Fun review, but when you actually got to the part where you mentioned that Mattel got around to making a new console in 2006, I immediately had to stop the video to check that out. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, the horror!.
The Intellivision "INTV" brand was revived with independent investors circa 1986, and continued to produce newer titles going into 1990-91. It continued as a solid system (it sold the original-style console as "System III"), and I enjoyed it for several more years in my adolescence.
A word on the controller. The buttons and disc would really hurt your finger and hand. It had some fun games but I found myself over at my pals house more often playing his Atari 2600 more often than he was over my house playing Intellivision.
@RetroGamerVX hmmmm, i believe dear friend i mention "intelligent television" when reading from the front of the console in the hardware exploration section of the video so ner :p as for the controller thing, that's just bizarre why put a port on the inside??? however i still class this as hardwired purely because to change them requires a tool and also replacements were not produced cheers for the info though :)
very good review mate! cheers to your exemplary research. ps- don't let the red things hit your gun site in space battle and you'll be alright. it's quite addictive once you get that little tidbit of info out of the way!
You need to understand: on the Intellivision, any game runs fastest when you use the disk to start it, as opposed to a button. And, with Space Battle, that will be a big advantage to you. It will become your fav game. Also, the overlay is pretty straightforward--one line to send out/change direction on the ships, one line to recall them, one line to engage them in battle. Easy peasy.
@manspam1 sometimes the keypad becomes really useful in the right game (although you still have to look down to see what you're pressing) but the thumbpad isn't designed to last at all the membrane isn't good enough, and considering this was hardwired, that's not good enough
@RetroToledo yeah, i have it for another system somewhere (not sure i even own the system lol) i tend to go with whoever developed that specific version though on the caption, although i've been known to go with the publisher instead before for reasons known only to my subconscious
I was one of the guys on the block that got the Intellivision. There were some cool games but a lot of the games required 2 players like most of the sports games. They started releasing some better games along with the Intellivision II but by this time I think they were losing money and scrapped the console.
Space Battle is like a cross between Star Raiders and Star Fire with ships that look like Cylon Raiders instead of TIE Fighters. Space Spartans is pretty much a straight up clone of Star Raiders.
how t play space batlle: press all squadron buttons to let loose all ships, use the select alien button to highlight an alien, when a ship hits an alien it will blink, press the battle button that highlights the colorored ship
Originally Space Battle was to be released as Battlestar Galactica (thus the enemy ships look like Cylon Raiders), but after the game was developed the permissions fell through, so at the last minute Mattel had to rename the game.
How have I never seen this Episode? Oh Well, Years Later I just picked up a Super Clean Intellivision on the Cheap... I'M Froooommmmm the FUUUUUTTTUUUURRREEE!
I've been comparing Star Strike on the Intellivision to Asteroids on the Atari 2600. Star Strike has somewhat of a 3D trench below your ship. Asteroids is just a plain 2D ship with big, colorful excuses for asteroids. And Star Strike has one of the most amazing special effects in video gaming during the Intellivision days, the total destruction of a planet. The other game has just asteroids that break into smaller pieces. Which is why I prefer Star Strike. Asteroids left me, rather flat.
I like the intelevision 2 much better in desigh, it just looks more modern & sleecker,heck i even dear to say so far that the intelevision 2 could fit next to a supernintendo and i dear to even say that it could also be asociated with a snes because of also containing a 16bit cpu, especially if you take into consideration that some nintendo games did also appear on the intelevision.
Intellivision was superior. I remember wanting the Atari, but my mother got the INTV because the stores were out of the Atari. I played it and loved it. Its true that the games had a lot of complicated control options. It was ahead of its time and some people didn't want to spend the time to learn. All these controls people take for granted now with current games. The first real console RPG with active hit points and stats (Treasure of Tarmin) , and the first RTS (Utopia) were on this system.
