Box Art Wednesday.

A Pigs in Space Atari 2600 title? I did not know of this, so a big thanks to Atariage for letting me "borrow" these scans and setting me on the quest for knowledge on this title. And thanks to Muppetwiki for giving us the scoop on the game play as well as info on a canceled Muppet title.

"Pigs in Space is a video game produced in 1983 for the Atari 2600 console. This was the last game in Atari's Children's line to be released. The game is a sequence of three mini-games, each starring one of the members of the Swinetrek crew.

In the "Chicken Invaders" mini-game, Captain Link Heartthrob throws sausages at rows of invading chickens before they can land on the planet Cluck. If an egg lands on Link, he turns into a chicken. He can also shoot Gonzo, who controls the chickens from his spaceship at the top of the screen.

First Mate Piggy has been ejected into space in "Pastaroids", and has to fight her way back to the Swinetrek before it leaves her behind. Piggy must avoid the Pastaroids and Noodles to reach the ship in time.

In the final game, "Escape from the Planet of the Gonzoids", Dr. Julius Strangepork pilots the Swinetrek through an abandoned pizza mine, avoiding Gonzo's deadly robots. The Swinetrek is armed with a Boomeray, which shoots straight up and then curves back down to destroy the Gonzoids.

Atari produced a prototype for a second Muppet game, Miss Piggy's Wedding. The Children's line was cancelled before that game could be produced."

Now I've gone on and on before about my love of the Atari 2600 Activision titles but Oink! ranks up there with Keystone Kapers and Pitfall for me.However unlike those titles I never actually owned Oink!, it wasn't until the Activision Anthology for the PS2 showed up on store shelves that I had the privilege of playing this title.

As to the 2600's Video Olympics title...does anyone else think Pong might be the main point of this game?

Update: The Pigs in Space seems to be a rare title and fetches upwards of $47.00 for a loose cartridge. Doing a quick look on Youtube I think I am fine with paying that for this game, looks pretty dang fun.