GameReview: Intellivision Lives!

By: Kirk Hiner

Genre: Emulation

Format: CD

Developer: Intellivision Productions, Inc.

Publisher: Intellivision Productions, Inc.

Minimum Requirements: 100 MHz PowerPC, System 7.5, 16MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM

Network Feature: No

3Dfx Support: No

Price: $29.95

Availability: Out now, only at Intellivision Lives!

 

"Hello, Commander. Computer reporting."

To a thirteen-year-old kid, those synthesized words were magical. In a way, they were even sexy. They welcomed me to a world that--over fifteen years later--I still visit from time to time like Peter returning to Narnia. The phrase was uttered at the beginning of "Space Spartans," a cartridge for use with the Intellivoice on the Intellivision gaming system from Mattel Electronics. It's only appropriate that the same sound welcomes you to the new Intellivision Productions, Inc. CD for the Mac and PC, "Intellivision Lives."

For those who are too young to know or too old to remember, the Intellivision was part of the first huge wave of home video gaming systems in the early 80s. Along with Odyssey 2 and Atari 2600, Intellivision pioneered the market that is now dominated by Nintendo and Sony. In fact, the battles between Intellivision and Atari owners were the equivalent of today's debates between Mac and PC users. For hours I would argue with my friends about the virtues of the Intellivision (better games, better graphics), while they defended their Ataris (more games, cheaper, easier to play). But when the arguments were over, we'd all sit down for a game of "Triple Action." And although arguments are no longer so easily settled, I can still sit down for a game of "Triple Action"; only this time, at my Mac.

When I first saw that many of the original Intellivision programmers--the Blue Sky Rangers --would be releasing an emulator for today's computers, it was as if the gates of Heaven had been cracked just enough for me to see inside. I was even more thrilled to see that there would indeed be a Macintosh version. After many long delays and only two demo downloads, Intellivision Productions, Inc. finally released "Intellivision Lives!" earlier this year. Was it worth the wait?

Sort of.

As a bit of nostalgia or a history lesson for those interested in the gaming industry, "Intellivision Lives!" is well worth the price. The CD is full of interviews with the programmers, details on game production, and even a surprisingly interesting history of the short lived electronics division of Mattell. There are over fifty playable games included, and somewhat interesting details of many others. However, this is the first strike against "Intellivision Lives!"

Because of licensing rights, I'm sure, many of the better Intellivision games are not included on the CD. None of the arcade titles, such as "Burgertime" and "Bump 'n' Jump" are playable, nor are the Tron or He-Man titles. It's upsetting to be reminded of these great games without being able to play them.

"Intellivision Lives!" compensates for this by including many titles that were never released to the public. Games such as "Airstrike", "Super Soccer" and "King of the Mountain" are available for the first time on this CD...over fifteen years after their original conception. And you thought you had a long wait for "Tie Fighter."

The trouble is that most of these games are practically impossible to play on a computer keyboard or joystick. The original Intellivision controller was a long, thin device that set the science of ergonomics back a good fifty years. The top portion contained a flat keypad like that on a phone, and the bottom sported a directional movement disc such as that on the Gravis gamepad. On each side of the controller were two action buttons. Atari users whined incessantly about the difficulty of using these controllers, but we Intellivision owners loved them. Sure, they were awkward at first, but they were highly functional once you got used to them. Having the number pad made it much easier to switch to the appropriate gunner in "B-17 Bomber," to throw to the proper baseman in "Major League Baseball," or to run in one direction while throwing your disc in another in "Tron Deadly Discs."

For lack of an adequate controller, players of "Intellivision Lives!" are forced to use the keyboard. Some of the simpler games can be mapped to a gamepad or joystick, which I highly recommend because using keys for eight direction movement simply isn't responsive enough. Also, many games require the keypad for one player options, and all of them do for two players. If you're using a compact keyboard or are on an older PowerBook, you're out of luck.

The keyboard is adequate on games that don't require a lot of quick movement. Titles such as "Chip Shot Golf" and "Utopia" are just as much fun to play on the computer as they were on the actual Intellivision system fifteen years ago, and that says a lot for the programmers of these games.

Fact is, many of the more successful games today are based on elements pioneered by the Blue Sky Rangers back in the early 80s. "B-17 Bomber" was the first true flight simulator with take-offs, landings and limited fuel. Maxis has built their entire sim line on ideas first seen in Intellivision's fantastic "Utopia." And the entire first-person shooter genre owes a great deal of debt to "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin." It's just too bad that most of these games aren't playable on the "Intellivision Lives!" CD.

So here's my recommendation: hop onto ebay or some other auction service, and place your bid for an Intellivision console and some cartridges. At the time of this writing ebay had 271 Intellivision items up for auction. You can also still buy used copies of some games at many video game stores. I've ordered many Intellivision cartridges off the net, and just recently purchased a "like new" system, complete with original box and packaging. If you don't want to go to this much trouble, then "Intellivision Lives!" is a decent alternative...just don't expect to be able to play the "Over 50 Classic Games!" that are promoted on the cover.

And now here's my wish list. Intellivision Productions, Inc. has stated that, if the CD sells well enough, there's a possibility that they could start work on a Mac/PC compatible controller patterened after the old Intellivision controllers. Although that seems unlikely, it would be great. My second and more passionate hope is that they consider updating these games to take advantage of today's technology. Think of it..."Snafu" in 16 bit audio, "Star Strike" with 3Dfx accelerated rendering, or--be still, my heart--network play "B-17 Bomber."

In the meantime, my computer has just warned me that Starbase Three is under attack. Where's George Plimpton when you need him?

Raised on Intellivision and "Tron," Kirk Hiner has been an avid gamer ever since he was tall enough to look through the viewfinder on the Battlezone upright. Although he makes a living using a PC (not by choice) to design websites for Dynamics Online, Inc., Kirk never strays from his 9600/200 or 3400c for computer gaming. When he's not playing the latest Logicware release, he can either be found working on his next "never to be published" novel, rereading anything by Kurt Vonnegut or watching RAW is WAR.

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May 26, 2012