Official Intellivision Thread

[digitalpress]

In the Retrogaming Roundtable continuing series of classic system homage... let us discuss the system that brought video gaming back from the grave.

I'd like EVERYONE who has ever played this system to give some input here, please.

Though the Atari 2600 was a clear sales winner in that first wave of programmable home game consoles, the Mattel Intellivision carved out quite a slice of the home gaming pie. Armed with George Plimpton and a system that side by side simply LOOKED better, Mattel's marketing campaign would be the groundwork for many fierce console rivalries to follow.

If there were flaws with the system, two things could be seen immediately: the lack of popular arcade titles, especially early in the system's life; and the unusual "disc/keypad" controller which does more than many of today's standard controllers but was just too awkward and "different" for many back then.

Still, think about all of the fantastic games that were ONLY on Intellivision. And if you were a sports game fan, this was the system to own. In retrospect the arcade game selection isn't too shabby, though for the most part Coleco and AtariSoft seemed not to put forth their best effort. Could it have been because these two companies ALSO had competing consoles of their own? We'll never know. Okay... we KNOW.

So. You've probably played Intellivision. And if so, tell me:

- What is your favorite game on this system?
- What are some of your other favorites?
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
- How many games do you have for it?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Go time! Have fun with this, but by all means, share your thoughts!

NOTE: to jog your memory, here's our complete list of US games:
http://www.digitpress.com/lists/intellivision.pdf

[asharru]

Heh, I could spend all day talking about this one, as it's my favorite retro system!!! The ironic thing is I never got one until the mid to late 80's, but one of my best friends had one from the beginning. I had a 2600, and while I loved it, the big ugly(my opinion only, and the Intellivision II was WAY SEXY by the way) Mattel Intellivision had the best graphics and games around hands down. We used to spend hours and hours playing Sewer Sam, Dracula, Night Stalker, AD&D, Football, blah, blah, blah... I swear I spent more time at his house during those years than I did mine. The Intellivision was also the system that re-introduced me to console collecting about two years ago. I'm not sure what I was searching for exactly, but I stumbled across Chad Schell's website, and his amazing Intellicart. Of course with my luck he was sold out, so I had to search to find one (I believe it was in this quest that I found the hallowed pages of Digital Press) :D Anyway, I never did find one, and had to settle for a cuttle cart until he and Rob Mundo re-released it (THANK GOD!!!). I ended up buying a ton of carts for it anyway though. :P Okay, enough of my ramblings, lemme answer these questions!



-What is your favorite game on this system?

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Treasure Of Tarmin

- What are some of your other favorites?

Astrosmash, Mr. Basic Meets Bits 'N' Bytes, Armor Battle, Utopia, Horse Racing, Congo Bongo, Chip Shot Super Pro Golf, Mouse Trap, SNAFU, Chess, Lock 'N' Chase, again, I could go all day...

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

With the exception of Tron Deadly Disks, the other two titles (Maze-A-Tron, and Solar Sailor) dissappointed me. I could also never really get the hang of the controls for Auto Racing and Motocross. I used to rock at Motocross back in the day, but now I think I'm too slow or something. >:(

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action?

My friend George Murphy's house in elementary school.

-What game was it? What was your reaction?

Both Dungeon's and Dragon's titles blew me away when I saw them.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Not until later 80's, and I own several now including the ECS, which rocks my socks. Make your own Intellivision games baby!!!!!

- How many games do you have for it?

About 50-60 unique plus an Intellicart.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

See above... I absolutely love this system, Intellivision Lives!

[JeffD]

The Intellivision is my favorite classic platform by far. I had one back in the day and always thought it was better than my friends Ataris. I don't remember exactly how many games I had for it back then, but I think it was around 15-20. Tron Deadly Discs was (and still is) my favorite bar far. Others I liked were Utopia, Sub Hunt, Demon Attack, Night Stalker (excellent music). That dealer guy from Poker & Blackjack drove me up the freakin' wall with his shifty-ass eyes.

I how a pretty decent collection right now; around 10 consoles and I'm just a couple of games shy of completing the software collection.

Stupid story: I used to have a friend who would use lots of hand motions when playing. Like if he wanted to turn left, he'd jerk his hands to the left like a spaz. Anyway, I was sitting next to him with a cup of hot chocolate (can you see where this is going?) while he was playing a game and he spazzed and knocked the hot chocolate all over the place.

later,
jd

[Hep038]

Intellivision was my first system, and today still has my favorite basketball game, Slam dunk Pro basketball. I remember asking my dad for a atari 2600 for christmas and when I unwrapped the largest box under the tree I was so upset to see a intellivision. My dad could see I was not happy, so he told me how the Intellivision was better because it was "more powerful" than the atari. But I was not buying it, I wanted to play pacman and Pitfall. Well after playing Night stalker and making my own plays from scratch on NFL football I was hooked. All my freinds could not understand why I did not want a atari anymore.
And still today when my dad visits me we play a game of Slam Dunk Pro Basketball. Stilt Chambers is the man!! Their is nothing like drafting your own team, with a 5,000,000 salary cap. That wont even get you one player today!

