Intellivision Lives

Intellivision Lives! In your distorted, foggy dreams

Strengths: You can switch the case with one of your good games, if your worthwhile game's case has gotten beaten up. The Orignal Box covers are neat to look at. Buzz Bombers.

Weakness: Confusing controls/option selection. The intellivision controller is not meant for being emulated.

I had high hopes for this game. I figured it would be similar to an Atari 2600 collection. I was wrong. While the graphics capabilities are similar, there just are no good games(except Buzz Bombers). I was looking forward to playing shark! shark!, because I love Feeding Frenzy (xbox live arcade). Most of these games are variants of space invaders, asteroids, or a combination of these two. But all...
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I had high hopes for this game. I figured it would be similar to an Atari 2600 collection. I was wrong.

While the graphics capabilities are similar, there just are no good games(except Buzz Bombers). I was looking forward to playing shark! shark!, because I love Feeding Frenzy (xbox live arcade).

Most of these games are variants of space invaders, asteroids, or a combination of these two.

But all these games are super slow paced, and the controls are not crisp.

If you can master the arcane art of remembering all the different button mappings, you might get by. But then you have to press select to bring up the number pad. Meanwhile you are dying in your game. Oh yeah, the cancel button(l1/l2?) doesn't work while you are in the keypad. You have to move the cursor to "enter" or hit select to exit, then hit enter.

Unless you are nostalgic about intellivision, AVOID THIS GAME! I only paid five bucks and I feel ripped off!

By dutchfudge - Mar 29, 2006

It lives! It lives!

Strengths: Good collection of Intellivison games. Superlative interface.

Weakness: Lacks important games. Control is sometimes lacking. Intellivision is not as captivating as it once was.

Probably the best thing about Intellivision Lives is the interface. *This* is the way to do a classic game collection. Well-organized, with games, instructions, information and extras easily findable and navigable. Sure, the pizza parlor setting is a little weird, since there were never Intellivision arcade games, or Intellivisions in pizza parlors, but it works and the effort and polish that...
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Probably the best thing about Intellivision Lives is the interface. *This* is the way to do a classic game collection. Well-organized, with games, instructions, information and extras easily findable and navigable. Sure, the pizza parlor setting is a little weird, since there were never Intellivision arcade games, or Intellivisions in pizza parlors, but it works and the effort and polish that went into it are light years beyond most compilations.

Then there are the games. Unfortunately, only the most hardcore nostalgia fans will get a whole lot out of the games. They were great for their time, but many of them would be hard-pressed to keep the average person's interest for long. Is anyone really going to play Intellivision sports games? Board games?

The truth is that game design has changed a lot in the twenty years (or more) since these games were made. Playing the same simple games over and over is not the thrill it used to be. An example is one of the very first challenges the game offers to unlock one of the unreleased games : score 15000 points on Night Stalker. Night Stalker isn't a pain to play, but the most difficult part of the challenge would be to keep playing and stay awake long enough to attain the score.

One severe deficit is the games that are missing in action. Some licenses were hard to obtain, so seminal games like Discs of Tron, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Burgertime, or any of the Imagic games (Microsurgeon, Dragonslayer, Demon Attack) aren't there. These were some of the best and most popular, so their absence is a loss that really hurts.

The other problem is the control. The Intellivision had bizarre controllers, with 9 number keys, a disc, and 4 fire buttons. You would think the PS2 controller could handle it, and the designers tried their best to map controls to buttons that make sense. You can even put a virtual Intellivision controller on the screen and use it, though it's beyond clunky. Even still, the control is sometimes awkward, and sometimes difficult. The disc wasn't the best controller in the world, so does the emulation deserve points for preserving bad control? The jury's out on that one.

Intellivision Lives does what it's supposed to do, and it does it pretty well. The emulation of the Intellivision controller and the missing games are the only weaknesses. If you had an Intellivision, or knew someone who did, this is a good collection to rekindle those memories. Otherwise, if you never saw an Intellivision in your life before, now is not the place to start.

By michaelsarris - Dec 29, 2005

Plenty of titles for cheap

Strengths: Plenty of older, yet fun titles

Weakness: Not for the newest generation of gamers

I bought this game for nostalgic purposes. I remember the games of old and finding a large number of them on this one disc just brought back lots of old memories. Anyways, for those of you who enjoy the older games (like Battle Tanks, B-17 bomber, etc.), this will definately keep you entertained for a few days. The nostalgia definately wears off after a few days, but you can always give a break...
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I bought this game for nostalgic purposes. I remember the games of old and finding a large number of them on this one disc just brought back lots of old memories. Anyways, for those of you who enjoy the older games (like Battle Tanks, B-17 bomber, etc.), this will definately keep you entertained for a few days. The nostalgia definately wears off after a few days, but you can always give a break and then go back to it another time. Overall, I'd say if you can find it for a low price, definately pick it up, as it is worth it for those of us who remember some of these games.

By Warner1281 - Oct 5, 2005

Intellivision Lives

Strengths: Classic games brought to one disc

Weakness: None

This is basically a large compilation of classic games brought to PS2. Obviously if you don't appreciate the old gaming systems, you will NOT enjoy this at all. I myself love the old gaming systems, so I will rate this high now. This game is more preference than anything else.

By Alive741 - Aug 19, 2005

Intellivision Lives is a...

Strengths: Over 60 games on one disc.

Weakness: Games may be too simplistic or old for todays gamers.

Intellivision Lives is a compilation of over sixty Intellivision games for PS2. What can I say? You get 60 games for the price of one. Amazing deal if you are into retro gaming. I personally grew up playing the Intellivision and it has some fun and memorable games. If you like to play games for high scores and don't mind the dated graphics or simplistic gameplay this is the game for you. Give the...
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Intellivision Lives is a compilation of over sixty Intellivision games for PS2. What can I say? You get 60 games for the price of one. Amazing deal if you are into retro gaming. I personally grew up playing the Intellivision and it has some fun and memorable games. If you like to play games for high scores and don't mind the dated graphics or simplistic gameplay this is the game for you.

Give the game 4 stars if you like to retro game and 1 star if you can't stand the old.

By JDreborn - Jul 6, 2005