Tank

Before Combat came Tank – an arcade duel Atari wanted to bring home.

Kee Games, a company Atari had created as an apparent rival so it could reach more arcade distributors, released Tank in 1974.

Two players steered tanks through an overhead maze, using separate levers to control their tracks. Walls created opportunities for ambushes, and mines made careless movement dangerous.

Tank became a major arcade hit at a difficult moment for Atari, helping the company recover from serious financial problems. Its importance soon reached beyond the arcade.

When Atari began designing the Video Computer System, Tank was one of the games engineers specifically wanted the new hardware to reproduce. Its two-player battles became the foundation for Combat, the pack-in cartridge that accompanied the VCS and carried Tank's basic idea into the home.