What is your favorite game on this system?
Slam Dunk Pro basketball

What are some of your other favorites?
Burgertime,Space Hawk, AD&D,Tron Deadly Disk

What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Frog Bog suprised me. It was for my sister, but for some reason I could not stop playing it! Motorcross caused me to say my first cuss word at a TV.

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction? The day I got it was the first time I saw one in action, The game was night stalker and all I could think was its not atari!

Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Yes and I still have the one I got for Xmas, I also have a II and a III

How many games do you have for it?
Around 40

[leonk]

WOW! A chat about one of the most influencial systems of my life .. makes me wonder why I'm such a huge NES fenatic when this is the system that had the most influence on my life. In fact, this is the first system I ever owned, and the system that got the most usage.

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Battleship, lock N case, & tennis.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I still laugh a lot with my brother and cousins about battleship.. All I have to say is "a-ooo-ga , a-ooo-ga" or "tee-teen, tee-teen" and they crack up laughing..

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Between the ages of 2 and 10 I grew up in Israel. When I was 7, my parents baught us an Intelivision system. From that point on, every few months we went to the game store looking for new releases. It was great.. the entire family was into it.

And then we migrated to Canada. The first thing we did when we came here was hit the Toys R US and purchase an Intellivision system along with all the great classics we used to play. I even remember trading games with others in school. (and this was in 1986!)

It was an awesome system.. we always played it. I remember AD&D was actually the first game I ever finished in my life! I remember player A-10 bomber, Utopia, sub hunt, snafu (got this game is great in both PAL & NTSC), & hockey.

The only problem I found with the Intelli is the controllers. The cord that connects the system to the controller always broke to the point where I can see the wires (on both systems I owned).

About a year ago, I found a system in a local flea market. Cleaned it up, hooked it up and had some fun. I don't really collect for this system (since the games are not as playable as NES games per se) but I do try to get all the games I owned in my childhood..

God.. that was a great system.

LK

[ghsqb]

Great thread!
I owned an Intellivision back in the day and it is the single biggest reason I am still a game enthusiast today.
I had the Intellivision and a Colecovision w/ the Atari Adapter, and so I never owned a true Atari console back then although I had plenty of carts.
My dad got me started with the games, he had bought the Intellivision because of Baseball and he played it endlessly.
I ended up selling the consoles (and I had a motherlode back then, a huge collection of titles and all the expansion modules etc..for both systems) to a friend from school because I wanted a NES in the late 80's and my parents wouldn't let me have one unless I got rid of the other games, so I did and I regretted it ever since.

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Very hard to pick just one, can't do it.
- What are some of your other favorites?

Burgertime, Tron Deadly Discs, B17 Bomber, Night Stalker, Lock n Chase, Utopia, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin, Hockey...so many
- What games surprised you?

Snafu. That game didn't impress me at first but man I got addicted to it. I think Treasure of Tarmin was way ahead of its time.
Infuriated you?

Lock in Chase, sketchy controls at times, and Baseball (read on!)
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Dad playing Baseball, and I was hooked

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I bought it again and I love it. Have about 12 Inty consoles now :-D

- How many games do you have for it?

Hundreds (not unique titles). Still missing many of the more collectible titles (Diner, Super Cobra etc..)
But I have many many copies of most of the games.
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Once I got into going back to my youth and collecting the older systems (around 1995) I picked up a console and bought Baseball.
Back in the day my dad was an awesome Baseball player and he even entered in and won a tournament in Baseball, so needless to say he kicked my @$$ all the time.
Well, after pounding on my friends and getting good I call on the old man and he promptly spanks me by 10 runs.
He is incredible at that game and likely hadnt played it in close to 10 years until I challenged him.
(to get revenge I whipped him at World Championship Baseball, he couldn't get used to the fly balls and stuff in that one, said it wasn't "real" baseball.)

Anyhow the thing I like most about those games is that they are more simple in controls and such and that makes them easier for everyone to play.
How many people do you know today that will play these new systems with their Dads (if theyre young enough) or their kids.
The types of games (fighters, even the sports games have a zillion different moves and buttons) may be more sophisticated but the older systems couldn't dazzle you with great graphics and sound, they were just FUN games.

[YoshiM]

Not my most favorite system, but still had a place in my life.

