Quick take: Tank Arena is our tribute to Combat, the 1977 Atari cartridge that shipped free in the box with every new Atari 2600 - which made it the first video game millions of families ever played.
Tank Arena is our tribute to Combat, the 1977 Atari cartridge that shipped free in the box with every new Atari 2600 - which made it the first video game millions of families ever played. Descended from Kee Games' 1974 arcade cabinet Tank, it sat two players in walled arenas and let them duel, ricocheting shells off the maze walls.
There was no computer opponent at all, so Combat was pure couch competition, and its 27 variations kept that rivalry fresh long enough to define the early home-console era.
Combat Fast Facts
| Original title | Combat |
|---|---|
| Debuted | 1977, on the Atari 2600 |
| Created by | Atari (USA) |
| Based on | Kee Games' arcade Tank (1974) |
| Genre | Two-player vehicle combat |
| Variations | 27 game modes |
| Our tribute | Tank Arena |
Why Combat Mattered
- Shipped free in the box with the Atari 2600, so it was the very first game a whole generation of players ever loaded.
- Descended from Tank, the 1974 arcade hit from Atari's sister company Kee Games.
- Packed 27 variations, from straight tank duels to invisible tanks, biplanes and jet fighters.
- Strictly two-player: with no computer opponent, you always needed a friend on the couch.
- Tank shells could bank off the arena walls, rewarding clever angles around the maze.
- Its cartridge sold in the millions almost effortlessly, carried along as the console's pack-in game.
Combat Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Kee Games releases the arcade cabinet Tank, the template for what follows. |
| 1977 | Combat ships as the pack-in cartridge for the new Atari 2600. |
| 1977 | It becomes the introduction to video gaming for millions of new console owners. |
| 1982 | Atari eventually swaps Combat for other titles as the console's pack-in game. |
| 2000s | It resurfaces on Atari anthologies as a snapshot of the early home era. |
Why Combat Still Matters
Combat mattered less for depth than for who it reached: bundled with the console, it taught a generation what a video game was. Tank Arena keeps that head-to-head, wall-banking duel and its many variations, then adds a daily seeded arena every player shares and a global leaderboard - so the couch rivalry of 1977 lives on, one bank shot at a time.
