Top 25 Intellivision Games

[digitalpress]

Discuss.

Advanced D&D: Cloudy Mountain
Advanced D&D: Treasures of Tarmin
Astrosmash
B-17 Bomber
Body Slam Super Pro Wrestling
Bump 'n Jump
Burgertime
Diner
Dracula
Dreadnaught Factor
Horse Racing
Hover Force
Loco-Motion
Microsurgeon
Shark! Shark!
Snafu
Thin Ice
Thunder Castle
Tower of Doom
Tron Deadly Discs
Truckin'
Utopia
White Water
World Series Baseball
Worm Whomper

[digitalpress]

Will no one challenge this list?! Is this the PENULTIMATE list of the best Intellivision games ever? Undisputed and without reproach?

OK then! :o

[MarkM2112]

Ummm... I would replace Worm Whomper with Beauty and the Beast... :oops:

[IntelliSteve]

Hmm. Several disagreements in here. While both AD&D titles are enjoyable, I wouldn't put them in the top 20. I'd also cut Horse Racing and White Water.

In their place... there are so many to choose from!

Demon Attack and Pac-Man deserve mention.

And where are the sports titles? At least one belongs in there. Choose 1 or 2 from:

World Champ. Baseball (or any other Inty baseball game), Slam Dunk, Chip Shot, or Super Pro Football.

Finally, SNAFU or Thunder Castle should be there, too. Both are fun games, and both have simply astounding music in them!

IMHO, of course. :)

[digitalpress]

@IntelliSteve - thanks for challenging!

Two things that will never happen on my watch:

1. Horse Racing getting knocked off of the list. We used to spend hours with this game. It's got everything. The challenge of the race, the strategy of the jockeying, and the gambling... even CROOKED gambling if you saw fit. It's just so underrated.

2. Demon Attack making this list. Listen, I know a lot of Intellivision fans love this version of the game but it's crappy. It LOOKS great, but the controls are just god-awful. And I'm pretty good with the disc. I remember getting to the mothership for the 3rd or 4th time and watching my ship drift helplessly out of my control as I smash into a dive-bombing demon. NO! Say it isn't so, IntelliSteve!

As for dropping White Water, adding Snafu and the others... I'm good with those suggestions - any "second motions" out there?

[theaveng]

It looks crappy too. It's like Baroque art... too much ornamentation.
Troy

[DarkSoul]

I've got enough disagreements to warrent my own list, hehehe =)

----

Advanced D&D: Cloudy Mountain
Advanced D&D: Treasures of Tarmin (Oo, first of a kind)
Astrosmash (Damn fine fun)
B-17 Bomber (GREAT)
Bump 'n Jump (Hey, just a lot of fun. Good music too, less muddled than the NES version)
Burgertime (Who doesn't love Burgertime)
Commando (I'm especially fond of the Intellivision version of Commando as compared to the myriad of others because I feel the 16 direction dial was a godsend for shooting those little buggers)
Diner
Horse Racing
Lock N' Chase
Loco-Motion
Night Stalker
Pac-Man (Sure, we've seen Pac-Man before, but this version is so crisp and clear.. it looks like the arcade!)
Snafu (Simple, clean fun... great with a partner.. if you can find one that'll play with you)
Space Armanda (C'mon!!!! Simple, but fun! Astrosmash is on the list tooooo....)
Space Battle
Space Spartans (Hello Commander..)
Tron Deadly Discs
Utopia
World Championship Baseball (with honorable mention to Chip Shot and Super Pro Football)

[digitalpress]

You've got a pretty good list there, DarkSoul, but when I see Space Armada on someone's top ANYTHING list, it raises questions. Simple but fun? It's abysmal! GIGANTIC invader sprites in a cramped area. In fact, EVERYTHING is just the wrong size. And what's with that nasty border? I guess they were trying to make it different than Space Invaders but that's the biggest problem with the game IMHO.

[DarkSoul]

I conceed that point, hehehe

[retrogmr]

There are a few games that I don't see on the original list:

- World Series MLB Baseball (the ECS combined with the Intellivoice, plus the ability to save games to tape make this a pretty cool game for it's time)
- Safecracker; this game ROCKS! Makes great use of the isometric view for the car scenes.
- Thin Ice; so much like Qix, yet so much cooler (pun intended).

I reluctantly have to agree with Joe about Horse Racing; it's games like that, Utopia and Sea Battle (which should also be on the list) that gave the Intellivision it's unique flavor. It was the anti-twich game gamer's machine :)

What games get knocked off?? Tough call... I'd say drop Bump 'N Jump; it was a marginal translation at best in comparison to the Colecovision version. Not sure which others should go in favor of those I mentioned. Maybe this system gets a Top 25!

[MegamanX]

I still like Thin Ice and Whitewater. Anyone ever play Disco 1 (the old skool arcade game)?

[Arcade Antics]

I only have a couple things to throw into the ring on this one:

1) Worm Whomper MUST stay on the list. :D

2) @MegamanX: I've played Disco #1. It's crazy!

