Average Rating: 
Rating: none - A Great Idea, But Could Have Been Better
I'll get straight to the point. There are likely two camps that purchasers of this game will fall into: the delighted and the disapointed. Unfortunately, I fall into the second, but you may very well enjoy it. As a hobby, I collect vintage video games, and was excited to find this product. The video and graphics were reproduced to a "t" and were extremely faithful to the originals. Even some of the original Atari's quirks were left in place, adding to the experience. My personal disapointment began with the sounds. In every one of the 10 games, the sounds were quite different than the original Atari...especially things like thrusters in Asteroids and missles in Missle command. They were (quite frankly) of poor quality and felt like a sore thumb on an otherwise great idea. Why in 2003 can we stuff an entire Atari into a joystick, yet we can't come close to reproducing electronic sounds made 20+ years ago? Perhaps it was to keep the price low, which it was - at just under $... Last, while many of the titles were classics, such as Asteroids, Centipede, and Adventure, a few titles such as RealSports Volleyball made me scratch my head. Why not memorable Atari titles like Combat or Space Invaders instead? In conclusion, if you're looking for quick, inexpensive nostalgia, this is for you. If you're looking for all of the classics, reproduced to a "t," I'd suggest buying the real deal in an online auction.
Rating: none - Geezin' to the Atari ® Oldies
Man, I must be gettin' old, cuz it seems like only yesterday when the games that are included on this mini-system were on the cutting edge of video-arcade technology! Flat 2-D graphics made up of pixels big enough to cast a total solar eclipse over Rhode Island, all objects were rendered in one bright color or another, only one fire button to go with the directional control... are these things truly considered so primitive today, in this era of the PlayStation 2™ and X-Box™? Have the last fifteen-to-twenty-odd years REALLY passed by that quickly? And how were they able to cram an entire Atari® console and ten 8-track-size cartridges worth of games into one convenient joystick control? It's incredible, simply incredible I tells ya! Yep, things sure have come a long way since my glory days at the local Chuck E. Cheese's®!Anyhoo, on with the review proper. FUN FACTOR: 4 STARS. If you're like me-- someone who has a certain degree of nostalgia over classic Atari® video games from that glorious Arcade Stone Age-- you'll likely get a real kick outta the TV Games® system. The arcade classics Pong™, Centipede®, Asteroids®, Breakout®, and Missile Command® are included in their full 2-D, 5-figures-or-lower-scoring, 16-color-palletted glory. Also thrown in are the more obscure Atari standards Adventure™ (something of a proto-Zelda® medieval jaunt), Yar's Revenge ® (shoot through the enemy's shield, then drop a super-bomb through the breach to destroy the enemy and on to the next level), Circus Atari® (move the teeter-totter around and get the clowns to bounce into the balloons suspended at the top of the screen), Real Sports Volleyball® (gotta have one sports game in the mix), and Gravitar® (a space-adventure shoot-em-up that's similar to Asteroids®). The joystick imitates its predecessor almost perfectly, right down to the somewhat herky-jerky control (which can be especially frustrating to the novice Pong® or Breakout® player), the single Fire button that releases only one shot with each press (except for Centipede®), and the utter disregard for proper ergonomic design that made "carpal tunnel syndrome" a household word! No, wait-- actually, "carpal tunnel syndrome" is three words, right? Yeah. Okay, howzabout "carpal tunnel syndrome" being referred to as a-- no, it can't be called a "household sentence", 'cuz there's no predicate to go with the subject. Hmmm... oh, I've got it--"household term"! Yeah, there we go... gotta remember to file that one away in the ol' memory bank for next time... Another neat thing about this mini-system is that you can set the play level of each game to best fit your skill and ability! Fair warning, though: the difficulty levels for Gravitar® have been reversed! Level 5 is the easiest setting, and Level 1, the default setting, is the hardest. This would explain why I was never able to escape the pull of that sun that's right above the launch pad (Or it could be a black hole-- ahh, who can tell the diff?). You can also choose one- or two-player settings for Yars' Revenge®, Circus Atari®, Asteroids®, and Missile Command®, in case you feel like takin' on a friend in a high-score challenge... A few other pluses about this bad-boy: - The battery cover stays put with a small phillips screw, which is practically a necessity for someone who's always always misplacing the battery covers to his TV remotes and handheld electronic games! - When you start seeing vertical dotted lines on the TV screen when playing a game, and/or one or several moving objects appear to have some kind of shadow following it/them (I believe this phenomenon is referred to as "ghosting"), that's the system warning you the batteries are getting low. The only real disappointment I have with TV Games: It doesn't keep records your high scores. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but... how're ya gonna back up your claim to your geekin' gamin' buds that you achieved a six-figure score on Centipede®? It's kinda tough for folks to take ya seriously without concrete proof, ya know? DURABILITY: 4 STARS. Not only does this have the look and feel of a classic Atari® joystick, it appears to be about as tough as one, too. Just be sure to keep it away from moisture and direct contact with the sun... EDUCATIONAL VALUE: 2 STARS. Unless you're taking a college course on 'The History of Video Games 101: The Classics", I think it's safe to say that TV Games™ is meant to be used for recreational purposes. Class dismissed! 'Late
Rating: none - I love Centipede
I was so excited to get this game. Extremely easy to set up and I just couldn't believe that I didn't have to have a game console. Very easy to take with you when visiting friends or family. I too would've liked to have Space Invaders and Pac Man, and I wondered why breakout and pong were so hard--the joystick just doesn't work that little rectangle well enough. Oh, and be prepared to get some major cramping in your left hand. You have to hold the bottom of the joystick and push the fire button with that hand, and because the bottom is so much thicker than it was back in the old days it is harder to hang onto it.
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