Superior but not better. I had one and the other 25 kids in my 6th grade class had atari. I got to play my three better games all I wanted while they were all swapping 50 games between them! That sucked!
chris smith It was a mixed bag for me. I had maybe 4-5 friends with Atari, some with computers, and 2 with Intv. The 2 with Intv's parents would not allow swapping. However one was rich and had every new game as soon as it was out and we went to his house about once per week. I was still happy with it, even with fewer games. I got bored with a lot of the Atari games faster. I realized that when about 5 years later someone gave me an old Atari with around 30 games when they were upgrading. I played it a lot for about a month or so then put it away.
+Lee Paradis I had INTV as well. The controllers were the achilles heel however. The controllers would leave your hand aching after a few hours of gameplay.
+vista7 The fire buttons yeah. They were actually a bit better on the Sears super video arcade clone. My original INTV lasted about 4 years then quit. I didn't have one for another 3 years but I kept the games. One day I went to Sears and they were closing out their console version for $10. I should have got more than one. But it still works even now. I have had to repair it a few times by cannibalizing another dead console.
My Mom got me INTV 1 for Christmas 1981. It lasted about 4 years so I got an INT 2. I had collected around 100 games and I did a trade with what I thought was a good friend for his Atari 2600. We were going to swap back after a few months. When I went to house to get my INTV 2 back he had mysteriously lost most of my games and the INTV 2 had been damaged beyond repair. Still to this day I feel the pain. I had some real hard to find games like Safecracker, Microsurgeon, Mission X, and Maza Tron. I really haven't found a good emulator and collecting all those original games would just be too much trouble.
I have an intellivision (intelligent television) (you forgot to say that ;o) ) and have never had trouble working out it's controller, you do get very sore thumbs after a while though :o) yes, my controllers are in a state, but working fine. Despite what people think, if you look inside, the controllers are not hardwired, but have ports :o)
I really tried to like the intellivision, but never had one when this came out, my second console was colecovision, so this looked dated, when i saw it.
Well, no - the worst controllers ever would be the analog sticks for the Atari 5200. Not only did they suck, but they often need opening up to readjust the innards. At least the Inty controllers are reliable, even if they are awkward to use for most games.
Another very informative video there, good job at addressing it's advantages and disadvantages.
matt your better then avgn at making console reviews I've never seen someone with a channel just dedicated for console reviews thank you for this!!!!!
Those overlays are genius! I really dig the idea.
Awesome reviews.
A lot of the consoles at the time had them.
Ohya, a beautiful machine and I loved those anti-Atari ads back then. Great review!
Fun review, but when you actually got to the part where you mentioned that Mattel got around to making a new console in 2006, I immediately had to stop the video to check that out. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, the horror!.
LOL, you must mean the dreaded Hyperscan
The Intellivision "INTV" brand was revived with independent investors circa 1986, and continued to produce newer titles going into 1990-91. It continued as a solid system (it sold the original-style console as "System III"), and I enjoyed it for several more years in my adolescence.
@MrRetroNick thanks for the feedback mate, always good to hear i'm doing a decent job
A word on the controller. The buttons and disc would really hurt your finger and hand. It had some fun games but I found myself over at my pals house more often playing his Atari 2600 more often than he was over my house playing Intellivision.
@ReplayRetro Well, if this is a PAL version of the Intellivision, it would run slower than what we're use to having here in NTSC-ville!
Incidentally, Lock 'n Chase" is a Data East game, not Mattel's though they developed it for the Intellivision.
I remember playing B17 Bomber on Intellivision in junior high. Back then I was limited to 5 hours of play a week though.
sweet review, i may need to get me one.... maybe lol! r u comin to gamelink this year?
@TheSecretGameRoom cheers for the support! :D
@RetroGamerVX hmmmm, i believe dear friend i mention "intelligent television" when reading from the front of the console in the hardware exploration section of the video so ner :p
as for the controller thing, that's just bizarre why put a port on the inside??? however i still class this as hardwired purely because to change them requires a tool and also replacements were not produced
cheers for the info though :)
Do you have a overseas version? My Intellivision 1 and sears Intellivision had a hard wired power cord.