[ubersaurus]

Demon Attack ruled. I've never had trouble with the controls, so clearly you must be a madman ;p

[IntelliSteve]

As far as the attacks on Demon Attack.. Hmm.. Sounds like you'd worn out your controls. I can still get into the 40Ks on that game. At high speeds, I will concede it gets touchy. More often than not, my really good games end w/ the game freezing or crashing in bizarre ways - haven't figured out if that's the unit or the cart, tho.

Followers of r.g.v.c. probably saw a thread a short time back about a top-10 list for the Inty, and the same thing happened there as here... There are too damned many fun games in the Inty library porportional to the games ever released! There are still games not on the list, like:

Beamrider - just plain f'n great
River Raid
Truckin'
Skiing
Bomb Squad
Triple Action (biplanes)...

We had fun w/ Horse Racing, but we had a lot more fun playing chicken in Truckin', jamming w/ SNAFU, and disrupting each other w/ Skiing. I always liked Bomb Squad, too. The sound effects and voices really do a good job of building up tension, and evil Boris' taunting always pissed me off. ("You'll never do it in time!") Of course, biplanes in Triple Action is untouchable, too. Hell, we even had a blast in Auto Racing - especially driving around off-road to the different tracks.

I always liked Tropical Trouble, but that one gets panned a lot. I also really love Vectron, but that's another game that requires controllers that are in great shape or you'll go nuts playing it. It's also hard on the fingers - I think if it had easier controls, it would have been much more popular. It's a visually and sonically superior game w/ another unique concept.

World Series Baseball usually gets short shrift because it never got exposure. I remember seeing an ad for that on TV and dying to get it - but never found it. Took me 18 years, but when I got it - WOW! It was really another quantum leap in console baseball games, but never got the press it deserved. In-game announcers via Intellivoice, the 3-d (albeit low-res) field, multiple camera angles, picture-in-picture, even stadium background music, save/load game, lineups based on realy player stats (though names were changed) - really a milestone in Baseball simulators!

I also really like Astrosmash and Space Armada. I do agree that the aliens are just too big in SA - makes the game VERY tough. The reason for the borders was twofold, I think. First, the color indicated which level you were on. Second, most Inty games had a border to compensate for TVs that had slightly different horizontal or vertical offsets to prevent part of the actual gameplay area from being 'lost'. Lots of games made this border the same color as the game background. The border thing wasn't unique to SA, just perhaps more obvious.

I've kept Safecracker off my lists for one main reason - lame gameplay. Yes, it's visually a masterpiece. The isometric view is awesome - and 'clipping' is done right - (why, oh why, couldn't Coleco have done Zaxxon that way?). But as far as gameplay, it's kinda lame. You find a building. You hold down an action key until you find the magic number. You open the safe and maybe shoot a couple cars. Woo.

The fact that, out of 125 released games, it's easy to come up w/ a top 25 - and still get arguments about games missing from the list - says a LOT about the quailty of the library. That's over 20% of the games! What would that translate to for the VCS? At least 100 games or so?

Well, this got way too long.

[digitalpress]

Great post, IntelliSteve! Glad to see other hardcore INTV peeps out there. I've always loved this system, and people who don't just "don't get it" in my opinion.

Well one thing that I think any Intellivision fan can agree on is that a list of 20 is too restrictive, too many quality titles and not enough slots. So I upped the list to 25 and have added some of the games mentioned here (not Demon Attack though. Please don't make me put that on this list).

Look it over again - any glaring issues?

[mmclem1112]

well heres my list baseball has to be on there. bi planes also atlantis,skiing,d@d treasure of tarimin and riverraid , just to name a few still love playing the game if anyone lives in st louis let me know maybe we can play some time

[Andy Rampage]

i do Not REMEMBER Intellivision all that well ...
that was a Long - Time ago ...

Tron's DEALY Discs was "fUN as HELL" ... :o

and "HARD AS HELL" too !! :mad:

... anyBody "Out-dere" ever Beat it ?? :roll:

[klimatron8]

Had to chime in. Ice Hockey ruled! We used to laugh our asses off at every check (THUMP!). 2 things that sucked royally were taking a penalty (no more thumping) and when your goalie was non-existant. original Baseball also has to be on the list. I'd vote for Lock+Chase also. Football too!

[game_trek]

I know this is late, but I was just browsing through here and found this thread and was wondering how Boxing isnt on anybodys list. It didnt have the best graphics, but which intv game did? Me and my friends used to have boxing championship bouts when I was younger. It was so much fun. Oh, and #6 is the best boxer. I guess I'd have to put both D&D's , Truckin'(only good unless you have the maps), Diner(given to me by friend), and probably my favorite, microsurgeon on the list also.

[diskoboy]

You forgot 2 games...

Night Stalker
and As others have said before me: Bomb Squad.