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Out of all the games I think I played Tron Deadly Discs the most. I liked the Atari version but the INTV version included the ability to block shots and then fight a Recognizer at the end. ADnD Cloudy Mountain would be a contender.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Blackjack, Space Spartans, B-17 Bomber, Space Battle(?), Armor Battle

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Back in the day any game that used the voice synthesis surprised me. Space Spartans especially, as it was the most complex game I really ever played at that time. Infuriated: that award goes to Auto Race (I think is the name). I had such a hard time trying to drive that friggin' car and I always crashed.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I think the first time I saw it in action was at my Mom's best friend's place. Her son had an INTV and I think my reaction was delight. The first game I played on it must have been either Armor Battle or Blackjack.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Acutally, I didn't own an INTV until I was 15 when my friend, who happened to own an arcade in town, gave me one from Christmas. As lack of space and interest (more of the latter) fell upon me, I no longer have it.

- How many games [did] you have for it?
I think I had close to maybe 25. The storage case that came with my INTV could hold 20 and I know I went over the amount. While I don't have the system, I DO have Blackjack thanks to my Secret Santa.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
Well, all of you who read last year's Lore entries know that story. I do have another, somewhat childish and silly one.

Being a young age of about 6, my friend (the son of my Mom's best friend) and I would play INTV whenever we could. Usually in between bouts of playing with Star Wars figures and jumping down a flight of stairs and landing (hopefully) on bean bag chairs. We got into games of Armor Battle (to the point where the buttons wore through, which then we used paper clips) but we seemed strangely drawn to Blackjack. We would set ourselves up for the maximum amount for a purse and then would bet the max for whatever game we played: 99. It got so repetitive that we actually made a dumb-ass song about it. In shrill voices the adults would hear (though steel beams and wood flooring) "Press NYNNNTEEENYNN!"pause....pause "Press NYNNNTEEENYNN!" [repeat until mouth was dry or current hand was won-then followed by a fit of laughter]. The adults would wonder what was so fun about that stupid two word line and we couldn't explain it. I still don't know why it was so funny, but I think of it from time to time whenever I play cards or see a Casino pop-up ad and a smile forms on my face. I sometimes can hear the words echo in the canyons of my mind.

...press 99....press 99....press 99....

[ManekiNeko]

All right, let's begin... (cracks fingers)

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Well, the Intellivision wasn't my favorite classic game system, but it definitely had games worth playing, and many of the titles on both systems were better on the Intellivision. I was obsessed with the Tron film as a child, so when I first got an Intellivision, you know Tron: Deadly Discs was the first game I played. It's still the best Tron game ever released on a home console... it fit the theme of the movie and was incredibly fun and addictive.

- What are some of your other favorites?

I used to like Loco-Motion, but it didn't age well. Burgertime is a timeless classic, of course, and some of the later games aren't too shabby, although they aren't really as advanced as they first let on.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I'm surprised by some of the later games. There is a lot of really well done music in the medievel maze game Thunder Castle, and it's a great deal of fun to chase after the dragons once you've picked up the right item. I still get a kick out of the silly names the designers gave the characters in the Pro Sports series... who WOULDN'T want to fight as a wig-wearing wrestler named Judge Injury?
Auto Racing was aggravating because nothing seemed to happen... was there a point to this game? Could you race against the computer, or just a human opponent? Demon Attack turned out to be a whopping disappointment later on, and Donkey Kong was, well, yuck.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I was over at my mother's friend's mother's house (sorry, it's starting to sound like a scene from Spaceballs, isn't it?) and they had an Intellivision with a ton of games there. Shark, Shark and Demon Attack in particular caught my eye... of course, Demon Attack actually wasn't a fantastic game, but Shark, Shark still holds up pretty well, and is a brilliant concept for a video game.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Back in the day, no. Back in the early 90's, yes. I don't own an Intellivision now, although I'd buy one if I could find it for the same price that I bought my first one (not bloody likely).

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I actually got an Intellivision game for trick or treat once. I believe it was Las Vegas Blackjack and Poker, the game that inspired Ken Uston's Blackjack and Poker on the ColecoVision. Oddly, the Intellivision release was the better game... Ken Uston should have endorsed that one instead.
Also, let me say that I could have burned the house down from the heat the Intellivision produced after an hour long session of B-17 Bomber... or should I say, "Beeee Sebenteeeen Baaaaalmeeer."

JR

[Zaxxon]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

The first AD&D game.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Night Stalker, Grand Prix, Shark SHark, Microsurgeon. I haven't played the late INTV releases extensively.

- What games surprised you?

