VCS vs. Colecovision

[Mister VCS]

I remember back in 1983/84 the CV was my

most wanted system (but it was too expensive

for a 12 year old kid).

But today when i compare the VCS and the CV

I must say that the VCS has more "magic".

The actiongames are faster (Space Invaders /

Gorf) and VCS-versions of the same game are

better (Pitfall II).

I like the VCS Smurf much more than the CV

Smurf (its more challenging).

I think the CV is just a stripped-down MSX

Computer with all its scrolling-problems.

Hunting for a hiscore is more fun at a VCS

than on a CV.

The best CV games are Mousetrap, DK Jr. and

Turbo.

What do you think?

[Joel D. Park]

I agree.

 

I never had a Colecovision back in the day so I'm kind of Partial to the Atari 2600.. But I did pick up a coleco vision a couple years ago and I've found the graphics are nice but the games all seem very "stiff". I think the controllers play a big part in that, since their sticks are so short.. I have tried a Super Action controller and the games still seem kinda slow.

 

I dunno.. there might be something to that VCS magic thing.

[MrRetroGamer]

I think it's pretty funny to try to compare the VCS and the Colecovision. Sure both are great systems, but lets remember that the VCS was 1977 technology and the guts inside the CV is at least 5 years more current. Both systems had great games, and the Atari programmers (and other third party developers) worked wonders in the final years to squeeze every last ounce out the aging VCS, which they never imagined would still be a viable platform at that time. But, a comparison between the CV and 5200 would be more in line than a VCS to CV, I think, anyway.

[khryssun]

When the colecovision was released, I sold my VCS to buy one. I found the graphics more attractive and I was very excited to have a Donkey Kong game almost like the arcade at home....

but I had been disappointed. The games were good, but as Mister VCS says,I found the CV games weren't as magic as the VCS ones to play.

 

I bought a new VCS some years later

[Raccoon Lad]

You'll probably all hate me for saying this, but I love my Colecovision far more than my Atari. All the games have the addictive charm of the early classics, plus discernable sprites and that extra amount of musical cues and audio quality make the games more appealing to me. Plus I've always loved the overlooked classics, such as the ones made by Stern, Exidy, And especially Universal -I just wish there was a Colecovision version of SnapJack. Sure, the atari's cool and has lots of great games and a better controller, but for me Coleco is #1.

[Ze_ro]

Unlike most of you, I grew up on the ColecoVision instead of the VCS, and I for one think that the CV has a lot of magic of it's own. I suppose the magical quality of old game systems is really only the nostalgia you get when you play it again, so it really depends on what you had as a kid (This could also explain all the 13 year old brats who won't respect anything older than a PSX).

 

When I think video games, I always get images in my head of playing games like Donkey Kong Jr, Buck Rogers, Pepper II, Gorf, and Venture on the CV (All of which are the best home versions in my opinion... and I actually like CV DK Jr better than the arcade version!). I even get flashbacks to playing Space Panic in all it's craptacular glory. The controllers did suck though (I actually thought the Super Action controllers were even worse!).

 

I guess magic is subjective. I wonder if people will be having similar fond memories of Golden Eye and Final Fantasy 7 20 years from now....

 

--Zero

[Nateo]

I like ColecoVision and Atari 2600 the same, and I can't see any defect in the controllers (maybe it's because I'm a lefty) and I actually have a harder time with Atari joysticks (there's that lefty thing again). My friends also have a hard time with the joysticks (both CV and 2600), mainly because they are used to PlayStation game pads and N64 controllers. One of brother's friends who is getting into Atari says he is going to buy a 7800 game pad to use with his 2600, because he's not good with a joystick (but he's excellent with paddle controllers).

Anyway, that's what I think of the 2600 and the CV.

[khryssun]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Raccoon Lad

You'll probably all hate me for saying this, but I love my Colecovision far more than my Atari.

No, There are only friends here

---

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ze_ro

I suppose the magical quality of old game systems is really only the nostalgia you get when you play it again, so it really depends on what you had as a kid

I'am totally agree with you. I think you just pointed the main reason of this subjective question.