[mmclem1112]

my top 20 intellivision would be baseball,biplanes,treasue of tarmine,atlantis,river raid worm whomper,super golf,wrestling,skiing,

[Briantium]

Numerical listing is only for keeping track of titles, not any respective order:

1. Astrosmash (Simplicity is addictive)
2. Burgertime (Obviously)
3. Diner (The best sequel to any game on any platform) that could have ever been conceived)
4. Tower of Doom (Successfully molds the first two D&D games; soundtrack from Thunder Castle would have been perfect)
5. Beauty and the Beast (Donkey Kong done RIGHT)
6. Major League Baseball (or World Championship Baseball for 1 player version)
7. NFL Football (or Super Pro for 1 player)
8. Slam Dunk (clearly outclasses NBA B-Ball to the point NBA doesn't merit mention; stat keeping and drafting of players ahead of it's time)
9. Demon Attack (because of the demon fortress)
10. Atlantis (Night-time scene)
11. Thunder Castle (Because of the soundtrack, intro screens, and colorful graphics)
12. Dreadnaught Factor (Great concept and gameplay; ships look like Star Destroyers)
13. Body Slam (Awesome gameplay and concept)
14. Hover Force
15. Motocross or Stadium Mud Buggies (very similar)
16. Popeye (underrated conversion shows Parker Bros was at least TRYING)
17. Donkey Kong, Jr (makes up somewhat for the infamous first DK)
18. Snafu (incredible concept)
19. Sea Battle (Great strategy)
20. Utopia (Civilization .5)
21. Shark! Shark!
22. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
23. AD&D Treasure of Tarmin
24. B-17 Bomber
25. Bump 'n' Jump
26. Microsurgeon (pioneering game concept, not only in gameplay, but also in one of the first noticeable "easter eggs", the programmer's name "rick")
27. Thin Ice
28. Congo Bongo (surprising, I know, but like Popeye above, it shows that Sego was at least trying, even including the animated intro and the end when the guy burns the ape)
29. World Series Baseball on ECS (haven't played it extensively, but it shows the direction Intellivision was heading if it hadn't been for the Crash)
30. Worm Whomper

Other games worth mention:

Ice Trek
Lock 'n' Chase
Pac-Man
Space Battle
Space Hawk
Space Armada
Space Spartans
World Cup Soccer
Triple Action
Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack
Mind Strike
He-Man

A quick run of the WORST games:

1. Donkey Kong (DUH! I've seen Carl Mueller Jr's updated screens of DKINTY and they show a clear improvement over this crap)
2. Kool-Aid Man
3. Turbo (more crap from Coleco)
4. Zaxxon (STILL more crap from Coleco)
5. Pole Position (one of INTV's rare misses)

[digitalpress]

So Briantium.

The fact that you've listed 40 great titles and just 5 bad ones leads me to believe that you like Intellivision. Which means we like you too. Hope you'll introduce yourself here: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11

<-- is smart!

[Walter Simard]

......

[MikeyAlcatraz]

Utopia. And to be honest I never played it on the Intellivision. I played it on the Aquarius System. Me and my friend would set up for hours playing that game. I even went so far as to buy copy of it off of ebay but I don't have an intellivision yet to play it on!

Is it one of the games that's featured on the new Intellivision 25 game controller?

[PhoeniX]

I really think people should consider SEA BATTLE, this game was one of the most amazing multi-player games on a system famous for multi-player games. It involves strategy and provides for amazing range of possibilities with all the ship classes. Also, (though probably not in addition to SEA BATTLE) ARMOR BATTLE was a wonderful multi-player title, though I would defer to anyone else's opinion on this one. Furthermore I further second the motions to add one of the BASEBALL titles to the list perhaps MLB, these game really were ahead of their time, the key pad overlays that allowed for selection of players really I think put them ahead of similiar titles released even on much later systems.

[Moon Patrol]

BOMB SQUAD! That game pwned! It was like...... being a terrorist, before that title even existed!

The game made no sense, at least not to me when I was 4. I just got the scissors and put random pieces in, I thought it was funny as hell whenever that city blew up.

Yes, after having woke up from my epilepsy induced coma from the screen with all those weird flashing characters, I actually managed to cut some wires, put some *fun* pieces in, and blew a ton of crap up. I seriously that that was the point of the game, to blow stuff up, because you're the BOMB squad, not the bomb removal squad!

But anyway, Bomb Squad. End of discussion.

[Veepa]

So, I have an Intellivision and a handful of games. Most of them just aren't very fun.. The only one I am enjoying right now is Night Stalker.

Anyway.. What are, in your opinion, the best games for the Intellivision?

[killersquirel]

I really like Tron deadly discs and Tron maze-a-tron.

Advanced dungeons and dragons (the first one) was really good as well (haven't played much of treasure of tarmin)

Bump and Jump, burgertime, thin ice, and carnival are really good arcade ports as well.

-mike

[wufners]

Burger Time is awesome.

Lock 'n Chase is Pac-Manish, but is different enough to be amusing and maintains some of its own unique charm.

I loved Thunder Castle as a kid, but haven't played it in years. So I'm not sure if I just remember it as fun, or if it really IS fun. (I enjoyed Night Salker as a kid too--so maybe Thunder Castle would hold up for you.)

Astrosmash is kind of like Asteroids from a Space Invaders perspective. If you like either of those games, than you might get a kick out of this one.

Snafu is fun for the music alone--even better if you have someone to play it with.

[FlufflePuff]

Snafu and Utopia are my favorites. Also like Night Stalker.

