Is Megamania on Steam?

No. Megamania 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 Megamania on?

Megamania is available on Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200.

When did Megamania release?

Megamania was first released on September 24, 1982.

Megamania

Sep 24, 1982ShooterArcadeAtari 2600Atari 8-bitAtari 5200

Megamania — frequently asked questions

Is Megamania on Steam?: No. Megamania 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 Megamania on?: Megamania is available on Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200.
When did Megamania release?: Megamania was first released on September 24, 1982.

About Megamania

In Megamania, the gameplay resembles that of Space Invaders. Rather than being aliens or spaceships, however, the enemies in this game are various objects such as hamburgers, bow ties, and steam irons. The object is to shoot them down before the energy bar at the bottom of screen is depleted, all while avoiding the oncoming enemies and their own projectiles attacks. Each of the enemies fly in select patterns and as soon as they hit the bottom of the screen, they re-appear at the top until shot by the player. The player's spacecraft depicted in the game is a cross between the U.S.S. Enterprise and Klingon battlecruiser from the Star Trek universe. Gameplay-wise and in terms of graphics, MegaMania bears a very strong resemblance to Sega's 1981 arcade title "Astro Blaster". Both games feature nearly identical patterns of approaching enemies with the player relying on an "Energy" meter. Also, the player's ship bears a remarkable similarity in both games. When Megamania was originally sold, anyone who scored above 45,000 points could send Activision a picture of their screen and become an official Megamaniac. They also would receive an Official Megamaniac emblem.[2] If a player exceeds a score of 999,999 the game ends.

Summary via IGDB.

Megamania on Wikipedia

Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1982. In the game, a pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Platforms: Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Themes: Action, Science fiction

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

70/100

from 10 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Built by
Atari 2600	1982	$9	$26	$74	2 reviews	Activision (designed by Steve Cartwright)

Also released on: Atari 8-bit · Atari 5200. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06

Loose

Complete

$26

Sealed

$74

Label variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
Blue Label	$13	$21	—

Release record

Territory	Label	Catalog #	Rarity
North America Activision	Standard	AX-017	Common+
North America Activision	Blue	AX-017	Rare
Australia HES	—	—	—

Also released in South America by CCE, Dynacom, Polyvox, Tron, Zirok, Digivision.

Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database

Region: NA+EU
Released: 1982
Controller: Atari Joystick
Players: 1 - 2
Authenticity: Low

Not in Atari 50 — other compilations and plug-and-plays are not tracked hereLow counterfeit risk

Atari 2600 prices, all games & how to spot a fake

Activision's food-themed shooter: a Space Invaders descendant that won people over with jokes and smooth movement.

Steve Cartwright developed Megamania for the 2600, and Activision published it in 1982. The pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare in which his ship is attacked by food and household objects, and he fights them off with the cruiser's missile launcher. Cartwright took his first inspiration from the arcade game Astro Blaster. Activision felt the early version needed something to separate it from the many other space shooters on the market, and its ad agency came up with the food-induced nightmare theme. Cartwright spent nine months on the game.

Critics were split at first. Some praised the graphics and the varied movement of the enemies, and others saw it as one more game in a field already crowded with Space Invaders imitators. It won 'Most Humorous Home Arcade Game' at the 4th annual Arkie Awards, and in 1984 Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated named it the best Atari 2600 game. Activision later released it for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

How it was made

Designed and programmed for the 2600 by Steve Cartwright at Activision, released in September 1982 in North America. Glyn Anderson handled the later Atari 8-bit and 5200 versions.

What the press said at the time

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games Vol. 1 No. 1	November 1982	3 joysticks
JoyStik January 1983	January 1983	★★★★

“The game is both ingenious and frustrating. There's none of the predictability of Space Invaders; it has lots of excitement and requires lots of practice.”
— Electronic Fun with Computers & Games, November 1982

“This is definitely the most habit-forming home videogame to come along in a lo-o-o-ong time. The game's delightfully varied play mechanics, wacky graphics and amusing audio all blend to make Megamania a four star delight.”
— Electronic Games, November 1982

“you'll find MegaMania to be one of the most original variations on the bottom- shooter concept ever created exclusively for the home.”
— JoyStik, December 1982

“Here's a recent graduate of the Space Invaders school that's considerably more diffi- cult but has a much better sense of humor.”
— Vidiot, February/March 1983

Electronic Fun rated games out of four joysticks. JoyStik’s capsule ratings run from one star to five.

Cartridge & preservation record

Program size 4 KB, measured from the preserved dump.

Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.

How the Atari 2600 version differs

Video magazine found the Atari 8-bit version hardly different from the 2600 original in play, but its visually enhanced graphics made it clear what each wave of attacking objects was meant to be.

Computer Entertainer rated the Atari 8-bit version even better than the 2600 cartridge, while Michael Blanchet wrote that the computer and 5200 versions were not significantly better than the 2600 game.

Brett Weiss later called the Atari 5200 version superior, because its graphics let the player recognize the objects being shot at.

Also on other platforms

Atari 5200 · Atari 8-bit

Atari 2600

Activision (designed by Steve Cartwright)

Atari 5200. The Atari 5200 version came out in November 1983, adapted by Glyn Anderson. Lou Hudson reported it would not be heavily promoted until after the Christmas season, to keep it from competing with the 2600 cartridge.
Atari 8-bit. The Atari 8-bit version, also adapted by Glyn Anderson, was released in 1984. Computer Entertainer singled out details such as the treads on the spinning tire enemies.
ColecoVision. Ports were announced for the ColecoVision, Commodore 64 and MSX, but only the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit versions were released.

Worth knowing

Named after the fact. Video Games Player reported in November 1983: "David "Pitfall" Crane taught his protege Steve Cartright [sic] how to program the Atari VCS in two days. Cartright says all those weird objects in Megamania were named after the game was programmed."
1983 Arkie Award. Megamania won Most Humorous in Electronic Games' 1983 Arkie Awards: "Steve Cartwright has turned a bad dream into a great game."
Sold as "rare" in 1986. By spring 1986 the 2600 market had moved on far enough that Computer Entertainer's mail-order list sold brand-new copies under the heading "RARE GAMES — THESE ARE YOUR SPECIAL PRICES", at $16.00 (good through 10 May 1986).

Before you buy

Low risk and common. Check which label you are looking at: the standard picture label is the original release, and the plain blue-label cart is one of Activision's later reissues. The game is the same and the price gap between the two is small, so buy whichever is in better condition unless you are collecting label variants.