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Intellivisoin Synopsis v1.0 (03-10-10)
Compiled By Madmab

Special thanks:  Big thanks to Wimpy for gathering most all the information in here.

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THE MASTER FILE UNLESS YOU'VE BEEN DESIGNATED THE HOLDER OF THE "HOT POTATO". 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!

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KEY & TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
(TOP)

(1) LICENSED INTV
(2) UNLICENSED/UNRELEASED/DEMOS/HOMEBREW INTV

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BROWSING/EDITING NOTES:

Looking for a specific letter of the alphabet? 

Try typing your letter followed by a few astericks into the Find window.

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NOTE TO CONTRIBUTORS...

What is expected:

Please use the exact format and order used in the synopsis below when doing games on your own.  In the future, any synopsis
that doesn't include all (or at least most) of the headline information in the exact order I have them below won't be used.
(Please type the line in if the info isn't available and leave it blank after the ":" if you can't find it).  

Any synopsis that doesn't include the website URL and the name of the reviewer (if available) probably will be skipped over
since I'll have to find it on my own then.  After adding new info that people have provided me with so far, for the most
part it would have probably been easier if I went and got the info from scratch, which in many cases I ended up doing.

Please also get all of the headline information from wikipedia as they seem to be the most accurate.

So to recap on the order of things, I offer the following guideline...


ORDER OF HEADLINE INFORMATION:

*
[CRCs]
[Game Title]
Platform: 
Region: 
Media:
Controller: 
Genre: 
Release Year: 
Developer: 
Publisher: 
Players: 
*
Game Description
*

EXAMPLE HEADLINE INFORMATION: 

*
08f0d1bd,6fa17044,4e477d4c,1b0fdd15,c38b62cb,f89702fa,96b8bae6
10 Yard Fight
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: USA
Controller: Gamepad
Genre: Sports - Football
Release Year: 1985
Developer: Irem
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1 or 2 VS
*

INFORMATION IN THE BODY:

Any "Overview:","Directions:", "Gameplay:", "Trivia:" should go in that order (It's how it's pretty much already set up in
all of the wikipedia articles, so that shouldn't be too difficult).

"Controls:" goes under the game descriptions.

"Hints:" goes under controls.

Followed by,

"Reviewer:" (Who wrote the review, if their name is available...)

And lastly, 

The Website URL(s) where the information was pulled.
*

(Use already completed synopsis files as an example of how to properly put one together)

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CURRENTLY USED GENRES: [****NEEDS TO BE UPDATED TO REFLECT ATARI 5200/800 GENRES****]

Note that these will likely be changed around a bit and this won't be the final list of genres when the 
synopsis is done.  I'm hoping in the future that we will be able to sort games by these categories, so it's 
very important that we use standard names for genres, as well as year released, and number of players.

The Genre List, so far:

Action-Adventure
Beat 'em Up
Board Game
Edutainment
Flight Simulator
Game Show
Graphical Adventure - Point and Click
Light Gun
Movie Adaptation
Party
Platformer
Racing
Role Playing Game
Run and Gun - Top Down
Shoot 'em Up - First Person
Shoot 'em Up - Fixed
Shoot 'em Up - Isometric Scroller
Shoot 'em Up - Horizontally Scrolling
Shoot 'em Up - Miscellaneous
Shoot 'em Up - Multi-Directional
Shoot 'em Up - Vertically Scrolling
Shoot 'em Up - Rail Shooter
Shooting Gallery
Sports - Basketball
Sports - Boxing
Sports - Competitive Events
Sports - Football
Sports - Golf
Sports - Hockey
Sports - Poker
Sports - Skateboarding
Strategy - Turn-Based
Vehicular Combat

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The "Players:" List, so far:

1
1 or 2 Alternating
1 or 2 CO-OP
1 or 2 VS
1 or 2 VS; CO-OP
1 to 3 VS
1 to 4 CO-OP
1 to 4 VS
1 to 8 VS

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WHERE CAN I FIND INFOS/SYNOPSIS FOR THE GAMES?

Google is your friend, but i say the bests websites to try first would be:

-console classix (http://www.consoleclassix.com/atari2600titles.html);infos,synopsis, hints and controls for each games
-wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_games);infos,synopsis, hints and controls for each games
-mobygames (http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/nes/);infos,synopsis for each games
-gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/);all the infos for all the games (especially all the "developpers", "publishers" (if the publisher is different for the US, JAP and EUR, keep the us publisher) and "game genre" infos), users review, hints and controls

HOW CAN I FIND THE CRC OF MY ROM?

Method 1) Click down on the right thumbstick in the game-select menu.  If you don't have the game, the emulator will tell you "No synopsis found" or some similar message with the CRC displayed.

Method 2) If your rom is zipped (file extension in ".zip", or ".rar" or ".7z"),simply "right click" with your mouse on it, and choose "open with/winrar archiver", you will see the crc32 on the right side.

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A60E25FC
APBA Backgammon
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Intellivision Backgammon is identical with the board game. Backgammon is a game played by two players (the computer can be one of the players). Each player has 15 pieces. The object of the game is to be the first to move all your pieces completely around and finally off the board. Moving your pieces off the board is called "bearing off". The first player to bear off all his pieces is the winner. Each player moves in a direction beginning from his opponent's Home Table and coming around to his own Home Table. Thus one player always moves clockwise and the other always 
counterclockwise.
You can play against the computer at two skill levels - one for beginners or intermediate, another for experts - or two players can compete against each other. It displays the American Backgammon Players Association (ABPA) logo.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Beating Intellivision at backgammon is a lot of fun. But it's definitely not child's play.

The computer knows all the tricks -- and it calculates all the odds before it moves.

Can you find a flaw in its strategy? Can you give it pieces to gobble up freely, then trap it in the back game? Or will you just cross your fingers, press the button and roll the dice?

Perfect your own backgammon skills with this modem version of one of the world's oldest games.


PRODUCTION NOTES:

ABPA Backgammon was one of the original four games introduced with Intellivision when it was test marketed in 1979.

The program code was recycled in the Triple Challenge cartridge released by INTV Corporation.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/abpa-backgammon
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#backgammon
*

*
F8B1F2B7
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Role-Playing (RPG)
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Pursue the ancient Crown of Kings in ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Cartridge. You control a three person party equipped with three arrows a piece, though more are arrows can be found on your quest. Quest over the land of Cloudy Mountain and explore caves with many enemies that try to stop your progress. Four difficulty levels keep the game fresh and challenging for pros or amateurs.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/advanced-dungeons-dragons-cartridge
*

*
16C3B62F
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin Cartridge
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Role-Playing (RPG)
Release Year: 1983
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Treasure of Tarmin was one of the first 3D Intellivision games. A mix between a maze game and an RPG, the game featured innovations in the genre that had never been attempted before on the Intellivision, such as hidden doors, magical weapons and a versatile inventory (which requires you to keep yourself fed and rested, otherwise you'll lose health). It also featured up to 256 randomly-generated levels of the maze (depending on which of the 4 difficulty levels you choose) where you'll fight real-time battles against increasingly fierce creatures until you reach the Minotaur's lair, where he guards the Treasure of Tarmin.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TREASURE OF TARMIN Cartridge was in production at APh since 1981. At the beginning, APh hoped to do two versions: an Intellivision cartridge, and an enhanced version for the original Keyboard Component, featuring synchronized voices. The Keyboard version was never started.


FUN FACT:

As with ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CLOUDY MOUNTAIN Cartridge, the capitalization and inclusion of the word "Cartridge" are contractually part of the title of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TREASURE OF TARMIN Cartridge at TSR's insistence.

TSR insisted on so much legal lingo on the title screen, there was no room for the title Treasure of Tarmin. The title screen identifies the game simply as ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Cartridge, same as on the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CLOUDY MOUNTAIN Cartridge title screen.

Programmer Tom Loughry later designed The Dreadnaught Factor and Worm Whomper Intellivision cartridges for Activision.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/advanced-dungeons-dragons-treasure-of-tarmin-cartridge
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983c.html#tarmin
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*
11C3BCFA
Adventure (AD&D - Cloudy Mountain)
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Role-Playing (RPG)
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Take the wrong turn and you'll soon be staring at the biggest, meanest and most clever dragon you've ever imagined. You start out in a maze. But, this is no ordinary maze. It's revealed to you only a few feet at a time as you enter each new uncharted corridor. The maze scrolls: up, down, right and left. You don't know when it's going to take a turn -- for the worse. That dangerous dragon could be between you and the treasure that you must find. Along your way you'll find a variety of objects to help you avoid the dragon. Based on the popular role-playing board game, this video version will provide you with many hours of enjoyment.