The question I have, am I the only one who enjoyed Utopia?

[wufners]

Beauty and the Beast is worth a mention too. I think it's just a Crazy Climber ripoff (never played that one so I can't say for sure) and it's got a little Donkey Kong in it as well. It's a fast paced game that still retains some of its fun and challenge.

I've never played Utopia--so I don't what I think of that one. Screenshots always made it look like there was a lot going on. I always assumed it was like the game Risk. Am I even close?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

So, I have an Intellivision and a handful of games. Most of them just aren't very fun.. The only one I am enjoying right now is Night Stalker.

Anyway.. What are, in your opinion, the best games for the Intellivision?

If you're a fan of Homestarrunner.com and it's beloved 80's fictional (yet real!) arcade throwback "Trogdor" ... check out "Thunder Castle" ... I've met the Brothers Chaps and I'm still kicking myself for NOT asking them about the MORE than striking resmblance that this game has to our S-shaped "bunanating" dragon friend.

http://members.aol.com/Lupin003/Trogdor.jpg

[koster]

The Dreadnaught Factor, Loco-Motion / Happy Trails, Diner (Burgertime 'sequel'), and Safecracker are all pretty fun games.

Much of the Intellivision library is available on compilations - Intellivision Lives! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision_Lives!) (various platforms) and Intellivision Rocks! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision_Rocks!) (PC-only), as well as the 25-in-1 / 10-in-1 direct to TV handhelds (http://www.intellivisionlives.com/retrotopia/direct2tv.shtml).

[Lucifersam1]

Games I can play for hours: Diner and Astrosmash!

[diskoboy]

My complete list of fuckin' awesome Inty games:

-Astrosmash
-Space Hawk
-Night Stalker
-Utopia
-Shark! Shark!
-AD&D: Clody Mountain
-All Tron titles
-BurgerTime
-Bump & Jump
-SNAFU
-Vectron
-Bomb Squad
-B-17 Bomber
-Buzz Bombers
-Swords & Serpents
-Beauty and the Beast

[DeputyMoniker]

Burgertime
SNAFU
Utopia
Beauty and the Beast
Popeye
Tron Deadly Discs
Astrosmash
Night Stalker
Atlantis
He-Man
Kool-aid Man
Frogger
Mouse Trap!!
Carnival
Auto Racing
NFL Football
Las Vegas Poker

A few that do not belong on the list; Space Hawk, Maze-a-Tron, and Boxing. Boxing wasn't responsive enough.
As far as my own top 20 lists go, you'll never see such a diverse group of games as you do on the INTV. That's the system I grew up with and sometimes I had to play the games that were on sale. That's not something I do these days.

[LarryBrown]

I'm surprised at this list. I'm a rabid Intellivision fan since 1981, I have my main system plus 3 backups and I play regularly. But even I would have only estimated about 5 great games. So I'm blown away that you guys have trouble with a 25 game limit. I see you guys having fun with games I haven't given a fair chance, so I'm inspired to explore those. Isn't that great?

Part of the argument over the list depends on your point of view. Are you looking at Astrosmash with your 1981 eyes when you were five years old? It might have been good then, but to my 1981 eyes, when I was 21 years old, Astrosmash was totally lame. I look at the list from the point of view of games that still hold up, that are still fun and I continue to play. Thus Tron Deadly Discs was good at one time but no longer holds up.

* * * G R E A T G A M E S * * *
SeaBattle should be the #1 Intellivision game of all time. SeaBattle is a game that still astounds. It’s very challenging but can be picked up, with concerted effort, in an afternoon. The more you play the better you can get, I love that. Gameplay is way intense and unbelievable fun. Deep rule set. Excellent use of the sophisticated controller, making use of the 16 directions, both action buttons, the overlay, and the entire numeric keypad. This game shows why Intellivision is a hobby system, not a toy. No question, it’s got to be on any “best of” list, even if the list is only one title long.

Mind Strike – requires the ECS. This is another game that still stands tall and proud today. Even standing next to arcade versions of Defender, Robotron 2084, etc, this game holds up as one of the best video games ever. Again: extremely intense and unbelievably fun game play, deep rule set, use of the numeric keypad, and room for infinite growth, subject to the skills of your opponent. Successfully blends chess style strategy with intense action. Totally unique game concept blends elements of Chess, Stratego, and Risk. It’s much easier to pick up than Sea Battle but still allows for infinite growth. The intro screen and 6 channel music were mind blowing at the time. 50 unique and exciting screens keep the game fresh. Smoother 3D graphics add appeal.

NBA Basketball: Actually I’ve never played NBA Basketball enough myself, but I knew a ring of guys that played every day. They told me it was an excellent game and that the more you play the better you get. For me that’s a hallmark of a great game.

Snafu – great fun. Simplistic but various options help spice it up. Great sound. I love that tension building rattlesnake hiss it plays while waiting for two snakes to die so it can play that awesome climactic one-on-one theme with the drums.

Loco-Motion – challenging, great sound, unique twist on a familiar concept (the sliding tiles number puzzle), fun, and intense.

