Spectravision/video games are so good!

[high voltage]

I love how they incorporated their name into the gameplay/manuals.

The planet is Spectra (Planet Patrol), the town is called Spectraville and features a Spectradog (Master Builder), it has a Spectraworm (tapeworm), disaster on the Spectra Island (China Syndrome), the Spectra Warriors are fighting evil (Cross Force, Nexar), a secret weapon called the Spectron (Cross Force), the police is the SBI=Spectravision Bureau of Investigation (Gangster Alley). That is so cool.

Also the multi fold out instruction manuals are well done, with the little background story, mentioning most of the games have a demo mode, and even the box promises an introduction opening, demonstration and ending of the game, some games have a 'pause' mode and even games like Gangster Alley feature a 'version for young children'.

 

My favourites in no particular order:

Gangster Alley, nice version of an cop and robber shooter

Planet Patrol, scrolling 'the other way' shooter

Tapeworm, Snake before Snake, love this version

Master Builder, love building those houses, never made it to the last one.

Nexar, good shooter

Gas Hog, I like it but its awful sounds are annoying

Mangia, weird but playable

Cross Force, it's ok

Bumper Bash, nah like the others pinballs better

China Syndrome, never managed that one, but I love the Meltdown

 

I own but never played SongMate or PictureMate.

 

Chase the Chuck Wagon, I actually like this game, playing it a lot. Gotta get to the wagon, and then you get some food, so cute.

 

I always read about Glactic Tactic in the Meet the Challenge catalogues, I wanted that game so bad.

 

Overall, Spectravideo/vision had, for me, a very good game line-up.

Edited May 8, 2017 by high voltage

[+save2600]

Only had Planet Patrol growing up and loved that game. Still play it from time to time today.

 

Bumper Bash, as a big pinball fan - had to seek this out in the 90's when I first discovered it. Good game, but wish the ball physics weren't so spastic or jumpy.

 

The rest of the games are okay for what they were - immediately destined for the bargain bin or perhaps, were designed as budget games to begin with. I'm fine living without the rest of the catalog honestly. ha

 

I do like the cartridge design and foil labels, until the lettering rubs off by people that don't know any better or care to handle their carts by the edges. Thought the gratuitous use of "spectra" throughout everything was kinda cheesy, but in a lazy marketing type of way, so it gets a pass from a budgetary standpoint.

[Torr]

I still play Gangster Alley now and then to roll the score. Good ol' nostalgic fun...

 

I also had Master Builder growing up.

 

I truly loathed that game. I knew "how" to play it... it was just freakin' impossible...

Even again when I found AtariAge and tried the game as an adult... I couldn't get even half the first building done after MANY honest attempts.

 

It was quickly traded on here...that was a long time ago... seems like I remember getting some Genesis games... Syd of Valis and something?

[matt2d2]

Never had any of these when they came out, but of this list, I am a big fan of Mangia. Weird concept for a game, but I found it fun and challenging.

[Skylark68]

I had Planet Patrol and Gangster Alley. Both were pretty fun games. Planet Patrol was kind of unique for having a "boss" and a rescue/refueling mission, plus night waves. The collision detection wasn't the greatest, and I lost some ships due to my wings apparently hitting a torpedo or drone (on difficult "A" the player's ship's wings extend further). I think they produced some good games.

[Tempest]

I had both Planet Patrol and Gangster Alley when I was a kid. I thought they were both pretty good at the time, especially given that I only had a few games to play. Planet Patrol was one of my all time favorites for some reason, even though I see now that the game isn't very good. One thing that always annoyed me was that in the manual for Gangster Alley where they show the characters they have one guy named Chicago Joe that was listed as 'apprehended'. As a kid I always thought that there must be an earlier version of the game with Chicago Joe in it, now I realize that they probably just ran out of room to add him in and already had the manual made or something like that.

 

Fun Fact: Planet Patrol for the Spectravideo SV-318/328 is a completely different game. It's actually a Zaxxon clone.

[BassGuitari]

My introduction to Gangster Alley was actually Task Force. I think my wife found the Froggo cart in game shop 15-ish years ago and I didn't actually get Gangster Alley until a few years later. Not a bad game in either flavor, although it needs to be hacked to use the XG-1 light gun.