* One player game 
* Game screen "scrolls" up and down, left to right 
* Continually changing maze 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Because of its complexity, this was the first cartridge to go over the 4K size limit; it was allocated a whopping 6K.

Originally released as ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Cartridge, CLOUDY MOUNTAIN was added to the name later when ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TREASURE OF TARMIN Cartridge was announced.


FUN FACT:
The all-capitalization and the word "cartridge" are actually part of the title, as required by the contract with TSR Hobbies, owners of the Dungeons & Dragons trademark.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#cloudy
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*
6F91FBC1
Armor Battle
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
Armor Ambush (aka Armor Battle) is a two player game, where each player is in command of two tanks (one at a time), and they must try to destroy each other.

The battlefields constantly change, so no battle is ever the same.  Tanks move at average speed on grass, fast on roads, slow through trees, and slowest through water.

Tanks will explode after three direct hits.  The Harder game mode adds ricochet shots.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Dust off your field glasses and scan the horizon for enemy tanks. There's one -- grinding its way out of the woods!

You see each other at the same time. Both turrets swing toward their targets. Who will fire a split second sooner? And who will be reduced to a pile of rubble?

When you've beaten your opponent, move on to a new battlefield. There are literally hundreds of new terrains to conquer!

War may be nerve-wracking, but this is pure fun!


PRODUCTION NOTE:

An M Network version of the game, called Armor Ambush, was released for the Atari 2600.


FUN FACT:

The game actually made it pretty far through the production phase with the title "Tanks-A-Lot" before some Mattel bigwigs pronounced the name "stupid" and made APh change it. David Rolfe (Major League Baseball) avers, however, that the name wasn't APh's idea - it had been attached to the original concept art that came from Mattel.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/armor-battle
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#armor
*

*
FAB2992C
Astrosmash
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
In Astrosmash you control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen; your goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying the various incoming meteors, bombs, and other objects. Points are earned for destroying objects, while points are lost for letting them get past you. Meteors are the most common item you need to defend yourself against. They come in various sizes and colors, and some even split into two smaller meteors when shot.

Mixed in with the meteors are white spinning bombs. While letting a meteor get past you will only lower your score, you have to shoot the spinners. If one gets past, you will lose a life. On the more difficult levels, ufo's and guided missiles will also appear occasionally and attempt to destroy your canon.

If you become trapped in a hopeless situation, your canon can enter hyperspace and be instantly transported to a different location on the screen. Just be careful, sometimes you may be transported to a situation worse than the one you left! The game ends when all of your laser canons have been destroyed.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Astrosmash started out as a clone of the arcade game Asteroids, called Meteor!. The game wasn't very big, so John Sohl used the extra room in the cartridge to come up with a variation called Avalanche using the same graphics and sound effects. At the last minute, afraid of a lawsuit from Atari, the Mattel lawyers killed the Asteroids-like Meteor!. Rather than risk introducing bugs by deleting code, John simply put a branch around the opening-screen menu straight into the Avalanche! variation, which was released under the name Astrosmash.

John admits he wasn't sorry to see Meteor! go -- he hadn't been happy with the game, much preferring the Avalanche! version.

Astrosmash quickly became one of the most popular Intellivision games thanks in large part to a very simple technique John programmed in: like most arcade-style games, Astrosmash gets faster and harder at higher levels, but unlike most arcade-style games, as you start to lose lives, the game gets easier again. The game then is never too easy or too hard, making it extremely addictive and making it possible for even a beginner to play a single game for over an hour.

The popularity of Astrosmash was such that late in 1982 it replaced Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack as the cartridge shipped with the Intellivision Master Component. By June 1983, the last date for which figures are available, 984,900 copies of Astrosmash had been shipped, making it the most widely distributed cartridge by any of the Blue Sky Rangers (trailing only the APh produced Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and Major League Baseball cartridges). John Sohl was rewarded with a plaque from Mattel and a better offer from Activision, which he took (after finishing B-17 Bomber).

An Aquarius version was also released, as was an M Network version called Astroblast for the Atari 2600. A musical adaptation, Melody Blaster, was released for the ECS Music Synthesizer. An obscene version, called...well, we can't tell you what it was called, was developed for in-house use only. The story of this version can be found in a TRON Solar Sailer FUN FACT.


BUG:

There's no check for the score overflowing -- beyond 9,999,999 points, the scoring routine starts displaying negative numbers, letters, and other ASCII characters. (Ironically, the catalog description promises "Unlimited scoring potential.")

John simply branched around the code for the Asteroids version of the game; the code is still in the cartridge. Verrrry rarely, when there's a glitch hitting RESET, the Asteroids version will show up on screen. (This would be a dandy Easter egg if it were intentional or reliably repeatable, but it's neither.)


PLAYING TIPS:

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 1, Fall 1981:

Here is some extra ammunition from John P. Sohl, creator of Astrosmash. [Note: this issue was the only time that Intellivision programmers were publicly referred to by name until the inclusion of credits on cartridges late in 1983. The same issue mentions Mike Minkoff as the creator of Bowling.] Sohl says you'll be unbeatable if you follow three basic rules: don't get hit, shoot anything that moves and never take risks unless you have to.

Sound easy? It is if you practice Sohl's special techniques for hitting your targets.

* To hit rocks, fire two shots rapidly. The first will split the rock, the second will explode both smaller fragments. If you are threatened by a rock and a spinner, go for the spinner. 

* Shoot the fastest falling spinners first. Aim carefully; the extra moment you take aiming usually pays off with a hit on the first shot. Go for spinners at any cost -- if one reaches the ground, you've lost. 

* Guided missiles are easy to shoot, hard to evade so shoot them high on the screen before they give you trouble. If you miss they'll follow you around. The only way to get rid of them is to lure them off the edge of the screen and use the hyperspace to get away. 

* The UFO will appear when the score is over 20,000. It shoots torpedoes at your laser base wherever the base is when the shot is fired. So keep moving and you will avoid 90% of all UFO torpedoes. 

* Precision aiming is important. To get the highest scores, Sohl says to leave the anti-fire on and steer with the directional wheel using the firing button to get off extra shots as you need them. Keep on shooting!


FUN FACT:

The unused Asteroids-version code was recycled in the game Space Hawk.

Late in 1981, Mattel held a series of local "Intellivision VideoChallenge Tournaments" in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles benefiting Variety Clubs International. Contestants competed for prizes (Grand Prize: an RCA projection TV) playing Major League Baseball, Auto Racing, and U.S. Ski Team Skiing. The publicity was so good, that Marketing took the idea national in 1982 with the "$100,000 Astrosmash Shootoff."

From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.

Over 13,000 people entered, and quickly it became obvious there was a problem. First, because of the scoring bug, many of the pictures showed scores made up of seemingly random ASCII characters. John Sohl had to review the photos and, with an ASCII table, decipher the actual scores. Second, it turned out that no one in Marketing realized that Astrosmash, like many Intellivision games, can be played at slower speeds simply by starting the game by pressing 1, 2, or 3 instead of the disc. (This is a feature programmed into the EXEC.) There was no way of telling who had legitimately obtained a high score and who had played at the easiest speed. There were reports of competitors who literally played for days at the slowest speed, pausing the game (pressing 1 and 9 simultaneously, also programmed into the EXEC) to sleep or go to school.

Unable to decide who was legit and who wasn't, instead of the announced 16, Mattel Electronics wound up flying 73 entrants to Houston for an all-expense paid weekend, September 11 & 12, 1982. There, the entrants competed in 1 hour of timed play. 18-year-old Manuel Rodriguez of Stockton, California won the $25,000 top prize with a score of 835,180.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/astrosmash
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#astrosmash
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13FF363C
Atlantis
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
The lost city of Atlantis is under attack! Wave after wave of Gorgon vessels are approaching, each armed with weapons capable of destroying a part of the city. You are in charge of the command posts at the edges of the city and need to defend it from the invaders. The various gorgon craft will keep flying by on the screen in varying numbers and in different flight patterns. At first they fly high in the sky but then progressively lower. If an enemy makes it low enough before you destroy it, it will use it's weapons and destroy one of the buildings in Atlantis. As you progress in the game, the enemy craft will keep increasing in speed. The game ends when all remaining buildings in the city have been destroyed.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/atlantis
*

*
B35C1101
Auto Racing
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Auto Racing is one or two player racing game that puts you behind the wheel of one of five cars, each with different specialties. You can race on five different fairly large courses. In a one player game you're racing the clock to finish five laps as quickly as possible. In a two player game, you can race a friend and gain points for either your opponent crashing, or if one is leading far enough to reach the edge of the screen.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

There were two versions of Auto Racing released due to a running change made during manufacturing. In the original version, steering is realistic -- it is oriented to the car. For example, if your car is moving downward on-screen and you want to turn right (that is, toward the left of the screen), you press right on the hand controller disc. Mattel received complaints about how difficult this was (even the instruction book warns that it takes some getting used to), so a running change was ordered to make steering intuitive -- to orient it to the screen. In the above example, to turn toward the left of the screen, you press left on the hand controller disc, even though the car is actually making a right. 

