Intellivion Lives! for Nintendo DS

[Nz17]

Wow, this compilation of games really impresses me! I hear the console version has a 3D game room and new lobby music and such, but this DS version just gets down to the games and doesn't mess with any superfluous extras. However the emulation is spot-on, and all the games run perfectly. I expected only 42 games, but this collection of Intellivision hallmarks includes 60 games in all, so there's much more than I first expected!

Manuals/instructions are included as well as game designer credits, and some of the manuals go into a lot of detail, spanning several "pages" worth of screens. The controls are mapped to the DS's buttons where possible (when the DS has enough buttons for the particular game), but the bottom touch screen always includes the game overlay which can be pressed with the stylus for either "authenticity" or if there are too many Intellivison controller keys versus DS buttons.

The games are broken down into categories by genre (space, arcade, sport, etc.), with the final one being reserved for multi-player games. The idea is that if a game offers both single and multi-player modes, that it will be represented twice - once in its genre category and again in the multi-player category. This way, if you want to play two player games all you need to do is jump right to that category instead of searching through all the others. I wish that this feature had been present in the Atari Flashback 2 because it would make gaming at parties a lot easier.

Speaking of which, the Nintendo DS version of "Intellivion Lives!" has local wireless play with a single game card. While I haven't tried that myself, I'd like to hear from those who have. If it is as excellent as the rest of this compilation, I can imagine that the data transfer before playing is much faster and painless than the usual DS multi-player. In other games, the transmission period tends to take SO MUCH TIME and is even worse if you have to transmit to a bunch of people and not just one.

So far I have only played a handful of games (pun intended), but of those I have played the "Space Invaders" clone named "Space Armada," "Thunder Mountain," and "SNAFU" are my favorites. I like how all the scoring-based games have a persistent high score table so that you can track your prowess over time as your scores go up and down the scoreboard.

There are even three previously unreleased games (and thus far I've only tried the "Breakout" one). Ergo even Intellvision collectors have something new to look forward to with this.

Truth be told, though I own at least one Intellvision cartridge myself, this is my first time actually playing Intellvision games. I must say that I am quite impressed by the graphics and gameplay this console had, and now I understand what those Intellvision television commercials were all talking about - it really is better than the Atari VCS! Perhaps not as long-lived, definitely not as many games in its library, but the Intellvision certainly has better graphics and sound.

[Leo_A]

It's a great collection and well worth the $15, no doubt. The DS was the perfect place for an Intellivision compilation thanks to that touch screen. But it does have some problems.

First is the low resolution DS screen. It was out of the hands of the programmers, but because of it, some stuff like the shots from your biplane in Triple Action can be difficult to see. That is especially the case when playing with the initial version of the DS with the dimmer screen. Playing on a DS Lite and up makes it less of an issue.

Secondly, all multiplayer games require linking up to a second DS (Thankfully, it uses single card multiplayer which works very quickly). It's a minor issue, but people playing by themselves won't even be able to check out something like Auto Racing or Triple Action's excellent biplanes mode alone without linking with a second DS since they lacked a single player option and access to them is disabled unless linked up. Doesn't seem like the best design decision and for many DS owners, they might never be able to even experience any of those games although they require a second player anyways to be enjoyed. I don't see why people aren't allowed to do something like practice alone in auto racing just because it's a two player game.

And I don't think any keypad buttons are logically mapped to ABXY, just those that used the side buttons of the Intellivision controller seem to be from my experience. At least I haven't noticed anything of the sort so far. So for example in Reversi, you have to use two different touch screen buttons in order to select a piece and then confirm you want to place it. It would've taken next to no programming just to map those two keypad functions to something like the A button. So instead of turning it into something that would be very playable that fits modern conventions for how such a thing would've been done, it's held back due to an odd programming choice 30 years ago that makes what is otherwise a decent videogame rendition of Othello/Reversi into a clunky game that forces you to hold the DS uncomfortably and uses two touch screen buttons to do the task just one real button could've been made to do.. I think the same thing is done in checkers. One keypad button is used to select a piece and another is used to place it.

And it does have some emulation issues. Here are some of those problems I've seen mentioned at AtariAge and the VideoGameCritic forum along with what I've noticed personally.

Here is a mention of a glitch from AtariAge. "Buzz Bombers is glitched. If the bee makes flowers on the right side of the screen your spray can will get stuck if you touch them. "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRalw...layer_embedded

And I've seen mentions of a glitch in Slam Dunk, although I'm not sure what it was. And I've seen mentions of your shots bouncing off the trees in the tank mode of Triple Action as a glitch, although I've only spent significant time with the biplanes mode so I can't comment personally on how it's supposed to act on real hardware. And I've seen a mention of the game crashing once when playing Armor Battle in wireless multiplayer.

And I've seen a mention of the voice synthesis in B-17 getting stuck in a loop saying MayDay until being reset, but I've spent significant time in it and never had it happen so it's rare at best.

