VFD was a really innovative technology back in the day. It was cheap enough for the masses and did a pretty good job of rendering graphics for handheld/tabletop games. I loved them too, still enjoy watching videos of classic VFD games. Thanks my friend, Semper Fidelis!
Astro Thunder is probably my hands-down favorite to play, I also think it's the best one I have (probably the most advanced, as it has the most colors on the screen, most different gameplay scenarios, and the VFD actually increments on for dramatic effect as you approach the city in the last levels). I also love Zackman, a Dig-Dug clone, and Cosmic Fire Away 1000 AND 3000. 1000 because I like the sounds and there's even a small "explosion" graphic when you hit enemies, the smaller screen provides faster, more frenetic gameplay, and I like using AA batteries as opposed to C. 3000 because the screen VFD sprites look awesome (there's even a multicolor moving star field) and it's a bit more challenging.
Hey loved the video! I have a ton of retro games too and Galaxian is also my favorite! I also like ( and have) Crazy Climber, Changeman and Tandys Kingman and Space Explorer. All the Colecos are great too but I never had Zaxxon. I have all the games you noted except for Turtles. Great fun and a simpler time they remind me of my younger days. Mark
I just about flipped when I saw "Frisky Tom." It seems to be a very similar to another Bandai game called "Packri Monster," which was your basic Pac-Man clone. It of course had different gameplay and a different VFD, but the same/similar silver case. I wore the darn paint off of mine in spots, I played it so much!
I started getting interested in VFD table top games. A number of companies made them like Coleco, Grandstand, Epoch, and Tomy. I like the graphics because they look like neon lights. Sort of like the Vectrex, which I also want. I think VFD graphics look nicer than LCD.
My favorite VFD game is Scramble by Tomy. It has five levels. It's true that you can only move the ship up and down instead of all four directions like the arcade Scramble. But I don't think that hurts the game. I got Scramble for Christmas in 1982. I prefer it to the arcade version because it's easier. If you don't have Scramble, you should add it to your collection.
Always wanted one of those Coleco tabletop games. There was a kid my mom use to babysit and he has the Galaxian and it was GREAT to play! Hey, see you have a Coleco Gemini system in the back. Have one but have problems with it.
Lovely reviews there bud :) Definitely love the Galaxian & Mrs PacMan, they'd be welcome in my collection! One of my favourites was BMX Flyer although I'm not sure you'd get it over where you are? Look it up! Star Force by Grandstand also, both childhood classics ;)
Dracula by Epoch was fun. In that game you are a man with a pit helmet breaking into the cadtle while avoiding the wolfman and bats. Your only weapon is a cross. Then you choose out of five coffins which one has treasure. Great game.
I agree on all those except for Tron. I love the tabletop, and was SO happy to snag one back in the 90's to add it to my collection, but I did not find it fun to play. I would maybe substitute Crazy Climber into that mix.
VFD's Rule! Great choices on the top 5. I own them all and many more. A couple of my favorites are Change Man by Bandai, Crazy Climber (both the Bandai and Entex versions have their merits) and Entex Spiders. Great video!
You should check out Radio Shack's Astro Thunder. It's an awesome multi-color VFD game that is sort of like Star Wars The Arcade Game. I believe it is the only handheld game with two processors for sound. There is a separate speaker for music and one for sound effects. Check it out.....
Nice review , sir. My only vfd game was the invader 1000 by gakken , a graduation gift from dad circa 1981. Now in 2017, i kinda have this itch to get some vfd games and start acquiring them. my invader 1000 is broken and stil hoping it would stil work.
