Play Sentinel Online

Game Overview

Sentinel on the Atari 2600 is one of those side-scrollers that feels simple at first—until you realize how fast things go sideways. You’re basically babysitting this glowing orb (the Sentinel) as it floats over these alien-infested landscapes, and if you don’t blast enemies fast enough with the light gun, they’ll drain its energy. Game over.

The first level lulls you into thinking you’ve got this, but by the second, enemy fire comes from all angles. The bosses at the end of each stage are no joke either—big, screen-filling nightmares that take way too many shots to bring down. Sometimes you’ll luck out and snag a power-up, like extra firepower or an energy boost, but they don’t last long. And yeah, you can tweak the difficulty if you want, but even the default setting gets brutal fast.

It’s the kind of game where you’ll restart a dozen times just to see if you can squeeze a little farther than last time. Good luck.