Burgertime – just to state the obvious


* * * L O S E R S * * *
These games may have been good but no longer cut it.
Major League Baseball: Back then it was glorious and a reason to pay the exorbitant price for this system. It’s fun and has good room for skill growth. But it has a weakness in that the pitcher can usually field the ball and if both players know how to do that the game runs out of gas. So from this late viewpoint it must be dropped even though back then it may have been the #1 game, right after Sea Battle.

Thin Ice – Good but too simplistic

Tron Deadly Discs - fun back then, but too simplistic and too slow to play anymore other than for nostalgic value. Fight three programs, block open doors, kill recognizer. Repeat infinitely. Everybody looks like they are running through molasses.

Worm Whomper - a breakthrough for its time with all of those moving objects on the screen and the smooth and fast game play. But too simplistic. It's just keep on blasting bugs over and over and over, there's no depth.

Slamdunk - I hate sports games with statistics and picking players. That’s so tedious. So I might prefer NBA Basketball. But I don’t even own this game so I just downrate it because those statistics don’t appeal to me and those other guys told me that NBA was good.

Triple Action
The tanks and race cars are junk. The Bi-planes was excellent for its time, especially when compared to the Atari, but now it’s just an anachronism.

* * * J U N K * * *
I always considered these games junk, even back then:
Astrosmash – Compared to the 360 degree excitement of Asteroids, this vertical scrolling game is simply junk. There’s no physics modeling.
Space Armada – as others said…too ugly.
Star Strike –too simplistic and too dead end. It only takes 5 minutes to beat it, and once you’ve beat it it’s no longer interesting. The game action with fighting the enemy ships is random and silly.
Diner – I can’t believe anyone would rate this ugly game in a “best of” list. I bought this on the strength of Burgertime and was horrified when I played it.
Carnival – ugly graphics and totally lame sound versus the awesome arcade sound ruin this port.


To Veepa: Unfortunately many of the arcade style one player games for Intellivision are not that great. These are good one player games, you need to play them enough to give them a chance: Burgertime, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Lock-n-Chase, Loco-Motion, Shark Shark. But for real Intellivision fun, you need to recruit a friend (I'm available :popcorn:) to spend some intense late nights for Triple Action Bi-planes, Snafu, Major League Baseball, and Sea Battle (in that order). If you give it a chance, even in 2008 you will see that it’s great, great fun. You'll need the instructions and overlays to play Sea Battle, without them, no chance.

[Steve W]

My personal favorites, in order from 'most loved' all the way down to 'not as heavily played but still fun'.


Mind Strike (I wish my ECS wouldn't black out after a minute so I could play this again)
Thunder Castle (amazing music and animation, plus a great take on the traditional maze game)
Tower of Doom (lost a whole lot of hours on this one)
Diner
Burgertime
Thin Ice
Utopia
Stadium Mud Buggies
Bump N' Jump
Hover Force
Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack (this game taught me how to play poker)
Space Spartans
Shark! Shark!
AD&D-Cloudy Mountain
Dig Dug (this game gets on this list for not only being fun, but also having an entire other game hidden inside it, Deadly Dogs)
Beauty and the Beast
Motocross
Pinball
Astrosmash
Night Stalker
Star Strike
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man
Dracula
Venture
Auto Racing

[gepeto]

My favorites
bump and jump In an era where speed racer was the rage this fit perfectly.
Football
the atarisofts were excellent
Pacman
Centipede
defender

I liked
dungeons and dragons

[Ambrosine]

In order of the amount of time I spent playing them:

AD&D Cloudy Mountain
Utopia
Night Stalker
Shark! Shark!
Astrosmash
Swords and Serpents - no one ever seems to mention this great Imagic game
Beauty & the Beast
Dracula
Atlantis
Lock n Chase
Demon Attack
Snafu
B17 Bomber
Triple Action for the Biplanes
Happy Trails/Locomotion

[rgw825]

Now i can't dispute the original topic starters list since i have never played all the games on the list. But this is my own personal top 25.
These are just the games i liked the most from when i was a kid. I have not played some of these games since then. Only a few of them. This is by no means meant to the best games for the system. I had a different mind set 27 years ago on what was a good game and a bad game.

These are in order of my most favorite and most played

1. Burger Time: The game packed in with my Intellivision II. The game i played the most of all the games i owned. I recently bought this again and broke all my old records.

2. Slam Dunk Super Pro Basketball or NBA Basketball: Me and a friend wore these 2 games out. If we wanted more of a NBA feel we would throw in Slam Dunk and if wanted more of a college feel we would play NBA. Slam Dunk was ahead of it's time with being able to draft your own players.

3. Body Slam Super Pro Wrestling: A personal favorite of mine since i am such a huge wrestling fan. Also another game way ahead of it's time. Picking your own move set and even the ability to Sim your own matches. This was even better than the Nes wrestling games in my opinion. And i am a fan of those too.

4. Astrosmash: My Avatar should speak for itself. A combination of Asteroids and Space Invaders. I didn't have an Atari so this was the next best thing. I remember playing this for over an hour straight once as a kid.

