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Mattel Intellivision

Updated 6/4/11

Mattel released the Intellivision in 1980. It was part of the second generation of game consoles. Although it had superior graphics, sound, CPU and RAM when compared to Atari 2600, it didn't have the software support, so it didn't do as well in the market. It was the only console to give Atari any competition in the second console generation. Like Atari, the Intellivision was marketed by Sears rebadged as the Sears Super Video Arcade, and by Radio Shack as the Tandyvision. 6 million units were sold over 12 years, and 125 games were released.

Specifications
CPU: General Instrument CP1610 16-bit microprocessor CPU, 894.886 KHz
System RAM: 1352 bytes (240x8-bit Scratchpad RAM, 352x16-bit system RAM, 512x8-bit graphics RAM)
System ROM: 7168 bytes of ROM (4096 × 10-bit (5120 bytes) Executive ROM, 2048 × 8-bit Graphics ROM)
Resolution: 159x96 pixels (159x192 on TV due to scanline doubling), 16 on-screen colors out of 16 total colors (8 primary and 8 pastels)
Graphics: Eight single-color 8x8 or 8x16 sprites that can be stretched 2x horizontally and up to 8x vertically, and can be mirrored horizontally and/or vertically; background made up of 20x12 8x8 tiles with 2 colors per tile (the far-right strip of pixels are not displayed); hardware scrolling of background
Sound: General Instrument AY-3-8910 chip; 3 programmable tones and 1 white noise; same sound chip used in many arcade games, the Vectrex and the Atari ST computer
Media: Cartridge
Interface: RF out, 2 controllers hardwired to console
Price: Originally $300, was $70 (Intellivision III) by the end of its run.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Cloudy Mountain Cartridge
Genre: action adventure overhead
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

a.k.a. Crown of Kings, a.k.a. Adventure. Make your way to Cloudy Mountain. Only vaguely related to D&D.


Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Treasure of Tarmin Cartridge
Genre: action adventure
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

a.k.a. Minotaur. Make your way through a first-person maze to get to the Minotaur's lair, who is guarding the Treasure of Tarmin. I never could figure out how to play.


Armor Battle
Genre: action
Players: 2
3 out of 4 stars

Like the tank portion of Atari 2600 Combat.


Astrosmash
Genre: shmup
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Kind of like a vertical shmup, but your gun is on ground, and objects are falling down the screen at you.


Atlantis
Genre: action
Players: 1

Plays kind of like Missile Command on steroids.


Auto Racing
Genre: racing - overhead
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

An overhead-view racing game with simultaneous two-player action. If one player gets ahead of the other by leaving the screen, they get a point. The one with the most points when the timer runs out is the winner.


B-17 Bomber
Genre: action
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Combines first-person flight sim with overhead, vertical scrolling bombing missions. Uses Intellivoice module to great effect.


Beauty and the Beast
Genre: platformer
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Cross between Donkey Kong and Crazy Climber.


Body Slam Super Pro Wrestling
Genre: wrestling
Players: 1 or 2
2 out of 4 stars

It's a wrestling game with awkward controls.


Bomb Squad
Genre: action puzzle
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Remove components from a circuit and replace them with others in order to defuse the bomb in time. Uses Intellivoice module. Very unique game, but pretty difficult.


Bowling
Genre: sports
Players: 1 to 4
3 out of 4 stars

This is a very good bowling game, if you like that sort of thing.


Brickout
Genre: ball and paddle
Players: 1
1 out of 4 stars

This is a clone of Super Breakout. I can see why they didn't release this game. It is too buggy. Your ball goes through blocks, and blocks disappear that you didn't hit. The ball goes through your paddle before it bounces off.


Bump 'n' Jump
Genre: racing - overhead
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Good arcade conversion. Race along a vertically-scrolling track, and jump over obstacles.


Burgertime
Genre: platformer
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Great arcade conversion.


