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Casual, two-player gaming on the Intellivision


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I've been thinking about picking up an Intellivision. I have fond memories of playing Sea Battle, Utopia, and other games at my friend's house a couple times in the late '80s, and it seems like the Inty is a good deal cheaper than many other vintage systems. My intention would be to use it mainly for casual, two-player gaming with my girlfriend. Her Mario Kart skills are pretty good, but many other two-player simultaneous games frustrate her, especially shooters and anything requiring fancy button combos (though we did play our way through River City Ransom a while back).

 

Probably the ideal for us would be a game with a relatively gentle learning curve, but that still has depth to it; something suitable for someone who doesn't live and breathe arcade games, and structured in a way so that there's some give and take between the two players, but which allows for genuine competition or cooperation as well; and above all, something where one player isn't likely to totally dominate the game, whether in terms of playing time or gameplay style. If memory serves, the Intellivision has a nice library of two-player games that don't rely on twitch skills and hardcore gaming.

 

Now, for most early console gaming, I'm usually fine with emulation. However the state of Intellivision emulation on Mac is pretty rough -- I'm glad jzintv exists, but it's one of the most user-unfriendly emus I've ever used. Add to that the 16-directional keypad, and the novelty appeal of the overlays (which I think my girlfriend might like a lot on an aesthetic level), and there's definitely a good argument for real hardware. I'm regularly seeing systems on Ebay that come with lots of CIB games for well under $100.

 

OTOH, I'm concerned about the controllers. I don't remember having any major problems back in the day, but there certainly are a lot of complaints about them. I could buy an Intellivision II, but then the Imagic games won't work (right?). I also don't see myself dropping $150 on a Cuttle Cart 3, especially with assembly required -- and what about the overlays?

 

The alternative would be to pick up the Rocks/Lives sets for GameCube. But from the descriptions, it sounds like the UI for the keypad is pretty kludgy, and a lot of the games I'd want to play would be heavily keypad-driven. It would, however, have the virtue of not filling our apartment with more stuff. We have a small place, and already have a pile of systems (GameCube, N64, Dreamcast, two PS1s, CoCo 2 and 3, Commodore 64), none of which we use very often. Plus, we'll probably be moving in a year or two.

 

(I could also get Rocks/Lives for Mac, but they haven't been updated yet and only run in Classic mode. Probably not good, though I am still on Tiger/PPC.)

 

Any recommendations? Will the Intellivision's library live up to expectations, or will we play it for a couple days and then stow it away? Will the controllers hold up, or will my girlfriend's thumb turn into mashed potatoes? Will the GameCube versions be good enough, or will the lack of overlays/keypads be awkward and unsatisfying? Will "chicks dig it", as Beavis and Butt-head would say?

Edited by thegoldenband
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I've been thinking about picking up an Intellivision. I have fond memories of playing Sea Battle, Utopia, and other games at my friend's house a couple times in the late '80s, and it seems like the Inty is a good deal cheaper than many other vintage systems. My intention would be to use it mainly for casual, two-player gaming with my girlfriend. Her Mario Kart skills are pretty good, but many other two-player simultaneous games frustrate her, especially shooters and anything requiring fancy button combos (though we did play our way through River City Ransom a while back).

 

Probably the ideal for us would be a game with a relatively gentle learning curve, but that still has depth to it; something suitable for someone who doesn't live and breathe arcade games, and structured in a way so that there's some give and take between the two players, but which allows for genuine competition or cooperation as well; and above all, something where one player isn't likely to totally dominate the game, whether in terms of playing time or gameplay style. If memory serves, the Intellivision has a nice library of two-player games that don't rely on twitch skills and hardcore gaming.

 

Now, for most early console gaming, I'm usually fine with emulation. However the state of Intellivision emulation on Mac is pretty rough -- I'm glad jzintv exists, but it's one of the most user-unfriendly emus I've ever used. Add to that the 16-directional keypad, and the novelty appeal of the overlays (which I think my girlfriend might like a lot on an aesthetic level), and there's definitely a good argument for real hardware. I'm regularly seeing systems on Ebay that come with lots of CIB games for well under $100.