And Crown of Kings (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) is missing the arrow count on the overlay which makes the game more difficult. Also, you can't hear the sound of the creature that steals your arrows. And I've also seen a bug mentioned that lets you walk through walls.

But I can't recommend this game enough. The problems are minor (There's a few glitches, but most of them are barely even worth mentioning since I doubt a person will experience most of them even once, and if they do, I bet they never replicate it) and it's just about the most glitch free classic compilation I've played), the emulation is accurate, and the DS touch screen is perfect for the game.

It's $15 well spent. And I've fallen in love with SNAFU. I can't believe I never paid more attention to that game in the past. It's nice to finally get a worthwhile Intellivision collection, nothing drags Intellivision games down more than a virtual keypad interface like Game Room uses or Intellivision Lives on last generation consoles.

It's nice to finally have found a good use for that second screen on the DS after all these years.

[Rev. Link]

I liked the Intellivision song that was in the console version of this. Too bad it got left out of the DS version.

[Leo_A]

The one about a person missing their Intellivision?

I liked it too, but if you visit places like AtariAge, apparantly it got on a lot of people's nerves.

[Rev. Link]

Yeah, that's the one. I thought it was funny.

[YoshiM]

I gotta be the one to be the nay-sayer for this compilation. I picked it up one my way back from Missouri a few months ago with high hopes as the Intellivision crew worked on it. Boy I couldn't be more disappointed.

Sorry nz17, but we may have different views of what "spot on" means. The emulation IMO is NOT spot-on unless there was a fixed version released and you got it.

-Voice in Intellivoice games malfunctions: In every game there were issues with the voice. Space Spartans lost anything dealing with numbers. You can't get the number of aliens or how much power your ship has. B-17 Bomber had the voice lockup that was mentioned in this thread as did Bomb Squad. The loops continued if you reset the game, so you literally had to exit the title before the DS would shut up. And I ran into it regularly.

-sounds in many games are off: for those that played the INTV casually, may not be a big deal. For those that loved it, it can rub the ears wrong. Seriously, how hard can this be?

-some games seem WAY too easy: I suck at Astrosmash. Never could get far in the original. Played it on the DS and I racked up a score of 230,000 points and played for I think a half of an hour. What stopped me? My contacts turned to gum.

Yes it's cheap thrills for $15, so one can't complain, right? If it was done by any other company I'd agree. But this was in production hell for what seemed to be forever with Keith Robinson carrying it on high, like it was a labor of love. Then we get this-something that feels like a quick dump of games to get a quick buck from classic gamers. The Intellivision Lives! and Rocks! software bundles for PC are great, which makes me wonder why they couldn't get the DS to perform perfect emulation.

[Leo_A]

I played a couple of hours worth of B-17 Bomber and haven't encountered that. I'll fire it up this evening and spend some more time with it. I'm curious what I'm doing differently that apparantly isn't triggering the bug.

I don't care for Astrosmash, but are you starting the game up right? You have to use the d-pad to select the fastest speed. Seemed to run accurately to me. Was always a pretty easy game that starts off very easy and takes far too long to ramp up in difficulty. How long has it been since you played it on real hardware? Your mention of it's difficulty has me a bit puzzled. Even on fast settings, it always seemed to have a reputation of handing out spare ships faster than you'd ever lose them...

I haven't noticed the sound being off, but maybe I don't have the ear for that. People talk about the sound being off in Sonic Mega Collection Plus, for example, and it sounds just like it always did to me. Unless it's not even close (An AtGames Genesis clone, for example), I usually don't notice.

[jammajup]

60 games is a good deal for any compilation but the Intellivision was not the best system for quality playable games and it was eclipsed by the Atari 2600 and Colecovision,i have found with that system the best games were arcade conversions like Frogger,Pacman,Defender,Burger Time,Ladybug and Venture and you could play these on the other systems anyway.Pitfall,Demon Attack are worthy a mention but again you could play on them on the 2600, Shark!Shark! was about the best game on it but again 60 intel games for such a low price is sweet regardless.

[dgdgagdae]

I wanted to play Treasure of Tarmin so badly. It's the game I used to play until my Intellivision got so hot you almost couldn't touch it. But it's broken in this compilation!

The bottom row of the screen is cut off, and you can't even see what you're carrying in your hands. The one chance we had to play this game properly in emulation, with a touchscreen for all the complicated buttons you have to use, and they couldn't get the screen right. I was so disappointed.

[Wraith Storm]

I wanted to play Treasure of Tarmin so badly. It's the game I used to play until my Intellivision got so hot you almost couldn't touch it. But it's broken in this compilation!

The bottom row of the screen is cut off, and you can't even see what you're carrying in your hands. The one chance we had to play this game properly in emulation, with a touchscreen for all the complicated buttons you have to use, and they couldn't get the screen right. I was so disappointed.

