ColecoFan1981

I'll add that the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A port of Donkey Kong, in that catalog (or the Sears 1983 Wish Book) even erroneously copyrights Coleco with publishing. ~Ben

Is it true that the Mario Bros. (1983) port for the Atari XL computers was never actually released? If so, then that means there were virtually no official computer-based ports of MB at all, at least not here in the USA (prior to the 1988 Atari XEGS port, which itself was an improvement on the original 5200 cartridge port and with audio inspired by the Nintendo FamiCom/NES version of the same game). It would also mean that the so-called "XL" ports of the game I'm seeing was just the 5200 console version's ROM burned onto other media. The unreleased pre-1984 ports (USA): Atari XL (just a transfer from the 5200) Apple II (partially finished) Commodore 64 (finished) Pre-1984 ports of Mario Bros. that were released in the USA: Atari 2600 Atari 5200 Post-1984 ports (USA availability): Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (also was a bonus mini-game within Super Mario Bros. 3) Atari 7800 Atari XEGS Super Nintendo Entertainment System (as a bonus mini-game within Super Mario Bros. 3) Game Boy Advance (as a bonus game on all four Super Mario Advance titles, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) ~Ben

Also: Popeye and Sky Skipper were assigned to Parker Brothers for console and computer releases (Sky Skipper's only home version was on the A2600). ~Ben

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo-cLsZfOlg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiWr4Jha4p8 You're not going to believe this... but if you play Looney Tunes Hotel long enough and find a carrot behind any door, you'll hear what sounds like the Konami 4-note pause jingle. Also... I'm wondering who's going to finish programming LTH, considering it was just a prototype? ~Ben

http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RTM29/RTM29.html I was reading this link about the various home ports of the 1981 Konami arcade game, Super Cobra, and one of the problems with the ColecoVision port is that it does not support the Super Action Controllers. I'm wondering if you folks here think differently than the reviewers in the above link? What could we do as ColecoVision fanatics to make Super Cobra compatible with the Super Action Controller? Thank you, Ben

That is exactly what I am trying to ask you. I am still hoping that you guys could correct me on the actual release dates. Like I said, in all honesty I just don't know the actual release dates for every single cartridge except that the Donkey Kong one was released late in July 1982 with the ColecoVision itself. A revised DK cart (16K ROM) was released in the 1st-2nd quarter of 1983. ~Ben

Speaking of fixing Super Cobra, I'm wondering if you fellows could also provide a hack in which your score, just while you're flying, increases at a faster rate (a la the Atari 2600 version)? The number of points scored on the CV version just by flying is way too slow. ~Ben

Thank you for correcting me on the sound chip. Of course, that explains why the sound effects in the first MSX Zaxxon port sound a bit different from the ColecoVision port it was adapted from. I'm wondering if anyone could make a decent longplay of this port (I'm talking about the 1st MSX port, not the 2nd one that was adapted from the SG1000 port), and to actually shoot Zaxxon you need to shoot at his right side (it's best to do it while you fly at an altitude around 2.5), AND while the missile is still attached. You will not get the 5000-point bonus if you shoot the missile after it releases itself from Zaxxon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci3ufScKx8g (This video by Daniel Bienvenu aka newcoleco shows you the trick to destroying Zaxxon--and please note this is the ColecoVision port) ~Ben

There seems to be not one but two ports of Zaxxon for the MSX computer and its compatibles. The first one, from circa 1983, is a straight port of the 1982 ColecoVision cartridge port (save for title and option screens). The second one, from 1985, is another straight port, in this case it's adapted from the Sega SG1000 cartridge version. I can understand why this occurred, though, since all three platforms (MSX, ColecoVision and SG1000) share the same Texas Instruments (TI) TMS9928A VDP and the Z80 CPU, as well as the TI SN76489 sound chip. But to some of you, it may seem redundant to own either MSX port if you already have the ColecoVision or the Sega SG1000 or SC3000. ~Ben

I was hoping you all could confirm these release dates. I am not saying these are the correct release dates, these may be approximate. 1st quarter 1983 (January-March 1983) releases: 2415 - Space Fury 2447 - Space Panic 2439 - Ken Uston Blackjack/Poker 2nd quarter 1983 (April-June 1983) releases: 2449 - Gorf 2601 - Donkey Kong, Jr. 2603 - Looping 2605 - Pepper II 2622 - Mr. Do! 3rd quarter 1983 (July-September 1983) releases: 2446 - Victory 2491 - Super Action Baseball (included with Super Action Controllers set) 2633 - Time Pilot 4th quarter 1983 (October-December 1983) releases: 2448 - Omega Race 2492 - Slither 2606 - Rocky Super Action Boxing 2614 - Subroc 2615 - Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom 1st quarter 1984 (January-March 1984) releases: 2422 - Super Action Football 2429 - Antarctic Adventure 2430 - BurgerTime 2440 - Bump 'n Jump 2607 - The Dukes of Hazzard 2616 - Root Beer Tapper 2632 - Tarzan 2650 - Front Line 2667 - Roc 'n Rope 2nd quarter 1984 (April-June 1984) releases: 2617 - Spy Hunter 2621 - Illusions 2637 - WarGames 2669 - Congo Bongo 2680 - Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator 2681 - Fortune Builder 2682 - Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park 2686 - The Dam Busters 3rd quarter 1984 (July-September 1984) releases: 2690 - Choplifter! 2694 - Monkey Academy 2696 - Brain Strainers 2697 - Smurf Paint 'n Play Workshop 2698 - Telly Turtle 2699 - Dr. Seuss: Fix Up the Mix-Up Again, I'm curious to know how many titles Coleco released for the ColecoVision every quarter, or three months? ~Ben