 

OTOH, I'm concerned about the controllers. I don't remember having any major problems back in the day, but there certainly are a lot of complaints about them. I could buy an Intellivision II, but then the Imagic games won't work (right?). I also don't see myself dropping $150 on a Cuttle Cart 3, especially with assembly required -- and what about the overlays?

 

The alternative would be to pick up the Rocks/Lives sets for GameCube. But from the descriptions, it sounds like the UI for the keypad is pretty kludgy, and a lot of the games I'd want to play would be heavily keypad-driven. It would, however, have the virtue of not filling our apartment with more stuff. We have a small place, and already have a pile of systems (GameCube, N64, Dreamcast, two PS1s, CoCo 2 and 3, Commodore 64), none of which we use very often. Plus, we'll probably be moving in a year or two.

 

(I could also get Rocks/Lives for Mac, but they haven't been updated yet and only run in Classic mode. Probably not good, though I am still on Tiger/PPC.)

 

Any recommendations? Will the Intellivision's library live up to expectations, or will we play it for a couple days and then stow it away? Will the controllers hold up, or will my girlfriend's thumb turn into mashed potatoes? Will the GameCube versions be good enough, or will the lack of overlays/keypads be awkward and unsatisfying? Will "chicks dig it", as Beavis and Butt-head would say?

 

I'm glad to hear that you're genuinely interested in checking out the Intellivision. I think that it will be worth your time.

 

So based on your description for the ideal Intellivision game, Shark! Shark! (

) completely fits the bill. First of all, it's an Intellivision exclusive which means it actually makes sense to get an Intellivison just for this game. Basically the gameplay has you, a fish, eating other fish that are either equal to or smaller than your size. As you eat more and more fish, your fish character gets bigger, thereby allowing you to eat bigger and bigger fish. But be careful, if a fish touches you that is bigger than you, he gobbles you up and you have to start over again as a small fish. Of course there's also a shark in the game (which cues ominous music very reminiscent of Jaws, which came out ~7 years prior) which can always kill you no matter your size. However, you can also take him down as well by nibbling at his tail several times (I believe it's 6 times when you're the smallest and that number tapers off as you get bigger). The game is both cooperative and competitive in multiplayer since you work with your partner to clear the screen, but you also compare size of fish and score at all times. Another great thing about this game is that it's incredibly casual; you can easily get well over 10 lives since you get a free life every 1,000 points, which doesn't take long at all to get.

 

Regarding the overlays; the novelty value on these never wears off. I think that this is something that should be duplicated for modern games; it really makes the games about 10X more accessible. And regarding the controllers; you do want to make sure and get a system with controllers that are in pretty good shape or else you might have some problems with the controller's disc. But if you have a good controller, the Intellivision's control disc is actually very responsive and there isn't another controller that compares to it. The Intellivision version of Atlantis truly shines with this controller and it makes the Intellivision version the definitive version to own (plus it's a lot more intricate than any other version... I never liked the 2600 version much and absolutely love this version, just to give you an idea).

 

In regards to the Intellivision Lives/Rocks collections; don't bother. As I mentioned above, the overlays make the games an absolute snap to just pick up and play. With an emulated version of any game you'll always have a MUCH steeper learning curve with any game.

 

And in regards to whether or not you should get the Cuttle Cart; I'd say don't bother. Considering most people don't collect Intellivision games, the best games can be had for $5 or less most of the time. I say get an Intellivision in nice shape with Shark! Shark!, Burgertime, Atlantis, and Sharp Shot. All of those games are very casual and will definitely be enjoyed by your girlfriend (Atlantis she might not like, however; but you definitely will).

 

If there's anything I forgot to cover feel free to ask. I really like the Intellivision and think it's pretty underrated compared to the 2600 and Colecovision (I rank it higher than the Colecovision since, unlike the Colecovision, it has a lot of great games that aren't just arcade ports).

 

-Adam

 

P.S. I don't know anything about the compatibility issues of Imagic games with the INTV2; I've never heard of anything like that.

