots mid-air with the joystick, and before long, you’re bouncing bullets off walls like some kind of tank-themed pinball.

Planes show up around level 15, and suddenly the screen’s full of biplanes looping around edges or jets zipping past clouds. Some levels turn into chaotic dogfights where you control two planes at once, or—my personal favorite—the "1 vs. 3" mode where one player gets a giant bomber while the other scrambles with three tiny fighters. And if you’re feeling mean, there’s always the invisible tank levels, where the only way to spot your opponent is when they bump into a wall or fire.

It’s the kind of game where you’ll argue over the Atari’s difficulty switches mid-match, tweaking missile speed or plane agility to tilt the odds. Every round’s a quick 136 seconds, so even when you lose, you’re already mashing the reset button for revenge.