Somehow in the craziness of the busy summer we had here at RFGen, the Atari 2600's 30th anniversary and the non-stop big title releases that are making this a gaming season for the record books, we missed out on an important event. Namely the 25th Anniversary of the release of the ColecoVision!
In August 1982, the ColecoVision was released and it immediately began attacking it's competition with well thought out planning and innovation. In it's first year or so it had an Atari 2600 adapter which gave it an instant 5 year game library, a steering wheel peripheral, and a third expansion module which turned the console into a home computer. This coupled with superior versions of arcade games like Donkey Kong which outstripped that of the Atari or the Intellivision all helped it sell an incredible 6 million (unconfirmed) units in just three years.
Even today the CV has a homebrew scene releasing games that started back in 1997, a sign that it has been accepted as a classic and will live on....assuming you can find good working hardware for a decent price!!!
Much of the gaming community overlooks the CV in favor of the 2600, 5200 and Intellivision. There are always stories of how impressive the ports of titles looked on a CV versus the competition. Also how the system tends to be remembered as a "rich kid" console and was commonly played alongside one if it's earlier competitors, a trend of having multiple systems that didn't really take off until 20 years later.
So to give a salute to a quarter century of gaming goodness, I present to you my top 5 ColecoVision games based on my admittedly limited experience with the system over the last 25 years:
- Frogger - The very first CV game I ever laid eyes on while at a cousin's house back in 1980-something. The first thought that had crossed my mind was how clean and crisp the game looked. Nice tight control and good sound effects, this to me is my favorite version of Frogger. It left such a lasting impression that I had never forgotten the experience even though I never personally owned a CV until just a few years ago.
- Turbo - To many gamers now, the CV Steering wheel known as the Expansion Module #2 probably seems like a cheap plastic kids toy or one of those generic plug 'n' play devices with it's instrument panel stickers, tiny gas pedal and little wheel, but at the time it was a really cool device. Turbo, an arcade conversion by Sega was the driving force behind the wheel's development. In it's day, it looked incredible. The Intellivision version doesn't hold a candle to this in any capacity, even setting aside the obvious advantage of having an actual steering wheel.
- Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator - Say what you will of Star Trek games, they are certainly hit or miss at the best of times. This particular version kicks ass! From it's Trek theme music to excellent visuals this game is yet another faithful Sega arcade port, and notable as one of the truly good Trek games at a time when Kirk and Company were still wowing us in theatres.
- Donkey Kong When the ColecoVision was released, DK was the killer app everyone wanted. Coleco smartly made it a pack-in title which no doubt went a long way towards the 550,000 systems they sold between August and December 1982. It also went a long way towards making Nintendo a big name in gaming which came in handy a couple years later. Of the early systems, it has the best home version of the game which at that time was the hottest arcade title around. Smooth graphics and sound with good control, it definitely sits in the top 5 pack-in titles of all time ( a future List 'em feature perhaps?).
- Bump 'n' Jump - Yes I know, yet another arcade port, but damn did this system ever kick ass when it came to saving you quarters with great conversions! The great part about the CV version is that it's compatible with the Steering Wheel, something not even the original arcade version is capable of. This game is fun enough on it's own but add the Wheel and you have an addictive game that's still just as fun even today!
So there you have it, my top 5. If I had to choose a runner up or two I think
Pepper II and
Miner 2049'er easily make the list. It is a shame that there seems to be so few CV's in great shape or unmodified condition these days. Anyone with an affinity for classic gaming or arcade gaming should really seek one out, you won't be disappointed.
So the few of you who can actually make a list of your own, I'll be interested in seeing it. We seem to speak so little of the CV in favor of other systems of the day. I personally have only had experience with 20 or so titles but to it's credit I enjoy all of them. The rest of you, take a moment and recognize how truly impressive the system was and how high the quality of it's software library of 170+ titles really were.
Here's to 25 years of history and loose change savings.