5. Shark! Shark!: Simple fun game, eat the fish, kill the shark.

6. Beauty & the Beast: A fun Donkey Kong clone. I liked it better than DK because i was actually good at this game. I sucked at DK. I could have fun either trying to break my high score, or getting to the top of the building and falling off on purpose. LOL

7. Thunder Castle: Awesome music, addicting gameplay. Kind of like if Pac-Man was an Adventure game.

8. Tron Deadly Discs: It's like a futuristic game of Dodge Ball. I have seen a review lately that said the Atari version, even though has worse graphics plays smoother and faster. I'm interested in checking it out.

9. Snafu: Maybe one of the most simplistic games ever made and still one of the funnest. Should rank up there with Tetris. I remember having fun just watching the computer play and just seeing who would win. Could be a good betting game like Horse Racing. :pimp:

10. Night Stalker: I guess this is kind of like Bezerk for the Atari. I don't really have any comments. Just a great game.

11. Super Pro Football: As you can tell i played alot of sports games. My memories of this game aren't as good as others but i do remember playing it a lot with my friend.

12. World Chmpionship Baseball: No comment, just great game

13. Diner: It's the sequel to Burgertime. This game was fun but hard.

14. Centipede: I have no idea how it compares to other console versions but Centipede was my favorite game in the arcade and this was as close as i could get at home so i loved it.

15. Boxing: I know your gonna say this game sucked but i remember having a lot of fun against my friend playing this.

16. Loco Motion: I loved this game but i also sucked at it. I really need to get this again and see how well i am at it today.

17. Lock 'n' Chase: This is a game i was better at as a kid.

18. Skiing: I was real good at this as a kid.

19. Frog Bog: Catching Flies is fun.

20. Poker & Blackjack: Ya i know i can play this on the computer on any site, but this version is still classic.

21. Motocross: Create your own tracks, enough said.

22. He-Man: I love games that has levels where each one is different than others, example being Thunder Castle.

23: Auto Racing: They did a good job with the illusion that your car was going super fast with the rumbling noise and shaking of the screen.

24: Atlantis: I debated this or Demon Attack. Maybe a tie but i think i played this more.

25: Super Pro Hockey: I loved all the sports games

Games i almost added were
Buzz Bombers
Demon Attack
Chip Shot Super Pro Golf


And one game i thought i owned but only have the faintest memories of is Mission X. I am almost positive i owned it but would need to play it again someday to make sure.



Games i never played for the Intellivision but would like to get.

Tropical Trouble
Pac-Man
Commando
Trukin'
Triple Action
Stadium Mud Buggies
Spiker! Super Pro Volley Ball
Tower of Doom
The Dreadnaught Factor
Dragonfire
Dracula

[Steve W]

Games i never played for the Intellivision but would like to get.

Tropical Trouble
Pac-Man
Commando
Trukin'
Triple Action
Stadium Mud Buggies
Spiker! Super Pro Volley Ball
Tower of Doom
The Dreadnaught Factor
Dragonfire
Dracula

Tropical Trouble isn't all that great, maybe it's just that I 'm not good at it. Pac-Man is weirdly scaled down, maze-wise. Commando is pretty decent, although it doesn't really hold a candle to the NES and Atari 7800 versions. Truckin' is one I can't muster any interest in playing for more than half a minute. Triple action, only good with two players. Stadium Mud Buggies is a pretty good game based on the engine for Motocross, with a lot of variety. Haven't played Volleyball. Tower of Doom is one of the first games I play when I hook up my Intellivision. It was nicknamed by Mattel's marketing morons as "Arcade D&D", basically less brains and more action. They got the balance just right with this one. Dreadnaught Factor - I never got that into this one. Dragonfire is surprisingly fast for an Intellivision game. Dracula I found to be a bit boring. Not all that deep gameplay-wise.

[rgw825]

Thanks for the opinions. I am interested in Tropical Trouble because i just found out it's the sequel to Beauty & the Beast. All these years and i didn't know that. Seen one Youtube video of it. Didn't look real special but some reason i still want it. lol

[Steve W]

Thanks for the opinions. I am interested in Tropical Trouble because i just found out it's the sequel to Beauty & the Beast. All these years and i didn't know that. Seen one Youtube video of it. Didn't look real special but some reason i still want it. lol

Really? A sequel to Beauty & The Beast? I never knew that! There's a Movie Trading Company location on the far side of town that has a lot of Intellivision games including some Imagic titles. If I find Tropical Trouble there, I'll let you know!

[rgw825]

Cool, but at the moment i'm broke. Super broke.

[Steve W]

Cool, but at the moment i'm broke. Super broke.
Luckily, at the Movie Trading Company stores, almost everything pre-NES era is at a blanket price of $1.99. They have no clue about rarity. Dammit, I love that about those stores. :love:

[rgw825]

I wish i had a store like that here. The closest one is a whole state away.

[LarryBrown]

Luckily, at the Movie Trading Company stores, almost everything pre-NES era is at a blanket price of $1.99. They have no clue about rarity. Dammit, I love that about those stores. :love:

That's so funny that any store would still have Intelli games. How odd, and for only $2/game, what's the point? They're not making any money that way. Anyone that would still buy those games would pay a lot more than $2. It's not like they're easy to find anymore. It also says a lot that even giving them away basically free they still have games 25 years after the crash, now that's what I call a slow moving inventory.