AD&D, when a monster would enter your area and you'd run like hell to get away from and while shooting with your precious few arrows. It would really get your heart pumping. Microsurgeon seemed like a boring concept at first glance but then you'd find yourself deeply involved in it for hours. INTV games looked dull and sluggish to me, compared to my CV systems games. You had to sit down and play the INTV games for a while before you would be impressed.

-Infuriated you?

Any game that heavily used the keypad and the keypads blisters were shot and you had to use your thumb nail to get it to register. That got old. Or when you were playing a game and you didn't have the overlay and you're playing against someone who knows the keypad layout by heart.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action?

IIRC, Meijers or JCPenney. The demo kiosk with the demo cart.

What game was it? The demo cart with several games to choose from.


What was your reaction? Horrible controller, clunky graphics and sound, slow as mollases gameplay, all generic game titles - no arcade ports. Uhh.... I think I'll wait for the Colecovision.


- Did you own the system "back in the day"?

No, but my friends did and I played it all the time at their homes.

How about now?

No. Had 3 or 4. Sold 1 or 2 and the others just died or were flaky to begin with. Like the TG-16, it's too hard and expensive to collect for now. All the desirable, uncommon games are too hard to find and sell for too much $.

- How many games do you have for it?

Zero. On emu's, every game.

[moycon]

One of my favs. Beauty and the Beast.
I'm suprised no one mentioned this DK clone.
Or does it just suck and I haven't figured that out yet?

[ManekiNeko]

Eh, it was all right... certainly better than Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. The physics were kind of weird, but I liked the artwork... it felt so much more open than Donkey Kong did thanks to the clear blue sky and enormous yellow building. The Bluto clone who has your girlfriend looks great too.
Speaking of Bluto, was Popeye released on the Intellivision? I can't recall.

JR

[ubersaurus]

Favorite Game: Everytime I hook the thing up I'm either playing Burgertime or Pac-Man at some point.

Other favs: Armor Battle, I believe its called, Frog Bog, Shark Shark, Thin Ice, Space Battle, River Raid, Pinball, Diner, Demon Attack, Dig Dug, Frogger, Commando...

I was quite surprised by Beauty and the Beast...I didn't expect it to be that great of a game, but i was proven very very wrong. Now on the other hand Pole Position drives me insane...crummy port, although I realize it's the best they figured could be done.

Shoot, the first time I saw the system in action had to be when I was about 15, and I believe the game was Space Armada. I thought it was a decent space invaders clone, but I hoped that other games were alot better. Thankfully, they were ;p

I didn't own it back in the day, I do now though...my grandmother picked one up at a church sale a few years back when I was 15 for me, with about 7 boxed games and a boxed intellivoice. I've since increased my game collection to about 15 carts, and the intellicart(with every rom on my comp).

My friend was always telling me about her old intellivision she had as a kid, how she was always playing burgertime and other games she loved. Well, a few weeks ago, she calls me up, and tells me that she found her system in her basement. So I helped her hook it up, cleaned the games (she had about 28), and played Burgertime for about an hour, and then went on to Bump n Jump and Pac-Man. We ended the day with me giving her a spare copy of Demon Attack that I had. Bizarrely, we found 3 INTVs down there, with one nonfunctional.

[o2william]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Hmm... maybe Diner? I also *really* enjoyed The Dreadnaught Factor on the Intellivision Rocks CD, but I don't have a cart... :(

- What are some of your other favorites?

Worm Whomper is great (again, I have to play it on Inty Rocks), Loco-Motion, Demon Attack.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

League of Light (proto) surprised me. MAN that's trippy!

For infuriation, you can't beat the Intellivision controller. I realize they are "superior" to other joysticks of the day in many ways, but I sinply can't use the things. Somebody needs to sell modified Jaguar controllers for use with this system. They'd be a perfect choice since they have a keypad.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Actually, when I picked one up at Goodwill in the mid-'90s. Donkey Kong, I believe. I wasn't impressed. :) I believe I sold or traded that system, but later acquired a Sears Super Video Arcade with a bunch of better games.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Not back in the day. As for now, see above.

- How many games do you have for it?

I don't know exactly. 50? Probably even more than that. I seem to have good luck finding Intv games.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

One of my best friends growing up used to have an Intellivision (before I knew him). We were huge NES fans then, but sometimes he'd still talk wistfully about Night Stalker. Unfortunately, his Intellivision had broken and he gave the games away. He kept the Night Stalker manual though, and would thumb through it nostalgically on occasion.

Intellivision fans: what are some good controller options for someone who can't stand the standard controllers? I have some "Sticklers," and slip-on plastic things that make the fire buttons bigger, but I haven't installed them yet since my console isn't currently hooked up. I'm not convinced they will help that much anyway.

