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 Intellivision
Lives (Nintendo DS)
Intellivision Lives brings more than 60 classic home
console games back to life for the Nintendo DS. With a similar selection
to previous games, the appeal of this compilation lies in its
implementation and convenience. There's a wide selection of titles that
span genres from sports to arcade, with a few unreleased titles and
rarities thrown in for good measure. Intellivision Lives' emulation is
fairly good, but the primitive graphics might be a turn-off for younger
gamers. All in all, this is a solid collection that should appeal to
nostalgic gamers. |
You pretty much know what you're getting when you buy a
collection of classic titles such as Intellivision Lives. It definitely
delivers exactly what you'd expect, and brings the classic gamer a decent
selection of older titles in one package. Expecting state-of-the-art
visuals or gameplay innovation would only set you up for disappointment.
However, Intellivision Lives does a good job in bringing back this
familiar array of titles, this time on the Nintendo DS Handheld. It
includes a good selection of classic Intellivision games with many of the
console's standout titles included. There are many familiar names, such as
Astrosmash, Night Stalker, Space Attack, Motocross, Pinball, Vectron to
name a few. As you'd expect there are a few oddities here such as Snafu,
Armor Attack and Frog Bog. The classic Dungeons & Dragons games are
also included, without licenses, though the first one is called by its
code name, Minotaur. Additional titles such as Checkers, Backgammon,
Roulette plus Las Vegas Poker/Blackjack add board and casino-style games
to the mix, which increases the package's overall variety an depth. Each
one of these is a faithful translation of the original title, with sound
and visuals faithful to the source. Playing is fairly straightforward,
with the main screen serving as the monitor while the bottom screen is
used to emulate the famous keypad controllers, complete with their
overlays. While it could have been clunky, the design is quite intuitive
and allows you to play easily. The games themselves have held up well and
their design is very impressive in a number of ways. It's easy to take
some of their technical achievements for granted these days, but the
Intellivision featured several ground-breaking titles that moved game
design forward.
For example, one of the most impressive
features of the original Intellivision was its voice adaptor and the
trilogy of titles here including the famous B-17 Bomber, Bomb Squad and
Space Spartan shows an incredible sophistication for its time, with the
computerized voices taking a cool retro charm to them after all these
years. They're a little bit complicated even by today's standards, but
there's an online manual that can be called up at any time so you can view
the instructions. Once you get the hang of these games, you'll appreciate
their adult nature and design more, though there is a learning curve with
some of these strategy titles. One area where you won't need much
introduction is the famous sports titles such as Baseball, Hockey,
Basketball and others included. Most of the early sports titles require
two-players, which is a difficult thing to emulate. Fortunately, the
game's online mode allows you to share the game with other nearby DS
owners and play against them. This multiplayer component isn't the main
thrust of the gameplay, though it marks a solid addition to the
collection. Some of the games have definitely held up better than others,
but there's a remarkable consistency in their overall quality. This is
true in the sports titles, which evolved over time from the rather simple
mechanics of the early ones to more advanced features seen in later INTV
releases. You can see this contrast when you compare the original
Basketball title relased at the console's launch with the later-stage
release of Slam Dunk Super Pro Basketball. The later has an elaborate menu
system, seasonal play and other advanced features which includes some cool
role-playing type elements. This is fairly remarkable considering the
limitations of the hardware. There's another advantage for players who
want to add this to their collection - which is cost. Since many of the
later stage INTV releases are hard to find and expensive, players should
be happy to learn that many of thee titles such as Stadium Mud Buggies,
Spiker Pro Volleyball, Mountain Madness Pro Skiing and Chip Shot Golf are
included in the package. With so much software to choose from it would
probably be difficult to find games on their own. Fortunately, titles are
grouped into themed sections such as sports and arcade.
This approach makes menu navigation
easier than you'd expect, and the many options available can also be
accessed quickly by using the DS stylus and navigating on the lower
screen. It's a fairly decent package overall, though it does have a few
faults. Obviously, none of the third-party releases are included, which is
a shame since Imagic and Activision made some truly stellar titles. While
there are several cool unreleased games on the package, little is shown
about their history or why they never came out. This is a threadbare
package in terms of extras, with no interviews or background information,
which is a shame. Exploring the history of this classic console is almost
as much fun as playing the games, though most of this is available on the
Blue Sky Rangers website. While the games themselves have held up well,
many younger players might be a little dubious after looking at their
low-res graphics. The games don't look back, especially when you consider
the small screen they appear on helps to hide or diminish their faults.
While these games have appeared in several other console compilations in
recent years, the Intellivision Lives package on DS is a very nicely
designed and implemented classic compilation that delivers a fairly solid
lineup of classic titles at a low price. Its not the most elaborate title
on the market, but it doesn't need to be. Its definitely going to appeal
to older, nostalgic gamers more than younger players, but Intellivision
Lives is a solid purchase if you like classic games.
-
Michael Palisano
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