I'm wondering if anyone could confirm the release dates of every single ColecoVision cartridge that was released? I'd like to think that Coleco would release 10-20 titles per year (and how many per quarter, or every three months, of each calendar year?). For the late July 1982 launch, these were the games that were released initially: 2411 - Donkey Kong (included with ColecoVision console) 2417 - Venture 2419 - Mouse Trap 2433 - Lady Bug 2434 - Cosmic Avenger 2435 - Zaxxon 2443 - Smurf Rescue in Gargamel's Castle 2445 - Carnival Turbo (2413) was released in October 1982 and was included with the Driving Module accessory. Other titles shown in the 1982 brochure that were released later: 2415 - Space Fury (released January 1983) 2439 - Ken Uston Blackjack/Poker (released January 1983) 2422 - Head to Head Football (released January 1984 as Super Action Football) 2423 - Head to Head Baseball (released October 1983 as Super Action Baseball, included with the Super Action Controllers set) Thank you, Ben Edge

When NBC had re-ran Thundarr in '83, the video game crash was sadly just beginning... ~Ben

Thundarr: The Barbarian was copyright to Ruby-Spears Enterprises (now part of Warner Bros. Entertainment), and began life as a Saturday morning cartoon that aired on ABC in the years 1980 to 1982, and re-ran on NBC in the 1983-84 season. I would think that R-S, then owned by Taft Entertainment, wanted too much of Xonox' money for the license. ~Ben

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_YsJK9P8wU This is gameplay of the ColecoVision port of Mr. Do! on the Nintendo Wii, through an emulator called "WiiColEm." WiiColEm is, of course, the Wii version of the old Windows 95-based emulator, ColEm. Tutorial link: http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/WiiColEm I am wondering if the color palette for this version of WiiColEm uses the Yamaha V9938-based color data rather than the original Texas Instruments TMS9928A-based color data, like the earliest version of the ColEm emulator for Windows? ~Ben

When it comes to the term "full-size router" you are also taking that to mean that you are not interested in using a full-sized, so-called "laminate trimmer," either, right? ~Ben

Besides the ColecoVision label variations, there were also newer label variations for the 1982 Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports published by Coleco: The original issue from the 3rd qtr. of 1982 (July-September 1982) used this text: The game's original legal text was: But in the 1st qtr. of 1983 (January-March 1983), it changed to this text: Revised legal text for '83: The Intellivision port's original yellow text was: Original 1982 legal text: 1st qtr. 1983 yellow text: Revised legal text: Regardless of port, all label variations concluded with this information: ~Ben

Chronology of labels: DK "Made and Printed in Taiwan" label = 3rd qtr. 1982 DK "Printed in U.S.A." label = 4th qtr. 1982-3rd qtr. 1983 DK with ColecoVision/Adam label = 4th qtr. 1983-2nd qtr. 1984 Besides the labels, the instruction books for the ColecoVision version of DK also were revised throughout the production run: DK #78214 = 3rd qtr. 1982 ("Plays, sounds and scores like the DONKEY KONG™ arcade game!") DK #78214A = 4th qtr. 1982 (same bottom heading) DK #78214B = 1st qtr. 1983-2nd qtr. 1984 ("Plays like the DONKEY KONG™ arcade game!") While the label on the Intellivision version of DK has the additional mention of "Authorized Exclusive Licensee - Coleco Industries, Inc." after the "DONKEY KONG is the trademark of Nintendo of America, Inc. © 1981 Nintendo of America, Inc." for some reason, neither the ColecoVision nor the Atari 2600 versions actually have such a mention on the front label, although it is mentioned on the back cover of the DK instruction book and in Coleco promotional materials covering DK. In addition, the CV console instruction book does show an illustration of the CV DK cartridge label showing the "Authorized Exclusive Licensee" text on it. ~Ben

I'll suppose the mine level must be missing, then, no? ~Ben

The cartridge version is missing a sector, because there are only five sectors per level instead of six (the # of boards the original 1983 arcade version had). Does anyone remember which of the six levels is missing from the ColecoVision version? Nomad battle, perhaps? ~Ben

Meaning, it's mute... silent (unlike Mr. Do! and Frenzy)? ~Ben

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator is another CV game with a pause feature. About that title, what BGM are you hearing anyway? A portion of the main Star Trek theme song by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry ("Beyond the rim of the starlight/My love is wand'ring in the star flight")? I know the Game Over ("Simulation Complete") song is the final strain of that classic tune. ~Ben

Is it true that the "Made and Printed in Taiwan" variation existed in the U.S. and Canada, or just Canada? ~Ben

For all those of you who played Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator for ColecoVision, is it true that when you pause the game, there is music in the background? If yes, then is it the same theme you hear when you lose the game "SIMULATION COMPLETE"? Thank you, Ben

That Venture CV/Adam label variation is rare. Most had the 1st version from 1982. ~Ben

637 is simply the manufacturer code for Sears products made by Atari, Inc. 497 is Mattel, Inc. ~Ben