[icbrkr]

I am a huge fan of the Intellivision - I got my first one back in 1983. I really don't think the controllers are horrible at all - once you get used to them, you might like them better than the stock 2600 controller (man I hated that thing). The Intv II's controllers are much harder to use than the original.

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Utopia! How can anyone *not* like this game. I've gotten my wife addicted to this game as well - incredibly awesome.


- What are some of your other favorites?

Tower of Doom, Burgertime, Dreadnaught Factor, Shark! Shark!, Bump n Jump, AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Diner, Popeye, Safecracker, Microsurgeon, Night Stalker, B17 Bomber .. prolly some more.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Utopia actually. It was complicated at first (to a 10 year old anyway) but once I figured it out, it became a favorite. I played it all the way through high school with a few friends.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action?

Yup.

What game was it? What was your reaction?

Nightstalker in 1982. I was like.. "what is that? the guy isn't a square moving around, it's a real person! and those sound effects are way cool!"

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yep... I had one from 1983-1996 and got one again back in 2000. My dad bought two - one for him and one for me because "Man these things are on sale.. it went from $200+ to $70!".

- How many games do you have for it?

108

Brian

[coleco_chris]

Getting the Intellivision for Christmas was a real shock for me. I anticipated getting the Atari 2600, but was in for a surprise when I "accidentally" found the Intellivision under a blanket in my parents' closet! It turns out that my dad had gotten a good deal on a used 2600, then was sold on the graphics & sports games the Intv boasted.

My first favorite game for the system was definetly Baseball. My mom actually got pretty good at it, which was encouraging at the time since the parental units usually didn't get involved in actually playing the games. My best friend also got the system a year later, so we'd battle each other in Football, Burgertime, and Lock'n'Chase. Other early favorites of mine included Space Battle & D&D.

In junior high, another buddy of mine had a 2600 with a ton of my favorites which I didn't have. We used to trade our systems out for weeks at a time. Unfortunately, he loaned it to another friend, that friend moved & I never saw my original system again. I've gotten another one, & currently have about 50 games for it. It's still a lot of fun to play, especially finding those games I either didn't have or didn't even know about when I originally had it.

[coleco_chris]

Getting the Intellivision for Christmas was a real shock for me. I anticipated getting the Atari 2600, but was in for a surprise when I "accidentally" found the Intellivision under a blanket in my parents' closet! It turns out that my dad had gotten a good deal on a used 2600, then was sold on the graphics & sports games the Intv boasted.

My first favorite game for the system was definetly Baseball. My mom actually got pretty good at it, which was encouraging at the time since the parental units usually didn't get involved in actually playing the games. My best friend also got the system a year later, so we'd battle each other in Football, Burgertime, and Lock'n'Chase. Other early favorites of mine included Space Battle & D&D.

In junior high, another buddy of mine had a 2600 with a ton of my favorites which I didn't have. We used to trade our systems out for weeks at a time. Unfortunately, he loaned it to another friend, that friend moved & I never saw my original system again. I've gotten another one, & currently have about 50 games for it. It's still a lot of fun to play, especially finding those games I either didn't have or didn't even know about when I originally had it.

[Tempest]

While I don't hate the Intellivision it was never really my favorite system. I don't care for the controllers since I can never get used to the disc and I always found the fire buttons to be unresponsive. Controller issues aside, I don't like how the Intellivision has a built in character set. The problem is that most games use this built in character set (which is what it was designed for), and as a result all the games start looking the same. They all have the same fonts (very blocky I might add) and the same looking characters (too many running men!). The graphics also look very "tiled" to me, like they were all using character set graphic mode (maybe they were).

I also don't really care for sports games so the Intellivision never captivated me. Plus most third party games look atrocious! It's like they weren't even trying. Ick Ick Ick!

Tempest

[Vic George 2K3]

I barely owned an Intellivision II for about five or six months before it started malfunctioning due to some really bad mishandling on my part going from home to school with it and vice versa (I'm talking about residential school, which around that time was in Fall River, MA, and my home was in Westfield, MA). Of the few games I owned for that system, the best of them for me was Tron Deadly Discs, which I thought was best done on the Intellivision.

[John Draugr]

First off let me say I never owned an Intellivision back in the day. I went from the Atai 2600 straight to the Colecovision. Anyhow, I had friends with Intellivision and now have a very nice collection of Intellivision games. I still play all my systems as I'm sure most of you do. So without further delay, here is my answers to the questions.

Q: - What is your favorite game on this system?
A: Well, I have many, but can limit it to two. "B17 Bomber" & "Dreadnaught Factor"

Q: - What are some of your other favorites?
A: Bowling, Astrosmash, Pitfall, AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Demon Attack, Atlantis, Night Stalker, Lock N Chase, Burgertime and many others.

