🎮 Play Chopper Command Online (Atari 2600)

Chopper Command is a 1982 Atari 2600 game developed by Activision and designed by Bob Whitehead. You pilot a military helicopter over a horizontally-scrolling desert, defending a convoy of supply trucks against relentless waves of enemy jets and helicopters — an Atari 2600 take on the same formula Williams used for Defender in the arcades.

How to play

Your convoy of trucks rolls across the desert below, and enemy aircraft attack from both directions. Fly left and right to intercept them before they destroy the trucks. A radar strip at the bottom of the screen shows the full horizontal map, letting you spot incoming threats before they enter view. Each wave you clear advances the game; lose the entire convoy and it is game over regardless of lives remaining.

Controls

Tips

• Read the radar before you chase. Enemies approach from off-screen in both directions. The radar strip tells you which side is under pressure so you can intercept rather than react.
• Guard the trucks, not your score. Every enemy you ignore is a potential truck kill. A destroyed convoy ends the run — points do not extend it.
• Wrap the screen to cross the map fast. Flying off either edge brings you out the other side. Use it to cut across the full landscape without flying the long way around.