The Starpath Supercharger was an add-on module created by Starpath

Starpath

Starpath was a U.S. company known for creating the Starpath Supercharger in 1982. The company was founded in 1981 under the name Arcadia Corporation, but it changed its name to Starpath shortly after for trademark reasons...

 to expand the game capabilities of the Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

 video game console

Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

. The device resembled a long game cartridge with a handle on one end. The Supercharger interface multiplied the Atari 2600's RAM

Random-access memory

Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...

 49-fold, from its meager built-in 128 byte

Byte

The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...

s to 6,272 bytes, i.e. giving it an extra 6 KB

Kilobyte

The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...

, allowing for larger games with higher resolution graphics. A cord coming out of the side of the cartridge plugged into the earphone jack of any standard cassette player. Games for the Supercharger were stored on normal audio cassettes.

By providing these capabilities, the Supercharger made the Atari 2600 much more like the low end home computer

Home computer

Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...

s of the era, aside from the alphanumeric keyboard the console lacked (simple numeric keypads were available from Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 as add-ons, however).

Supercharger games

All Supercharger games were developed by Starpath.

• Communist Mutants from Space
  Communist Mutants from Space
  Communist Mutants from Space was a video game created in 1982 by Starpath for the Atari 2600 home video game console and the Starpath Supercharger cassette accessory.-Story:...
  
  
• Dragonstomper
  Dragonstomper
  Dragonstomper is a role-playing video game programmed by Stephen Landrum and published in 1982 by Starpath. It was developed for the Atari 2600 video game system....
  
  
• Escape From the Mindmaster
  Escape From The Mindmaster
  Escape from the MindMaster was a video gamefor the Starpath Supercharger addon for the Atari 2600 published in 1982 by Starpath.Escape from the MindMaster utilizes a tape cassette through the Starpath Supercharger. This is used to bypass the 2K limitation of available memory in the Atari 2600...
  
  
• Fireball
• The Official Frogger
  Frogger
  Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of...
  
  
• Killer Satellites
• Party Mix
  Party Mix (video game)
  Five games in one, Party Mix is a collection title developed in 1983 by Starpath for the Starpath Supercharger add-on to the Atari 2600 console...
  
  
• Phaser Patrol
  Phaser Patrol
  Programmed by Dennis Caswell, Phaser Patrol is the first numbered release by Starpath Corporation for the Atari 2600. This game simulates a space flight in which you must pilot your ship to destroy the Dracon invaders...
  
  
• Rabbit Transit
• Suicide Mission
• Survival Island
• Sword of Saros

Known prototypes

• Labyrinth (early version of Escape From the Mindmaster)
• Sweat: The Decathlon Game

Compatibility

The Supercharger is compatible with Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

, Atari 2600 Jr. and the Sears Video Arcade consoles.

Due to the shape of the Supercharger, it will not fit into the ColecoVision's Expansion Module #1, which is an adapter that allows the ColecoVision

ColecoVision

The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...

 to play Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

 games. However, if the cover of the expansion module is removed or an extender is used, the Supercharger will work (extenders were sent to customers who called Starpath about such issues).

The Supercharger does not work on many Atari 7800

Atari 7800

The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...

 systems (which is typically backward compatible with the Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

), although it does with some early models of the system. After Atari installed a circuit to fix a compatibility issue with the 2600 version of Dark Chambers, it subsequently caused incompatibility with the Supercharger and some other games that use bank switching

Bank switching

Bank switching is a technique to increase the amount of usable memory beyond the amount directly addressable by the processor. It can be used to configure a system differently at different times; for example, a ROM required to start a system from diskette could be switched out when no longer...

.

Modern sales

The complete library of games, including the prototype Sweat, was also released on CD as Stella Gets A New Brain by CyberPuNKS (Jim Nitchals, Dan Skelton, Glenn Saunders and Russ Perry Jr.). There were two releases, both sanctioned by Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 and Bridgestone Multimedia (who had obtained the rights to the Starpath library some time ago): the first release (a limited number not-for-profit release) also included the previously unreleased Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 prototype, Polo by Carol Shaw

Carol Shaw (video game designer)

Originally an Atari employee, Carol Shaw is said to be the first female video game designer . Later she joined Activision, where she programmed her best known game, River Raid...

, and the second release included the Supercharger prototypes Meteroid (an early version of Suicide Mission) and Excalibur (an early version of Dragonstomper

Dragonstomper

Dragonstomper is a role-playing video game programmed by Stephen Landrum and published in 1982 by Starpath. It was developed for the Atari 2600 video game system....

), as well as a number of homebrew

Atari 2600 homebrew

An Atari 2600 homebrew is a homebrew video game designed for the Atari 2600 by independent developers following the discontinuation of the console in 1992. The first 2600 homebrew was written in 1995, and since then over 100 homebrew titles have been released...

 games by permission of their respective authors, and the song Atari 2600 by Splitsville, fully licensed from the band.