Both versions had their advocates -- intuitive steering being easier to play; realistic steering being a better simulation of driving. One programmer likened it to the difference between driving an automatic and driving a stick. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell which version is which from the package; you either have to check the instruction book, or just plug in the cartridge and play.


FUN FACT:

The five courses are mapped on a globe; you can drive off one, through the trees, and onto another, or onto the hidden drag strip. Drive off at the right place and the trees are spaced so that, without touching the hand controller, your car will circle the globe forever (well, until the screen-saver times out).

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/auto-racing
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#auto
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8AD19AB3
B-17 Bomber
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Simulation
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
B-17 Bomber takes place near the end of World War II. As the pilot of a B-17, your mission is to fly across the English Channel and bomb various strategic targets. First you need to select a destination which features a lot of targets. The further the target is from your home base, the more points you can earn, but with more ground to cover there will be more enemy fighters blocking the target and more fuel will be needed. Once a destination is set, you need to stock your plane with bombs and fuel, then take off! You will now have a first person point of view from the plane and can control which of several views is active. When trying to bomb targets, you will be looking straight down from the bombay doors. When you hear a voice announce incoming enemy planes, you need to switch the view to one of the guns and defend yourself. Lastly you can have a view from the cockpit to control the plane. If your fuel runs low, or your plane takes too much damage, you can fly back to your home base for repairs and then take off again to bomb as many targets as you can!
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/b-17-bomber
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*
EAF650CC
Beamrider
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Beamrider is a 3-D arcade action game. You control a beam riding spaceship on a mission to clear 99 sectors of space from hostile aliens. The spaceship is located at the bottom of the screen and it can only stop on one of five beams. You are armed with both lasers and torpedoes; torpedoes are more powerful and can destroy more enemies compared to lasers, however you only get three per level. To complete a sector, you need to destroy fifteen white flying saucers. After all saucers are destroyed, the sector sentinel passes by which can be destroyed for extra points. Each even number sector up until sector 16 will add a new type of enemy to deal with. These additional enemies will just try to slow your mission, though, only the saucers need to be destroyed to advance. Occassionally a rejeuvinator will appear; if this is collected, you can earn an extra life. But be careful, because if you accidentally shoot the rejeuvinator it will turn into an enemy!


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Beamrider was an original Intellivision game programmed at Cheshire Engineering under contract to Activision. Inspiration for the game came to David Rolfe one day as he was leaning back in his chair staring at the ceiling. Suddenly the receding grid of acoustical tiles became an outer space playing field.

Activision later released versions of Beamrider for Atari 2600, Atari 5200 and ColecoVision.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Dave Rolfe in the Beamrider instruction manual:

"Greetings from sector 26 and moving! If you want to make it to the outer sectors, pay attention to these tips.

"First of all, don't hold down the disc. Maintain precise control by learning to TAP the disc to move a single beam at a time. And stay near the center beams so you won't get boxed into a corner with nowhere to run.

"Zap the white enemy saucers as early in their approach as possible. And check this out: You can hit them when they're slightly off the beam, before they can drop their missiles.

"When you see a yellow rejuvenator, don't abandon all caution as you move to catch it, or you'll likely wreck your ship. If an invulnerable object is blocking it, you can use a torpedo to blast it out of the way. Then, catch the rejuvenator. But remember, you only have three torpedoes and they're your only weapon against the Sector Sentinel.

"And while we're on the subject, when the Sentinel is about to approach, don't sit on the beam you plan to shoot from. Green Blockers will swarm onto it immediately! Instead, wait on a beam you're not going to shoot from (like the one nearest the Sentinel's first sighting). As soon as the Blockers are 'locked' onto that beam, zip over to an unblocked beam and torpedo the ship.

"Last, but not least, take time to notice the enemy attack movements. They generally follow a pattern of motion that allows you to anticipate many of their moves."


FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score over 60,000 on level 20 or above received an "Activision Beamriders" emblem.

The Activision instruction booklets included playing tips signed by the programmer. David Rolfe wasn't sure he wanted his signature in the hands of hundreds of thousands of video game players, so he had another programmer sign his name in the Beamrider booklet.


AWARDS:

Video Review magazine named Beamrider "Best Cartridge Game of the Year" in its April 1984 issue. It quoted its earlier review (12/83) by Ken Uston: "Beamrider is a space shoot-out - but not your ordinary space shoot-out....The torpedoes give such an authentic 3D feeling that they're a joy to launch just to watch them progress into space. The Gargon explosion is noisy, colorful and fun just to observe. It takes a while to get hooked on Beamrider, but the addiction will eventually set in among space shooters. Beamrider has found a niche."
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/beamrider
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#beamrider
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C047D487
Beauty and the Beast
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Horrible Hank has kidnapped your girlfriend! He's got her at the top of a tall building, and it is your goal to climb to the top and rescue her. Gameplay is somewhat similar to Donkey Kong. You begin at the bottom of the screen, and need to climb your way to the top while avoiding the many obstacles. Boulders, birds, bats, and rats will all get in the way and cause you to lose a life if collided with. To move from floor to floor, you need to find a window that is open and climb up. The windows change quickly, so when you spot one climb fast! When you finally reach the top, Horrible Hank will fall of the building and then the game begins again at a more difficult skill level.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/beauty-and-the-beast
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B03F739B
Blockade Runner
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Interphase Technologies Inc.
Publisher: Interphase Technologies Inc.
Players: 1
_________________________
*
A 3D shoot 'em up. You have to guide a fleet of four merchant space freighters to Earth with vital supplies. Hostile aliens have sighted you and forced you enter a dangerous asteroid belt. And now, you must try to avoid these asteroids, to destroy the Robot mines and alien space ships and also contend with fuel shortages and prevent the deflector shields from over-heating.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/blockade-runner
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515E1D7E
Body Slam: Super Pro Wrestling
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1988
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
The Object of Body Slam: Super Pro Wrestling is to defeat your opponent in the ring. You must use strength, strategy, and a hint of sneakiness. Each match consists of a series of four-minute rounds. There is an unlimited number of rounds, so the match continues until a player wins or until a draw is declared. The first wrestler to pin his opponent to the mat for a time of 3 seconds is the winner.

You control a wrestler selected from 12 different characters. Your 
opponent is controlled by another player or by the computer. If 
you choose a Tag-Team Match you and your opponent each 
control 2 wrestlers who take turns in the ring.

There are 26 possible moves - drops, kicks, punches, etc. Before each match, you choose 4 to 9 moves (depending upon your selected skill level) that you will use in that match. How many moves you can make during the match is determined by your selected skill level: the lower the skill level, the fewer the moves. Players may select different skill levels to handicap the match. The 12 wrestlers you have to choose from, have their relative strengths and weaknesses depending from their height, weight, strength, coordination, and ego.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/body-slam-super-pro-wrestling
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32697B72
Bomb Squad
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
The terrorist Boris has placed a bomb in the city! As a member of the bomb squad, it is your job to disarm the bomb before it explodes. You start the game with a view of the code number display which is damaged. In order to find the code which disarms the bomb, you have to repair the various circuits in order to fix the display. By selecting a square on the code number display, you will be brought to the corresponding circuit which you can repair using your cutters, pliers, and soldering iron. Your partner, Frank, will guide you through the repairs by telling you what needs to be done, in what order repairs should be performed, and by helping you position the tools. Depending on the circuit, you may need to cut out parts or replace parts (spare parts are located at the top of the screen). If you use an incorrect replacement part, or perform the repairs in the wrong order, you will lose time or even cause the bomb to explode. On the more difficult skill levels, circuit parts may even overheat and cause a fire; luckily you also have a fire extinguisher with you to deal with this situation! When enough circuits have been repaired that you can decipher the code, enter it into the computer and the bomb will be disarmed (an incorrect guess will cause it to explode, however). You may choose to have a one, two, or three digit code to guess and several difficulty levels are available.


