Those of us who owned an Intellivision rather than an Atari felt like members of an enlightened cult. Atari was Duran Duran; we were the Violent Femmes. In other words, we knew our games had the better action, the better controller, the better graphics, certainly the better commercials but we somehow felt ignored by the general game-playing public. This was fine with us. We wanted Intellivision to be our dirty little secret.
Which brings me to this pack. The makers did an excellent job of translating Intellivision's still-unique game controller, and in their ways, the games are still fun and even challenging. I get chills, even now, when I see the little Running Man guy do his super-smooth slow-motion sprint. "Snafu" is and always has been a so-simple-it's-brilliant little gem, "Utopia" is great two-player fun (never before or since has super-slow game play built so much tension), "Astrosmash" rocks (pun intended), "Sea Battle" is tricky and creative, and, well, there you go. The rest are a decidedly mixed-bag. You'll squeal with joy when you fire each one up, you'll say "Oh, I remember this one, it's GREAT," and you'll get bored before 10 minutes are up.
But I think most buyers purchasing this set aren't looking for great games. They're looking to recapture that magnificent anticipation of being 10 and popping in a new cartridge (one your folks paid $30 for) and playing, wide-eyed, nifty cuts like "B-17 Bomber" and "Space Spartans." They're looking for the bittersweet taste of nostalgia, in other words. But I think they're out of luck. They might get the slightest whiff of it, but then it's back to the grind and the mirror, where you realize you're not a 10-year-old kid but a 30-something dad with a crap job and a mortgage.
Oh..."Swords & Serpents" rocks too, even if they forgot to give the darned game an ending.
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I was raised on Intellivision. If you were, too, you know which games you want to play. You can also, I presume, look at an Xbox controller and see how there could be difficulties translating the disc-and-keypad controls from Intellivision to the Xbox.If you aren't very familiar with the Intellivision, you're not really the retrogaming target audience, and you should probably move on.
Assuming you're still with me, here's the good news. The games that are in the collection are recreated spot-on perfectly. The controller works exceptionally well given obvious limitations. A right thumbstick-right trigger combination simulates the keypad 1-9 by default. You get used to it, and I certainly can't think of a better way it could have been done. But in games where it makes more sense to do it another way, it was done another way. A, B, X, and Y fire down, right, left, and up, respectively, in Night Stalker. That is, this package was put together by people who understand the games.
And, as far as the games in the package go, basically, all the first party (Mattel and INTV) games are here except the ones that are lost to licensing entanglements. Yes, it means you lose some of the system's best games. Tron Deadly Discs, Burger Time, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and Masters of the Universe are not included, and it's a shame.
Further, no matter how much you loved the system, you'll probably admit that some of the games haven't really stood the test of time all that well. Two of the machine's flagship games, Baseball and Astrosmash!, stand out in particular.
But there are 60-some games here. For a $20 package, if you can dig up four or five of them to rekindle your love affair with, you're doing exceptionally well. Most of the games you play once for the nostalgia fix and never see again. But I'm convinced that, for my tastes, Utopia, Super Pro Basketball, Space Armada, Space Battle, Night Stalker, and Shark! Shark! are still honestly fun.
I have Intellivision Lives! for PC, and it is quite good. But putting these games back on the TV with a controller in my hand feels right. I have a good feeling that these games will continue to exist on modern platforms for the foreseeable future and I couldn't be happier. Outstanding product.
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If reading my header you are confused, look for another video game. For those of you familiar with that exclamation from B-17 Bomber, buy this game right away! You get tons of nostalgia and tons of fun with this disk! Sure the nostalgia may wear off after about 10 minutes, but go beyond that and you will find some truly fun games to revisit and play. I spent many hours in my pre-teen years playing Intellivision, and I still own the original system. I hooked it up about 3 years ago and played some of the games. It was fun, but as you can imagine, hooking up the ancient systems was a real pain in the ass! I was so glad to see Intellivision Lives! for X-Box, I bought it right away. Sure some of the best games are not included like D&D and Tron's Deadly Discs, but there are so many great ones here they won't be missed too badly, and hopefully they will be included in a second volume. B-17 Bomber is still fun to play and I get a kick out of the old "Intellivoice" warning me about Flak and Bandits. Night Stalker is great with it's bass-like background music. I still think "Pinball" is highly addictive, and I am trying desperately to teach my 6 year old son the controls for Utopia so we can play. Sanfu is included and still fun to play. Thunder Castle's theme music is still kind of chilling and though very limited, the game play is engrossing. It's also kind of nifty that there are so many games included that I missed the first go around like Shark! Shark! and the Wrestling game. Sure, there is some trouble converting from the old paddle to the new X-Box controller, but it's not something that should hinder you from picking this game up. For $20 or less if used, you are buying hours of entertainment!Honest reviews on Intellivision Lives - Xbox
About 90% of this game is unplayable!! largly in part to the fact that the intellivision had a very uniqe controller thus rendering this game mostly unplayable. Buy this game only if you are a die hard collector. they really should have included a packaged controller, so what if the game would have cost more at least you would be able to play it!Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Intellivision Lives - Xbox
All the time that I've spent playing Morrowind over the past few years pales in comparison to those grueling hours playing Utopia back in 1984. . . and with that out of the way, may I say that Intellivision Lives! is the greatest treasure in my video game library today. So many games packed into one cartridge (errr. . . X-BOX CD I mean) that are playable at whim, and in their original form.One of the big complaints I've heard from gurus is that the controls make playability virtually impossible, but I disagree. My fingers have bled much less than I remember, and games like Astrosmash and B-17 Bomber as fun today as they were originally. Of course, in the world of CGI and high-paced video gaming that takes days to conquer, Nightstalker might take its toll on the average attention span within 15 minutes. Not me, however, as all I really need is this game, a case of beer, and some Smiths blaring on the radio to make my night perfect.
My only complaint is that some of my favorite Intellivision-unique games from the day were created by other companies that do not have software included, such as Sewer Sam, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and Microsurgeon. Still, with 60 games (around 20 of them still hold up today in my opinion), how can I rationally complain? Cudos for all the extras for hardcore gamers like me to browse through, including programmer interviews, unreleased games, commercials, and unplayable junk that still brings me back.
Next on my wish list: modern day updates of some of these classics. Imagine B-17 Bomber with modern technology utilized, or a Nightstalker sequel. Crave Games, you have made a grown man very happy.
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