Q: - What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
A: Hmmm.... Surprised by the AD&D games. Thought they were great. Especially at the time the only other adventure game that was fun was Adventure for the VCS. I loved D&D as a kid and when my friend got the AD&D Cloudy Mountain cart for his system I was in heaven. :)
As for Infuriated, since I didn't own an Intellivision I wasn't infuriated by any game, but was shocked at the horrible remake of Donkey Kong.

Q: - Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
A: Hmmmm.... Not sure it was in 1982 or 83 maybe. Wait... may have been even before that. Let me see.... Baseball and Football had to be the first games I saw. I thought it was pretty damn fun. I remember seeing Hockey and Basketball in the store or on TV via comercial and was in awe of that system. My parents wouldn't spring the money for the system though, especially since we just got the atari VCS that year (1982). It was a good thing though as a little later I would get the Colecovision and that was a GREAT system to a kid who loved the arcades and wished for games on console that at least looked like their arcade counterparts.

Q: - Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
A: As I mentioned above. I never owned an Intellivision in the early 80s. My first system came in high school (1986-1990). It was an Intellivision II. I played the hell out of AD&D Cloudy Mountain and especially B17 Bomber. As for now, I own 2 Intellivision IIs and 1 Intellivision.

Q: - Counting Up this! games do you have for it?
A: Not sure if I understand what your asking. I assume your asking how many games do you have for the system. I have too many to count, but will say I have ALL the commons and alot if not all the medium rarity carts. I also have a handful of the rare ones.

Q: - Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
A: Not much from back in the early 80s, but I remember how excited I was when my friend Paulo gave me his Intellivision II and a dozen or so games back in high school. Then again last year in Feb 2002 I started collecting classic arcade/video games and systems. The bad thing was I was just laid off of work. 10,000 dollars saved and 405.00 a week for 9 months in Unemployment and almost all of it went to buying video games and systems. YES I was dangerously addicted. Still am, but I have no money now, so thats that, yet I have a really nice setup. Atari 26,52,7800, XE 130XE, XEGS (2)... Ahh you know what? I'm not going to list all the systems and hard/software I have I'll be here forever. Lets just say I have enough to keep me entertained for the rest of my life. :) As for getting back to the Intellivision I had a lot of fun when the Intellivision Lives CD came out and then getting an annonymous email with all the missing roms for the Intellivision that weren't on the CD. That was a great time. Finally, back to early 2002. I loved coming home from Philly 3 and reaquainting myself with the system and all the games I knew of in the past but never owned. Now I owned most of them and played them like crazy. A lot of my games I got from eBay such as Dreadnaught Factor and Pitfall. Those were/are great fun.

WEll, thats my story. Hope you like it.

Sincerely,
John

[IntvGene]

I must have just missed this thread when I joined.

Anyway, the Intellivision is my favorite system, and I didn't own one as a kid. I had a friend with an Intellivision II, and I just loved it. I must have spent years playing his system. The overlays have always attracted me to it, and there are so many great games.

I've got about 115 of the 125 original releases for it, and just refuse to spend the money to get the crappy rares left. I've also got a Bandai Intellivision that I picked up in Japan, and some games for it too.

I love the sound of the Intellivision, especially the Intellivoice. None of the Intellivoice games are very good for it, but it is still very cool. I always love the generic Intellivision sounds too, the cheers and the beeps... just great! :)

I was always infurirated by the Intellivision II's power button more than any game. I really hate that hold for five seconds junk. It's terrible.

My friend with the Intellivision was one of those guys who really got into gaming, and since the joystick cords weren't really long, he'd always end up pulling his system right off the stand and have it crash on the floor! Luckily, the system didn't break.

FAVORITE GAMES:
Body Slam Wrestling, Sea Battle, Thunder Castle, Utopia, AD&D, etc.

I can't believe that there aren't more posters here! This is the Official Intelliviison thread. Where is everyone?

[Aswald]

This was a great console. AD&D!

I still hope they'll translate B-17 Bomber or Space Spartans over to the ColecoVision. The former was certainly better than CV The Dam Busters. And the latter was at least the equal of Star Raiders.

[thinkman808]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
"Sea Battle" - played this one with my friend every day after school.

