My ColecoVision Reviews

[VectorGamer]

ColecoVision Console

Drives me crazy with sprite problems

C

 

Antarctic Adventure

It's cool but sometimes I don't care if the game ends

B

 

Artillery Duel

Are you kiddin' me? You can't get any more simplistic in game play but it's fun as hell!

A

 

Astro Invader

Nice port

A

 

Beamrider

I like it

A

 

Bump N Jump

arcade accurate

A

 

BurgerTime

Even better than the NES version

A

 

Carnival

Just about arcade perfect

A

 

Centipede

Not arcade perfect and being able to control the height of the spider makes it somewhat easy

B

 

Congo Bongo

Looks good but I hate that game

C

 

Cosmic Avenger

Takes some warming up to and I may give it an A some day

B

 

Defender

The best home console port out there

A

 

Donkey Kong

Not arcade perfect but back in the day it was jaw dropping

A

 

DK Jr.

Same as DK

A

 

Frenzy

The music in this game is hilarious

A

 

Frogger

Pretty good but not as good as the Starpath version for the 2600

B

 

Galaxian

WOW

A

 

Gorf

A lot of people don't like it because it's not arcade perfect. But, I always loved this one...

A

 

Gyruss

It's got the music and it's pretty accurate

A

 

Jumpman Junior

Pretty cool but doesn't make it into the cartridge slot that often

B

 

Jungle Hunt

The best home release I've seen

A

 

Lady Bug

Arcade perfect? Close...

A

 

Miner 2049er

The graphics look like hell and I still haven't figured out how to make it past level 2. Otherwise...

A

 

Mario Bros.

Graphics are fantastic. Easier than the arcade game but it's a must have for your collection.

A

 

Mouse Trap

One of the few instances where the home version is better than the arcade. Very addicting and more to it than Pac-Man. So stop calling it "just another maze game"...

A

 

Mr. Do!

It rocks

A

 

Mr. Do's Castle

Nice music.

A

 

Omega Race

I like the C64 better but this is still a really good job on a port of a vector game.

A

 

Pac-Man Collection

Yeah it has some flicker, but this is the most arcade accurate port available. Hell, even the patterns I use on the arcade game work in this version.

A

 

Pepper II

I love this game. Very addicting.

A

 

Pitfall

All they did was touch things up from the 2600 version. Disappointing.

C

 

Pitstop

The actual racing portion of the game is cool but working the pits is really clumsy. Pick this one up only if you have the driving controller.

C

 

Popeye

Only the NES version is better.

A

 

Q*bert

It's hard to screw this one up

A

 

River Raid

Activision really didn't put too much effort in taking advantage of what the CV has to offer.

C

 

Roc N Rope

The graphics are dreadful but the game play makes up for it.

B

 

Smurf

Fun for the entire family but gets monotonous.

C

 

Space Fury

It's good but not good enough.

B

 

Space Panic

I really prefer this one over the arcade game. But, the game isn't all that anyway.

B

 

Spy Hunter

It's got the music and nice graphics. They should have made this compatible with the driving controller.

A

 

Squish Em Sam

Wow! This game is addictive. Even though the bad guys look like something out of a 2600 cartridge, this game's like a hidden gem. And the audio effects really put this one over the top.

A

 

Star Fortress

They fumbled the ball on this one. The game play is dreadfully slow and gets the lowest grade of the bunch.

F

 

Star Wars

Nice audio, great graphics, lousy controls.

C

 

Subroc

I love this one. Shoot boats, UFOs, balloons, ships, bombs, trash cans and some boss I can't tell what the heck he is...

A

 

Tapper

Sweet

A

 

Turbo

Nothing negative about this one

A

 

Tutankham

The graphics are really good but I just can't get hooked on it

B

 

Venture

You can't shoot through the moving walls which kind of sucks. Otherwise...

A

 

Zaxxon

I never got into Zaxxon. I always thought the game was made just to show off the graphics...

