Publisher Thoughts #1: Coleco

[the_wizard_666]

Hey guys! Seeing as I'm a relative noob to the VCS library, yet have a good sized collection (~200 titles), I thought it might be a neat idea to break down the library by publisher and give my thoughts on some of the games as I explore the library, as well as giving people a chance to chime in with their opinions on the same thing.

 

Before we start, I will mention that I am keeping this to retail releases only for both access reasons and simplicity's sake. I will also list every game by the publisher, even if I don't own it or if the game refuses to boot for me. This is more for completion's sake than anything...so people aren't like "what about XXX game?" After a short blurb about each game (where applicable) I will give my overall thoughts on the publisher as a whole. Anyone who wants to do the same, feel free to do so.

 

So without further ado...

 

Berenstain Bears - Don't own.

 

Carnival - While nothing special, I don't mind the game. It's pretty generic, but I never felt truly bored while playing it. Not great, but good. 5/10

 

Donkey Kong - It's an extremely stripped down port from the arcade, but it looks good, plays well, and still retains the DK "feel." Another board might have made it an above average game, but even with just the two boards it's better than I would've expected. 5/10

 

Donkey Kong Junior - Well, it looks like it should when you boot it up, but that's the best thing I can say about it. As soon as you start moving it loses that plus. It adds an extra board over DK (good), but shits the bed in every other way. Sounds good though. 2/10

 

Front Line - Wait a minute, this is a 2600 game? I had no idea they could look this good! And it actually plays fairly well. The movement is a touch slow, and aiming isn't the greatest (although that could be the joystick I used), but all in all this is above and beyond what I was expecting from the VCS! 7/10

 

Mouse Trap - While I'm not a big fan of Pac-Man or it's clones, I will say that the small twists on the formula definitely help this game. The ability to store pellets until you need them adds a different element to the game, and the doors that switch the layout of the map are a neat plus. Both those elements add depth to an otherwise tired formula and keeps it fresh. 6/10

 

Mr. Do! - What an abysmal port! While I'm no fan of the arcade game either, this port just plain bastardizes it. Even if you're a fan of the game, this one is in the "avoid" pile. 1/10

 

Roc 'n Rope - Don't own.

 

Smurfs Save the Day - Don't own.

 

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle - I want to play this, it looks awesome...but unfortunately my cart won't boot :'(

 

Time Pilot - I thought I owned it, but it appears I don't.

 

Venture - Couldn't get the cart to work. A pity, even though it looks like the weakest version, I still think I'll like it.

 

Zaxxon - I'm not sure if it's the port or the game itself, because I've never played Zaxxon on any format before this, but my god this is terrible! Maybe I need practice, but the game sucked. It gets a couple points for the visuals though...it definitely LOOKS good...at least that's something. 2/10

 

Overall - From what I've played, it would appear that most of their games are either passably decent or utter shit. I have not played anything that strikes me as a great game, and conversely there's quite a few turds to go around. There's enough passable stuff to put Coleco a step above the bottom of the barrel, but not quite enough to give a glowing recommendation. As a whole, I'd say don't avoid them outright, but don't go out of your way to get them either.

 

OVERALL PUBLISHER RATING: 4/10

[+save2600]

Totally disagree with your assessment of Mr. Do! Think it's a great port... like the graphics, colors, gameplay, everything. Even retains the Universal spelling bonus of the arcade for extra lives and points.

 

Mousetrap is excellent too. Extremely playable and especially appreciate how they implemented the difference between changing the doors and becoming the dog with the single button.

 

I don't mind the stripped down 2D visuals in Zaxxon, but damn, give us something more to shoot at already! Playfield completely devoid of artwork too. And the Intellivision version has got to be the laziest port ever... same damn scant stuff. blech

 

Roc'n Rope is fairly impressive... graphics, sounds and gameplay added up are great, but the actual game kind of gets old after a while. Still, I like it very much for what it is and the system it's on.

 

Time Pilot is good, but shooting/aiming is wonky and the lack of variety is a big letdown - no paratroopers to save.

 

Venture is a wee bit stripped down in the sound and animation department, but it's still a fun game.

 

Smurf RIGC... kids game for the most part of course. Nice visuals and sounds - and plays like a goofy version of Pitfall!

 

That said and overall, I'd rate most of the Coleco games much higher than 4 on average. Probably more like 7.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I also have to disagree with your take on Mr. Do. It's a really enjoyable port of one of my favorite arcade games.

 

I find it interesting that even though you've never played Zaxxon in any format before, you still gave this game a 2. I've always thought it was a decent enough game, but a terrible port in that it bears little resemblance to the original. I've often wondered what someone who wasn't familiar with the arcade game would think of the 2600 port. I guess now I know.

 

Despite the bad rap they get, most of the Coleco ports are decent to good in my opinion. The exception is Donkey Kong Junior, which is unbearable, especially the sound. Carnival is a good port of a so-so game. Same with Roc n Rope. Venture is very good. Time Pilot is a fun game that actually plays better than the Colecovision port. Even Donkey Kong, for all that it's missing, does what's there very well.

