Kiki

The Atari 2600 (originally called the Atari VCS) is a video game system that launched in the US in 1977; one of the oldest home video game systems, and certainly one of the most well known and fondly remembered. In fact, the Atari 2600 was re-released by Atari in 2023 as the Atari 2600+, a system that can take the same game cartridges as the original machine, along with Atari 7800 cartridges.

Though the games are very simple by today’s standards, the Atari 2600 has a very strong home-brew scene, with new games being produced by developers from all over the world. One of these developers is a guy by the name of Mirsad Sarajlic, who uses the developer name “Kiki” for his games.

Kiki is a prolific Atari 2600 developer, who creates some extraordinary Atari 2600 games and releases many of them for free to the community. You can find all his games online, and run them in an emulator of your choice, or make a cartridge for use in a real machine. He also has some special games you can purchase at a very reasonable price to support his work.

I thought I’d take a look at some of the games he has developed over the last few years. I’ve also included at the end an archive with the videos and some of the artwork and manuals you can use if running the games on Batocera or some other emulator. I have not included the ROMs themselves, as you can get them directly from Kiki (and visit his site); I’ve just collected and made some videos to go with his games for the collectors out there.

Galactic Intrusion

This is the latest game from Kiki. It’s a space shooter. You pilot your spaceship through vertically scrolling corridors, shooting enemies and collecting fuel and upgrades for your weapon. A lot of fun with a final boss at the end.

Stage Fiend

This is an unpredictable platformer, where elements move in unexpected ways. You need to learn the patterns to move on, and if you die you start from the very beginning. This style of game has become very popular in recent years with certain gamers. Quite a challenge.

Ninja Hashiru

An endless runner where you jump and dodge. You are always running, but you can control how quickly you come back down from a jump – an important game mechanic in getting big scores. Fortunately the tune does stop playing after the first 30 seconds.

Stellar Drive

A racing game where you drive over the moon’s surface, avoiding walls and robots by jumping between tracks. A little like the arcade game Bump ‘n’ Jump/Burnin’ Rubber, without the other vehicles to squash.

Stella Drive Mars

An update to Stellar Drive, where you drive on the surface of Mars. There are now more tracks, and many new obstacles to avoid. A big update.

Boo Fruit

A fun puzzle game, where you are the ghosts from Pac-man (not officially), and you can only eat fruit the same colour as you. You can change your colour to match the fruit, but if you try to eat without matching you will get devoured by Pac-man himself. Sounds easy, but it is very easy to lose concentration and mix up your colours.

Jutland Skies

A very impressive shooter for the Atari 2600. During the Battle of Jutland, you are flying your damaged plane toward the island of Sylt. You have to shoot down enemy aircraft, take out ships and submarines, and even tanks when you reach land. This game looks like it was a real labour of love for Kiki. The manual even includes historical information on the actual battle.

Caramujo

Caramujo is a platformer where you play as a snail. Don’t let the slow pace of your snail put you off – this is a fun platformer with a lot of challenge.

MEOOOW!

You control a cat, moving it left and right to collect falling items. A fairly simple game that is quite challenging.

MEOOOW! 2

The original game MEOOOW! has you moving left and right as the cat, Max, collecting falling items. MEOOOW! 2 takes this game mechanic one step further, with you trying to collect falling items as you climb higher and higher to reach the cake at the top of the screen. A great little game, well worth playing.

Once again I encourage you to check out Kiki’s homepage. You can download the ROMs there, and the other resources, such as these videos and a partial gamelist.xml you can use for Batocera can be downloaded from my page.

Thank you Mirsad Sarajlic (Kiki) for your amazing work!