Kicks like the real thing
When kicking, the figure spins on its rod: legs forward and torso back, just like in the app.
Retro Atari 8-Bit Edition
Taca Taca for ATARI 8-BIT
The app's table, rewritten in 6502 assembly for the computer of the eighties: against the Atari, two players with two joysticks or in cup mode, with the countdown, the GOAL! banner and the confetti.
- Atari 800
- XL series
- XE series and XEGS
- PAL · NTSC
Free · 13 KB · Emulator or real Atari · Will yours work?
13 KBthe whole game
6cups, like the app
56rivals in their colours
60frames per second
In motion
A real match on the Atari
Recorded in the emulator with the POKEY sound: boot, menu, countdown, goals and the win. The on-screen text is in Spanish, like the game.
What's in it
The app, in 8 bits
Everything that fits in 64 KB, as close as possible to the app's table.
Against the Atari or with a friend
One player against the computer on three difficulty levels, or red against blue with two joysticks.
Cup mode
The app's six cups, from the Neighbourhood Cup to the World Cup: rounds, rivals in their shirts and CHAMPIONS! at the end.
3, 2, 1… GOAL!
Countdown, a gold banner for every goal, confetti and the app's logo on the title screen.
Joystick or keyboard
Joystick and console keys like in the eighties, or A, Z and SPACE if you play in an emulator.
PAL and NTSC
Runs on both systems, each with its own colours and speed: 50 or 60 frames per second.
Gallery
Screen by screen
Emulator captures, pixel for pixel. Tap one to see it full size. The game's text is in Spanish.
How to play
Joystick, console or keyboard
With the joystick like in the eighties, or with your computer keyboard if you play in an emulator.
Action
Console / joystick
Keyboard
Mode: 1 player, 2 players or cup
SELECT
M
Difficulty (or which cup)
OPTION
D
Start / continue
START
RETURN
Move the red rods
joystick 1, up and down
A Z
Kick
joystick 1 fire button
SPACE
Pause
—
P
Back to the menu
—
ESC
Blue uses joystick 2. First to 5 goals wins. On a Mac, START, SELECT and OPTION are F4, F3 and F2 and need the fn key: that's why RETURN, M and D work too.
User manual
Everything explained, step by step
How to load it, the controls, the match, cup mode and what to do if something goes wrong. 14 pages with Atari screenshots, in Spanish and English.
Compatibility
Will it run on your Atari?
Runs on any Atari 8-bit with 40 KB of memory or more, from a disk drive or SD, on PAL or NTSC.
With upgrade
Atari 400
Needs a third-party memory upgrade to 40 KB or more. 16 KB is not enough: tested.
Yes
Atari 800
Runs with 40 KB or more (most were sold with or upgraded to 48 KB). Tested with 40, 48 and 52 KB, OS B and AltirraOS, PAL and NTSC. Not with 32 KB.
Yes
Atari 1200XL
Tested (NTSC).
With upgrade
Atari 600XL
Needs the 64 KB upgrade (the 1064 module or similar). 16 KB is not enough: tested.
Yes
Atari 800XL
Tested on PAL and NTSC, with BASIC on or off.
Yes
Atari 65XE
Inside it is an 800XL: same OS and same memory.
Yes
Atari 130XE
Tested. The game uses 64 KB; the rest stays free.
Yes
Atari 800XE
Same as the 65XE.
Yes
Atari XE Game System
Tested. It needs a disk drive or SIO2SD/FujiNet to load; the keyboard is optional.
Yes
Upgraded machines and clones (320XE, U1MB…)
Tested as a 320XE. Any upgraded XL/XE works.
Tested model by model in the atari800 emulator; not yet on real hardware.
Download Taca Taca for Atari
Free. Pick the format for where you'll play; the .zip has both plus instructions.
.XEX
Executable
For emulators, or from a DOS, SIO2SD or FujiNet
13 KB
.ATR
Self-booting disk
Real disk drive, SIO2PC, SIO2SD, FujiNet or emulator
90 KB
.ZIP
Both, with instructions
.xex + .atr + LEEME.txt (Spanish and English)
19 KB
For any Atari 8-bit with 40 KB or more, PAL or NTSC. Will yours work?
In an emulator
- Altirra (Windows): drag the .xex or .atr onto the window.
- atari800 (macOS, Linux, Windows): open the file, or in a terminal
atari800 -xl tacataca.xex - Atari800MacX (Mac): open it as an executable or as a disk.
Running too fast? The emulator has no speed limit: turn on “Limit Speed” (Atari800MacX, Control menu) or don't use turbo mode. The game runs at 50 frames per second on PAL and 60 on NTSC.
On a real Atari
- The .xex loads from any DOS or from the SIO2SD, SDrive or FujiNet menu.
- The .atr is a boot disk: write it to a real floppy (with APE or SIO2PC) or mount it on SIO2SD or FujiNet, then switch the Atari on.
- No need to hold OPTION at power-on: the game turns BASIC off by itself.
The disk is single density (90 KB), so any Atari drive reads it, even the original 810.
Under the hood
How it's made
For those who remember PEEK and POKE: what's inside those 13 KB.
- 6502 assembly built with MADS. No BASIC: the whole game is 13 KB of code and data.
- The pitch uses ANTIC graphics mode E (160×168, 4 colours). Players are drawn in software with unrolled code, and only the rods that move are redrawn.
- The kick: the figure spins around its rod like the app's 3D one. Seen from above it stretches: legs forward, torso and head back, with the same timing.
- The ball is a GTIA player; the wooden frame uses the other players and missiles.
- Display list interrupts (DLIs) paint the bands, the flashing gold banner and the logo, which has 3 colours of its own on every line.
- Physics in 8.8 fixed point: friction, bounces off walls and posts, blocks and shots with spin depending on where the foot hits.
- POKEY sound on 4 channels: kicks, touches, walls, crowd, whistle and the goal fanfare.
- The cups and their 56 rivals come from the same data as the app, with their names and shirt colours measured on the PAL and NTSC palettes.
Rather have the table in high definition?
Taca Taca for phone, tablet and desktop