Colony 7 - Atari 2600

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$30.00

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This is Colony 7. Jarvian hostiles sighted inbound. Non combatant personnel are retreating to shuttle bay. We are preparing to defend position. City-wide shield is active. Gun emplacements are standing by. Special Weapon is primed. We will not retreat. We will survive.

Your mission is to defend Colony 7 from the evil Jarvians. Wave after wave of enemy fighters strafe the Colony's defensive shield, attempting to break through. You're in command of the Colony's defensive guns, unleashing a converging stream of laser fire at the attacking hordes. You must wipe out the invading craft before either the cannons or the entire Colony are destroyed.

Use your joystick to steer the targeting crosshairs around the screen. The defensive cannons will automatically fire salvo after salvo towards the current crosshair position. Your goal is to completely annihilate each attacking squadron, since even a single attacker breaking through can destroy your colony. If the situation seems desperate, hit the fire button to activate the Mega Blaster, your special weapon that, in one blast, will empty the sky. Use it sparingly. Each shot drains an entire Fuel Cell, of which the Colony has only three. If you succeed in destroying a squadron, it will soon be replaced a new, even more dangerous one.

Four different types of enemies will attempt to destroy your colony! The Fighter is the most common element of the Javian fleet, and several of them will attack simultaneously, first blasting away the Colony's defensive shield and ultimately destroying the colony itself. They will also destroy your cannons if you are not careful. When The Advisor appears, it will guide the fighters faster to their targets, so destroy it quickly! The Bomber will launch a guided payload directly at one of your cannons, so you must be alert for its presence and if it succeeds in launching its bomb, destroy it before it reaches its target. And when The Scout enters your field of view it will call in replacement ships, so be sure to give it your utmost priority!

Can you save Colony 7 from destruction?

Colony 7 was created by Manuel Rotschkar, whose previous Atari 2600 homebrew games include Gunfight, Seawolf, Star Fire, and Crazy Balloon. Colony 7 is modeled after the 1981 arcade game of the same name. If you've ever played the arcade game, you'll appreciate how Manuel Rotschkar has recreated the frenetic energy of the original on the Atari 2600!

Includes cartridge and eight-page, full-color manual. Available in both NTSC and PAL video formats (please specify above when ordering).

Get a Colony 7 Box!

Colony 7 BoxColony 7 Box

If you'd like a boxed copy of Colony 7, please select "Box Upgrade: Yes" at the top of the page before adding Colony 7 to your cart. Our boxes are professionally printed and include a box insert to hold your Colony 7 cartridge in place. We want you to play our games, so we have not sealed or shrinkwrapped the boxes in any way, allowing you easy access to the game cartridge and manual.

These boxes are the same size as boxes Atari produced for their games "back in the day". They look great sitting on a shelf with your other boxed homebrew games, or alongside games from the classic Atari 2600 library. We only have a limited number of boxes for each game, and there is no guarantee they will become available again once our supplies are exhausted. Click on the images to the right to see larger photos of the box.

Author Manuel Rotschkar
Number of Players 1
Controller Joystick
Cartridge Size 8K
Label and Manual David Exton
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Justin Welshman on 09/06/2019 06:58pm
This homebrew is truly a hidden gem amongst the sea of amazing work here at Atariage. A port of the Taito 1981 Arcade game of the same name, this homebrew does an amazing job bringing the gameplay from the coin op to the 2600, (albiet simplified a bit for use with the Atari joystick.) with colorful graphics, and impressive sound and music. The challenge ramp is just right in my opinion and always keeps you wanting to play just one more game. Definitely a solid purchase to add to your homebrew collection.
Swami on 09/02/2017 05:52pm
This is a really fun game. Straightforward, yet challenging. It is similar to Missle Command, but Colony 7 is a port of the 1981 Taito arcade game of the same name. Very faithful port of the arcade game. There's more action than in Missle Command. Rather than the forking bomb patterns, you have to chase after a bunch of randomly appearing, wildly and quickly meandering UFO's with your pair of rapid fire artillery bases. Meanwhile, the UFO's are shooting a seemingly random spray of shots, which will destroy your bases if they get to close. In addition, there is the menacing bomber UFO that will cross the top of the screen at unexpected times and shoot a directly aimed bomb at your base. You have to be quick to save your base! Other types of enemy spaceships, such as the scout ships, make their appearance as well. Compared the the arcade game, the constant beating of the fire button, which only served to abate the teen angst of arcade visitors, is replaced with a welcome autofire to spare you tendonitis. Your fire button is reserved for a "mega-blaster/eradicator" combo, which are your precious few smart-bomb type weapons. Use your joystick or joystick mode on your trackball. CX80 and CX22 trackball mode hacks are also available on the AA forum, which make for great alternative controls for the game, bumping the experience to 5 stars. Although, aracade purists and 2600 enthusiasts will also enjoy the nostalgia of playing the game with your 2600 and joystick on the old CRT. The box, 8 page full color manual and cartridge are worth the $25, versus sticking to just the rom TB hacks. The graphics are first rate as well. The only things I might improve on are the sound effects, which I think could have been more exciting, and the Genesis 2-button programming for choosing separate Mega-Blaster/Eradicator buttons or manual fire, for those so inclined. But for $25 and 8K, it is a great accomplishment.
Nathan Strum on 07/11/2009 04:17am
Colony 7 is a port of a somewhat-obscure arcade game that was likely the inspiration for Imagic's Atlantis. You control a pair of rapid-firing cannons, and must defend a colony from attacking spacecraft. Each enemy ship has a unique role - strafing, bombing, calling up reinforcements, or guiding the attack. They'll chip away at your shields and take out your buildings, or worse - your cannons. But you have another weapon at your disposal - a Mega Blaster which will wipe out all attacking enemies in one fell swoop. Your Mega Blaster supply is limited though, and once all of your colonies have been destroyed, your game is over.

Colony 7 is another excellent game from Manuel Rotschkar. The action is first rate, and the controls are perfect. In order to free up the fire button to use for the Mega Blaster, the player's cannons auto-fire the entire time. This works perfectly since there's so much going on, you'd just keep the button pressed the whole time anyway. The difficulty level ramps up nicely, so you're not overwhelmed too soon, yet once you get into it, you can play for quite awhile. The graphics are nicely adapted from the arcade game (I'll admit I'm biased, because I worked on some of them) and have only minimal flicker, and the sound and music are excellent. I think Colony 7 turned out much better than Atlantis: you can fire anywhere you like; the enemies move all around the screen; plus there's the colony's shield, the Mega Blaster, different enemy behaviors, a title screen, and a lot of other touches that really add up. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better arcade action game on the 2600, so pick this one up!
Raul Torres on 03/15/2008 02:32am
OK... I am a sucker for eye candy. Well as much a sucker for eye candy as any 26007800 fan can be I guess. Needless to say, I bought Colony 7 based on dare I say it... eye candy.

But let me say that although I may have bought this book for its cover, I was pleasantly surprised to find a really good game.

Colony 7 takes the old 2600 game of Atlantis by IMAGIC & kicks it into hyperdrive. Everything in the old Atlantis game that could have been improved upon has been in Colony 7. As fine a game as Atlantis may be, if you own Colony 7, you'll never play Atlantis again.

There is something to complaint about... 1) is the title screen flickers. I don't know much about programing, and why it flickers. So I won't comment further other than to say, I wish it didn't. I thought about taking away a star, but it could have been intentional for all I know... :P

The other thing to complaint about is the all too deep rooted "comeback to play me again" factor... there's plenty of that mess in this one... sweeet!

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