| Sky Jinks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Programmer(s) | Bob Whitehead [1] |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sky Jinks is a vertically-scrolling, air racing-themed video game developed by Bob Whitehead for the Atari 2600 video game console, [2] and published by Activision in 1982.
In Sky Jinks, the player pilots a low-flying Seversky XP-41 [3] airplane through a time trial. To complete a game level, the player must bank around a prescribed number of pylons (left for blue and right for red). The XP-41 can bank left and right, as well as accelerate and decelerate. Flying into a pylon (which counts), tree, or hot air balloon slows down the plane.
The game has four courses: Polo Grounds, Aero Race, Love Field, and Speedy Meadows. There is also a pseudo-randomly-generated course called Thompson Tourney. [3]
In the mid-1980s, social psychologist Roy Baumeister used the game in his psychological research into performance anxiety. [4]
Activision anthologized Sky Jinks in the PlayStation title A Collection of Activision Classic Games for the Atari 2600 (1998) and in the multi-platform collection Activision Anthology (2002).
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man. Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. Atari rebranded the VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982 alongside the release of the Atari 5200.
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