Buzz Bombers
Genre: shmup
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

This plays kind of like centipede, but with bees. When you shoot bees, they turn to honeycombs, which you can shoot, or you can leave them for a friendly hummingbird to eat for more points. If bees reach the bottom, they leave flowers. Your spray can can get stuck on the flowers. The game ends when you run out of sprays. It would have been a 4-star game, but the music stops every time you fire. What in the world? The shots use white noise, not tones, so the music doesn't have any technical reason to stop. Weird. There are intermissions every 5 levels, which is unusal for a console game of this era.


Carnival
Genre: action
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

Terrible arcade conversion.


Checkers
Genre: board game
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

Good checkers game.


Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

Very nice golf game, played from an overhead perspective. It's better than PGA Golf. It has 5 18-hold courses, plus you can build your own.


Bomb Squad
Genre: action puzzle
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Remove components from a circuit and replace them with others in order to defuse the bomb in time. Uses Intellivoice module. Very unique game, but pretty difficult.


Deep Pockets: Super Pro Pool & Billiards
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
1 out of 4 stars

I understand why this game was not released. The graphics are very flickery, and the gameplay is very imprecise.


Demon Attack
Genre: shmup
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Plays kind of like Phoenix. Nice graphics.


Donkey Kong
Genre: platformer
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

Actually worse than Atari 2600 Donkey Kong! This game was made by Coleco, and rumor has it that Coleco made the game terrible on purpose so it wouldn't compete with the slick Colecovision version.


Dragonfire
Genre: action
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Best Dragonfire on any console.


Frog Bog
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Try to catch more flies than your opponent. Very nice graphics and sound.


Frogger
Genre: Arcade
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Good arcade conversion.


Hover Force
Genre: first-person shmup
Players: 1
1 out of 4 stars

The game is played from an above-view perspective looking down from your helicopter. You have to take out enemy helicopters, and put out the fires they start. This game has a lot of potential, but the sluggish and unresponsive controls ruin it. It takes forever to change directions, and when you fire, if anything happens at all, it happens a second or more after you press the button. Fail!


Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack
Genre: cards
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Pretty much what it says. The dealer is fun to watch.


Las Vegas Roulette
Genre: gambling
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

It's as good as any other roulette game I've ever seen. I'm not into gambling games, though.


Lock 'n' Chase
Genre: maze
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Mattel's answer to Pac-Man.


Major League Baseball
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Very good baseball game, but World Championship Baseball does it better.


Microsurgeon
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
2 out of 4 stars

Go around the inside of a body and perform medical operations. 2-player co-op play. Kind of slow-moving and difficult.


Motocross
Genre: racing - isometric
Players: 1 or 2
2 out of 4 stars

It's kind of like an isometric Excitebike. There is even a way to build your own tracks. But there isn't much sense of speed, and poor acceleration. And it's too easy to go off the track, which results in an instant crash. And sometimes when you crash and are put back on the track, you can't avoid going back off the track again.


Mountain Madness Super Pro Skiing
Genre: sports
Players: 1 to 6
3 out of 4 stars

This is an enhanced version of Skiing. There are 32 courses available, and you can make your own. Plus there is more variety to the scenery.


NASL Soccer
Genre: sports
Players: 2
2 out of 4 stars

Slow and not very fun.


NBA Basketball
Genre: sports
Players: 2
3 out of 4 stars

a.k.a. Basketball (by Sears). The game is viewed from the side and above. You play three-on-three. No dunking or 3-pointers.


NFL Football
Genre: sports
Players: 2
3 out of 4 stars

a.k.a. Football (by Sears). Fun game, but requires the manual to know the plays.


Night Stalker
Genre: maze shmup
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

The controls make it difficult, since you have to use the keypad to shoot and the disc to move. You also have to stop in order to shoot, which makes it easy to be caught. You run around a maze shooting bats, spiders, and... the robot from Lost in Space?!? When you shoot the bats, they explode violently. What in the world?


PGA Golf
Genre: sports
Players: 1 to 4
3 out of 4 stars

a.k.a. Golf (by Sears). Very nice overhead-view golf game.


Pinball
Genre: pinball
Players: 1 or 2
2 out of 4 stars

This is a pretty sparse pinball game.


