ColecoFan1981

Does anyone remember exactly when Coleco began using 16K ROM chips for Donkey Kong instead of the original 24K ROM chips? Considering the system's original launch in summer 1982, the 24K ROM chips used initially would have been date coded between 8222 (week of May 31-June 6, 1982) and 8247 (week of November 22-28, 1982). The 16K ROM chips for Donkey Kong were likely first date coded around 8248 (week of November 29-December 5, 1982). Please let me know if you find any 24K ROMs date coded after 8248 or any 16K ROMs date coded before 8247. Thank you very much, ~Ben

The ROM on the left has chips made the 36th week of 1983 which would be the week of September 5-11. The one on the right has chips made the 23rd week of 1983 which would be the week of June 6-12. ~Ben

Pole Position for the CV remains on the holy grail list, as does Missile Command. The former would've worked quite well with the CV Driving Module, and the latter with the Roller Controller. It would also have been cool if AtariSoft had released the following other games to the CV like: Super Breakout (1978) Asteroids (1981) Galaga (1981) Food Fight (1983) Xevious (1983) Mappy (1983) ~Ben

Oddly enough, it was almost released for the 2600! ~Ben

While I do know Sega did a somewhat average port of Galaga for its SG1000 console (under the name Sega-Galaga), as well as the MSX version and CollectorVision's homebrew, I cannot help but wonder how the programmers at AtariSoft might have been able to do the game justice for the ColecoVision. Furthermore, wouldn't AtariSoft's programming team have learned from the Sega and MSX versions? The omission of the Challenge Stages is the only reason I dislike the SG1000 port. I'd bet that as a 32 KB cart, at least some if not all the Challenge Stages could be added (since Sega's port only had an 8 KB ROM size). ~Ben

Oh, how I wish Atari would have went ahead and released Galaga for the 5200 console (CX5228) and the XL computers. ~Ben

Tengen (lit. "heavens") was the trade name Atari used to publish games not released on its own systems, much like AtariSoft had served the same purpose pre-1984. Anyway, had Atari negotiated with the Russians the right way over rights to this game, there would have been a chance it could have been released on its 7800 system. But Nintendo won the court battle, so we never got to hear stuff like "Loginska" (named for programmer Ed Logg) and "Bradinsky" (named for score composer Brad Fuller) on the 7800's sound system. Therefore, I am all for a 7800 Tetris. ~Ben

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Space-Panic-COLECOVISION-Cartridge-only-FREE-SHIPPING-/301591699034?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_210&hash=item4638441e5a Anyone seen this yet? Here's a Space Panic variation made in Taiwan! Besides Donkey Kong and Space Panic, other Taiwan-made cart variations apply to Cosmic Avenger, Space Fury and Pepper II. ~Ben

The Taiwan cart/shell variations for all ColecoVision games besides Donkey Kong are quite rare here. NIAD's rarity list also mentions a Taiwan-made cart/shell for Pepper II, which I believe is quite rare since I haven't actually found such a variation on eBay yet. What was the complete list of ColecoVision games Coleco made that were also made in Taiwan? UPDATE: Here's a Taiwan Space Panic variation - in Canada: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Space-Panic-COLECOVISION-Cartridge-only-FREE-SHIPPING-/301591699034?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_210&hash=item4638441e5a Unlike the U.S.A.-made version, in addition to the words "Printed in Taiwan" following the Universal Co., Ltd. copyright info (no "Printed" notice follows this on the label for the U.S.A.-made version, although "Made in U.S.A." does appear on the back of the shell), the "by Universal" logo/header is placed dead center below the Space Panic logo. Our version places the Universal logo/header to the left of the Space Panic logo, under the word "Space." And as with the Taiwan-made Donkey Kong carts, the TM symbols are placed next to "VISION" instead of "COLECO" in the ColecoVision logo on both the front of the label and the spine. The fact I found this being sold by a Canadian merchant again renews my assertion the Taiwan label variations of such CV cartridges were mainly sold in Canada. ~Ben

Yes, I know that fact. But Coleco's original 1983 promotional slick for the game (before it was reworked into an original Coleco game called Destructor) gave the copyright out for Destruction Derby as 1982, not 1975. If you ask retroillucid for a picture or scan of that, you will understand what I mean. ~Ben

http://www.colecovision.dk/images/Repro%20Labels/DestrucDerby.jpg As you can see, the copyright year for the original Exidy game was 1975, not 1982. Coleco got that wrong. ~Ben

Strangely enough, this 1975 title was to be the upcoming release for the ColecoVision according to the back of the box for the Expansion Module No. 2 (the Driving Module). Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coleco-Vision-Expansion-Module-2-With-Box-Turbo-Cartridge-/121700271986 Exidy later licensed the game to the struggling Chicago Coin Company, who produced the game under the title Demolition Derby. This deal meant Exidy's original version was no longer made so as to avoid competition, but with CCC on the brink of financial self-destruction, Exidy eventually learned from this mistake. Since then, one of their missions was no longer to license games to other companies. ~Ben

5-17-2015: I do need to add more details regarding these label variations: 1. All of the Taiwanese-made carts will have the TM (trademark) symbol at the bottom right of the ColecoVision logo. U.S.-made copies place it at the top right of the logo. 2. All Taiwanese-made carts also have the Nintendo byline below the DK logo on the spine (besides the main label view). No U.S.-made copies have this on the spine as far as I know. 3. Some U.S.-made DK carts might have the TM symbol next to the CV logo on the spine (in this case, at top right) - most do not. 4. On the late 1983 "For ColecoVision & Adam" label version, the TM symbol on both the CV logo and the Nintendo byline is replaced by a registered trademark ("®") symbol. ~Ben