C

 

I hope you find my reviews just as compelling as the others available out there on the WWW

[fiddlepaddle]

I like short reviews. Mostly, I agree.

[NIAD]

Props for the mini-reviews, although I think the CV deserves a better grade then a "C"... but I'm pretty biased when it comes to the CV & ADAM.

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

[VectorGamer]

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

 

You're right - being a CV fanboy I should have given it a B

[+Ransom]

Thanks for the reviews! I pretty much agree with you on the game reviews.

 

As far as the CV itself, I'd give it a C for design (off the shelf parts) and a D for manufacturing quality. The controllers get a D- for design.

 

It's the games that save the CV, really. Otherwise it would have been yet another of those consoles that came and went without anyone noticing.

[SlowCoder]

Thanks for the reviews! I pretty much agree with you on the game reviews.

 

As far as the CV itself, I'd give it a C for design (off the shelf parts) and a D for manufacturing quality. The controllers get a D- for design.

"off the shelf parts" ... As in easily gotten parts? Doesn't that make for easy repairs? I would see that as a positive to the design, not a negative.

 

The controllers, while not used to their full extent by 95% of the games, aren't bad at all. I'm comfortable holding them. Have you played with the IntV controllers to compare?

 

My only design complaint I have for the CV is that the controller cords tie you very close to the console. A little too close for comfortable play unless you don't mind over-extending the coils. But having them coiled was probably the easiest way they could figure for people to easily store the controllers in the console.

 

That was the way things were back then. Can you really blame a company for trying different ideas out?

[+Ransom]

Thanks for the reviews! I pretty much agree with you on the game reviews.

 

As far as the CV itself, I'd give it a C for design (off the shelf parts) and a D for manufacturing quality. The controllers get a D- for design.

"off the shelf parts" ... As in easily gotten parts? Doesn't that make for easy repairs? I would see that as a positive to the design, not a negative.

 

There are positives about it, I'll give you that. But I see it as just a sign of how Coleco did everything: as cheaply as possible. Heck, they didn't even give their workers time to do good solder joints. That short-sighted mentality continued right up through when they introduced the Adam, suffered massive recalls, and ruined their reputation. Such a pity.

 

 

The controllers, while not used to their full extent by 95% of the games, aren't bad at all. I'm comfortable holding them. Have you played with the IntV controllers to compare?

 

I own an Intellivision, a 5200, and a Colecovision (among others). I had a 5200 and a CV back when they came out (and swapped my 2600 for my friend's Intellivision for one summer back then). So I do have experience with all three famously difficult controllers from back then.

 

For me, the worst controller of the three has always been the CV. The fire buttons have too far of a travel, and the short mushroom style joystick is uncomfortable. I modded a Genesis arcade stick to work with the CV, and that does fine as long as I use the passthrough CV keypad I bought to select the skill setting. I'm hoping the modded console that's on its way to me from Yurkie will fix the problems with the original controllers, though.

 

 

My only design complaint I have for the CV is that the controller cords tie you very close to the console. A little too close for comfortable play unless you don't mind over-extending the coils. But having them coiled was probably the easiest way they could figure for people to easily store the controllers in the console.

 

That was the way things were back then. Can you really blame a company for trying different ideas out?

 

No, I can't blame them for trying out different ideas. But I can blame them for using their customers as product testers, instead of letting the bad ideas die in the lab.

[Pixelboy]

Thanks for the reviews! I pretty much agree with you on the game reviews.

 

As far as the CV itself, I'd give it a C for design (off the shelf parts) and a D for manufacturing quality. The controllers get a D- for design.

"off the shelf parts" ... As in easily gotten parts? Doesn't that make for easy repairs? I would see that as a positive to the design, not a negative.

No, that's not what the term "off the shelf" implies. What it means it that the R&D guys at Coleco didn't develop much hardware by themselves (like say Sega did during the company's golden years), they mostly just combined relatively cheap electronics parts they bought from other vendors, such as Texas Instruments.

