An unreleased Atari 2600 prototype has been found on a backup tape from Atari’s Coin-Op Division. The game, titled ‘Fish’, is now available for anyone to play and explore.
The filename of the game is simply listed as Fish. Little is known about who programmed it or how it ended up on a VAX system. The only available information is that the potential build date was December 22nd, 1983, although this could also be when the game was copied onto the backup system.
In terms of gameplay, ‘Fish’ is surprisingly simple. Players take control of a small fish and must eat various creatures on-screen to progress through different waves. However, bigger fish will often appear to try to swallow you. The challenge lies in eating as much while avoiding being devoured.
See the original article for links to the download and YouTube gameplay footage.
What do you think about the significance of such a find for retro gaming and our understanding of early game development?
The turning fish animation is really smooth, the lunge is a clever fishy mechanic, and the rainbow effect that they figured out how to do on later games serves the visuals well here. If it was really being developed in 1983 though, the crash would have doomed it, and the relatively simple gameplay probably kept it from being developed for other platforms.