- What are some of your other favorites?
"Baseball" was fun, and quite "real" for the time.
"Burgertime" - probably one of the best arcade ports of the time, save for some of the better Colecvision ports.
"AD&D" had a real tension-buiding premise - you could hear the bad guys before you could see them. This made for an added sense of danger.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
It was probably Football or Blackjack. My friend had one of the really early units, because we lived in Fresno, CA, where Intv was test marketed. I recall thinking it was a definate improvement over the Atari 2600, and thinking that the Football game was really complex, which for the time it was. I was 8 at the time - my reaction probably went along the lines of "Wow, that's awesome"

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I didn't, and now I have to get around to buying one. I met some of the Sky Blue Rangers at CGE a few years ago and bought the PC emulator and games on CD. I've since bought the PS1 collection. I have to get down to the used games store and get one, along with Sea Battle and Burgertime.

- How many games do you have for it?

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
As I recall, the only place you could get an Intellivision in the early days of the test marketing in Fresno was the Gottchalks department stores. Am I way off on this, or is this correct?

[DStriemer]

What is your favorite game on this system?
Whenever I have a friend, or my dad over, Utopia. Alone, I play Tron Deadly Disc's. I rule at that game, always get to the orange dudes.

What are some of your other favorites?
Burgertime, Dracula, Astrosmash, Congo Bongo, Night Stalker, Dig Dug, Pitfall

What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
When I was a kid, Bomb Squad surprised me the most as I walked into my friends basement and heard a weird muffled, yet screechy voice coming for somewhere. Actually surprised me in gameplay as well, becoming one of my favourites as a kid, but not anymore. Infuriation would have to go to the very late levels in Burgertime. To this day I still have to stop myself from smashing the controller through the floor after quickly dying out on the later levels.(I have always found the rest of the game easy so repeatedly going through the rest just to get the the last levels is really annoying.)

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
In my friends basement. Night Stalker. Completely in awe, and kinda spooked by the music actually.

Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Indeed I did. From about 1985 until 1991 when it died I owned an INTY 1 with only a handful of games....however my friend owned almost all of them and he only lived a block away.

How many games do you have for it?
66, but many more in about 3 days. :)

Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
The day my INTY died I was frantic, although hopeful because we had one place in town that had always provided reliable service on INTY and all other machines. In about a week when I finally persuaded my dad to take me and my INTY there, the game repair/sale place told me they no longer repaired them as they did not have or could not get parts for it anymore. I cried. I cried more then, than when my family cat died. It was the only console I would ever own until the PS2.

[Sanriostar]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Diner

- What are some of your other favorites?
Thunder Castle, Tron's Deadly Discs, Demon Attack, Burgertime, Night Stalker, Shark! Shark!, Thin Ice, Bomb Squad, and Pac-Man. I'm also one the few lucky bastards who's played Leauge of Light. Incredibly surreal.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Diner suprised me. 'Steering' Auto Racing infuriates me.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
'Steering' Auto Racing at a K-mart in the playable kiosk display in 1981. I didn't pick up an Inty controller for another 10 years because of that game.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Never owned BITD, got 4 Inty 1's and a Inty 2 now. Get Sticklers for it.

- How many games do you have for it?
I'm 13 short of a complete collection.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
I bought an Inty 1 because I found Diner. For 2 months, the only game I had for the system was one of its hardest to find.
Also, being frinds with Chris "INTVMAN" Neiman in the ol' SC3 days gives one access to Inty protos you will never see anywhere else. Robot Rubble could have been a good game with some more coding. I've been able to play with an Inty CM >ONCE<, that was some whacked out stuff!
And one of my best freinds works with the guy who programmed the Flintstones ECM game. (someone here will know his name) He gave me a Intellivison poster! :)

[rick weis]

What is your favorite game on this system?
Horse racing, i was a huge horse racing fan back then and it was the first horse racing game that was fun.


- What are some of your other favorites?
astrosmash, b-17 bomber, burgertime, diner, the dreadnaught factor, happy trails, star strike,
worm whomper.

- What games surprised you?
b-17 bomber with the intellivoice module



-Infuriated you?
i mostly just bought good games that i like, so i can't say that i had any that infuriated me.


- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction? NO.


- Did you own the system "back in the day"?
Yes, had over 30 games for it.


-How about now?
NO

- How many games do you have for it?
0- i sold all my games and system in 2004, just too many systems and not enough room something had to go...


- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us? no good ones...

Rick

[ozyr]

Intellivision - that wonderful alternative to the other guys (back then).

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Tron Deadly Discs! I just love playing this game, even today, after all those years. There is just something about the strategy of trying to stay alive while fighting with a frisbee! Many folks don't care for this game, but for some reason which I don't even understand, I just love it. Once I start playing this thing, I can't stop.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Burgertime. The intellivision version is just too cool. I could play this one for hours too.
AD&D Misty Mountain. Now this was a fun game. Being a D&D fan myself, this game was a nice touch of the paper game in digital format. The animation of the monsters was rather cool, with the slight exception of the dragons, which I still think look more like bears!

