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One of the few original games for the Atari 5200, Gremlins was inspired by the movie of the same name. Billy Peltzer receives a gift from his dad, a remarkable little creature called a Mogwai that he purchased at a store in Hong Kong. Having a Mogwai does require that certain instructions be followed, though: (1) keep them away from water because if they get wet, they multiply, (2) keep them out of light because it will kill them, and (3) the most important thing, the thing you must never forget, is that no matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg, never, never feed them after midnight because if you do, they'll hatch into gremlins! While showing his Mogwai, called Gizmo, to a friend, Gizmo gets accidentally touched by water and voila, several Mogwai pop out of him. Billy locks them all in his room but they escape right after midnight and have a snack...and you know what that does! You must help Billy deal with the gremlins and the many Mogwai running around the house by capturing or killing them. You have to be careful, though, because any water in the room you are in will make them multiply even more! Use a sword to kill the gremlins and capture any Mogwai before they eat a snack and become gremlins. Once you capture a Mogwai, take them to the pen in the room and leave them there. You can’t take forever to deal with this mess, though. You are clocked in each room and you must be done before time’s up. You also have to make every effort to survive until 6 am so the light can deal with any gremlins still running around! Gremlins is truly a fun game to play with frantic action and several tricks up its sleeve. For example, if there is a TV in the room, be sure to turn it on (by touching it) because that will keep the Mogwai and gremlins entertained while you are doing your thing. This is definitely a game to get for your 5200!

Atari’s Haunted House for the Atari 2600 was a spooky adventure-type game that had a special following among owners of the system. Atari never released a similar title for the 5200, which was a shame given the added capabilities of the system. Enter Mean Hamster Software in 2002 with the release of a sequel to the beloved Haunted House, in an effort to fill the gap filled by Atari. This new title, Haunted House II 3D took the formula of the original and expanded upon it while keeping the elements of the gameplay very much like in the 2600 title. Once more you control a pair of eyes as they explore a mansion searching for treasure. Instead of just one mansion, though, there are two entirely new mansions that you can explore. One mansion has a total of 30 rooms while the other has a total of 60 rooms. While the rooms were nothing but pitch black in the 2600 version (even if you used your matches), the rooms in the 5200 version light up enough for you to see what’s in them. Using a pseudo-3D perspective, you can determine which way you may go as you enter each room. Walls block your way as well as closed doors that may appear. This “perspective” takes a bit of getting used to but it does the trick. As before, various creatures inhabit the mansions and you must avoid their touch unless you’ve found the sword that grants you invincibility. Once you find the treasure, you must find your way out in order to finish the game. With its three skill levels, Haunted House II 3D is sure to keep anyone busy for a while!

In 1982, Bally Midway released an arcade shooter that bore a resemblance other shooters of the time but with a more demonic theme. That game was Satan’s Hollow. The goal of the game is to shoot formation of gargoyles so you can pick up pieces of a bridge that needs to be built over a river of lava. Wave after wave of gargoyles attack you with exploding eggs or rocks that can damage the bridge. After clearing waves of gargoyles you will face a fire-breathing demon who will try to scorch your ship. Your ship is equipped with rockets and with a shield. The shield can only be used for a short time, though, before it needs to be recharged. Once you’ve finished building the bridge you get to face Satan himself. Defeat him and you start again with thing being faster and your having to build a larger bridge. Satan’s Hollow was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers and to the C64. The 8-bit port was then converted to play on the Atari 5200. The Atari port of the game retains the elements of the arcade but it does not do as good of a job with the graphics. Things are recognizable, without a doubt, but there is less colour than in the arcade and the objects are not was nicely rendered. The castle looks horrible, the eggs the enemies throw at you are nothing more than lines, the gargoyles look like birds, and your ship looking nothing like the arcade original. Despite the graphical differences, the game does retain the gameplay and it is most fun to play.