[Steve W]

That's so funny that any store would still have Intelli games. How odd, and for only $2/game, what's the point? They're not making any money that way. Anyone that would still buy those games would pay a lot more than $2. It's not like they're easy to find anymore. It also says a lot that even giving them away basically free they still have games 25 years after the crash, now that's what I call a slow moving inventory.
Movie Trading Company stores used to be exactly as it's name implies, a video store. They've been bought out a few times, a couple of years ago by a company called Vintage Stock. VS sells old video games, so now the MTC stores have started buying and selling classic games for a little over a year. Their computers have rarity lists for NES games and onward, but they don't have any pricing info for anything earlier. Which works for me. I've found all sorts of rares in that place. And each store has totally different stock, so it's like an Easter egg hunt going from store to store. The one in Ft. Worth used to have a couple hundred Atari games. The Garland store? One. Pitfall. I hope they've gotten a few more in since I visited them last summer.

I freakin' love the Movie Trading Company. :love:

[rgw825]

I do have 1 similar store about 40 miles away from me that is a bookstore that sells Books, Cd's, Dvd's, Video Games. They seem to have a similar pricing scheme to what you describe for the Movie Trading Company. I just have never found any Intellivision stuff. Just some Atari commons. They mark some games at their book value and some things dirt cheap. They sell scratched PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox games for around $5 (even some $20 games) and the scratches are not even that bad most of the time. Got a 6 button Genesis Arcade Stick for $5 and a Dreamcast system for $22. etc. I just wish i'd find some Intellivision stuff.

[IntelliDude]

That's a pretty good list. Mine's rather similar, but here goes (in no particular order):

1. Dig Dug (Good translation--Deadly Dogs easter egg makes it rule!)
2. Microsurgeon (Fantastic Voyage--way ahead of it's time)
3. AD&D Cloudy Mountain (still a game I fire up every time I have the INTY out)
4. Bump & Jump (very playable, very good translation on a system short on arcade titles)
5. Burgertime (see Bump & Jump)
6. B-17 Bomber (awesome game; great use of voice synth)
7. Sub Hunt (completely underrated--felt almost like force feedback when attacked)
8. Shark! Shark! (so good Feeding Frenzy ripped it off)
9. Tower of Doom (shows off the system's capability well & lots of fun)
10. Tron Deadly Discs (I wonder how many hours I pissed away playing this)
11. Dreadnaught Factor (cool side scroller)
12. Defender (the only version I ever liked)
13. Pac Man (whoops the 2600 version's ass with a belt)
14. Astrosmash (too awesome; Meteor! easter egg is great if you can ever get to it)
15. Chip Shot Super Pro Golf (set the stage for other golf games)
16. Hover Force (good game--good graphics for INTY)
17. Beamrider (totally underrated)
18. Pinball (great ball physics--lots of fun)
19. Snafu (beauty in simplicity)
20. Diner (the only system to have a proper Burgertime sequel--this one's great)
21. World Championship Baseball (a great step up from the already-awesome MLB)
22. AD&D Treasures of Tarmin (an excellent preview of dungeon crawlers to come)
23. Frog Bog (a lot more fun than you might think--referenced in Grandma's Boy)
24. Utopia (the granddaddy of all God games)
25. Poker and Blackjack (love the Wayne Newton dealer)

Five worst Intellivision games:
1. Zaxxon (unplayable)
2. Pole Position (unplayable)
3. Maze-a-Tron (I want my money back!)
4. Space Hawk (I played Asteroids. I loved Asteroids. Space Hawk, you're no Asteroids)
5. Donkey Kong (poorly made by Coleco to sell more Colecovision units--a nasty trick that worked!)
That's my list and I'm sticking to it--I'm IntelliDude and I told you so!

[TheMeanwhile]

Hmm, after reading this, I might need to give some more intellivision games a shot. I got my console at a flea market with 16 games, and found them all to be terrible. However, one gem in there was Astrosmash. I picked up Tron Deadly Discs today for $1 at the flea market today because I saw it up here. I haven't played it yet though.

Astrosmash is definatly on my top 25 games in my collection. So, I'd deffinatly put it inthe top 25 Intellivision games.

[DeputyMoniker]

Hmm, after reading this, I might need to give some more intellivision games a shot. I got my console at a flea market with 16 games, and found them all to be terrible. However, one gem in there was Astrosmash. I picked up Tron Deadly Discs today for $1 at the flea market today because I saw it up here. I haven't played it yet though.

Astrosmash is definatly on my top 25 games in my collection. So, I'd deffinatly put it inthe top 25 Intellivision games.

Tron Deadly Discs is an excellent game. I used to be GOOOOOOOOOOD at that one. Played it more than any other game I've owned.