It's actually been a reeeeally long time since I've played any of the Spectravideo games I have (Gangster Alley, Challenge of Nexar, Tapeworm, Planet Patrol, Cross Force). I think I'll give them a whirl tonight.

[AlwaysOnPlanetPatrol]

Well, I didn't have much of a collection when I was younger but I had Planet Patrol and Gas Hog (and Pac-Man and Decathlon). I probably spent more hours on PP than I'd like to admit.

 

After PP, I'd say Master Builder is my 2nd favourite Spectravision game. I can still play Gas Hog for a long time, but it's not much fun. It's like Moon Patrol meets Pitfall, which is perhaps not the best combo.

[BassGuitari]

Finally gave my Spectravideo games a spin last night while waiting for my laundry. It had been a very long time since the last time I'd played any of them, but after some cursory playthroughs and messing with some of the variations, I'd rank the ones I have as follows:

1. Cross Force - Interesting concept for a shooter, but also incredibly difficult. I found Game 2--where both cannons are linked vertically--much more palatable and easier to wrap my head around, which translated into longer game runs and higher scores. I was impressed by how much stuff the programmer was able to get on the screen once the "pods" started appearing in Level 2. I'd definitely file this under "underrated" and will have to get it out more often.

2. Tapeworm - I remember this one being a Snake/Surround/Arrow-type game, but I'd forgotten about the very nice intro "cutscene" introducing the characters, complete with scaling multicolored sprites and even names. Very impressive production value! The game itself is a little more basic-looking but still has some nice sprite work in the creepy-crawlies and fruit. It plays as well as you'd expect and the different level layouts are an impressive touch, although it can quickly get kind of unfairly difficult (such as not being able to reach a dot or fruit before the game adds two more, or not being able to divert away from a bug without getting a few more dots tacked on, etc).

3. Gangster Alley - This spot is essentially a dead heat between this game and Planet Patrol; I gave Gangster the lead since it's a more unique game concept for an Atari 2600, whereas there are a hundred games like Planet Patrol on the system. Otherwise they're a wash for me, both have their pluses and minuses, but as for Gangster Alley, I like its presentation and sprite work, and how it cleverly disguised what is essentially a whack-a-mole game. Bonus for having a "boss" character as well. It can get a little tedious, though.

4. Planet Patrol - A decent game with several gameplay phases or stages, even if none of them are mind-blowing. Nice graphics, but the smallish sprites make it hard to hit enemy ships accurately, and the gameplay devolves into "spray 'n' pray" once they start swarming you a couple of levels in, just laying on the fire button and maneuvering around the screen. The nighttime sequence is a nice touch, as is the destroying of the rocket bases and maneuvering through the fallout to the landing/refueling strip. Planet Patrol is actually really close to being a truly great game, IMO, but the difficulty in hitting enemy fighters brings it down to Earth a bit. Space Jockey came to mind when I played this.

5. Challenge of Nexar - I can tell there's probably a good game in here somewhere, but I keep getting killed off before I can find it. For now I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to me just being terrible at this game, but this one just frustrated me. Or it would have, if I hadn't said "screw it" and turned it off before I got to that point, after having played about 10 or 12 games in which I lasted no more than two minutes each. Maybe I just need to give this one some more time, but for now, Nexar isn't for me.

[+Spriggy]

Finally gave my Spectravideo games a spin last night while waiting for my laundry. It had been a very long time since the last time I'd played any of them, but after some cursory playthroughs and messing with some of the variations, I'd rank the ones I have as follows:

 

1. Cross Force - Interesting concept for a shooter, but also incredibly difficult. I found Game 2--where both cannons are linked vertically--much more palatable and easier to wrap my head around, which translated into longer game runs and higher scores. I was impressed by how much stuff the programmer was able to get on the screen once the "pods" started appearing in Level 2. I'd definitely file this under "underrated" and will have to get it out more often.

 

 

+1 on BGs' review

 

Picked this up in my last cart bundle. Good game and a refreshing take on a shooter. Have to admit, I only gave Game 1 a wack for a while. Will lend my peepers on the manual and give it a more in-depth bash.

Edited June 3, 2017 by spriggamortis