When Nintendo Games Were on Atari: A Forgotten Chapter in Gaming History

Mario on Atari?! The Weird Era of Nintendo Games on Rival Consoles

Long before the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) revolutionized home gaming, Nintendo was a small but ambitious arcade game developer. But here’s a wild fact: before Nintendo became a gaming giant with its own consoles, its most iconic games—including Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and even Popeye—actually made their way to Atari systems.

Yes, you read that right. Nintendo, the company that would later crush Atari in the console wars, once had its biggest games running on Atari's machines. It was a bizarre moment in gaming history—one where Mario was competing with himself across rival platforms.

The Atari-Nintendo Connection

In the early 1980s, Nintendo had not yet entered the home console market. Instead, they focused on arcade games like Donkey Kong, which was an instant hit. Seeing the success of their games, Nintendo licensed some of their arcade titles to other companies for home console ports. The Atari 2600, the best-selling console at the time, became one of the platforms to get these ports.

What makes this even more surprising is that Nintendo almost partnered with Atari to distribute the Famicom (the NES in Japan) in the U.S.. If that deal had gone through, gaming history could have turned out very differently—but a misunderstanding over licensing rights derailed everything.

Despite the failed partnership, Atari still had the rights to distribute Nintendo’s early games, which led to some interesting ports—some good, some...not so much.

Nintendo's Atari Games: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Donkey Kong (1982)

• Publisher: Coleco
• Developer: Garry Kitchen
• The Verdict: A playable but disappointing version of the arcade classic. It only had two of the original four levels, lacked key mechanics (like fireballs spawning from barrels), and had some questionable graphics—Donkey Kong himself looked more like a pile of pixels than a giant ape.
• Fun Fact: Coleco, one of Atari’s biggest rivals, actually won the bidding war to port Donkey Kong, outbidding Atari themselves!

Donkey Kong Jr. (1983)

• Publisher: Coleco
• Developer: Harley H. Puthuff Jr.
• The Verdict: Another stripped-down port, missing one full stage and some of the arcade game’s charm. Donkey Kong Jr.’s sprite looked terrible, and without bonus items, scoring points became a grind.

Sky Skipper (1983)

• Publisher: Parker Brothers
• The Verdict: A weird case where Nintendo’s arcade game never got a full U.S. release, yet an Atari 2600 port still happened. The game, where you rescue animals by bombing gorillas, was quirky and unique but not exactly a must-play.

Popeye (1983)

• Publisher: Parker Brothers
• Developer: Joe Gaucher
• The Verdict: Shockingly good for an Atari 2600 game! While it wasn’t identical to the arcade version, it included all three levels, spinach power-ups, and decent graphics. One of the better Nintendo ports on Atari’s system.

Mario Bros. (1983)

• Publisher: Atari
• Developer: Dan Hitchens
• The Verdict: The best of the Nintendo games on Atari 2600. Despite simplified graphics, it kept the two-player mode, had arcade-accurate gameplay, and was one of the more polished ports of the time. However, it released right as the video game crash of 1983 happened, limiting its success.

Nintendo Almost Became an Atari Partner?!

Perhaps the wildest part of this whole story is that Nintendo and Atari nearly teamed up in the early 1980s.

Atari was struggling after the failure of its Atari 5200 console and was considering selling the Famicom (Nintendo’s Japanese console) in the U.S. under the Atari brand. The deal was nearly sealed, but a misunderstanding over Donkey Kong rights led to Atari backing out.

Instead, Nintendo took matters into their own hands and launched the NES in 1985—completely changing gaming history. Imagine if Atari had actually released the NES in America... Would they still be around today?

The End of an Era: Nintendo Moves On

By the late 1980s, Nintendo had become a powerhouse in the gaming industry. The NES was dominating the market, and Nintendo was now competing against Atari, not collaborating with them. But Atari still had the rights to sell Nintendo’s old games.

From 1986 to 1990, Atari re-released Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros., hoping to cash in on Nintendo’s rising popularity. This led to the strange situation where Mario appeared in Atari ads at the same time he was selling NES consoles.

In the end, Nintendo’s Atari era became a forgotten chapter in gaming history. It was a time when Mario appeared on competing consoles, Nintendo almost partnered with Atari, and some truly bizarre game ports were made.

Today, Nintendo is one of the most powerful gaming companies in the world, and Atari is mostly a nostalgic brand. But for a brief moment in the early ‘80s, they were partners, not rivals. And that’s a piece of video game history worth remembering.

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