Pitfall!
Genre: platformer
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Just as good as the Atari 2600 version.


Reversi
Genre: board game
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

Good Reversi/Othello game.


Royal Dealer
Genre: cards
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

Hearts, Rummy and Crazy Eights. Slow gameplay and awkward controls.


Sea Battle
Genre: action Strategy
Players: 2
3 out of 4 stars

Interesting 2-player game with strategy and action elements.


Shark! Shark!
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

Fun game seen from a side-view perspective where you eat fish that are smaller than you. The more you eat, the larger you grow. You have to avoid any fish that is larger than you, and sharks.


Skiing
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Good skiiing game.


Slam Dunk Super Pro Basketball
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

This is better than NBA Basketball. It is still played from the side, and it is 3-on-3. But you can slam dunk and shoot 3-pointers, and you can play against the CPU. It includes team management as well as playing as part of the team.


Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
2 out of 4 stars

This is an enhanced version of NHL Hockey, but it really isn't much better, although now you can play the CPU.


Snafu
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Plays like Surround or Tron Light Cycles.


Space Armada
Genre: shmup
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

Space Invaders done wrong.


Space Battle
Genre: action
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Send squadrons to fight incoming fleets of ships. When your squadrons engage the enemy, you can switch the game to a first-person shmup. Fun!


Space Hawk
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Plays kind of like Asteroids, but with a scrolling screen, and somewhat tricky controls. Your goal is to destroy space hawks that are pooping out bubble things that you also have to shoot.


Space Spartans
Genre: action
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Star Raiders clone. Uses Intellivoice module. The first-person shmup sections are sluggish.


Stadium Mud Buggies
Genre: racing - isometric
Players: 2
2 out of 4 stars

This is an OK monster truck game that came out late in the Intellivision's life (1989). INTV also ported it to NES, and it put this version to shame, although the NES version isn't very good, either.


Star Strike
Genre: shmup
Players: 1
4 out of 4 stars

Kind of like the Death Star trench battle in Star Wars IV, but you attempt to destroy bombs in the trench before they are launched at Earth while fighting off enemy ships. It has a nice third-person 3D effect. Awesome graphics and sound.


Sub Hunt
Genre: action
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Using your periscope and overhead map, find and destroy battleships.


Super Pro Decathlon
Genre: sports
Players: 1 to 4
2 out of 4 stars

This is a good decathlon game, but the Intellivision controls are kind of awkward for this kind of game.


Swords and Serpents
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Plays kind of like Gauntlet.


Tennis
Genre: sports
Players: 2
3 out of 4 stars

Fun Tennis game. Plays from a side-view isometric perspective.


Thin Ice
Genre: action
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

This game has you ice-skating around penguins to drop them through the ice while avoiding enemies.


Thunder Castle
Genre: maze
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

This is a medieval-themed Pac-Man clone. You are chased around a maze by a dragon. Touching a bat energizes you (naturally), so then you can slay the dragon. Your character appears to be completely naked except for his sword and shield.


Tower of Doom
Genre: action adventure overhead
Players: 1
2 out of 4 stars

This game has a lot of potential, but the interface and cheap traps hurt it too much.


Triple action
Genre: action
Players: 2
2 out of 4 stars

Play Battle Tanks, racing Cars, or Biplanes. None of the games are particularly good. I suppose they included all three on one cartridge so you wouldn't feel as ripped off when you bought it.


Utopia
Genre: Real-time Strategy
Players: 1 or 2
3 out of 4 stars

Probably the first RTS game ever.


Vectron
Genre: shmup
Players: 1 or 2
1 out of 4 stars

This game is confusing and difficult. The controls are very awkward. And it takes 15 seconds for the game to draw the screen to ask how many players, and another 15 seconds to erase the screen again. Who thought that was a good idea?


Venture
Genre: action
Players: 1
3 out of 4 stars

Good arcade conversion.


World Championship Baseball
Genre: sports
Players: 1 or 2
4 out of 4 stars

Best baseball game on any system. Game is played from an overhead perspective. It's basically an enhanced version of Major League Baseball.