[Murph74]

98% in agreement I think. There are a few games you like that don't appeal to me, and vice versa.

 

The one that I'd dispute is Zaxxon. While it did show off the system quite nicely (even at a $20 premium price tag upon release because it has the "3D" graphics!), it's still a great game that can be as challenging as you like, and I like that it's one of the first games with a Boss! I actually wound up liking it better than most of the other shooters-- once I got the hang of the controls.

 

As for Intv vs 5200 vs CV controllers, the CV is the best of the bunch IMO. I never did like the disc-of-death being below the fire buttons on the INTV, and I've never been an analog controller fan, period. It seems that most people (not all, mind you) that don't like the CV controller are simply holding it in a non-intended way.

[Mister VCS]

ColecoVision Console

Drives me crazy with sprite problems

C

 

Mister VCS rating: B (my -third- CV console is working fine since i bought it in 1998)

 

Antarctic Adventure

It's cool but sometimes I don't care if the game ends

B

 

Mister VCS: B

 

Bump N Jump

arcade accurate

A

 

Mister VCS: A- (good conversion)

 

Carnival

Just about arcade perfect

A

 

Mister VCS: A

 

Cosmic Avenger

Takes some warming up to and I may give it an A some day

B

 

Mister VCS: B- (scrolling?!)

 

 

Defender

The best home console port out there

A

 

Mister VCS: B- ( I miss the right "Defender-feeling" Atari 2600 Stargate/Defender II is the better choice)

 

Donkey Kong

Not arcade perfect but back in the day it was jaw dropping

A

 

Mister VCS: B (this game needs "fine-tuning")

 

DK Jr.

Same as DK

A

 

Mister VCS: A (more fun and better colors than the Atari 8-bit DK Jr.)

 

Frenzy

The music in this game is hilarious

A

 

Mister VCS: B- (good arcade-port, but this game is boring)

 

Gorf

A lot of people don't like it because it's not arcade perfect. But, I always loved this one...

A

 

Mister VCS: B (average arcade-port)

 

Jumpman Junior

Pretty cool but doesn't make it into the cartridge slot that often

B

 

Mister VCS: C- (THIS is the ColecoVision?)

 

Lady Bug

Arcade perfect? Close...

A

 

Mister VCS: A- (close, but "only" a maze-game)

 

Miner 2049er

The graphics look like hell and I still haven't figured out how to make it past level 2. Otherwise...

A

 

Mister VCS: A- ( a "-" for the ugly colors)

 

Mouse Trap

One of the few instances where the home version is better than the arcade. Very addicting and more to it than Pac-Man. So stop calling it "just another maze game"...

A

 

Mister VCS: A (cool music)

 

Mr. Do!

It rocks

A

 

Mister VCS: A- (it rocks with a few "bugs")

 

Pepper II

I love this game. Very addicting.

A

 

Mister VCS: B (just don't like this kind of game)

 

Pitfall

All they did was touch things up from the 2600 version. Disappointing.

C

 

Mister VCS: B (you are not dissappointed if you know the CV-version of Pitfall II...)

 

Pitstop

The actual racing portion of the game is cool but working the pits is really clumsy. Pick this one up only if you have the driving controller.

C

 

Mister VCS: C- (ugly and boring)

 

Popeye

Only the NES version is better.

A

 

Mister VCS: A (nothing more to say here)

 

Q*bert

It's hard to screw this one up

A

 

Mister VCS: A (see Popeye)

 

River Raid

Activision really didn't put too much effort in taking advantage of what the CV has to offer.

C

 

Mister VCS: A (fun game, good scrolling)

 

Smurf

Fun for the entire family but gets monotonous.

C

 

Mister VCS: C (see rmaerz)

 

Space Fury

It's good but not good enough.

B

 

Mister VCS: ?? (have to play this these days)

 

 

Space Panic

I really prefer this one over the arcade game. But, the game isn't all that anyway.