I was one of the designers of intellivision and I'm taking this review personal.
very good review mate! cheers to your exemplary research. ps- don't let the red things hit your gun site in space battle and you'll be alright. it's quite addictive once you get that little tidbit of info out of the way!
You need to understand: on the Intellivision, any game runs fastest when you use the disk to start it, as opposed to a button. And, with Space Battle, that will be a big advantage to you. It will become your fav game. Also, the overlay is pretty straightforward--one line to send out/change direction on the ships, one line to recall them, one line to engage them in battle. Easy peasy.
Mattel did send a "matrix," a circuit-printed plastic which folded on itself to make that controller work, again.
@manspam1 sometimes the keypad becomes really useful in the right game (although you still have to look down to see what you're pressing) but the thumbpad isn't designed to last at all the membrane isn't good enough, and considering this was hardwired, that's not good enough
@ReplayRetro I'm sure it's more a case of Mattel Electronics developing the Intellivision port for their console anyway through a license anyway.
If you want added laughs, stick on the subtitles. Hillarious!
@0000Ishbo not a game i've played, although i vaguely remember hearing about it, i'll keep my eyes peeled for it
@lakepalmer i'll have to try and pick that up sometime, sounds cool, cheers
@minks36 yeah i've played it like that, but for the review i wanted to be able to speak a bit :p
@RetroToledo yeah, i have it for another system somewhere (not sure i even own the system lol) i tend to go with whoever developed that specific version though on the caption, although i've been known to go with the publisher instead before for reasons known only to my subconscious
I was one of the guys on the block that got the Intellivision. There were some cool games but a lot of the games required 2 players like most of the sports games. They started releasing some better games along with the Intellivision II but by this time I think they were losing money and scrapped the console.
Space Battle is like a cross between Star Raiders and Star Fire with ships that look like Cylon Raiders instead of TIE Fighters. Space Spartans is pretty much a straight up clone of Star Raiders.
how t play space batlle: press all squadron buttons to let loose all ships, use the select alien button to highlight an alien, when a ship hits an alien it will blink, press the battle button that highlights the colorored ship
i do not like the tv effect on some of your vids by the time the vid is comming to an end my eyes hurt
In Space Battle you get to shoot at Cylons, nice!
good stuff mate:) you need to have lock n chase on the fastest option, it plays much better that way;)
The controllers look like iPods
@emojo1990 thanks mate, it's a fantastic system. i should be coming if all goes to plan yeah
VERY NICE REVIEW... SPACE BATTLE IS ACTUALLY ALOT OF FUN AND NOT AS COMPLICATED ONCE YOU GET THE BASIC IDEA.... THANKS AGAIN....
Originally Space Battle was to be released as Battlestar Galactica (thus the enemy ships look like Cylon Raiders), but after the game was developed the permissions fell through, so at the last minute Mattel had to rename the game.
Nice review!
How have I never seen this Episode?
Oh Well, Years Later I just picked up a Super Clean Intellivision on the Cheap...
I'M Froooommmmm the FUUUUUTTTUUUURRREEE!
You can buy a working Intellivision on Ebay for about $40.
I've been comparing Star Strike on the Intellivision to Asteroids on the Atari 2600. Star Strike has somewhat of a 3D trench below your ship. Asteroids is just a plain 2D ship with big, colorful excuses for asteroids. And Star Strike has one of the most amazing special effects in video gaming during the Intellivision days, the total destruction of a planet. The other game has just asteroids that break into smaller pieces. Which is why I prefer Star Strike. Asteroids left me, rather flat.
The Sears Intellivision was the best it had removable controllers and played all games unlike the Intellivision 2
I like the intelevision 2 much better in desigh, it just looks more modern & sleecker,heck i even dear to say so far that the intelevision 2 could fit next to a supernintendo and i dear to even say that it could also be asociated with a snes because of also containing a 16bit cpu, especially if you take into consideration that some nintendo games did also appear on the intelevision.