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Donkey Kong - by Coleco. It was obvious that Coleco made this game look like crap, just to sell ColecoVision. Donkey Kong has to be the worst looking game for the intellivision.
To be honest, Tron Solar Sailer was the game that drove me nuts. For the life of me, I just could not get the hang of the game, and after weeks of trying, have never playing it again!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Saw it first at Sears. The usual game was playing - Astrosmash. I thought it was pretty cool at the time, but just wasn't interested. Was a few year later when I finally bought one.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yes, I owned it back in the day. I even bought carts though mail order when the company was INTV. Today, I have over 4+ units (I'd have to check, as I don't remember).

- How many games do you have for it?

104 at this point in time. Really getting hard to find any I don't have, as those missing are the rarer ones.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

One of the cool things I can say is that I got many of the units I have for free. Free, because they were broke and the person(s) was just going to through it out. Knowing a little about electronics, I checked these things out. They all had the same issue - a spot on the circuit board where the heat from the power supply had undone a solder joint, which cut power to the unit. Re-soldering the joint brought the unit(s) back to life!
I also got really good at attaching joystick to the units disc - and I mean 'attaching' I would find a joystick that was the same size as the disc's base, then glue it on - and drive hot nail thought the plastic to make sure the joystick would never come off! They are sill on many of my units! :D

[vprette]

Hi,
this is
Valter Prette from www.intellivisionworld.com

Id' like to know if you're available to send us scan of the boxes of intellivision bandai games to update our database...
please let me know




I must have just missed this thread when I joined.

I've also got a Bandai Intellivision that I picked up in Japan, and some games for it too.


I can't believe that there aren't more posters here! This is the Official Intelliviison thread. Where is everyone?

[Jumpman Jr.]

Hmm.. Interesting. I've never seen this thread until now. I think I better post in it 8-)

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Tough call. I think I have to give Burgertime that award, but many other good ones that will be mentioned in the next question

- What are some of your other favorites?

It was hard to choose which one of these deserved to be my all-time favorite. Other good ones are Worm Whopper, Snafu, Diner, World Series Major League Baseball

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Suprised: I guess Diner was pretty suprising. I didn't think I would be able to walk along a 3D-type plain (Its kind of hard to describe).

Infuriated: Donkey Kong.... ARRGGG Mario looks so ugly!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I hadn't seen it until I started collecting, because I am way to young to have seen it back in the day. I think my reaction was "man, that things old"

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Not back in the day. I was born in '85 (So the NES was my console). I DO own it now though 8)

- How many games do you have for it?

Hmmm... All of them. Whatever that number is

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share
with us?

This was the first console that I wen't beserk over. And by 'beserk', I mean spending ridiculous amounts of money to complete my collection.

[Steve W]

Sorry to drag up an old thread like this, but the Intellivision should be shown a little more love than just a handful of posts like this. Here's mine.

What's your favorite game on the system? Difficult to select one game, but I think I'll have to go with the one I wish I could play more, Mind Strike. My ECS console tends to blank out in just a few minutes, so I can't really get too deep into a game anymore.

What are some of your other favorites? Diner, Utopia, Thunder Castle, Tower of Doom, Tron Deadly Discs, Space Spartans, Hover Force, Burgertime, Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack, and Stadium Mud Buggies.

What games suprised you? Infuriated you? Thunder Castle's music was absolutely amazing, along with it's between level splash screens. The gameplay was solid too. Diner suprised me with how many levels there were. I only made it to around 15, and they were all unique. Auto Racing's tracks are all on one gigantic level, so you can drive off the tracks and in between the trees and houses and find all the other racetracks, along with the mysterious 'dragstrip'.

Do you remember the first time you saw it in action? Which game was it? I saw and played it for the first time at my neighbor Jason's house. The game was Star Strike, if I recall. And Astrosmash right after that.

Did you own the system back in the day? Nope. I ended up buying an Intellivision II off a co-worker around 1987 or so. It had five games with it. The controllers were shot, but he gave me a price list sent out to his family from INTV for games and controllers, which is how I got most of my INTV titles. And by 1988, stores like Toys R' Us had loads of old games for next to nothing, along with newer titles. Good time to start collecting.

How many games do you have for it? I'm not sure, I'd guess around 70 or so. I also have an Intellicart, so I can load up any game I want.

Any stories surrounding the system that you care to share with us? The guy I bought the Intellivision from gave it to me for $20 and two new Atari 5200 Competition Pro replacement joysticks that I had picked up for him at a computer store that was going out of business. I sometimes wish I knew what he's up to nowadays, and see if I can buy those Competition Pros off him. :D

[ozyr]

don't forget that the Cuttle Cart 3 is now on sale for the Intellivision! 8-)