B

 

Mister VCS: A- (I like it)

 

Spy Hunter

It's got the music and nice graphics. They should have made this compatible with the driving controller.

A

 

Mister VCS: B (not "my" game)

 

Star Wars

Nice audio, great graphics, lousy controls.

C

 

Mister VCS: B- (controlling is ok, but this game is too slow)

 

Subroc

I love this one. Shoot boats, UFOs, balloons, ships, bombs, trash cans and some boss I can't tell what the heck he is...

A

 

Mister VCS: B (fun game, but no "killer-title")

 

Turbo

Nothing negative about this one

A

 

Mister VCS: A (see rmaerz)

 

Tutankham

The graphics are really good but I just can't get hooked on it

B

 

Mister VCS: B (see rmaerz)

Venture

You can't shoot through the moving walls which kind of sucks. Otherwise...

A

 

Mister VCS: B (lousy controls)

 

Zaxxon

I never got into Zaxxon. I always thought the game was made just to show off the graphics...

C

Mister VCS: A- (good port)

Edited January 5, 2011 by Mister VCS

[NIAD]

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

 

You're right - being a CV fanboy I should have given it a B

Does that "B" stand for BIASED!

[Madaracs]

Nice work on the reviews. I mostly agree with them. Though I think Star Wars probably deserves a better rating because at the time only it and the C64 were able to even come close to the arcade version.

 

Spy Hunter rocks. The music is actually better than the arcade in that it plays the entire song throughout. The real arcade played only snippets of Peter Gunn when you first started and would go silent and only restart when the truck dropped you off after an upgrade.

 

ColecoVision Console

Drives me crazy with sprite problems

C

 

 

If you have any desire whatsoever to have that problem fixed, your switch is probably at fault. Yurkie offers a repair service for this (as I'm sure you're well aware) and it will work like new with no sprite problems when he's done. I have actually replaced the switches on 2 of my CVs with industrial switches from Ax-Man... a local gadget/odds-and-ends shop here in town.

[VectorGamer]

I have a bunch more CV carts on the way which means more reviews to come...I'm going to play Time Pilot some more before I grade it...

[retroillucid]

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

 

You're right - being a CV fanboy I should have given it a B

Does that "B" stand for BIASED!

 

I agree, Star Fortress is pretty good compared to the Arcade version (Star Castle)

 

"B" seem appropriate for this one

[VectorGamer]

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

 

You're right - being a CV fanboy I should have given it a B

Does that "B" stand for BIASED!

 

I agree, Star Fortress is pretty good compared to the Arcade version (Star Castle)

 

"B" seem appropriate for this one

 

Actually I was upgrading my review of the console to a B. Star Fortress is still an F in my book.

 

Star Castle the arcade game gets an A and so does the Vectrex version. Everything is too slow in Star Fortress.

[Madaracs]

Star Castle the arcade game gets an A and so does the Vectrex version. Everything is too slow in Star Fortress.

 

 

I think Tutankham deserves only a "C" too.

 

The graphics are good, but the movement of the sprites is choppy. This game could have been done better.

[retroillucid]

 

Star Fortress's "F" seems pretty harsh. I thought John Donzila did a decent job with this homebrew release. Thinking maybe a "C", but then again I'm pretty biased when it comes to all things CV & ADAM... I think I mentioned that already.

 

You're right - being a CV fanboy I should have given it a B

Does that "B" stand for BIASED!

 

I agree, Star Fortress is pretty good compared to the Arcade version (Star Castle)

 

"B" seem appropriate for this one

 

Actually I was upgrading my review of the console to a B. Star Fortress is still an F in my book.

 

Star Castle the arcade game gets an A and so does the Vectrex version. Everything is too slow in Star Fortress.

 

You're right about the game playing slow .... actually that's the downside ....

[VectorGamer]

I played this game enough that I feel I can grade it...

 

Time Pilot

Graphics are good but the controls are horrible unlike the slick controls found in the parent arcade game. The controls are what keeps this from being an A.

C