Thanks Grandma!!!
A few years ago, my Grandmother moved out of her house after being persuaded to buy a condo by relatives. I can't delve too deeply into the back story since some of them may stumble upon this, and misconstrue things. Because hey, families are like that.
Anyway, one of the things that transpired in the move was that my folks ended up getting a shed, to house her stuff for her to save her from having to pay some outlandishly high storage prices. Between the shed, and one half of a garage, there are eons of items from floor to ceiling.
One of the bins that found their way to my house was an electronics tote. It had a number of working things I'd forgotten about. I mostly remember finding it during the move, and telling my Aunt that Grandma may have been a bit of a pack rat, but there are some things you just don't toss out unless they're broken. Even then, one should have it recycled. Several years later, I've been given the go ahead to poke through it, because my Grandmother probably isn't going to have the room for them, and sorting through the vast library of books she has packed away is going to take up whatever time may have been there anyway.
When I went through the tote it was more than the typical time warp. It was my childhood flashing before my eyes.
The first thing I uncovered was pretty much the first game console to gain mainstream appeal lasting even beyond The Crash of 1983. The Atari Video Computer System. aka The Atari 2600.
I won't spend a lot of time getting the new schoolers up to speed. Suffice it to say this was pretty much where things took off.
In any event, this was the first version of the VCS. 6 switches, wood panel. as I dug deeper I would also find:
Another 2600. Still titled the VCS, this was the first revision. Going with a smaller motherboard, Atari moved the difficulty switches to the back of the system, and retooling the casing. This was the console I could remember my relatives playing whenever we had to go to Grandma's house for something. Bubby (My Grandmother's overly bawdy Poodle at the time) would interfere with every conversation with his constant barking, and leghumping. I remember one visit where my Mom flung him off of her shin, and into the TV set. And folks, this was a mammoth TV set. It was a 32" Zenith, with Silver Age Decor. It weighed (To a tyke like me at the time) a metric ton.
This was the console me, and my cousins stayed up all night playing at Grandma's during a snowstorm because my Aunt was in a Waterbury Hospital, and our power had gone out besides.
This was the console that had been going many visits where my late Grandfather had around 40 dozen Dunkin Donuts boxes lying on the kitchen table, and Grandma would implore anyone who would listen to scarf them down because he wasn't supposed to be eating the damned things.
Anyway, I had been kind of taken back because I didn't nor do I currently remember them ever owning more than one 2600. On the other hand, my Grandparents would buy anything that seemed like a sweet deal even if they didn't need it. Nevertheless, my eyes came out of their sockets when I found:
This was the console me, and my cousins stayed up all night playing at Grandma's during a snowstorm because my Aunt was in a Waterbury Hospital, and our power had gone out besides.
This was the console that had been going many visits where my late Grandfather had around 40 dozen Dunkin Donuts boxes lying on the kitchen table, and Grandma would implore anyone who would listen to scarf them down because he wasn't supposed to be eating the damned things.
Anyway, I had been kind of taken back because I didn't nor do I currently remember them ever owning more than one 2600. On the other hand, my Grandparents would buy anything that seemed like a sweet deal even if they didn't need it. Nevertheless, my eyes came out of their sockets when I found:
A third, yes, THIRD Atari 2600. This was what I call revision 2.5. It's basically the second version, only now instead of a woodpanel front it displays a matte black background with the official name change to Atari 2600. But that's still not the end.
An INTELLIVISION. Back in the 80's Mattel (Yep the folks who make Barbie dolls) was the Sega to Atari's Nintendo.
I never owned one. At the time my folks were pretty much one system per Generation.
I can't say I ever remember my Grandparents having one, but there it was.
Underneath the Intellivision was a Nintendo 64, and a truckload of 2600 controllers, and wires.
Now here's the really crazy thing. Despite being in a mildewy basement for God only knows how many years before arriving in my folks garage a few years ago, and sitting there until two days ago get this:
ALL FOUR SYSTEMS WORKED!