BUG:

Depending on the level (Level 3 is the worst), you cannot take a part, with pliers, to extreme ends of the circuit board when the fast (top action) key is pressed. Once the key is released, you can. It is most noticeable when you release a part and you need to pick one up at the top level.

If the wrong part is cut, Frank will say, "wrong part: resolder!" and there is a sound associated with it. If Boris is talking when this happens, his voice overrides Frank's. Frank won't say "wrong part: resolder," but the associated sound still occurs.

When you have correctly soldered a part, it will not move like the others so that you know what you have replaced. However, if you solder that piece again, it will start moving.


FUN FACT:

The working title Juggernaut came from the 1974 Richard Harris movie of the same name that was used for inspiration.

The voices of Frank and Boris were provided by Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman, two members of The Firesign Theatre, the popular comedy group responsible for 22 best-selling record albums. Phil Proctor and a third member of the group, Phil Austin, are heard in the game B-17 Bomber.

INTV Corporation unloaded the leftover inventory of Bomb Squad cartridges to a distributor in Mexico, even though the Intellivoice was never sold in that country. Without an Intellivoice, the game is virtually unplayable.

French, Italian and German translations of the dialog were recorded but never used.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/bomb-squad
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/voice.html#bomb_squad
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AB87C16F
Boxing
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1981
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Two contenders fight themselves for 15 rounds with body punches, feints and hard shots to the head. Victory is decided by the points, assigned by the computer (the referee), otherwise the match ends with a KO. Every round last 1 minute and 30 seconds.
The 2 players can choose their boxer (but not the same) from a rose of six men with different characteristics (speed, offensive power, endurance). The number six is unpredictable.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/boxing_
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999CCEED
Bump 'N' Jump
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Bump 'N' Jump is an action racing game played from a top down point of view. As you race through the treacherous and ever changing roadways, the numerous enemy cars will be trying to bump you off the road. You need to make sure you bump the cars out of the way before you get bumped and crash into the sides yourself! Your car also has the ability to jump quite high if you have enough speed. This is useful to jump over enemy cars if there are too many in the way, and must also be used to jump gaps in the roadway and other highway obstacles. As the levels progress, the road becomes narrower with more obstacles in the way, and the other cars increase in number and in aggressiveness.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

One day, Mattel Electronics was contacted by a couple of guys from New Jersey, Joe Jacobs and Dennis Clark, with startling information: they had hooked up a PlayCable unit to a personal computer and made their own Intellivision development system. They demonstrated that they had figured out how to program Intellivision games quite well, and they wanted to offer their services to Mattel before going to some other company. Ah, blackmail is such an ugly word...

To keep them away from the competition, Mattel contracted with them to program the Intellivision version of the arcade game Bump 'N' Jump. They, under the name Technology Associates, were paid $24,000 for the conversion.

David Warhol (Mind Strike) served as liaison, giving technical assistance as needed. Except for the title screen graphics by Daisy Nguyen, all the work was done in New Jersey, in one of the programmers' basements; they weren't invited to Mattel headquarters.

An M Network Atari 2600 version was also released. An Aquarius version was announced, but not released.

FUN FACT:

Bump 'N' Jump was released just after credits began appearing on boxes (the first was Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man). But since policy forbid including names of people not currently employed at Mattel Electronics, no programmers are credited on the packaging and Daisy is given sole credit for graphics. Dave and Andy Sells (Daisy's supervisor) share credits as "Project Coordinators" and the design is credited to Data East USA, Inc.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/bump-n-jump
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983c.html#bump_jump
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43806375
BurgerTime
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
You play as Chef Pepper and your goal is to make giant hamburgers while evil eggs, sausages and pickles chase you around the game area. 

To properly make a hamburger you must assemble all of the ingredients together, dropping them from higher up onto the the burger area below. To actually do this you have to let Chef Pepper step all over the burger ingredients. As soon as an ingredient (a piece of lettuce for instance) has been stepped on, it will fall to the next level below. Falling food will squish any enemy following you and will also"bump" any other ingredient bellow it farther down. Also, as an emergency defense against the enemy food, you can collect pepper shakers which will allow you to puff out a small pepper cloud which will momentarily stun enemies, allowing you to walk past them.

Higher levels result in new level design, faster enemies and more ingredients to assemble.

The PlayStation 2 version is a port of the original arcade game and comes with a soundtrack disc, a DVD, a guide book and some other bonuses.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Returning from vacation in August 1982 thinking he was going to start the Loco-Motion conversion, Ray Kaestner discovered he was going to do the BurgerTime conversion, instead. Scheduled to get married in December, Ray was determined to finish the job within three months so he wouldn't have to worry about deadlines and debugging during wedding preparations.

Three months was a tight schedule; Ray did it in two, a record for an Intellivision game in the Hawthorne office. The extra month gave him a chance to tinker with the timing of the game to get it just the way he wanted. (He didn't escape the game on his wedding day, though -- the groomsmen were playing it while waiting for the ceremony to begin.)

Data East did not have wide distribution for their arcade games, which had hurt when the Intellivision version of Lock 'N' Chase came out -- the name wasn't exactly a household word. But BurgerTime was so good that arcade giant Bally Midway licensed it and got the game into every arcade in America. Mattel had lucked out; it finally had the license to a hit game.

Marketing ordered BurgerTime ported to every system possible (to "all flavors"). M Network Atari 2600, IBM PC and handheld versions were released. Apple and Aquarius versions were also developed. A Commodore translation was ordered but never started. A Colecovision version, done at the Mattel Electronics French programming division, was eventually purchased and released by Coleco. (A later version for the original Nintendo system was unrelated to Mattel Electronics.)

BurgerTime was the first Intellivision cartridge not released as part of a game "network," although the box color, burgundy, matching that of Vectron, indicates that it was originally intended to be part of the Arcade Network. BurgerTime was initially released in the same style boxes of the game networks -- the covers opened like a book. Later copies of BurgerTime were sold in the cheaper, slightly shorter, end-opening boxes used for all subsequent cartridge releases.

The popularity of BurgerTime was such that a sequel, PizzaTime, was ordered by Marketing. (Mattel Electronics was closed before programming could begin.) A different sequel, Diner, was released by INTV Corporation.


FUN FACT:

Many people ask why one of the bad guys in BurgerTime is an egg. The arcade game was developed in Japan where many fast-food restaurants give the popular option of adding a fried egg to your burger.

The television commercial for BurgerTime was the first non-Plimpton ad to focus on one game. In it, two teenagers drive up to a burger stand in which the chef is being chased around the kitchen by giant hot dogs. One of the hot dogs (an actor in a foam-rubber costume with only his red-painted face showing) slams the drive-up window while sneering into the camera "We are CLOSED now!" These prophetic words were repeated many times by the programmers as they packed up their personal belongings a few months later.

BurgerTime benefited from the demise of the Aquarius Home Computer System. Mattel Electronics had bought considerable television time and magazine space to advertise Aquarius during fall and winter 1983. When the Aquarius was quickly killed by Mattel, the rest of the reserved advertising was switched mostly to commercials for BurgerTime.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/burgertime
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983b.html#burgertime
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FA492BBD
Buzz Bombers
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Buzz Bombers is an arcade action game similar to Centipede. You control a can of bug spray at the bottom of the screen, and you need to defend yourself from the swarms of incoming bees. The bees start at the top of the screen, and fly their way back and forth, slowly heading towards the bottom of the screen. If they reach the ground, they will pollinate the flowers there which causes them to grow and will restrict movement of your spray can. When you shoot a bee, it will turn into a honeycomb. The honeycombs will cause the bees to head towards the ground even faster, since they will turn around when one is in their way. Your spray can is able to shoot the honeycombs, but if you leave them in place a hummingbird will fly around and eat the honey from them. The more honey the hummingbird eats, the more points you get. The game ends when all of your spray cans are destroyed by growing flowers.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Marketing was trying to get as many games as possible that were similar to known arcade hits, so when retailers said "Atari has Pac-Man," they could say "We have Lock 'n' Chase," or "Atari has Asteroids," "We have Astrosmash and Space Hawk." Buzz Bombers was put into production as Intellivision's answer to Centipede.


FUN FACT:

Marketing had a version of the game prototyped with a RAID can and tried to sell Johnson & Johnson, makers of Raid bug-spray, on a tie-in deal a la Kool-Aid Man . They gave it, according to a memo by Director Don Daglow, a "cool reception."

The classic tune "Flight of the Bumblebee" is used in the cartridge, but it almost wasn't; the crack Legal Department couldn't track down whether the melody was in the public domain or not. Bill Goodrich (Quest) pointed out that the composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, had died in 1908, but Legal still wasn't convinced. Eventually, though, they gave it the green light.