Awesome games, I had most of the Coleco VFDs back in the day, Galaxian was my favorite too. I don't think I had Ms. Pac, but I had Pac, DK & Frogger. I wish all my stuff hadn't been stolen when I moved, but I do plan to re-purchase some of these, some day!:)
Cool video! I LOVE vfd games! Do you have Entex's Stargate? That is amazing. Also do you have the Bandai VFD Zaxxon 3d?? If not get one! Also the Rosy 3d games are amazing. Ok so my top 5 are : 5: entex super cobra 4: firefox 3: invader2000, 2: bandai Zaxxon 3d 1: stargate! Hard to choose only 5 because I wanted Tron and a few other great games in there
Why turtles doesn't get more affection in the gaming world I will never understand. I LOVE turtles. I had it on Videopac (Odyssey2) and we even had it in the local arcade. Frisky Tom! My friend Iwan had it. I played it loads of times. You didn't mention the nude lady though which for a teenager was certainly part of the fun :O. Looking at the game now it's crazy expensive. I own Puck Monster by Gakken which also has a VFD display and (sort of) changing mazes.
The VFD table top games are great! Have you got/played Tomy Caveman or Entex Super Cobra? They are great games. I've got a few myself including some Tomytronic 3D games. Still extremely playable today! Great vid 👍
Not sure what type of plastic it is, I have not seen any good way to remove the scuffs. wonder if an automotive lens re-conditioner might do it, but have not wanted to try it on any of mine. If I find a broken one I cant fix, I may try it on it :)
I use NOVUS No. 2 on my VFD game displays if they are scratched up. Be sure to mask off any printed text or graphics on the screen before you polish, though, or it will be removed too.
VFD was a really innovative technology back in the day. It was cheap enough for the masses and did a pretty good job of rendering graphics for handheld/tabletop games. I loved them too, still enjoy watching videos of classic VFD games. Thanks my friend, Semper Fidelis!
I loved especially 2 TOMY vfd games: Kingman and Lupin. Kingman is my all times favourite.
Those displays are all so vibrant and beautiful. I remember them from when I was very young. Great vid!
Astro Thunder is probably my hands-down favorite to play, I also think it's the best one I have (probably the most advanced, as it has the most colors on the screen, most different gameplay scenarios, and the VFD actually increments on for dramatic effect as you approach the city in the last levels). I also love Zackman, a Dig-Dug clone, and Cosmic Fire Away 1000 AND 3000. 1000 because I like the sounds and there's even a small "explosion" graphic when you hit enemies, the smaller screen provides faster, more frenetic gameplay, and I like using AA batteries as opposed to C. 3000 because the screen VFD sprites look awesome (there's even a multicolor moving star field) and it's a bit more challenging.
Hey loved the video! I have a ton of retro games too and Galaxian is also my favorite! I also like ( and have) Crazy Climber, Changeman and Tandys Kingman and Space Explorer.
All the Colecos are great too but I never had Zaxxon.
I have all the games you noted except for Turtles. Great fun and a simpler time they remind me of my younger days.
Mark
I just about flipped when I saw "Frisky Tom." It seems to be a very similar to another Bandai game called "Packri Monster," which was your basic Pac-Man clone. It of course had different gameplay and a different VFD, but the same/similar silver case. I wore the darn paint off of mine in spots, I played it so much!
I started getting interested in VFD table top games. A number of companies made them like Coleco, Grandstand, Epoch, and Tomy. I like the graphics because they look like neon lights. Sort of like the Vectrex, which I also want. I think VFD graphics look nicer than LCD.
Caveman, and Firefox F7 were and still are my favs, and they're the only 2 I own now ...both still good fun to play
galaxy II was pretty fun and amidar is my fave
The only VFD I have is a CIB AstroThunder by Tandy. It's a fun game with many phases.
My favorite VFD game is Scramble by Tomy. It has five levels. It's true that you can only move the ship up and down instead of all four directions like the arcade Scramble. But I don't think that hurts the game. I got Scramble for Christmas in 1982. I prefer it to the arcade version because it's easier. If you don't have Scramble, you should add it to your collection.
Yep I have one :)
I love vfd games , always have and still play them
Always wanted one of those Coleco tabletop games. There was a kid my mom use to babysit and he has the Galaxian and it was GREAT to play! Hey, see you have a Coleco Gemini system in the back. Have one but have problems with it.
Lovely reviews there bud :) Definitely love the Galaxian & Mrs PacMan, they'd be welcome in my collection!