Even more bizarre I found a ton of games, many of which still had boxes:
And even odder: My Grandparents NEVER opened two of these games!
I never owned one. At the time my folks were pretty much one system per Generation.
I can't say I ever remember my Grandparents having one, but there it was.
Underneath the Intellivision was a Nintendo 64, and a truckload of 2600 controllers, and wires.
Now here's the really crazy thing. Despite being in a mildewy basement for God only knows how many years before arriving in my folks garage a few years ago, and sitting there until two days ago get this:
ALL FOUR SYSTEMS WORKED!
Even more bizarre I found a ton of games, many of which still had boxes:
And even odder: My Grandparents NEVER opened two of these games!
For the record, I haven't opened them either. I'm afraid to.I won't go into why, but yeah. Crazy.
So, at that point I figured I'd try the systems out. As I mentioned earlier they all worked. But here are some pivotal moments during my time travelling adventure
So, at that point I figured I'd try the systems out. As I mentioned earlier they all worked. But here are some pivotal moments during my time travelling adventure
This is the end screen of the Smurf Adventure. It was originally a Colecovision game I never played, but to make extra money, COnnecticut LEather COmpany (See how they got their name?) ported a lot of their first party games, and games they had licenses for to their competition. This of course doesn't happen at all anymore. This was in the wild west days, where there were no Seals of Quality, or Official Platform Holder licenses. There were the intellectual property licenses for characters, or Arcade games. But little else. Once Activision defeated Atari in court when they sued their former employer for not allowing them to make their own non Atari branded game cartridges, it was anyone's game at that point.
But I digress.
But I digress.
One interesting tidbit 5 gamers out there may not know: The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive controller ports are the same as the Atari 2600's. So this means I was able to use a Genesis Arcade Stick for my experiment in classic gaming.
On a side note, way back in high school at a friend's we tried playing Altered Beast on the Genesis with a one button Atari joystick. I can't recommend it
Mattel, also ported it's consoles games to other platforms for extra revenue. When I was a kid we had the 2600 port of MOTU. I have to say, the Intellivision version is the hands down winner. I don't doubt it's because Mattel realized they could use their own Toyline IP's as killer apps for their system, and nerfed the 2600 version on purpose. But the fact remains it's the better version of the Console Master's game. Better graphics, and music. More gameplay features, and the game even has an attract mode! It's too bad that nearly three decades later Intellivision MOTU blows away the MOTU game that was shovelled out for the GBA.
One port the 2600 clearly wins on however, is Donkey Kong. This is despite the fact that Mattel's system had more horsepower. It goes to show market support will always outgun horsepower, as Atari would learn itself when they released the 5200, and when they really shot themselves with the Jaguar.
Anyway, I can only speculate the reason for the crummy DK on Intellivision. But my theory is that Coleco was also a toy company. They competed with Atari in games, but with Mattel in games, and toys.
Being the sole console licensee for Nintendo's Donkey Kong, they figured they would make themselves the best version (Which they did) then downport to the 2600, and then slapdash the thing on Intellivision:
On a side note, way back in high school at a friend's we tried playing Altered Beast on the Genesis with a one button Atari joystick. I can't recommend it
One port the 2600 clearly wins on however, is Donkey Kong. This is despite the fact that Mattel's system had more horsepower. It goes to show market support will always outgun horsepower, as Atari would learn itself when they released the 5200, and when they really shot themselves with the Jaguar.
Anyway, I can only speculate the reason for the crummy DK on Intellivision. But my theory is that Coleco was also a toy company. They competed with Atari in games, but with Mattel in games, and toys.
Being the sole console licensee for Nintendo's Donkey Kong, they figured they would make themselves the best version (Which they did) then downport to the 2600, and then slapdash the thing on Intellivision:
That said, I can't help but wonder why they ever bothered. Look at this screen: The first stage is BACKWARDS.
