Games Released in February 1983

129 new games debuted in February 1983, with Atari 2600 being the most active platform. February 1 was the busiest day, with 118 releases. Sinistar was the most popular release of the month.

Which days had the most releases?

February 1 saw the most activity with 118 releases.

Game cover
Game cover

118 releases

February 1

Game cover
Game cover

2 releases

February 22

Game cover

1 release

February 28

Game cover

1 release

February 21

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

Tue, Feb 1

118 releases

Wed, Feb 2

1 release

Thu, Feb 3

1 release

Fri, Feb 4

No releases

Sat, Feb 5

No releases

Sun, Feb 6

1 release

Mon, Feb 7

No releases

Tue, Feb 8

No releases

Wed, Feb 9

No releases

Thu, Feb 10

No releases

Fri, Feb 11

No releases

Sat, Feb 12

No releases

Sun, Feb 13

No releases

Mon, Feb 14

No releases

Tue, Feb 15

1 release

Wed, Feb 16

No releases

Thu, Feb 17

No releases

Fri, Feb 18

No releases

Sat, Feb 19

No releases

Sun, Feb 20

No releases

Mon, Feb 21

1 release

Tue, Feb 22

2 releases

Wed, Feb 23

No releases

Thu, Feb 24

No releases

Fri, Feb 25

No releases

Sat, Feb 26

No releases

Sun, Feb 27

No releases

Mon, Feb 28

1 release

How did each week compare?

The first week of February was the busiest with 121 releases.

Week 1 (February 1–7)

121 releases
Sinistar

Most popular release in Week 1

Sinistar

The player pilots a lone spacecraft, and must create "Sinibombs" by shooting at drifting planetoids and catching the crystals that are thereby released. Sinibombs are needed to defeat the game boss, Sinistar, an animated spacecraft with a demonic skull face. Sinistar does not exist at the start of the game, and is continuously under construction by enemy worker ships. Though time is crucial, attempting to mine too quickly will destroy a planetoid without releasing any crystals. Enemy worker ships are also gathering crystals (often stealing them from the player) which they use to construct the Sinistar. Enemy warrior ships can directly attack the player's ship. The player is given a head-start before the enemy ships have enough crystals to begin construction. Game ends when the player's ships are all destroyed. Once the Sinistar is completely formed, a digitized voice makes various threatening pronouncements, including "Beware, I live!," "I hunger, coward!," "I am Sinistar!," "Run! Run! Run!," "Beware, coward!", "I hunger!," "Run, coward!," and a loud roaring sound. The Sinistar has no weapon attacks, but if it contacts the player's ship while it darts about the playfield, the player's ship will be "eaten" and destroyed. A total of 13 Sinibombs are required to destroy a fully built Sinistar, although an incomplete Sinistar can be damaged to slow construction. Each short-range Sinibomb automatically targets the Sinistar when fired, but can be intercepted by a collision with an enemy ship, enemy fire, or a planetoid. The player moves from one zone to the next each time he defeats the Sinistar. A sequence of four zones repeats continuously after the first zone. Each is named for the most numerous feature of that zone: Worker Zone, Warrior Zone, Planetoid Zone, and Void Zone (the Void Zone is especially difficult because it has very few planetoids). Beginning with the first Worker Zone, a completed but damaged Sinistar can be repaired/rebuilt by the enemy ships by gathering more crystals, extending its "lifespan" if the player is unable to kill it quickly.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Atari 2600 received 39 new titles in February 1983. The runner up was Texas Instruments TI-99 with 25 new titles.

Atari 260039 releases
Texas Instruments TI-9925 releases
Arcade18 releases
Commodore C64/128/MAX9 releases
ColecoVision4 releases
Commodore VIC-204 releases
Intellivision4 releases
MSX4 releases
Odyssey 2 / Videopac G70004 releases
Vectrex4 releases

What genres were most popular?

Shooter was the dominant genre in February 1983 with 39 titles. Arcade followed closely with 36.

Shooter39
Arcade36
Racing11
Platform10
Puzzle8
Sport8
Adventure6
Simulator6
Role-playing4
Strategy3
1983 Review
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