The Atari 2600 console, which made the Atari brand legendary, was first released in September 1977. We can point to 1982 as the console’s most successful year. In other words, the Atari 2600 was actually a device that started entering our homes 46 years ago and was later defeated by technology.
Now the year is 2023 and a new cartridge is being released for this antique console. The game in question is called Save Mary and was actually developed during the console’s golden years.
Save Mary was in development for two years, which was a lifetime in the generation of games before the NES. The normal time to produce a game at the time was six to nine months, with some notorious games taking only five or six weeks. Save Mary was developed by veteran Atari employee Tod Frye, the man behind the 2600 version of Pac-Man and the Swordquest series.
When you pre-order one of these cartridges for $60, you get the game, as well as a silver collector’s edition box and a full-color manual. Only 500 of these cartridges are available, making them an attractive collectible for Atari enthusiasts.
As for the game, the game called Save Mary tasks you with saving a woman named Mary. Mary is trapped in a canyon that is rapidly filling with water. You need to use a crane to build platforms that will help him escape from this terrible situation. Power-ups that appear on the edge of the cliff to help you are an idea that Atari says was likely inspired by Pac-Man. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell spoke highly of this game in an interview in 1989. But the game was never released.
Save Mary isn’t actually the only game newly released for the console; Mr. Brand new games such as Run and Jump or previously unreleased “lost” games such as Aquaventure are included in the cartridges. Every cartridge in the Atari XP series is “built to the exact standards” of yesteryear, with some modern flourishes like beveled edges and gold-plated connectors to prevent pin damage. You don’t need to find a dusty old 2600 to play these games, because Atari also currently sells an upgraded version of the console called the 2600+.
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