Buzz Bombers is a one-player game only, a fact that wasn't properly communicated to the Visual Design (packaging) department. Tens of thousands of copies were packed before someone realized the back of the box said "1 or 2 can play." They had to cross it out. Every copy. By hand.

(This was just after Josh Denham "resigned" as President of Mattel Electronics. As part of his resignation deal, he was given an office at Mattel from which he could continue to conduct business [i.e., look for work]. The joke going around was that as another part of the deal, he was in there with a Marks-A-Lot crossing out "1 or 2 can play" on Buzz Bomber boxes.)


http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/buzz-bombers
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983.html#buzz_bombers
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43870908
Carnival
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
You are at the carnival, and are going to take a chance at the shooting gallery! Your goal is to earn as many points as possible by shooting the various targets before you run out of bullets. In addition to the assorted targets that float by, there are boxes which can be shot to earn additional bullets. You also need to be careful of the ducks! From time to time, a duck will fly down and eat some of your bullets if you don't shoot it first. You move on to the next round of gameplay when the rack has been cleared of all the targets, and the game ends when you use up all of your bullets.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/carnival
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D5363B8C
Centipede
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Atari, Inc.
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
In Centipede, players control a magic wand that is used to square off against a horde of nasty bugs that make their way through a mushroom patch.  

The Flea falls straight down towards the player, laying fresh mushroom in its path. The Scorpion runs from side to side across the screen, turning mushrooms into poisonous toadstool, which cause the Centipede to behave irrationally and dive bomb the player.  Spiders jump up and down towards the player; the closer he is, the more points are earned (300, 600, 900) .  And the Centipede makes it way down the playing field. Shooting segments cause the Centipede to split off and form multiple targets.

Shooting any bug turns it into a mushroom, which can block (or speed up) the bugs on the playing field. If any of the bugs touch the wand, it's lose a life until Game Over.

Centipede was created by Ed Logg, and used a trackball in the original arcade version.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/centipede_
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4CC46A04
Championship Tennis
Platform: Intellivision
Region: Europe
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1985
Developer: Nice Ideas
Publisher: Nice Ideas
Players: 1
*
You can play alone, against your Intellivision unit or with another player either in singles or in doubles. You can even let your Intellivision take both sides and just watch. Maybe you'll see some weakness. 

Go ahead conquer Paris, New York, and Wimbledon if you can. You will need both great concentration and strong legs to win at Championship Tennis. Play locations such as Flushing Meadows, Roland Garros, Wimbledon. In Championship Tennis you are in charge. See if you have what it takes to win the "grand slam"! 

Championship Tennis is an advanced version of the original, successful Intellivision Tennis. You will feel the tension and excitement of some of the great courts in the world, as you serve deep to your opponent's backhand and return a lob with a smashing overhead, just out of reach of your opponent's outstretched racquet. It will require skill, dexterity, cunning and wits along with plenty of practice to master Championship Tennis. 
 

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
As with World Championship Soccer, this is a Dextell release we are including here since it received its US debut in the INTV Corp. catalog. And also like World Championship Soccer, it is a Blue Sky Rangers game. 

Championship Tennis was started at Mattel Electronics to be a one- to four-player game for the Entertainment Computer System (ECS). Ray Kaestner (BurgerTime) started working on the game briefly at Mattel Electronics headquarters in California, but when he was put on Masters of the Universe II, Doubles Tennis was sent to the French office. 

A very preliminary version of the cartridge was shown at the January 1984 Consumer Electronics Show. As with World Cup Soccer, when Mattel Electronics closed, the rights to the unfinished game were given to Nice Ideas, the company formed from the French office. 

Nice Ideas completed the cartridge as a one- or two- (or zero-) player non-ECS game and it was released in Europe by Dextell Ltd. INTV Corp. negotiated the rights to distribute the cartridge in the United States, introducing it in Spring 1986. 

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/gamepage.php?gameId=20
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36E1D858
Checkers
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Checkers is a conversion of the board game. Two players can challenge each other, or one player can go against the computer. The game features multiple skill levels, a "bail out" option which lets the computer suggest a move, the ability to take back a move, and the option to allow yourself or the computer to move first.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Pit your skill and imagination against an opponent who can assess the board opposition in a few seconds and think several moves ahead.

The computer won't make a foolish mistake, but you can still beat it...if you concoct a strategy it can't handle.

Hi and Lo skill levels 
"Bail Out" button asks computer to recommend your next move 


PRODUCTION NOTES:

The game Checkers is known as Draughts in Great Britain, necessitating a packaging change for the English market.

The program code was recycled in the Triple Challenge cartridge released by INTV Corporation.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/checkers
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#checkers
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0BF464C6
Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf is an update of the PGA Golf game released earlier for the Intellivision. The two games, however, share no similarities. Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf contains much more features, including a "swing meter" that determines if your shot hooks or slices, a full set of clubs that behave differently then others, wind differences, obstacles such as trees (which actually can vary in size and height), a dynamic putting system, and the ability to design your own course. For one or two players.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

With the success of the other enhanced versions of the early Intellivision sports titles, INTV Corp. contracted Realtime Associates to produce an enhanced version of the original PGA Golf cartridge. Realtime President Dave Warhol approached Steve Ettinger (Hover Force) about doing the programming, knowing that Steve is an avid golfer. Steve was interested, but he wanted to ignore the original version and design a new golf game for scratch. Dave agreed, and the result was a real labor of love by Steve.


FUN FACT:

Steve and Dave were pretty much the "team of golfers and programmers" referred to in the catalog. The "two years in development" was also an exaggeration, by a year-and-a-half or so.

If a golfer successfully makes a particularly long putt, there is an animation of him fainting onto the green.

Press 0 (zero) while title screen is displayed to display the credits.

Press 23 (two and three simultaneously) on the left hand controller, 26 on the right and press reset to see Steve's hidden message to his family.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/chip-shot-super-pro-golf
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv2.html#superpro_golf
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3289C8BA
Commando
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Capcom Co., Ltd.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 CO-OP
_________________________
*
Several levels await your super-tough Commando in this arcade conversion. Armed with only a standard rifle and a few grenades you must take on hordes of Nazis. Some are wandering around in the open, while others have picked out hiding places, which you must approach from certain angles. Trees, rivers and bridges create a varied combat-like terrain and must be incorporated into your thinking. Extra grenades can be collected, and will definitely be required, as they allow you to kill form distance and thus avoid some enemy shots.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Producer Dave Warhol hired former Mattel Electronics programmer John Tomlinson (Mission X) to do the conversion of Commando to the Intellivision. John did some brilliant programming (the bullets are not moving objects, they are animated on the fly in the background), but he wasn't big on discipline. As the deadline loomed with the game far behind schedule, Dave had to take drastic measures.

We'd like to avoid the word "kidnapping" since it implies a capital crime, but Dave did drive to John's apartment, grab him, and drive him back to Dave's home office where John remained, living and working, until Commando was finished.


EASTER EGG:

Press 0 (zero) while title screen is displayed to view credits.

Secret screen:

Press 23 (two and three simultaneously) on the left hand controller, 26 on the right and press reset?
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/commando
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#commando
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4B23A757
Congo Bongo
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Corporation
Publisher: SEGA Corporation
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
An extremely faithful port of the famous jump-n-run platform arcade game.  Run, jump, and climb your way through a dangerous jungle while avoiding various animals and projectiles.

Includes the introductory animations and features the arcade version's sliding screen transitions.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/congo-bongo
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D8F99AA2
Defender
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Williams Electronics Inc.
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Defender put players in charge of a ship sent to protect mankind from wave after wave of attacking alien forces.

Armed with "smart bombs", and the ability to use hyperspace to move quickly around the planet, the player ship must fight against Bombers, Pods, Swarmers, Baiters, and Landers - that can capture the humanoids and transform them into deadly and relentless Mutants.  Fail to save the humanoids from freefall or Mutant transformation, and the planet is destroyed.