[LarryBrown]

>console at a flea market with 16 games, and found them all to be terrible.
>I picked up Tron Deadly Discs today for $1
>Astrosmash is definatly on my top 25 games in my collection.
You should give several Intellivision games a fair chance. They can be fun especially if you're like me and have not been able to get interested in any newer consoles. I don't share your enthusiasm for Astrosmash, I always thought it was junk, but I'm glad you like it.

I wouldn't call Tron Deadly Discs "excellent" by any standard, but it was fun back in the day. It's a slow moving game and that frustrated people even back in 1983. It's also shallow, no depth. In order to have fun, you'll need to appreciate all the (few) features it offers (using your disc as a shield, recalling your disc early, blocking open the doors, teleporting, and hitting the recognizer). If you don't have/read the book you may be ignoring features and thus not giving the game a fair shot. You'll need to get good enough to start battling the purple guys and they don't come until many levels in...like other games, it becomes more fun only after you get pretty good at it. Try to block every attacker's disc before you deprogram (kill) him, that gives you double points.

You've read all these posts, but here are some Intellivision games that are good if you give them a chance, in approximate order of newbie fun. Unfortunately, just like back in 1983, you'll usually need an interested/talented playmate to enjoy. Intellivision games are not that easy to master, that's what makes this system better.

Burgertime
Triple-action Biplanes (ignore the cars and tanks, they're junk).
Sea Battle
Dungeons and Dragons (so called "Cloudy Mountain," not "Treasure of Tarmin")
Snafu
Loco-motion (more rare title)
Lock-n-chase (if you have any decent version of Pac-man then Lock-n-Chase has little to offer)


Don't bother with these:
Armor Battle
Auto Racing
Most any non-Mattel title


Post here the list of the 16 titles that you have and I'll give you my opinions.

[nebula]

Wow, it's so rare that I want to register for a forum to respond to a 10-year old thread. But, well ... here I am!

As a youngster I must say that I was an intellivision junkie. My mom bought Intellivision for my brother and me for Christmas in 1981, with the included Poker&Blackjack, plus Armor Battle and Astrosmash. Many people posting their lists here regrettably omit the simultaneous two-player games, which is a real shame because that's where Intellivision really shined.

As much as I enjoyed the arcade-style single player games, but there was nothing quite like the vicious competitions that inevitably happened against real opponents.

In 2004 my brother and I, along with our fanatical Intellivision-playing younger cousins, decided to pull out the old console for a chapionship over the course of a day and a few cases of beer. We played a lot of two-player games, tournament style, and there were several standouts that had stood the over-twenty-year test of time. Here, in order of my preference, are the 11 best two-player games in this millennium:

11. TRIPLE ACTION TANKS. The fun with this one is when you play with the long, bouncing bullets. Throw your notion of realism out the window and enjoy this guilty pleasure. Get cornered in a barrage of bouncing bullets and watch your blood pressure rise!

10. SNAFU. Yes, the music is great. I wish the background wasn't grey. The tail-biting game variant is crazy.

9. ARMOR BATTLE. The tanks are so sluggish, and the obstacle courses are so tricky, that this would be little more than finger-tiring frustration if it wasn't for the mines. When you can lure the other player to run over that unexpected mine that you stragegically placed, all is somehow right with the world! Better still, run over your own mine and face eternal shame.

8. AUTO RACING. Many will disagree with me about this one. It is a really awful game until you throw away the idea that it has any similarity to actual auto racing. Mastering the oddball controls is the real challenge here, then you can mentally replace the cars with ice skaters. It's vicious and competitive.

7. TENNIS. I can't believe nobody's mentioned this one yet! Great, responsive game play, nice 3D graphics and player animation.

6. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. I've never played World Series Baseball, but this one is still lots of fun. It's not terribly fast-paced, but there is perfection to be sought in the zen that is fielding.

5. MIND STRIKE (ECS). To this day I am amazed that Intellviision's developers created a classic boardgame that could only be realized as a video game. I spent so much time tweaking the AI settings, trying to make it challenging against the computer, but I always won. This game truly shines when you can play against a real human with real strategies.

4. NFL FOOBALL. There are so many play variations in this game that you can always surprise your opponent. Running towards the end-zone becomes a one-on-one battle of agility.

3. UTOPIA. It takes a long time to fortify before you can take on the other player's fleet with your PT boats. Planting rebels in the wake of a tornado is also pure evil. This may be the best way to lose friends. Throw in truly bizarre sound effects and a mysterious scoring algorithm for good measure.

2. SEA BATTLE. Simply an incredible combination of great graphics, nail-biting action and intense strategy. I was never very good at this game, but I'll play against anyone and lose, and still have a great time.

1. TRIPLE ACTION BIPLANES. Gotta choose the short-range bullets. Big ups to the Blue Sky Rangers for getting the physics just perfect in this oddball 2D flying game which combines just the right blend of aerial stalls, hiding in clouds, crashing into the tower, and lucky balloon shooting.

[jammajup]

Some of the arcade coversions are quite good like Ladybug,Burger Time,Frogger and Venture but i think River Raid,Shark!Shark! and Buzz Bomber are up there somewhere too.

[miaandjohnrule]

.

Thanks for sharing. Those bring back many memories. I need to recruit someone to play INTV with me, you are right that it was great with 2 players.