Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator
Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator — frequently asked questions
- Is Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator on Steam?
- No. Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
- What platforms is Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator on?
- Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator is available on Atari 7800, Atari 2600.
- When did Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator release?
- Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator was first released on December 31, 1989.
About Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator
Become a F-14 Naval Aviator undergoing seek and destroy missions while dodging and gunning enemy bogeys in deadly dogfights with your 20mm cannon and air-to-air missiles. Your cockpit comes with state of the art technology, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force: Display and main computer, Bogey Alert Indicator, G-Force Indicator, Electronic Counter Measures, and a Cannon Overheat Indicator (yes, it can overheat!)...and if your feeling up to it, give the ol'bird a boost to Mach 1.0! The gameplay like other simulation games consists of taking off, flying, combat and landing. Though most of the gameplay focuses around dogfighting with enemy bogeys (dodging missiles). In addition to that, there are also night-flying missions that add difficulty due to limited vision. Taking off and landing however, also requires additional skill as your doing it on the USS Enterprise (No relation to Star Trek), not on your standard airstrip. Pay attention to the F.D. officer as your preparing to take off (since he's the boss when it comes to this stuff...and try not to run over him...yet). Your weaponry consists of a M 61 Machine Gun and 3 different AIM Missiles (AIM 7, 9, 54) each packed with 15 missiles (that's a lot of missiles!). After each mission you will receive a Mission Rating which is based on your flying skill, number of bogey kill and number of weapons fired.
Summary via IGDB.
Game details
- Platforms
- Atari 7800, Atari 2600
- Developer
- Imagineering Inc.
- Publisher
- Absolute Entertainment
- Game modes
- Single player
- Themes
- Action, Warfare
Details via IGDB.
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Built by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atari 2600Details ↓ | 1989 | $14 | $42 | $64 | — |
| Atari 7800Details ↓ | 1989 | $17 | $42 | $84 | Dan Kitchen (designer) · Steven Kitchen (co-designer) |
Prices are per version and are not interchangeable, and neither are the reviews: conversions in this era were often built by a different studio than the original, so a score earned on one machine says nothing about how another plays.
Collector value & authenticity
Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06
How often it sells
- Loose: about 2 times a month
- Complete: about 2 times a year
- Sealed: about once a year
Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $8.77 in Oct 2009, $11.73 five years ago, and $14.00 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $8.95 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $4.60 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $3.25 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $5.00 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $5.94 | — |
| Jan 2015 | $3.90 | — |
| Jan 2016 | $9.99 | — |
| Jan 2017 | $8.99 | — |
| Jan 2018 | $7.40 | $10.49 |
| Jan 2019 | $8.23 | $21 |
| Jan 2020 | $10.36 | $31 |
| Jan 2021 | $14.08 | $29 |
| Jan 2022 | $14.96 | $30 |
| Jan 2023 | $15.00 | $36 |
| Jan 2024 | $14.89 | $35 |
| Jan 2025 | $14.89 | $35 |
| Jan 2026 | $18.45 | $35 |
| Oct 2026 | $14.00 | $42 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Label | Catalog # | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America Absolute Entertainment | Standard | AK-046 | Scarce+ |
| Europe Activision | Black | EAK-046-04B | Rare |
| Australia HES | — | — | — |
Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1989
- Controller
- Atari Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Authenticity
- Low
The Atari 2600 version
A late flight game from Dan Kitchen and Absolute, released in 1989 and still inexpensive.
Dan Kitchen designed Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator, developed by Imagineering and published by Absolute Entertainment in February 1989, late in the console's life. Kitchen had started at Activision six years earlier with Crackpots. In PAL regions the game was sold as Fighter Pilot. Little else is documented about it.
Cartridge & preservation record
Program size 16 KB, measured from the preserved dump.
Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.
Before you buy
Low risk, with no documented reproductions. Loose copies are inexpensive and boxed copies cost a few times more. If you see Fighter Pilot, that is the PAL release of the same game, so make sure it suits your console and TV region.
Collector value & authenticity
Atari 7800 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-19
How often it sells
- Loose: about 4 times a year
- Complete: about 4 times a year
- Sealed: about once a year
Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $20 in Jan 2010, $15.11 five years ago, and $16.99 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $20 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $9.98 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $3.75 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $4.25 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $8.52 | $29 |
| Jan 2015 | $11.99 | $95 |
| Jan 2016 | $14.95 | $15.50 |
| Jan 2017 | $17.99 | $10.50 |
| Jan 2018 | $13.40 | $25 |
| Jan 2019 | $14.38 | $35 |
| Jan 2020 | $13.33 | $37 |
| Jan 2021 | $13.77 | $45 |
| Jan 2022 | $16.55 | $53 |
| Jan 2023 | $15.00 | $43 |
| Jan 2024 | $18.29 | $40 |
| Jan 2025 | $17.72 | $39 |
| Jan 2026 | $16.99 | $34 |
| Oct 2026 | $16.99 | $42 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Label | Catalog # | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America Absolute Entertainment | Standard - Atari 2600 Label | AV-046 | Scarce+ |
| North America Absolute Entertainment | Standard | AV-046 | Scarce+ |
- North America: AtariAge: many copies labelled for the 2600 are really the 7800 game. The 7800 version has the wider circuit board, and a mislabelled cart will not run on a 2600.
Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 7800 software database
- Region
- NA+EU
- Released
- 1989
- Controller
- Pro-Line Joystick, Both buttons used (left fires, right is throttle/select), Console difficulty switches raise hook and gear
- Authenticity
- Low
The Atari 7800 version
Absolute's carrier-jet game, which Computer Entertainer picked as the most attractive of Absolute's first three 7800 games, with a mislabeling quirk to know about.
The 2600 section above covers the 2600 release. On the 7800, Computer Entertainer's January 1989 report on Absolute Entertainment named Tomcat the most attractive of the three games Absolute showed for the 7800, ahead of Pete Rose Baseball and Title Match Pro Wrestling. It is a carrier-based fighter simulator with dogfights and search-and-destroy missions, and Dan Kitchen is credited as programmer.
Magazine coverage of the 7800 release is slightly muddled: one December 1988 note describes it as arriving for the 2600 and the 7800 in 2600 mode. For a 7800 owner the practical point is that the cartridge plays on the system either way.
How the Atari 7800 version differs
Tomcat is a 2600 cartridge, and Computer Entertainer reported it playing on the 7800 only in 2600 mode.
Worth knowing
- From the 7800 manual. Uses the console difficulty switches: right raises/lowers the arresting hook, left the landing gear.
Before you buy
AtariAge notes that many copies labelled for the 2600 are really the 7800 game. The 7800 board is wider, and a mislabeled one will play on a 7800 but not on a 2600 despite what it says. AtariAge keeps a standard label and a 2600-label entry, both rated scarce-plus. It is an Absolute Entertainment release, AV-046, and the box and manual carry much of a complete copy's value. Pro-Line joystick.
Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator screenshots
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