One of my favourites was BMX Flyer although I'm not sure you'd get it over where you are? Look it up! Star Force by Grandstand also, both childhood classics ;)
Dracula by Epoch was fun. In that game you are a man with a pit helmet breaking into the cadtle while avoiding the wolfman and bats. Your only weapon is a cross. Then you choose out of five coffins which one has treasure. Great game.
That is a great game! I dont have one in my collection, I sent the one I had to a friend.
I agree on all those except for Tron. I love the tabletop, and was SO happy to snag one back in the 90's to add it to my collection, but I did not find it fun to play. I would maybe substitute Crazy Climber into that mix.
Which Crazy Climber? The one by Entex or the Bandai one? I like the Entex one of the two :)
Yeah I prefer the Entex Crazy Climber too!
VFD's Rule! Great choices on the top 5. I own them all and many more. A couple of my favorites are Change Man by Bandai, Crazy Climber (both the Bandai and Entex versions have their merits) and Entex Spiders. Great video!
You should check out Radio Shack's Astro Thunder. It's an awesome multi-color VFD game that is sort of like Star Wars The Arcade Game. I believe it is the only handheld game with two processors for sound. There is a separate speaker for music and one for sound effects. Check it out.....
I did :) - ruclips.net/video/OJODQJ6gcAA/видео.html
Nice top 5. I have the donkey Kong coleco tabletop. love it so much fun. Love your Tron game. Thx for sharing.
Nice review , sir. My only vfd game was the invader 1000 by gakken , a graduation gift from dad circa 1981. Now in 2017, i kinda have this itch to get some vfd games and start acquiring them. my invader 1000 is broken and stil hoping it would stil work.
Awesome games, I had most of the Coleco VFDs back in the day, Galaxian was my favorite too. I don't think I had Ms. Pac, but I had Pac, DK & Frogger. I wish all my stuff hadn't been stolen when I moved, but I do plan to re-purchase some of these, some day!:)
wow! I need a galaxian vfd! ;). I love Grandstand firefox f7, gakken super cobra, tomy lupin... sooooo nice and funny machines!
Awesome top 5 list Will! I'd say my favorite is crazy climber since that's the only one I actually own.
My collection is pretty small. Are the TomyTronic 3D games VFD? If yes, I'll choose "Thundering Turbo" as my favorite. If not, I'll go Epoch Dracula.
i love Ms. PAC Man its one of my favorite retro games
great video man!
I would have to include Tomy scramble!
Cool video! I LOVE vfd games! Do you have Entex's Stargate? That is amazing. Also do you have the Bandai VFD Zaxxon 3d?? If not get one! Also the Rosy 3d games are amazing. Ok so my top 5 are : 5: entex super cobra 4: firefox 3: invader2000, 2: bandai Zaxxon 3d 1: stargate!
Hard to choose only 5 because I wanted Tron and a few other great games in there
Why turtles doesn't get more affection in the gaming world I will never understand. I LOVE turtles. I had it on Videopac (Odyssey2) and we even had it in the local arcade.
Frisky Tom! My friend Iwan had it. I played it loads of times. You didn't mention the nude lady though which for a teenager was certainly part of the fun :O. Looking at the game now it's crazy expensive.
I own Puck Monster by Gakken which also has a VFD display and (sort of) changing mazes.
The VFD table top games are great! Have you got/played Tomy Caveman or Entex Super Cobra? They are great games. I've got a few myself including some Tomytronic 3D games. Still extremely playable today! Great vid 👍
what type of plastic is the tommytronics front face screen made of? is there a good way to smooth it up and remove scuffs?
Not sure what type of plastic it is, I have not seen any good way to remove the scuffs. wonder if an automotive lens re-conditioner might do it, but have not wanted to try it on any of mine. If I find a broken one I cant fix, I may try it on it :)
I use NOVUS No. 2 on my VFD game displays if they are scratched up. Be sure to mask off any printed text or graphics on the screen before you polish, though, or it will be removed too.
I remember play Ms. Pac Man.
Do you have Zaxxon FL by Bandai?
Nope
nice collection. just wondering , can a vfa handheld be repaired? I hav a gakken invader and i wanted it to work, dunno where to start? any advice?
typically they can be repaired.