Though homebrew games arrive for original hardware on many generations of long-defunct consoles all the time, the Atari 2600 is currently undergoing a surprising resurgence, which means an entirely new and official release that works on a console which originally launched in the year I was born: 1977!

Beginning life as a homebrew project by an indie developer, Mr. Run and Jump was picked up to be an official release alongside the launch of the Atari 2600+, a new version of the original console, with pretty much the only modern convenience being its HDMI port (and forward compatibility with Atari 7800 games).

So, as the first fully new, official release for the Atari 2600 in decades (not counting limited edition releases of games that were created but unreleased before), what is Mr. Run and Jump actually like to play?

Well, in keeping with the style of games on the original console, Mr. Run and Jump is pretty damn challenging, for one thing.

Starting with a title screen and music (a rarity for Atari 2600 games), each of Mr. Run and Jump’s stages starts with his dog running away; the ultimate goal of the game is to get your wayward pooch back.

That means traversing numerous single screen platforming challenges, with obstacles and enemies placed in increasingly difficult-to-pass positions throughout.

In a more modern touch, instead of lives you have a very generous countdown timer, so you can attempt and re-attempt levels as much as you need to, pretty much.

And you’ll likely need to re-attempt them a lot.

One wrong move, such as running into a spike or an enemy, turns poor Mr. Run and Jump into a skull and pile of bones, before you’re sent back to the first screen of the stage you’re on.

It’s really harsh, and having to reach the end of a stage without making a single mistake is incredibly challenging, to say the least.

In fact, you’ll probably get frustrated or bored, and turn your console off, long before that aforementioned, generous timer runs out.

The controls feel ever so unresponsive at times, though that’s likely due more to the stiffness of the official Atari joystick (even the one that’s packaged with the Atari 2600+ feels like the original in this way), than the game itself.

Level and enemy design perches just on the precipice of feeling unfair rather than just difficult, with a few gaps or enemy movement patterns that could have been made ever so slightly smaller or slower, and they would have still felt challenging.

If you have a lot of patience, Mr. Run and Jump is definitely a great investment; also, it works on original hardware as well as the Atari 2600+, which is really cool for a game released in late 2023.

The box art and general packaging design is beautiful and wonderfully nostalgic; it’ll look great in anyone’s Atari collection and fits nicely alongside original titles.

Is it worth the $29.99/£24.99 asking price? I’d say yes, but with the caveat that you’re likely going to be seeing those first few stages quite a lot, and the last few hardly ever, especially as, again given the limitations and style of games for the Atari 2600, there’s no continues or passwords here.

Then again, some of us grew up with games of this level of difficulty, having to constantly restart from the beginning every time we played, being the norm.

If that doesn’t bother you, then Mr. Run and Jump might just be the game you’re looking for. It’s certainly a cool way to check out either original or new Atari hardware!

Mr. Run and Jump is, like the rest of the Atari 2600+ range, exclusive to Amazon in the UK; you can buy it from this link.