---

[Ze_ro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Nateo:

I like ColecoVision and Atari 2600 the same, and I can't see any defect in the controllers (maybe it's because I'm a lefty) and I actually have a harder time with Atari joysticks (there's that lefty thing again).

---

 

Haha, this made me remember the time my friend Leor was over and we were playing Atari, and he couldn't figure out how he was supposed to hold the controller. I thought it was complete common knowledge that you hold it with the cord going away from you (Although this is the opposite on the Dreamcast).

 

Leor grew up left-handed in Israel though, and was forced to do things right handed until his family moved to Canada, so maybe that might explain some things (You should see his writing... it's horrible!)

 

 

 

--Zero

[ATARIPITBULL]

I also like the Atari system better than the colecovision. Atari had better games, and a bigger selection to chose from. The only thing I can say that I liked about the colecovision system is what was said allready, that it had better graphics, but it did not play as hard as the Atari games do.

[Inky]

I actually didn't have a CV but rather a stand alone ADAM computer. I enjoyed that computer immensely. The Zaxxon for the ADAM is the best version ever made just because of the variety of challenge.

 

As far as the CV carts go, Burgertime, Tapper, Congo Bongo, MOuse Trap Frogger and Q*Bert were all awesome. I still preferred the 2600 though. There's just something not quite right about the CV.

[Mindfield]

As a kid, I had both -- first the Coleco Gemini, then the actual Colecovision. The Atari had plenty of games that kept me occupied for hours on end, but I have to say that I don't think I was ever able to sit down at any game longer than I sat down to play Turbo with that driving wheel. I could go forever at that game, in the game realm turning night into day, day into night, travelling the cityscapes and countryside with unbridled enthusiasm. Maybe it was the fact that I got to acutally use a wheel to play the game - honestly, VCS driving games weren't the same with a joystick. Either way, that one kept me driving endlessly. I later got Destructor to play with the wheel, but I think that game could have been done just as easily with a joystick.

 

As for the CV sticks -- I loved 'em. Comfortable in the hands, and the stick was nice and responsive. I always used the palm of my hand to control it, rather than my fingers; I found it easier for extended play, as it didn't tire you out like waggling a regular stick did. (Nor did it shred the skin like the Gemini's sticks/paddles did :-)

 

Later on I got a real Atari, and that dominated my collection. I'd eventually purchased over 80 games for it to my CV's 5.

[Eduardo]

Atari VCS vs. the Rest (here we go again...)

 

Look, um, I don't think you should compare the VCS to Coleco, it's unfair for the good ol'VCS to compare late 70s technology to early 80s, as someone pointed out before there's like a 5 year period between both systems.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Atari released the 5200 to compete with Coleco, so it would be more reasonable to do a comparison between the 5200 vs. CV

 

BTW In my opinion if I could only have one system I would choose the VCS hands down, because there's a miriad of games for the 2600, CV's library is limited to a few good games, so I guess it's a question of Quality vs Quantity but that's another story

[jahfish]

well, everything has been said so far ... i favorise the atari too ... i have to ... .... it's the only system besides vectrex that i am still collecting.

[mos6507]

The mid seventies to early 80s were a very experimental time as far as hardware goes. It's way simplistic to say that a system that came out after another within this period is just plain better across the board when it's invariably a whole different architecture with its own strengths AND weaknesses.

 

The Colecovision does indeed have weaknesses. The biggest one is its fixed 16 color palette, a feature of many computer systems of the time (Intellivision, C=64, Apple II).

 

The 2600 had trouble displaying a lot of color on an individual scanline, but it made up for that in being able to display more varied colors across the entire screen from a wider palette vs. these systems.

 

That's why Atari-based systems always seem more "artistic" and the systems I mentioned always seem more cartoony and posterized.

 

Games like Enduro that exploit color gradients to generate weather effects or games that color cycle (Adventure's Chalice, or a Missile Command Explosion) can't be replicated on these systems.

[Ze_ro]

quote:

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Originally posted by Eduardo:

Look, um, I don't think you should compare the VCS to Coleco, it's unfair for the good ol'VCS to compare late 70s technology to early 80s, as someone pointed out before there's like a 5 year period between both systems.