Of all the ColecoVision Donkey Kong label variations I know, it would appear most of the U.S.-made carts do not have the TM (trademark) symbol at all next to the ColecoVision logo on the cartridge spine. All of the Taiwanese-made carts do, which place the TM symbol at the bottom right of the CV logo on the cartridge spine instead of at the top of it. Another variation I noticed is that some Taiwanese-made DK carts also do not have yellow stars, but white stars for the "O"s in the DK logo. As to pinpointing when each of these label variations were made, this will be a tough one without looking at the ROM chips inside. So here's a round-up of all the known label variations: "Made and printed in Taiwan" version: 1. No yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo - it's also possible the yellows may be faded. 2. Yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo. 3. On the label spine, the ColecoVision logo has a TM symbol at bottom right. On the main label view (when cart is inserted into the console) the CV logo (with PRESENTS below) also has the TM symbol at bottom right. 4. The DK logo, which places its TM symbol at top right, has the "by Nintendo" byline (also with a TM symbol at top right) on both the spine and main label view. "Printed in U.S.A." version: 1. Yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo. 2. On the label spine, the ColecoVision logo has TM symbol at top right. Ditto for the CV logo (with PRESENTS below) on the main label view. 3. Most copies have no TM symbol for the CV logo on label spine. 4. The DK logo is missing the "by Nintendo" byline from the label spine (the TM symbol is still there), but it is intact on the main label view (along with the TM symbol on the Nintendo byline). 5. Even the later "For COLECOVISION & ADAM" label version is missing the Nintendo byline (which on the main label view now has a registered trademark symbol, or ®) from the DK logo on the spine. The ColecoVision logo itself also now has the ® symbol next to it. These label variations might also have to do with whether they were more common in Canada than the U.S. ~Ben

The main title music (that you hear on the player get ready screen), though, is the Alfred Hitchcock Presents theme. Within the game, one of the tunes you're referring to is "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." ~Ben

Sorry for the late reply, but this flyer shows him not as a clown but as a snowman from the prototype arcade version. ~Ben

I am wondering if Coleco ever played around with the possibility of making Mr. Do! into a Super Game a la Donkey Kong (and its sequel), Zaxxon and Buck Rogers? Should that have come to light, this Mr. Do! port would have been truer to the arcade game, both audibly and visually. With the existing 24K cartridge port, much of the music heard within was taken from the snowman version of the game, called Yukidaruma. This includes the main level music and the life lost jingle. Even with this much memory (8K away from the max 32K) we still didn't get the following tunes and intermissions: * The charge fanfare heard when you complete a level in the arcade version (whether by collecting all cherries, eliminating the last Badguy, or hitting the last Alphamonster needed to spell out "EXTRA" for an extra life, or obtaining the rare diamond) * The "Very Good" intermission (and fanfare) that appears after you complete three boards in a cycle of nine out of ten (scenes 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 11-13, 14-16, 17-19, etc). * The "Wonderful!" intermission (same fanfare as "Very Good" intermission) that appears after you complete ten boards (scene 10, 20, 30, etc) Differences in the CV version: * Main background music is same as the "snowman" version. * Life lost fanfare - ditto * Alphamonster+Munchers fanfare is just noise-channel beeping. . . despite being in the same key of B-flat as the tune for the final arcade version * When you grab the treat on a letter in the word EXTRA that has already been collected (red), the short fanfare from the snowman version plays. For the final arcade version, the Alphamonster and Munchers still appear together. * Also when you grab the treat on a white letter, the background scenery does not stay red for the duration of the Munchers' appearance on the playfield like the arcade version. * The Alphamonster and Munchers do not eat apples like in the arcade version, nor do they turn into them when hit. Even the Tomy Tutor port (only available in Japan), which shares the same Texas Instruments VDP and sound chips as the CV, has music that is truer to the original arcade version. What do you think? ~Ben

I do remember someone having successfully finished the Intellivision port for Coleco's Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle. However, some lawsuit led to the video being removed and the game being reprogrammed and re-released as Sydney Hunter. Therefore, I am wondering if somebody could please re-upload the video for the INTV version of Smurf Rescue, pre-Sydney Hunter? If anyone has this finished port of Smurf Rescue, what I'd like to see is a title screen similar to other Coleco-published INTV ports. That is, the main title screen would look like this: COLECO PRESENTS SMURF RESCUE © PEYO 1982 © COLECO 1983 followed by the players/skill level select screen. . . PLAYERS? (1 or 2) SKILL LEVEL? (1, 2, 3 or 4) Thank you, Benjamin "Ben" Edge

Sorry about reviving an eight-year-old thread, but IMHO Jolly Jogger and Electric Yo-Yo both seem to be similar in a way to Qix. ~Ben

Thank you! ~Ben

Whenever I use the Atari Assembler Editor with Atari 800 WinPlus 4.1, whenever I use the Assembler Editor page, why do I get frequent syntax errors when trying to assemble the code in ASM? EXAMPLE: 10 *=$5000 20 LDA #2 30 .END ASM' What the above should look like in assembling: $5000 A9 02 Thank you! ~Ben

TRON was available for the Tomy Tutor (or Tomy Pyuuta, if in Japan) -- that computer also used TI graphics and sound chips. The U.S. (Tomy Tutor) version was called Hyperspace for legal reasons. ~Ben

I wonder what the engine noise should sound like for the CV Pole Position? My suggestions: 1. The engine noise from the CV version of Pitstop (1983) 2. The jet engine noise from the CV version of Looping (1983) 3. The engine noise from the CV version of Turbo (1982) My pick: 2 ~Ben

Is Pole Position (1982) really possible to do on the ColecoVision, 1983-style? ~Ben

Speaking of RBT, I am wondering if anyone would make a "super" redux for the Super Game Module? ~Ben