[the_wizard_666]

Interesting to see that I'm in the minority on Mr. Do! Maybe I am a bit harsh on it, but then again I don't like the arcade game at all, and it definitely felt worse to me.

 

Zaxxon was...well, weird. I just couldn't get the hang of it no matter how much I wanted to. I got past the first wall, and a half dozen enemies or so, but I just couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. It looked nice enough, but yeah, I just couldn't figure out what was going on. Kinda makes me want to play other versions though, just to see if it's the game itself I don't like or just this particular port.

 

As for the overall ranking of the publisher, I feel a 4 is justified in that my take is that a 5 is "perfectly average." I felt that, while some of their games were definitely above average in quality, that overall they had more that were either slightly below par or worse. Again, it's based on my personal opinions of the games, as well as not being a complete overview due to some games not working or not being owned. I feel like if Venture and Smurf both worked, the score may well have been higher (I like the Coleco version of Smurf, and the videos I watched of Venture look pretty damn sweet). At the end of the day though, I can only rate what I played, and had to go off of that.

 

Also, I must reiterate that all of these are first impressions (or very close to it). Play time ranged from 5 minutes to half an hour, so some maybe need more time to grow on me, and some may not be as good as they initially seemed. I don't want any of my negative scores to be taken as an in-depth review, because I didn't really play them enough to really feel right doing such reviews. It's just a general idea based on a quick run through a game. I may revisit some at a later date to see how my first impressions stack up down the road. I just thought this might be a fun way to explore the library, and share my thoughts.

 

On a semi-related note, what do you think of this idea in general? I just ran through another publisher stack and was thinking of doing another similar post, but don't really want to waste time if it's not interesting

[+save2600]

It's always interesting to share these kinds of thoughts... so go for it! Just because someone doesn't necessarily agree on something, that's okay. But it always helps when they can articulately explain how or why they feel the way they do about something. Besides, you never know what you may end up learning. I've given certain games another chance after hearing more about their background, why they were programmed a certain way, etc., and have come around.

 

Btw: just remembered Shawn here a little while back, had created threads on the various publishers... more of a poll of X vs. Y I guess, but we had talked about the games and all that good stuff. Not quite the same as what you're doing though, so it's all good.

[the_wizard_666]

I never thought to look for similar threads actually...usually that's the first thing to do, but it seems such breakdowns may not be commonplace anyway. I thought it might be a neat way to go about checking out the library, aside from the stuff that gets all the love of course Glad to hear it's not something that's fully been explored in this way yet though, and that it's interesting to those of you that've been around a lot longer

 

I'll definitely be revisiting a bunch of these games though. I'm mostly going for quick runs to see what I like, but I do want to "beat" every game I own, and many will take a bunch of practice to get to a point that I feel comfortable classifying them as "beaten," so even if I don't like a game, it will most likely see more play time at some point in my lifetime. And really, I can't count the number of times I've initially hated a game that grew into a favorite (or at least got itself off the crap list) after future runs, so I know I may change my tune on some titles at a later date

[+KaeruYojimbo]

Breaking down games by publisher is something I haven't seen done before and, as you said, it's a good way to go through the library and play some games you otherwise might not have (something I always encourage). One suggestion I have is if you're going to give each publisher an overall rating, download Stella. Even if you don't like playing on an emulator, that will give the the chance to at least try out the games you don't own. Playing some of Coleco's better offerings (Venture, Time Pilot and Smurf Rescue) would have helped the score and given you a few more carts to look for.

Edited March 30, 2017 by KaeruYojimbo

[the_wizard_666]

I don't know if I want to go the emulator route, but I am definitely interested in the "acquiring games I don't have and revisiting the publisher later" route. The overall is really more my overall impressions of what I've already played, along with my prioritization of the publisher as far as acquiring the games I don't have. I fully intend to update my scores and such when I get the opportunity. Also, I love the arcade version of Time Pilot, so that was one of the ones I was looking forward to firing up. I could've sworn I owned it, but it would seem I was wrong. Maybe I have a different version and thought it was the VCS one. And Venture and Smurf were both games I was looking forward to, so I'm hoping it's just something with my console that refuses to play them and not the carts themselves...gonna try them again when I test out my other models...I've only got the 6-switch hooked up, but I have a 4-switch Woody, a Vader, and a Jr. that still need testing, not to mention my Gemini. I'll be editing whenever I can

[Flojomojo]

You should totally get into emulation. Coleco is dead dead dead and their stuff on Atari is all licensed and unlikely to be re-released. It's unreasonable in 2017 to have to scrounge cartridges just to play an old game.

 

I like VCS Zaxxon, it's kinda 3D and the different perspective is a lot more playable than the arcade original.

 

You're kinder than most to VCS Donkey Kong. It's okay, I guess. I feel some odd nostalgia for it.

 

VCS Venture is fine ...barebones graphics and only two floors, but with many rooms each that's more than most games like this.

