Case study

Red vs. Blue: an annotated Atari 2600 multi-sprite demo disassembly

A labeled and commented 6502 assembly listing reconstructs Red vs. Blue, a 1981 Atari 2600 multi-sprite demo that later became RealSports Football. The listing labels the vertical sync and timer loop, the display kernel for the red and blue animated players, eight animation frames of player graphics, and the horizontal-position and sprite-copy tables. A comment marks a frame-timing counter that has no effect on the animation rate.

Targets: Game
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-09

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Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: A 6502 assembler and the vcs.h header that the listing includes.
Scope: Covers the Red vs. Blue multi-sprite demo, the program that became RealSports Football.
License: No licence stated on the project page.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{red-vs-blue-atari-2600-disassembly-case,
  title = {{Red vs. Blue: an annotated Atari 2600 multi-sprite demo disassembly}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.qotile.net/minidig/disassembly/redblue.asm}},
  url = {https://www.qotile.net/minidig/disassembly/redblue.asm},
  urldate = {2026-11-09},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/red-vs-blue-atari-2600-disassembly-case/}}
}

Plain text

Red vs. Blue: an annotated Atari 2600 multi-sprite demo disassembly. https://www.qotile.net/minidig/disassembly/redblue.asm (accessed 2026-11-09). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/red-vs-blue-atari-2600-disassembly-case/

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