Eugene Jarvis'  Defender has been widely regarded as one of the most popular and addictive space shooters of the early 1980's
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/defender
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5E6A8CD8
Demon Attack
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Demon Attack is an arcade action game with gameplay similar to Space Invaders. You control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen, and need to destroy wave after wave of brightly colored demons. The demons bounce around the screen in bizarre patterns, and try to destroy your canon with bombs or lasers. When you shoot a demon, it will be replaced with another or will split into two smaller demons depending on which wave you are playing. When the required number of demons for the current round is finally destroyed, you can move on to the next, more difficult round.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/demon-attack
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159AF7F7
Dig Dug
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Dig Dug is a 1-2 player arcade game in which you have to use your shovel to dig your way through the earth. Stopping you from doing this are two monsters, called Pooka and Fygar, who will continually chase you around. The only weapon that you carry is an air pump, which you can use to inflate the monsters to the point where they explode. (if you start to inflate them but stop doing so, the monsters will get turned back to their normal selves.) Furthermore, rocks are scattered throughout the earth, and you can use these rocks to squash them. If the monsters do not find you for several seconds, they will eventually get turned into ghosts, which are able to walk through the earth. They are invincible and cannot be killed. From time to time, vegetables will appear in the center, and you can get these for points.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

The Intellivision version of Dig Dug had been programmed at Atari by former Mattel Electronics programmer Mark Kennedy (Kool-Aid Man). The game had not been fully debugged, though, when Atari closed up their Intellivision division in 1984. INTV Corp. negotiated the rights three years later to release the cartridge for the first time.

The source code no longer existed, but Producer Dave Warhol uploaded the code from a prototype of the game still in Mark's possession. Working with the disassembled code, Mark fixed the game's remaining bugs and removed the Atari title screen.


EASTER EGG:

While debugging the cross assembler and disassembler he had written to develop the new INTV games, Dave Warhol tested the software on one of his favorite Mattel Electronics game, TRON Deadly Discs. He substituted the men in the game with the hot dogs from the BurgerTime cartridge, creating a new game: Deadly Dogs! Later, while preparing Dig Dug for release, Dave found there was enough space on the cartridge to slip in his new game. To play it: Press 47 (four and seven simultaneously) on both hand controllers and press reset.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/dig-dug
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#digdug
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13EE56F1
Diner
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
In this unofficial sequel to the arcade game BurgerTime, the Rotten Foods (Hot Dogs, Cherries, Bananas, and their leader Mugsy, the Mug o' Root Beer) have thrown lunch all over the diner and Peter Pepper has to get it back on the plate. 

The game is for 1 or 2 players (but in this case they have to choose two different difficulty levels). Peter Pepper must kick the Food Balls (red Meatballs, green Lettuce Heads, white Rice, tan Mashed Potatoes, and yellow Macaroni) scattered throughout the diner. The Food Ball will roll across the floor, down ramps, and over ledges. If it's close enough to the bottom of the screen, it will roll right onto the plate.

When a plate is full, Side Orders appear in the diner: if Peter picks them up, he earns 250 points and 1 pepper. When he fills 4 plates (finish four game screens), he enters the Blue Plate Special bonus round: Food Balls start raining across the screen and Peter can eat all them, but the flashing ones, for extra points.

With them he can squish the Rotten Food too, earning extra points. He can shake pepper to stop them momentarily or simply run away. If a Rotten Food touch him, he loses a turn. Peter can obtain a new turn every 20.000 points. If he run out of turns the game ends.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

In reviewing the released and unfinished Mattel Electronics games, INTV Corp. decided that (1) they wanted a sequel to the very successful BurgerTime cartridge and (2) they did not want another Masters of the Universe cartridge.

While a BurgerTime sequel, PizzaTime, had been started at Mattel, development had been done at the French office and INTV had no prototype of the game. On the other hand, INTV did have the prototype of Masters of the Universe II, done at Mattel Electronics in California.

Coincidentally, BurgerTime and Masters of the Universe II had both been programmed by Ray Kaestner. Producer Dave Warhol hired Ray to convert the Masters sequel into a BurgerTime sequel. The two of them came up with the rather bizarre concept of Chef Peter Pepper kicking "food balls" past the bad guys from BurgerTime. The resulting game, however, introduced in mid-1987, was a winner.


EASTER EGG:

Credits will roll automatically if you leave the title screen up long enough.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/diner
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv2.html#diner
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C30F61C0
Donkey Kong
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Released in the arcades in 1981, Donkey Kong was not only Nintendo's first real smash hit for the company, but marked the introduction for two of their most popular mascots: Mario (originally "Jumpman") and Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong is a platform-action game that has Mario scale four different industrial themed levels (construction zone, cement factory, an elevator-themed level, and removing rivets from girders) in an attempt to save the damsel in distress, Pauline, from the big ape before the timer runs out.  Once the rivets are removed from the final level, Donkey Kong falls, and the two lovers are reunited.  From there, the levels start over at a higher difficulty.

Along the way, Mario must dodge a constant stream of barrels, "living" fireballs, and spring-weights.  Although not as powerful as in other future games, Mario can find a hammer which allows him to destroy the barrels and fireballs for a limited amount of time.  Additionally, Mario can also find Pauline's hat, purse and umbrella for additional bonus points.

Donkey Kong is also notable for being one of the first complete narratives in video game form, told through simplistic cut scenes that advance the story.  It should also be noted that in versions of the game for early 1980's consoles, Donkey Kong only used 2-3 of the original levels, with the cement factory usually omitted.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/donkey-kong
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6DF61A9F
Donkey Kong Junior
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Mario has kidnapped Junior's Papa!

Donkey Kong Jr. was originally released in the arcades in 1982 as a sequel to Donkey Kong.  In this game, Mario plays the antagonist, finally having captured Donkey Kong, and has put the ape in a locked cage.  As Donkey Kong Jr., players will have to make their way through four different levels (Vines, Springboard, Chains and Mario's Hideout) in an attempt to find keys to free the little monkey's Father.

Along the way, Mario will send out Snapjaws, swooping purple birds, and electric sparks in an attempt to stop Junior.  Junior can defend himself by dropping fruit found around the levels on the heads of his foes.  The more foes a piece of fruit hits in a falling sequence, the higher bonus points can be scored.

Junior can also avoid enemies more easily by grabbing hold of two chains or vines at a time to climb away faster, or by jumping over his foes.  However, any long fall or falling into the water on certain levels will mean the loss of a life for Junior.

In the final cut scene, Junior will free Donkey Kong and both will escape after giving Mario the boot.  Once all four levels are cleared, the game levels will start over at a higher difficulty.

Like the original Donkey Kong, the earlier 1980's console versions do not have all of the levels and animations from the arcade.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/donkey-kong-junior
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84BEDCC1
Dracula
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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As the sun sets, Dracula rises, hungry for the blood of fresh victims.  As Dracula, the goal of this game is to stalk the streets at night, feeding on people walking the streets, or by luring them out of their homes.  As Dracula bites his victims, his actions will call the attention of the local constable who will try to slow him down by driving a stake into him.  Dracula can respond by either turning one of his victims into zombies to attack the police, or by transforming into a bat to escape capture.  Even the forces of nature are against the vampire, as wolves will attack him on foot, and hawks will drag away his bat form.  Dracula must feed on a certain number of victims and return to his tomb before sunrise, or he will not survive to feed another night.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/dracula
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AF8718A1
Dragonfire
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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The king's treasures have been stolen! As the daring young prince, your goal is to recover them all. The treasures are being kept in various castles, each one guarded by a fire breathing dragon. Each level in the game has two parts; first you will need to cross the castle's drawbridge. You will have to jump and duck the dragons fireballs as well as avoid flying arrows to reach the other side! In the second part you need to collect all of the treasures on the screen and make it to the exit while avoiding the dragon who runs across the bottom of the screen. The dragons on each level have different patterns of movement and firing, and as the levels progress will become faster and trickier.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/dragonfire
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3B99B889
The Dreadnaught Factor
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Cheshire Engineering
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1
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The Zorban Dreadnaughts are spaceships that are 140,000 feet long and weigh 970 megatons, making them the largest, most heavily armoured spaceships ever created. A fleet of these large battlecraft are now heading towards your home planet, and it is your job to stop them! The game is played from a side scrolling overhead point of view as your small but agile spaceship flies past the dreadnaughts. On each pass your spaceship makes, you need to try and bomb as many of the energy vents as possible. When all energy vents on a dreadnaught are destroyed, that dreadnaught will explode. Time is limited, though, and if you make too many passes to destroy the energy vents the dreadnaught will be within firing range of your home planet and will destroy it. Each of the dreadnaughts are heavily armed; guns, canons, missiles, and other weapons are located on each dreadnaught and will be trying their best to end your mission. Multiple skill levels are included which alter the number of dreadnaughts you must destroy, as well as their speed and firing capabilities.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

The Dreadnaught Factor was an original Intellivision game programmed at Cheshire Engineering under contract to Activision. Activision later released a version of The Dreadnaught Factor for Atari 5200.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Tom Loughry in the Dreadnaught Factor instruction manual:

"I have found that there are several strategies you can use to destroy the Zorban Dreadnaughts. In fact, your attack plans should vary depending on the class of the approaching dreadnaught and the stage of battle. Here are some tips to help you through any phase of the game.