Do you mean the entire inventory section of the screen gone? Well this is quite disappointing to hear. Once I found out that this compilation had Thunder Castle and both D&D games I was sold. But from what you are saying it sounds as if Tarmin is basically unplayable.

Still... I would probably pay the 15 dollars for a portable Thunder Castle. Anyone know how the emulation is?

[Leo_A]

Yep

Now that his post jogged my memory, I've seen that mentioned elsewhere.

[YoshiM]

I played a couple of hours worth of B-17 Bomber and haven't encountered that. I'll fire it up this evening and spend some more time with it. I'm curious what I'm doing differently that apparantly isn't triggering the bug.

The bug kicked in when I was shooting down attacking airplanes. I was being bombarded by flack (and thus being reminded to watch for it) while being attacked in the sky.

I don't care for Astrosmash, but are you starting the game up right? You have to use the d-pad to select the fastest speed. Seemed to run accurately to me. Was always a pretty easy game that starts off very easy and takes far too long to ramp up in difficulty. How long has it been since you played it on real hardware? Your mention of it's difficulty has me a bit puzzled. Even on fast settings, it always seemed to have a reputation of handing out spare ships faster than you'd ever lose them...

Thought I was starting it right. I played it on real hardware months ago, then played it on XBLA Game Room right after playing the DS. I didn't fare as well. Only other thing I could think of is that the D-Pad is a lot easier to use than the INTV directional disc. That could have been the difference.

I haven't noticed the sound being off, but maybe I don't have the ear for that. People talk about the sound being off in Sonic Mega Collection Plus, for example, and it sounds just like it always did to me. Unless it's not even close (An AtGames Genesis clone, for example), I usually don't notice.

If it's a game I never played or rarely played and can't remember how it sounded, I don't mind. In the case of favorite games, it makes a big difference to me. There's some nostalgia the emulated experience is up against so there's going to be some more scrutiny. It grates my ears to hear how Vegas Blackjack and Poker is off in the sound department as I played that A LOT. I feel cheated, especially since there are emulation packages that run great on the DS.

[Nz17]

I suppose I should mention that when I said the emulation in "Lives!" was good, I more meant that I have never played an actual Intellivision but that the speed and visuals felt like they were performing right. As I've only played a half dozen games so far, I haven't had much play time to find errors or problems. But for a person who has never seen these games in action before, this compendium has been great. However I think I know what some people are writing about as the ball in "Breakout!" looks like it's at a lower-than-it-should-be resolution, and is like a spinning twinkle of light more than a ball or pixel due to the down-sampling for the DS screens.

Still, however, I am having a great time.

[dgdgagdae]

Do you mean the entire inventory section of the screen gone? Well this is quite disappointing to hear. Once I found out that this compilation had Thunder Castle and both D&D games I was sold. But from what you are saying it sounds as if Tarmin is basically unplayable.

The bottom line is cutoff, where it shows what you're holding in your hands and what damage you can do. Without being able to see what you're holding, it's basically unplayable.

[ubersaurus]

The only real complaint I've got is how the disc is emulated with the control pad in Frog Bog. Friend and I tried to play it, and it's extremely hard to jump properly when pushing up makes you jump way up and to the left every time. Your only option for a high jump right is up-right, which doesn't do the same thing at all.

[Leo_A]

Was playing it tonight and spent some time with Brickout (Or whatever the Breakout clone is called) and got worried my d-pad was going up.

Pressing up makes your paddle go left, for some odd reason. Downwards doesn't do anything.

It isn't the d-pad since I checked it with other games. Any idea if it's a fluke with the original code? Or a slight issue with this collection (It's hardly a problem, I'm just curious about the odd behavior)?

Does anyone have any tips for Thin Ice? I always liked this game, seems like one of the best on the system. But I've always been horrible at it.

[Leo_A]

I've since spent another hour or two with B-17 Bomber and have had the voice loop several times now. Typically, it's Mayday, but it's not even limited to that phrase. And it's certainly a regular occurance just like YoshiM said.

The only thing I can think of to explain why I hadn't noticed it before was I must've choose lightly defended targets that weren't triggering the Mayday phrase since I never encountered significant danger. Go somewhere in the heart of Germany where there's pretty much constant flak and you're going to be hearing Mayday an awful lot, which quickly gets on your nerves.

Most of the time it corrects itself after a bit (Unsure if it happens when another voice phrase is played, I'll keep an eye out for that). But the only times I seem to have it stay stuck in a loop are when I crash while it's happening, which forces me to fully back out of the game to correct the fault. I haven't successfully finished a mission with it stuck looping so far, it always seems to fix itself on the way back to England.

Too bad since this is one of the gems in this collection (Most of the best Intellivision games aren't here, so it's disappointing when one of the best ones that is included isn't emulated perfectly).