Combat — Atari Flashback: The Essential Companion eGuide

Arm yourself against your opponent with tanks, planes, or fighter jets in diverse stages in this two-player game. Blast your opponent as many times as you can for the highest score.

About the Game

The Atari Video Computer System experience for almost everyone started with Combat and its promise of 27 video games that featured tanks and jets. How exciting was it to power up the system and see things weren’t simply black and white rectangles? (Answer: Very!) Combat’s first game involved a red tank facing a blue tank positioned across a green field from one another.

Then there was the sound. Video games played at home usually produced simple beeps and boops. In Combat, idling engines growled and then roared to life when a tank lurched into motion. You heard the change in speed when bi-planes and jets increased or decreased speed.

Gameplay was equal to the sights and sounds. You needed to spend time blasting immobile targets before you could consistently bend a missile around obstacles to hit opponents, or bounce them through the mazes in Tank Pong.

Of course, the sign of ultimate disrespect was offering to play as the three jets or the giant bomber facing the three bi-planes. Everyone knew that both choices made you a big, easy target! And that’s what made your victory so much sweeter.

Object of the Game

Whether you’re driving a tank, flying a bi-plane, or piloting a jet, the objective is to score more hits on your opponent than your opponent scores against you.

How to Play

There are three primary game types in Combat: Tank, Bi-Plane, and Jet. Each game type includes variations but the controls are the same. As a rule of thumb, game action for Tank and Jet-Fighter games is viewed from the top. Bi-Plane game action is viewed from the side.

The two constants across all games are that pressing the red button fires a missile (or machine gun bullets in some Bi-Plane games) and each game runs for 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

Tank

Push the joystick up to move your tank in the same direction as its gun is pointing. To spin right, push the joystick to the right. To spin left, push the joystick to the left. To turn while staying in motion, push up-right or up-left.

The main Tank variant is Tank-Pong, in which missiles bounce off walls and obstacles. Invisible Tank and Tank-Pong use the same rules as other tank games, but the tanks remain invisible until: a missile is fired; they’re struck by a missile; or they collide with a barrier or wall.

Bi-Plane

Control your bi-plane’s speed by moving the joystick left (slowest) or right (fastest). To dive, push up on the joystick; to climb, push down. You can play as two bi-planes flying in formation, or a trio of standard bi-planes tangling with a giant bomber.

Jet

The speed of your jet is controlled by moving the joystick up (fastest) or down (slowest). Make right and left turns by moving your joystick left or right.

The two-on-two jet variation features dogfights between pairs of jets. All four jets in the three-on-one game are the same size. The trio of jets fires a wider spread of missiles, but also offers a larger target than the solo jet.

Difficulty Options

Setting the difficulty to A results in a short-range missile compared to difficulty B. This holds true across all games. While playing a bi-plane or jet game, players using difficulty setting A will fly slower than those using setting B.

Game Options

Game Type	Game #	Features	Terrain
Tank	1	GM	OP
	2	GM	EZ
	3	SM	EZ
	4	GM	CX
	5	SM	CX
Tank Pong	6	DH & BH	EZ
	7	DH & BH	CX
	8	BH	OP
	9	BH	EZ
Invisible Tank	10	GM	OP
Invisible Tank	11	GM	EZ
Invisible Tank Pong	12	DH & BH	EZ
	13	BH	OP
	14	BH	EZ
Bi-Plane	15	GM	CD
	16	SM	CD
	17	MG	CD
	18	MG	OP
Bi-Plane 2 vs. 2	19	GM	OP
Bi-Plane 1 vs. 3	20	SM	OP
Jet	21	GM	CD
	22	SM	CD
	23	GM	OP
	24	SM	OP
Jet 2 vs. 2	25	GM	CD
Jet 1 vs. 3	26	GM	OP
Jet 2 vs. 2	27	SM	OP

Features

Your tank or aircraft employs one of three different weapons; that weapon also changes based upon the chosen game. Billiard Hit (BH) is a rule change that applies only to Tank Pong.

Straight Missile (SM)

Missiles travel in a straight line after being fired.

Guided Missile (GM)

Moving the joystick to the left or right after firing a missile alters the path of the missile.

Machine Guns (MG)

Your aircraft fires a steady stream of missiles as long as you press the red button on the controller.

Direct Hit (DH)

In Tank Pong, your missiles become live as soon as they are fired.

Billiard Hit (BH)

In Tank Pong, your missiles won’t damage your opponent until they bounce off at least one obstacle.

Terrain

There are two sets of terrain options in Combat: one for land battles and another for the sky.

Open Area (OP)

There are no obstacles in the field of combat.

Easy Maze (EZ)

The obstacles in the field of combat are large with plenty of space between them.

Complex Maze (CX)

The obstacles in the field of combat are smaller and bunched closer together.

Clouds (CD)

Clouds cover the field of combat, but aren’t solid like the obstacles in tank games. Aircraft and missiles can move freely, but the clouds conceal anything moving inside them.

Tank Game Maps

Tank Pong Game Maps

Bi-Plane Game Maps

Jet Game Maps

After taking a hit, jets and bi-planes briefly spin in place. The direction they point after the spinning ends is random.
When tanks are hit, they are knocked back slightly before spinning in place. When hit near a barrier, they are pushed through the barrier. If they’re hit at the edge of the map, they’ll warp to the other side of the screen.
All controls are locked after each hit; you can neither steer nor fire. When the spinning ceases, both combatants regain full control of their vehicles.
To string together hits, your first shot must come from near the limit of your range. If you’re driving a tank, the first shot must be done while on the move (bi-planes and jets never stop moving except when they’re spinning). Keep tapping the red button to fire as soon as your opponent’s spin ends to earn a second hit.
On any maze map, drive your tank into the corners of the barriers directly in front of your starting point. If you hit them just right, your tank will bounce through or around the barrier.
Start either Game 9 (Tank Pong, Easy Maze) or Game 14 (Invisible Tank Pong, Easy Maze) and spin the red tank 180 degrees. Fire into the wall and watch the shell ricochet across the field and slam into the blue tank. The blue tank will be knocked into the red tank, sending both flying across the screen.