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a few coleco games will not work the the intellivision 2, namely donkey kong... which in reality is more of a blessing than a curse. imagic and activision games work just fine

 

the sears super video arcade also has detachable controllers

 

shark shark is good, sharp shot is a nice quick 2 player game, bowling is surprisingly good and detailed

 

other good single player games

 

bump n jump

beauty and the beast

happy trails

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I went ahead and picked up an Intellivision II, and so far I'm very happy with it! For $51 + S/H, we got 4 controllers and 44 games. No boxes, but almost all the games include overlays and manuals.

 

Shark! Shark! was a hit, and my Go Fish! skills mapped onto it quite well. The only thing that's a shame is having to wait for the other player after you lose a fish -- it'd be better if you could respawn (as it were!) immediately. I'm looking forward to corraling my girlfriend into a few games of Utopia, which is as good as I half-remembered.

 

For the record, the Imagic games work fine -- it's the Coleco ones that don't, or so I'm told (we didn't get any Coleco games in our lot). Future readers, don't get confused by my mistake in the OP!

 

If it's OK to post this here (instead of in "Thrift Finds" or whatever), here's a list of what we picked up. There are a few games I definitely want to pick up, especially Tower of Doom, which I really liked as a kid (and which seems to be pretty pricy these days, alas), and I think I'd like to get an Intellivoice as well. But overall I think we did pretty well for fifty bucks.

 

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin

Armor Battle

Atlantis

Auto Racing

B-17 Bomber

Beauty & the Beast

Blockade Runner

Bomb Squad

Boxing

Bump 'n' Jump

Burger Time

Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf

Defender

Demon Attack

Football

Frog Bog

Frogger

Golf

Ice Trek

Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack

Lock 'n' Chase

Loco-Motion

Major League Baseball

Mission X

NBA Basketball

Night Stalker

Q*bert

Sea Battle

Shark! Shark!

Sharp Shot

Skiing

Space Armada

Space Battle

Space Spartans

Stampede

Star Strike

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Sub Hunt

Tennis

TRON Deadly Discs

Utopia

Vectron

White Water!

Edited by thegoldenband
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I went ahead and picked up an Intellivision II, and so far I'm very happy with it! For $51 + S/H, we got 4 controllers and 44 games. No boxes, but almost all the games include overlays and manuals.

 

Shark! Shark! was a hit, and my Go Fish! skills mapped onto it quite well. The only thing that's a shame is having to wait for the other player after you lose a fish -- it'd be better if you could respawn (as it were!) immediately. I'm looking forward to corraling my girlfriend into a few games of Utopia, which is as good as I half-remembered.

 

For the record, the Imagic games work fine -- it's the Coleco ones that don't, or so I'm told (we didn't get any Coleco games in our lot). Future readers, don't get confused by my mistake in the OP!

 

If it's OK to post this here (instead of in "Thrift Finds" or whatever), here's a list of what we picked up. There are a few games I definitely want to pick up, especially Tower of Doom, which I really liked as a kid (and which seems to be pretty pricy these days, alas), and I think I'd like to get an Intellivoice as well. But overall I think we did pretty well for fifty bucks.

 

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin

Armor Battle

Atlantis

Auto Racing

B-17 Bomber

Beauty & the Beast

Blockade Runner

Bomb Squad

Boxing

Bump 'n' Jump

Burger Time

Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf

Defender

Demon Attack

Football

Frog Bog

Frogger

Golf

Ice Trek

Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack

Lock 'n' Chase

Loco-Motion

Major League Baseball

Mission X

NBA Basketball

Night Stalker

Q*bert

Sea Battle

Shark! Shark!

Sharp Shot

Skiing

Space Armada

Space Battle

Space Spartans

Stampede

Star Strike

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Sub Hunt

Tennis

TRON Deadly Discs

Utopia

Vectron

White Water!

 

 

Tha'ts not a bad score there. You got a few scarce ones in the lot as well. :cool:

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Wow, you did get a nice lot there; congrats! Once I get a replacement Intellivision (my rf modulator broke and it's wired into the system) I'll try and get a nice lot like this one. Although there aren't many games left that I want to get for the Intellivision.

 

I agree that it sucks that you have to wait for the other person to die in order to respawn in Shark Shark. But overall for a game made in the early 80's it's very enjoyable.

 

-Adam

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