You can't tell by a picture, but the controls are attrocious (Which is why it says GAME OVER), and the only color outside of Donkey Kong, and his barrels is FUSCHIA. Even the 2600 had more than 4 colors displayed. At least 2600 DK's Mario sprite somewhat resembles Mario. Don't get me started on the controls. You slide the disc left or right, and press a side button to jump. But the response time seriously lags. A LOT. The hit detection is bad too. You can be right in front of a ladder, but you won't neccesarily climb it. It makes DK a crapshoot. Terrible.
You can't tell by a picture, but the controls are attrocious (Which is why it says GAME OVER), and the only color outside of Donkey Kong, and his barrels is FUSCHIA. Even the 2600 had more than 4 colors displayed. At least 2600 DK's Mario sprite somewhat resembles Mario. Don't get me started on the controls. You slide the disc left or right, and press a side button to jump. But the response time seriously lags. A LOT. The hit detection is bad too. You can be right in front of a ladder, but you won't neccesarily climb it. It makes DK a crapshoot. Terrible.
This was the only thing I didn't like about the Intellivision, aside from the bad DK port.
Many games require these paper cards that slide into the controller. Now, I can understand the thinking. Obviously with the numeric pad that translates into a lot of buttons for macros. But like the AVGN noted in his Intellivision summations many moons ago most of the games of the time didn't require such complexity.
But even more worrisome, is even the simplest titles can be confusing if you don't have the cards. Without them, you can't pick up, and play the games because you have to spend a good ten minutes figuring out what number does what. Thankfully for me anyway, my Grandmother's OCD paid off because most of the intellivision games came in their original boxes.
Swords, and Serpents ended up being pretty decent. It's a bit like Gauntlet. You can play a two player mode, where player one is a wizard of some sort, and player two is a knight. You can spin the disc to swing your sword as you navigate the mazes. Like, Gauntlet these demons spawn all over the place, and try to keep you from getting through the mazes. The play control is actually pretty decent. But you really do need two players to get the full benefit of the game.
Many games require these paper cards that slide into the controller. Now, I can understand the thinking. Obviously with the numeric pad that translates into a lot of buttons for macros. But like the AVGN noted in his Intellivision summations many moons ago most of the games of the time didn't require such complexity.
But even more worrisome, is even the simplest titles can be confusing if you don't have the cards. Without them, you can't pick up, and play the games because you have to spend a good ten minutes figuring out what number does what. Thankfully for me anyway, my Grandmother's OCD paid off because most of the intellivision games came in their original boxes.
Swords, and Serpents ended up being pretty decent. It's a bit like Gauntlet. You can play a two player mode, where player one is a wizard of some sort, and player two is a knight. You can spin the disc to swing your sword as you navigate the mazes. Like, Gauntlet these demons spawn all over the place, and try to keep you from getting through the mazes. The play control is actually pretty decent. But you really do need two players to get the full benefit of the game.
It also turned out there was a loose copy of Frog Bog in the tote. The afforementioned AVGN piece covered this game.
There's not much else to really add. It's essentially the same game as Frogs N' Flies on the 2600. Mattel published both games, I've no idea why they changed the name on the 2600 version.
It was an interesting evening to say the least. I also found a broken Commodore 64, and a few working perpherals so I set those with my working C64. It was a fun several hours of escapism, and memories though.
The following evening I spent taking the consoles apart, and really cleaning the muck, and mildew off as best as possible. But It kept my mind off of other things so it was well worth it.
Thanks for letting me open that stuff Grandma!
There's not much else to really add. It's essentially the same game as Frogs N' Flies on the 2600. Mattel published both games, I've no idea why they changed the name on the 2600 version.
It was an interesting evening to say the least. I also found a broken Commodore 64, and a few working perpherals so I set those with my working C64. It was a fun several hours of escapism, and memories though.
The following evening I spent taking the consoles apart, and really cleaning the muck, and mildew off as best as possible. But It kept my mind off of other things so it was well worth it.
Thanks for letting me open that stuff Grandma!