Intellivision was superior. I remember wanting the Atari, but my mother got the INTV because the stores were out of the Atari. I played it and loved it. Its true that the games had a lot of complicated control options. It was ahead of its time and some people didn't want to spend the time to learn. All these controls people take for granted now with current games. The first real console RPG with active hit points and stats (Treasure of Tarmin) , and the first RTS (Utopia) were on this system.
Superior but not better. I had one and the other 25 kids in my 6th grade class had atari. I got to play my three better games all I wanted while they were all swapping 50 games between them! That sucked!
chris smith It was a mixed bag for me. I had maybe 4-5 friends with Atari, some with computers, and 2 with Intv. The 2 with Intv's parents would not allow swapping. However one was rich and had every new game as soon as it was out and we went to his house about once per week. I was still happy with it, even with fewer games. I got bored with a lot of the Atari games faster. I realized that when about 5 years later someone gave me an old Atari with around 30 games when they were upgrading. I played it a lot for about a month or so then put it away.
+Lee Paradis I had INTV as well. The controllers were the achilles heel however. The controllers would leave your hand aching after a few hours of gameplay.
+vista7 The fire buttons yeah. They were actually a bit better on the Sears super video arcade clone. My original INTV lasted about 4 years then quit. I didn't have one for another 3 years but I kept the games. One day I went to Sears and they were closing out their console version for $10. I should have got more than one. But it still works even now. I have had to repair it a few times by cannibalizing another dead console.
My Mom got me INTV 1 for Christmas 1981. It lasted about 4 years so I got an INT 2. I had collected around 100 games and I did a trade with what I thought was a good friend for his Atari 2600. We were going to swap back after a few months. When I went to house to get my INTV 2 back he had mysteriously lost most of my games and the INTV 2 had been damaged beyond repair. Still to this day I feel the pain. I had some real hard to find games like Safecracker, Microsurgeon, Mission X, and Maza Tron. I really haven't found a good emulator and collecting all those original games would just be too much trouble.
I have an intellivision (intelligent television) (you forgot to say that ;o) ) and have never had trouble working out it's controller, you do get very sore thumbs after a while though :o)
yes, my controllers are in a state, but working fine. Despite what people think, if you look inside, the controllers are not hardwired, but have ports :o)
Another cool vid :-) but that controller looks and seems to be naff. You right about one button is more.
What happens if i pull the intellivision cord?!
my favorite console of the 80's, besides sega master system. but i hated the controllers....
@squirm13 I got one in the mid or late 90's, but the controllers are as knackered as Matt's so i cant really enjoy it either..
Yay! In Lock and Chase you actually managed to beat a level! Thats not common in your gameplay section of your reviews ;)
@7megahertz i would. . . . . . but i'm cack . . . . .erm i mean. . . . its hard to talk about a game while playing it as it is
space battle is an awesome game once you know how to play it.
I really tried to like the intellivision, but never had one when this came out, my second console was colecovision, so this looked dated, when i saw it.
HI. The 2nd generation video game consoles, the designs, they all look like Darth Vader chest panel, lol.
God bless, Proverbs 31
i wish in clean sweep lock n chase pacman ms pacman all those games the 2 player mode could also be one is pacman and one is the ghosts cops etc
lol the hell did i do there?
@grimmah1978 hahaha i don't know if i should be offended by this or not :p
worst controllers EVER!!
rageface.jpg
Well, no - the worst controllers ever would be the analog sticks for the Atari 5200. Not only did they suck, but they often need opening up to readjust the innards. At least the Inty controllers are reliable, even if they are awkward to use for most games.
B Clarke the 5200 sticks oh the huge manatee
HATE your format for this episode, the small screen and flashing borders throughout made it unteachable. Shame as the content was pretty good.