Dark Chambers was released by Atari in 1988 for the Atari 2600 as a late title inspired by action dungeon crawlers of the Gauntlet type, then very popular in arcades around the world. The player moves through generated mazes full of monsters, collects keys, gold, and magic items, and must gradually clear waves of enemies to reach the next, even more dangerous level of the sprawling dungeon. Compared to earlier adventures on this console, this is a markedly more action-oriented and faster-paced take, where the player must constantly shoot, dodge, and use tactics while gradually collecting better equipment and unlocking new areas of the maze.
The game supports simultaneous two-player play, an unusual feature for dungeon crawlers on the Atari 2600, one that brought the home experience considerably closer to the arcade original, designed primarily for cooperative play by two people at once. The graphics use a top-down view typical of the whole genre, with simple but legible sprites for monsters, treasure, and traps; the music is minimalistic, and the main emphasis is placed on action pacing and battlefield clarity even in more hectic situations with many enemies.
Dark Chambers was released at a time when the Atari 2600 console was already commercially on the decline and the attention of players and press was directed elsewhere, so it did not gain as much attention as older, more cult titles from the first half of the eighties. It is nonetheless still valued today as one of the last, more ambitious attempts to bring the action RPG and dungeon crawl genre to this platform. It is interesting precisely as evidence of how the genre's game mechanics kept evolving long after the console itself was considered technically outdated and superseded. Collectors still value it today also because it shows where the genre might have gone had the Atari 2600 enjoyed a longer commercial lifespan and publisher support.
Why play it: Collectors and dungeon crawler fans will find Dark Chambers appealing as one of the last ambitious attempts to bring the action RPG genre to the Atari 2600, even at a time when the console was already on the decline.
Game 51 of 69 for Atari 2600
