ManekiNeko
04-01-2004, 09:12 PM
I got a VIC-20 a little while ago from my uncle. Let me tell you, once you pick up one of these babies, you'll never go back to a game system again. It blows away the Atari 2600, and some of the games are even better than what you'll find on the ColecoVision!
Here's an example... Omega Race. The designers took a LOT of liberties with the game when it was released for the ColecoVision. They tried to make it full color, but the game just doesn't work that way... in the end, it looked more like bacteria on a pool table than the Omega Race we remember from the arcades. Fortunately, the VIC-20 game is a perfect translation! The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is precise... I'm telling you, once you try it you'll look around wondering what happened to all the other arcade games.
Gorf is another good example of why mere game systems are no match for the VIC-20. The 2600 version of Gorf was all right, but you could see that they had to scale it down a lot to make it work on that system. You couldn't even carve a hole through the flagship at the end of the game, which is part of what made Gorf so great. The ColecoVision version is more complete, but after you play it you'll wonder if the designers ever even played the arcade game. The colors are all wrong, the enemies don't look right, and the menacing voices have been replaced by a way too lighthearted soundtrack. I won't even bring up the 5200 version with its way too touchy control. Gorf on the VIC-20, however, is a masterpiece. It plays so much more like the arcade game than the other versions, and the colors are spot-on. There's no voice, but the sound is raw, rough, and angry, just the way it should be. Finally, the flagship fight is every bit as fun as it was in arcades.
After playing these games and VIC-20 exclusives like Gridrunner (Jeff Minter's awesome Centipede clone, with slick graphics and faster, more intense gameplay) I can safely say that I'll be hanging up my Atari joysticks for a long, long time. Get this system today! It's a lot cheaper than other computers on the market, and the games are fantastic. If you were disappointed with Pac-Man on the 2600, then buy Jelly Monsters on the VIC-20 instead... it's ten times the game 2600 Pac-Man was.
JR
Here's an example... Omega Race. The designers took a LOT of liberties with the game when it was released for the ColecoVision. They tried to make it full color, but the game just doesn't work that way... in the end, it looked more like bacteria on a pool table than the Omega Race we remember from the arcades. Fortunately, the VIC-20 game is a perfect translation! The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is precise... I'm telling you, once you try it you'll look around wondering what happened to all the other arcade games.
Gorf is another good example of why mere game systems are no match for the VIC-20. The 2600 version of Gorf was all right, but you could see that they had to scale it down a lot to make it work on that system. You couldn't even carve a hole through the flagship at the end of the game, which is part of what made Gorf so great. The ColecoVision version is more complete, but after you play it you'll wonder if the designers ever even played the arcade game. The colors are all wrong, the enemies don't look right, and the menacing voices have been replaced by a way too lighthearted soundtrack. I won't even bring up the 5200 version with its way too touchy control. Gorf on the VIC-20, however, is a masterpiece. It plays so much more like the arcade game than the other versions, and the colors are spot-on. There's no voice, but the sound is raw, rough, and angry, just the way it should be. Finally, the flagship fight is every bit as fun as it was in arcades.
After playing these games and VIC-20 exclusives like Gridrunner (Jeff Minter's awesome Centipede clone, with slick graphics and faster, more intense gameplay) I can safely say that I'll be hanging up my Atari joysticks for a long, long time. Get this system today! It's a lot cheaper than other computers on the market, and the games are fantastic. If you were disappointed with Pac-Man on the 2600, then buy Jelly Monsters on the VIC-20 instead... it's ten times the game 2600 Pac-Man was.
JR