collections

A wonderful collection of retro games from a era gone by. The graphics are classics and selection expansive. An adjustment is required to get use to the new style of controls, hope someone comes out with the classic disc/keypad controller! Although some colors and sounds aren't exactly authentic, the bonus material make up for it. A very high value collection for those who experienced the original.

I was an Intellivision junkie until I was about 12 years old. I can't even begin to remember all of the titles I once owned. Needless to say, I was excited to see that 60 games have been grouped together for use on the PS2. Unfortunately, the transition for INTV to PS2 was far from smooth.

Cons-
1) The controls are horrible. Most of my favorite games (Tower of Doom, Utopia, and etc...) are unplayable. Who in the world did the QC on this product? Wasn't it pretty obvious that in order to "play" any of the games you must first be able to control the characters?

2) It was next to impossible for me to even get the game to play. "Blue Disc" or not- this is completely unacceptable. Once again, a decent QC department would never have allowed this product to be shipped.

3) A minor complaint is that some of the better games are missing. However, compared to problems 1 & 2 - this is pretty minor stuff.

Pros-
1) It is nice having the games in one collection. Not because the games are playable, but more because it is like watching an old familar movie.

Ah, waking up on Christmas day in 1982 and opening Intellivision was one of the best Christmases of my youth! I remember laughing at my friends who had Atari with their stick graphics as we would wait for George Plimpton to appear on the TV to vindicate those of us who sought a better system than the standard 2600.

Alas, nothing becomes obsolete faster than video games, and unfortunately, it is totally apparent in this compilation. Specifically the sports games which separated Intellivision from the pack at the time now appear as dated as an 8-Track tape. However, it is nice to play the games that remind you of better times in childhood.

"Astrosmash", the space shoot 'em up, is still a challenging blast to play. "Bowling" still is as tough as I remember, "Skiing" holds up the test of time fairly well, stripped down, solid and timeless. "Star Strike" looks great (especially in the commericals), but has lame game play. The list goes on (over 60 in all), most are barely playable by todays standards, that aside, there is some great nostalgia here.

Negatives? Some of the best games for Intellivision are not present. Mainly because they were put out by 3rd party manufacturers (Imagic, Activision, etc.) Too bad because "Atlantis" and "Demon Attack" (both from Imagic) were very good looking and fun games.

Lastly, the game controllers on the original Intellivision drew ire even from the most devout of Intellivision fans, and were downright despised by the 2600 faithful. The mapping of the controls to the Playstation2, to put it mildly, borders on utter failure. The effort is there (e.g. graphic represenations of the Intellivision 'overlays'), but the execution is just poor. Better controls, would make this compilation 4 stars. Nostaligia alone makes it a worthwhile purchase. And for 20 bucks, you really can't go wrong!