"First of all, no matter what the circumstances, never attack a dreadnaught head-on. Their fire rate is too overwhelming at any game level. I strongly suggest either continually zigzagging back and forth over the dreadnaught during your attack passes, or dipping in from above or below the dreadnaught. Fire your weapons and accelerate away from its direct line of fire.

"Also, it is critical to keep track of the dreadnaught's distance from the stargate. If it's closer than 50 parsecs, then try to bomb as many engines as possible to slow it down, and if it's closer than 30 parsecs, then immediately destroy its silos. That way, Terra is safe even if the dreadnaught reaches the stargate - unless you lose all your hyperfighters.

"Find out which dreadnaught weapons give you the most difficulty and eliminate them first. But, remember, the only way to ultimately defeat a dreadnaught is to bomb all of its energy vents. Don't waste time or attack passes trying to destroy every target.

"One final tip: your laser bolts destroy dreadnaught artillery that is blue or yellow, and your strontium bombs destroy the artillery that is black or red."

FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing that they had destroyed the entire dreadnaught fleet on level 4 or above received an "Activision Dreadnaught Destroyer" emblem.

The Dreadnaught Factor was a favorite game of Bill Fisher's over at rival Mattel Electronics. He was so good at the game that he started getting bored playing through the early easier levels. To solve the problem, he hacked the game code to create a harder version of the cartridge. That version, variously called The Dreadful Factor and The Dreadnaught Fracture became popular with a number of the other Mattel programmers.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/dreadnaught-factor
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#dreadnaught
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54A3FC11
The Electric Company Math Fun
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Educational
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Math fun is an educational game which can be played by one or two players. Each player controls a gorilla which is wandering through the jungle.  As the gorilla walks on, it will encounter a creature which has a math problem with it. You need to enter in the correct answer to the problem as quickly as possible. If you get the answer correct, your gorilla may continue on. If you get the answer wrong, then your gorilla must jump into the river. Your gorilla is unable to leave the river and continue on until you answer another math problem correctly. The goal is to correctly answer as many of the problems as you can in the shortest amount of time. The game includes eighteen different levels of difficulty which can be set individually for each player.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Although it has a higher production number than Word Fun, Math Fun was released first -- it was one of the original four cartridges test marketed in 1979.

Initially, the solutions for math problems had to be entered ones column first. For example, when subtracting 5 from 24, the solution, 19, would have to be entered as 9, then 1. While this was designed to duplicate how people solve problems with pencil and paper, many customers complained; intuitively, they wanted to simply press in 1 then 9. A running change was ordered so that later copies of the cartridge use this intuitive method of entry, instead.

The Electric Company Math Fun was recycled as the game Math Master on the Learning Fun I cartridge from INTV Corporation.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/electric-company-math-fun
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/learning.html#math
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C9EAACAB
The Electric Company Word Fun
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Educational
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Word Fun was developed in conjuction with the Children's Television Workshop, and features three different word based educational games. The games are:

Crosswords: This game is similar to Scrabble. Each player is given seven letters from which they need to form words on the game board. On each turn the player can create words either horizontally or vertically, and must use one (or more) of the existing letters on the board. Points are earned depending on the word created, and at the end of 20 turns the player with the most points wins!

Letter Hunt: In this game each player controls a monkey in a letter forest. Each monkey must collect letters from the forest to spell three words within the given time limit. When both monkeys are complete, points are awarded for the words spelled and the highest score wins!

Word Rockets: In this game the players control a rocket capable of collecting and shooting vowels upwards. On the top of the screen, various words which are missing vowels will float by and each player needs to try to fire an appropriate vowel into the empty space. The first player who can complete 50 words wins!


PRODUCTION NOTES:

Find A Word was renamed Crosswords between the printing of the catalogs and the release of the cartridge.

The three games in the Word Fun cartridge were recycled in the Learning Fun II cartridge from INTV Corporation.


BUG:

The game won't work when plugged into an Intellivision II. A feature to keep early Coleco-produced Intellivision cartridges from working in the Intellivision II inadvertently keeps Word Fun from working also. Marketing didn't feel Word Fun was important enough to hold up release of Intellivision II to fix the problem.


FUN FACT: 

Te fact that Word Fun didn't work with Intellivision II allowed one group of kids to get copies of every Intellivision game for $1.95 each. Ringleader Mark Thompson wrote to explain the scam:

"When the Intellivision II came out, we found out that Word Fun didn't work on the new version and so we called Mattel to see what was going on. When we found out that Mattel was offering to replace the Word Fun cartridges with any other game we wanted, we went down to their place in Hawthorne.

"One day I went to Kay-Bee Toys for new games and saw that Word Fun was only $1.95. To make a long story short, every Kay-Bee store in the LA area was able to sell completely out of Word Fun! We would get a carload of our friends (I was 14 at the time) and make a field trip of going down to turn in our Word Fun cartridges for new games. We'd have about 6 people in the car and each of us would turn in two Word Fun games at a time about once a week (a self-imposed limit because I didn't want to ruin this). The fact that we were able to do this for about six months surprised me. Plus I made a lot of money selling the newest cartridges for about $25 apiece."

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/electric-company-word-fun
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/learning.html#word
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4221EDE7
Fathom
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
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Neptina, Neptune's daughter, has been imprisoned at the bottom of the sea by Titans. Your goal is to rescue her by locating the scattered pieces of a magical trident! You will need to take the form of a dolphin and a bird in order to locate the pieces that are hidden in the ocean and clouds. When flying in the air, there are several screens that have clouds flying by. Touch all of the clouds, and the trident piece appears! Other birds which are flying around will cause you to lose energy if you touch them accidentally. Underwater, trident pieces can be found by touching the sea horses. Octopuses, sharks, and a deadly maze of seaweed will get in your way and cause you to lose energy if caught! When you have located all of the trident pieces, the cage holding Neptina can be unlocked, but if you run out of energy first the game will be over.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Programmer Dave Durran had worked at Mattel Electronics on the hardware designs of the Intellivision Master and Keyboard Components and Intellivoice before leaving to join the startup Imagic. At Imagic he wrote much of the system code used in game development and worked on the hardware design of the Imagic cartridge ROMs. He also wrote the sound effects for the games.

With everything else he was working on, he says that writing Fathom was a "kind of afterthought." It was designed to be a children's game with (mostly) friendly characters and an easily understood goal. The theme is the same as Imagic's Atari 2600 Fathom designed by Rob Fulop, but the gameplay is slightly different.

Imagic later released a version of Fathom for ColecoVision.


EXPERTS CLUB PERFORMANCE STANDARD:

Fathom was released after the final Numb Thumb newsletter, so no performance standard was published for the game.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/fathom
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.html#fathom
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37222762
Frog Bog
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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You control one of two frogs sitting on a lily pad in a bog. The object of the game is to eat as many flies as you can in the three minute time limit. Your frog can jump back and forth between the two lily pads in order to catch the flies that go by overhead. When jumping, be careful not to fall in the water or your frog will have to swim back to the lily pad which can waste time. The game can be played during the day, or at night making it more difficult to see the flies. At the end of the time limit, whichever player has eaten more flies wins! One player can compete against a computer controlled frog, or two players against each other.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Sitting upon two lily pads in the middle of a lily pond are a pair of hungry frogs; one for you, one for your opponent. Overhead swarm delicious flies. Whether or not your frog scores his dinner while you rack up points is entirely up to you. You control the height and direction of his jump; even the flick of his long pink tongue. Leap too high or at the wrong angle and "Pl-op" your frog goes into the pond. He must swim back to his lily pad, taking away valuable scoring time while your opponent goes on racking up points. As play continues, night will come to the pond. Or, you can choose to play the entire round at night, leaping for fireflies -- in the dark.

* One or two player game 
* Continuous scoring 
* Screen changes from day or night

PRODUCTION NOTE:

An M Network version, called Frogs and Flies, was released for the Atari 2600.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/frog-bog
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#frog
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D27495E9
Frogger
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Konami Industry Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Your task in this arcade conversion is to guide a frog across a treacherous road and river, and to safety at the top of the screen. Both these sections are fraught with a variety of hazards, each of which will kill the frog and cost you a life if contact is made.