 

These Coleco ports of arcade games were the best we were going to get way back then. It's hard to stomach them now that we can play the real things in MAME.

[+save2600]

Can always post a list in the Marketplace/Wanted section for games you're looking for.

[Inky]

You're kinder than most to VCS Donkey Kong. It's okay, I guess. I feel some odd nostalgia for it.

My take on Donkey Kong isn't that it's bad. Technically, it's pretty well programmed. The levels look correct, as do Mario and the barrels, and I forgive the look of DK himself. Above all, it's playable. It's just missing the elements of the arcade game that keep it challenging and fun. It's not bad as much as it is a letdown.

 

Now DK Jr is bad, although I enjoy it in an ironic way.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Inky

[VectorGamer]

You should totally get into emulation.

 

Harmony cart.

 

Donkey Kong is horrible. Mouse Trap is horrible. Donkey Kong Junior is horrible. If it's 1982, you really need to upgrade to the ColecoVision.

 

Zaxxon is actually fun despite not even close graphically to the arcade game.

[Inky]

Mouse Trap is horrible.

 

Disagree. Mouse Trap was fun.

[the_wizard_666]

You should totally get into emulation. Coleco is dead dead dead and their stuff on Atari is all licensed and unlikely to be re-released. It's unreasonable in 2017 to have to scrounge cartridges just to play an old game.

 

I like VCS Zaxxon, it's kinda 3D and the different perspective is a lot more playable than the arcade original.

 

You're kinder than most to VCS Donkey Kong. It's okay, I guess. I feel some odd nostalgia for it.

 

VCS Venture is fine ...barebones graphics and only two floors, but with many rooms each that's more than most games like this.

 

These Coleco ports of arcade games were the best we were going to get way back then. It's hard to stomach them now that we can play the real things in MAME.

 

I'm both a gamer and a collector. While emulation definitely helps with the former, it doesn't scratch the itch of the latter. I don't think emulation is the devil or anything, it's just not for me. And that has nothing to do with monetary losses for the developers or anything. And while you think it's unreasonable to scrounge for carts, I think that's part of the fun. To each their own I suppose.

 

Can always post a list in the Marketplace/Wanted section for games you're looking for.

 

I will when I get some reasonable cash flow. I'm not working, and the government doesn't even give me enough to live on. I am working on a large purchase using the remnants of my PayPal funds though, so my owned games will hopefully be getting a substantial boost soon.

 

 

Harmony cart.

 

Donkey Kong is horrible. Mouse Trap is horrible. Donkey Kong Junior is horrible. If it's 1982, you really need to upgrade to the ColecoVision.

 

Zaxxon is actually fun despite not even close graphically to the arcade game.

 

I take it that the Harmony cart is kind of like the NES/SNES Power Paks? Great idea, but not really for me. I'd still rather have the originals. I do agree that the CV is better for arcade ports though, but I'm not trying to explore the library just yet...hell, I only have around 15 games or so, so there wouldn't be much to explore just yet

[zzip]

I find it interesting that even though you've never played Zaxxon in any format before, you still gave this game a 2. I've always thought it was a decent enough game, but a terrible port in that it bears little resemblance to the original. I've often wondered what someone who wasn't familiar with the arcade game would think of the 2600 port. I guess now I know.

 

I just don't think the 2600 can do the perspective of the original. Any game done in that perspective (Congo Bongo, Crystal Castles) look pretty different on the 2600

[zzip]

.You're kinder than most to VCS Donkey Kong. It's okay, I guess. I feel some odd nostalgia for it.

 

This is a tough one. It gets some things right-- like having all 6 platforms on the first level when most home versions had only 5. Mario looks like Mario, even if he does look like he's wearing pajamas. But his jumps just feel wrong, and other things that make DK feel like DK are just missing. But then with the cart limits of the day, I'm not sure if we could expect better.

 

So to me: Not as terrible as the Pacman effort, but still not a great home port.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

 

I just don't think the 2600 can do the perspective of the original. Any game done in that perspective (Congo Bongo, Crystal Castles) look pretty different on the 2600

 

It's been done since as a homebrew. Not as good as the original, but much closer. I doubt it could have been done in 1982 though.

[the_wizard_666]

 

This is a tough one. It gets some things right-- like having all 6 platforms on the first level when most home versions had only 5. Mario looks like Mario, even if he does look like he's wearing pajamas. But his jumps just feel wrong, and other things that make DK feel like DK are just missing. But then with the cart limits of the day, I'm not sure if we could expect better.

 

So to me: Not as terrible as the Pacman effort, but still not a great home port.

 

Yeah, that's about how I felt. It was a solid effort, but not enough to make it stand out. The 5/10 I rated it was because while it could have been much better, it also could've been much worse. Had I got it back in the day, I don't think I would've been disappointed by the effort...unless I also had a Colecovision or something that had a much better port of course. For what it is, it fills the void. I think the same about Pac-Man actually...it wasn't a great port, but it was serviceable enough to scratch the itch until something better (Ms. Pac-Man) came along.