---
title: Atari Basketball
tags:
- basketball
- sport
years:
- '1979'
params:
  image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_box_1_m.jpg
  specs:
  - label: year of release
    value: '1979'
  - label: companies
    value: Atari
  - label: type
    value: game
  - label: media
    value: cartridge
  - label: systems
    value: Atari 8-bit computers
  - label: number of players
    value: 1 - 4 players (versus), 2 players (cooperative)
  - label: staff
    value: Alan Miller
  screenshots:
  - title: title screen
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss000.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss001.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss002.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss003.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss004.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss005.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss006.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss007.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss008.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_ss009.png
  - title: 4 player game
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_s11.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_s12.png
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_s13.png
  - title: cartridge
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_cart_1.jpg
  - title: box art
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/atari_atari800_basketball_box_1.jpg
  machines:
  - /museum/atari-600-800-xl
  company: /companies/atari
  oc_id: 648
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230503133642/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=648
    date: '2023-05-03'
---

Atari Basketball is an early basketball game ported in 1979 from the [original Atari 2600 version](/software/basketball/) (released in december 1978).

The programmer, Alan Miller, is also the same person who designed the original version! No surprise here if the gameplay is faithful to the Atari 2600 version.

However, thanks to the great features of the Atari computers, this version is superior to its console counterpart. The graphics are better, the animation too and it's possible to play with up to four players with an 1t&ri 400 or 800 (they have 4 controller ports built-in).