---

 

Normally I'd agree with you... but it seems that the VCS is winning this arguement despite it's downfalls. Of course, this is hardly un unbiased crowd

 

--Zero

[Inky]

One unusual graphics glitch in the TI graphics chip in the coleco..

 

If you plot a point, and then polt another point within 16 pixels, the new point will inherit the color of the first one. Don't know they were able to get around this. I've tried to develop a few games in smartbasic and this limitation always sucked.

[Jess Ragan]

I'm going to have to agree with the rest of you... the ColecoVision was a little weak, especially in comparison to the 5200. But it did have its advantages over the 2600... there's no way the VCS could have given us a game that looks as gorgeous as Antarctic Adventure, or is as complex as Tarzan or Alcazar.

 

JR

[Jess Ragan]

By the way, holy crow... is this THE Raccoon Lad? I was a little disappointed that the Game Boy Color game you were working on for IGN never came to be. Maybe you could convince a third party company like BAM! to fund a Game Boy *Advance* version of it! I'd LOVE to see that!

 

JR

[Mindfield]

Inky: That glitch you speak of is pretty common among many systems of the time that used tile-based colour. The Sinclair Spectrum, Spectravideo SV series, and many other home systems and arcade games of the period also used tile-based colour, which basically meant that colours were limited to an 8x8 or 16x16 "tile" on a grid. Saved on memory, I suppose, which I presume is also the reason for a fixed colour palette.

[Raccoon Lad]

Tis I Raccoon Lad, MASTER OF TIME!!! (Cue echo and thunder effect.) Yep, there's only One Raccoon Lad, and that's me. If you do a google search for raccoon lad, you get my website, and some sites I've posted on. As for the Making the game project, it's sort of on life support right now. It's up to the new programmer to take whats been done and make a small game out of it. On a side note, Both myself and Bob Coon (the original programmer) are working for Sennari interactive on the GBA powerpuff girls game, which BAM is producing. Bam gave us a really short production schedule, and the game is going to suck hardcore. I think Craig Harris wants to keep the game for himself, he's hoping to break into the design side of the games industry and maybe bring his game with him.

And to keep this on topic... Coleco ROCKS!!!, but the button placement on the controllers suck.

[Tempest]

My problem with the Colecovision controllers is that the joystick stalk is too short. If I could replace it with a 2600 joystick shaft then I'd be all set (until my hands writhed in pain from the poor design of the stick). I guess it's the same reasion I can't stand the 7800 Pain-Line sticks.

 

Tempest

[Ze_ro]

quote:

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Originally posted by Raccoon Lad:

And to keep this on topic... Coleco ROCKS!!!, but the button placement on the controllers suck.

---

 

The controllers are a bad design in my opinion, but back in the days I must have adapted to them or something, because I never had any problems. The buttons were right where my fingers rested (or more likely, the controllers warped my hands with overuse so that my fingers naturally went there. I really wouldn't have been able to tell the difference). Of course, the number pad was a little difficult to use, as you had to take your hand off the joystick (or buttons) to use it. Luckily, I only had one game (WarGames) that used it for anything more than the skill select screen.

 

As for the short-stalked stick, I guess video games caused me to evolve to the point where my hand can contort around it... it's actually not bad after that point.

 

--Zero

 

(Apologies for the sarcasm... I'm in a strange mood today, and been reading too much stuff from another site)

[VectorGamer]

But today when i compare the VCS and the CV

I must say that the VCS has more "magic".

The magic was with the ColecoVision when it was released in 1982. As an avid arcade gamer at the time, to have arcade quality graphics in the home was a dream come true. Whereas with the VCS, you knew any arcade games ported to it would be simplified (especially with the graphics) and you accepted it.

 

When you put both systems side-by-side, the ColecoVision is the better system (and it should be). Not to take away from the VCS because there were a lot of great games released for that system. On the other hand, with the limitations of the system, games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were atrocious and made me feel like I was being ripped off. Cosmic Swarm is another game that made me feel like I was paying good money for crap.

 

Don't get me wrong, there were some crap games for the ColecoVision, too (Dukes of Hazzard comes to mind). But, the system's MO was arcade ports and I can't think of any ColecoVision arcade port that was so terrible you'd take it back to the store for a refund.