The road is full of cars and trucks, at variable speeds. The river water itself is fatal, as are the snakes which hover within on later levels. Frogger must use the arrangement of logs, turtles (which are only there for a short time) and alligators (but stay away form their faces), and then jump into one of the open home-cells, ideally one containing a fly for extra points. Once all holes have been filled, you move onto the next, harder, level.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/frogger
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4B8C5932
Happy Trails
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Strategy
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Happy Trails is an action strategy game for one or two players. Black Bart has robbed the stagecoach, and you need to recover all of the stolen money within the given time limit! The money is located in various locations in a series of maze-like paths. The paths are broken up into tiles, and there is one tile missing so you can rearrange the maze by moving a tile into the empty space. As your character walks through the paths, you need to rearrange the tiles to make sure there is always a connected path in front of him (or you'll lose a life) and to guide him towards the money bags. When all of the money has been recovered, you move on to the next round. On the more difficult rounds, Black Bart will also be wandering around the maze trying to stop you! You should avoid him at all costs, unless you have first collected a star which gives your character temporary invincibility.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Happy Trails was an original Intellivision game.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Carol Shaw in the Happy Trails instruction manual:

"To really play well, you'll need three things: patience, practice and planning. Here are some specific pointers that can help you out.

"Use the reverse button to avoid deadends, the black space or Black Bart. But to really take advantage of this feature, use the reverse button to move your hat back and forth over a 'safe' area, while you're busy rearranging the trail.

"Once a trail is cleared, use the speed button to move quickly. By saving time, you'll earn more bonus points and reduce the chances of the Bonus Timer reaching zero.

"As you arrange your trail, keep in mind that you are also arranging Black Bart's trail. Occasionally, you might like to hold Bart hostage by making him walk in a circle, so you can plan your next move."


FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score of 40,000 or more received an "Activision Trailblazers" emblem.

This game made a lot of people at Mattel Electronics angry since they felt it was a rip-off of the Konami arcade game Loco-Motion, which Mattel had licensed for Intellivision. To add insult to injury, Activision released Happy Trails before Intellivision Loco-Motion came out. Happy Trails received reviews lauding its originality; Loco-Motion looked like an also-ran.

The unofficial word within Mattel Electronics was that they considered suing but that Mattel and Konami couldn't agree on how to split the legal expenses. In reality, though, few if any lawsuits for design infringement were filed in the pre-crash video game industry. So many games from all of the companies borrowed features from so many other games, it seemed no one wanted to open that can of worms.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/happy-trails
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#happytrails
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B5C7F25D
Horse Racing
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 to 6 VS
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This game is for 1 up to 6 players. When the game begins, you can place the bets, for the winner or  for the first and second place. Then you can choose if an horse must be driven by a player or by the CPU. Only the third and the fourth horse can be driven by the players. There are 3 types of terrain: turf, mud or dry. 
When the race begins, the horses are speedier at the beginning, slower toward the end. They are different for speed at the starting gate, stamina, speed at the straight line, and for speed with different conditions of the race terrain. You (and the CPU too!) have the whip and the coax to spur a horse, and these tools could be useful to win a race even with a more tired horse.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/horse-racing
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FF83FF80
Hover Force
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1986
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1
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Terrorist forces have taken over the island city of New Seeburg. They are equipped with heavily armed combat helicopters, so the only way to fight'em is in the air. The player drives the top secret JAF-3000 helicopter, and must blow up enemies with the laser cannons and put out fires with the water cannons. There is a radar screen too, that shows all the damages made by the terrorists, the fires extinguished and the enemies shut down.
The terrorists hits can damage the engine, the navigation system, the cannons and the radar. The player can return to home base (Force Island) for repairs and refuelling, but only two times per mission (the 3rd time after eliminating all the fiends). The game, for 1 player, ends if the copter crashes.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Hover Force 3-D was developed under greater secrecy than any other Mattel game. Researcher Richard Steenblik working at the University of Georgia had developed pseudo-3-D glasses. Small prisms in the glasses bent different colors of light entering the eye at different angles, fooling the eye into thinking that, for example, blue objects on a flat surface were actually farther away than red objects on the same surface. The University approached several game manufacturers to see if they were interested in the technology. After a middle-of-the-night test session in which Keith Robinson (Solar Sailer) quickly threw together an Intellivision screen full of flying bugs of different colors, Mattel management decided to aggressively pursue an exclusive license for the glasses.

Game development was ordered to start immediately, before the license was secured. For fear that a competitor would find out and try to outbid Mattel, the project was kept top secret, even from the other programmers. It was code named "Peach" since the glasses originated in Georgia, the Peach State. Steve Ettinger and Joe King, who had worked well together on Magic Carousel, were given a locked, windowless office in which to work (the rest of the software staff worked in open cubicles); it was quickly dubbed "The Bat Cave."

Midway through the project, Mattel won the license and Peach emerged from the cave. The 3-D effect, while not eye-poppingly dramatic, was effective, especially given the visual cues Steve and Joe had designed. And Dave "Papa Intellivision" Chandler's group had developed an inexpensive method to manufacture the glasses, making it practical for the game and glasses to be sold together at the price of a normal cartridge. Marketing felt they could strongly promote the 3-D feature in ads and the press.

Hover Force 3-D debuted at the January 1984 Consumer Electronic Show to good response. While the 3-D effect got mixed reviews, everyone was talking about it. Management immediately started talking about putting two more 3-D games into development, including a flight simulator cartridge, but before anything could be started, Mattel Electronics closed.

For the INTV Corp. release of the game in 1986, Steve and producer Dave Warhol beefed up the "intelligence" of the enemy helicopters, adding more strategy to the play. Since the glasses were not included with the game, "3-D" was dropped from the title.


FUN FACT:

The game has three difficulty levels, the middle of which, "RANGER" level, is named in honor of the Blue Sky Rangers.

The island of New Seeburg derives its name from Steve Ettinger's initials: SEE.

Joe King was commissioned to do the artwork for the INTV packaging; if the JAF-3000 helicopter (JAF for Joseph Arthur Ferreira; he has since changed his last name to King) looks vaguely familiar, it's because he based it on the submarine Nautilus from Disney's film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Why? Joe explained, "I make every vehicle I draw look like the Nautilus."

A recent magazine article reported that the University of Georgia is still trying to find a customer for their 3-D glasses.


EASTER EGG:

Press 0 (zero) on either hand controller while the title screen is displayed to view game credits.

Press 23 (two and three simultaneously) on the left hand controller, 26 on the right and press reset to see Steve's message to his wife and kids.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/hover-force
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv1.html#hover_force
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4F3E3F69
Ice Trek
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
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In order to stop another Ice Age from occurring, Vail the Avenger must make a trek across the frozen lands in order to reach the Ice Palace of Kalktron the Terrible and put a stop to his evil plans to freeze the land. He will have to ski through a herd of Caribou, cross the frozen river, and then take on the many dangers of the Ice Palace in order to stop Kalktron. Can he stop another Ice Age?
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/ice-trek
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EE5F1BE2
The Jetsons' Ways With Words
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Learn spelling and reading in Hanna-Barbera's "Jetsons" universe! Fly George Jetson's spacecraft around a network of platforms to collect up letters that form a word. The letters drift around the network, and will even try to get away from your spaceship when you get close. When you touch the right letter in the right order, you earn points, but touch a letter that doesn't belong and you lose them. If you collect letters out of order you don't earn as many points. On the higher levels you also have to dodge robots and satellites, which cost more points if you hit them.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
With the introduction of the Entertainment Computer System, a new department was added to Applications Software - Educational Product - to develop educational games for the system. Of the three games they helped design - Jetsons, Number Jumble and Flintstones Keyboard Fun - this is the only one that was released.


FUN FACT:
Parents may have been wary of selecting this game to teach their children. In promising that the game develops vocabulary skills, "develops" is spelled incorrectly on the box as "developes."
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/jetsons-ways-with-words
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-The-43220
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8C9819A2
Kool-Aid Man
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
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2 children are trapped in a haunted house full of evil Thirsties! Guide the children through the house to find all of the ingredients for a batch of Kool-Aid!

The children initially move together through the house, but if one of the children is attacked by a roaming Thirsty, the children separate, and are now controlled one at a time. If a child is attacked twice, that child is out of the game. If both children are attacked twice, the game is over.

Once all ingredients for Kool-Aid (sugar, Kool-Aid, and a pitcher) are placed near the kitchen sink, Kool-Aid Man appears and is now controlled by the player! Use Kool-Aid Man to collect roaming fruit and to destroy the Thirsties. Once the Thirsties have been defeated, the round is over, and the game starts over with a higher difficulty level (unless "kiddy mode" was selected at game start-up.)

Kool-Aid Man is for 1 player, and offers 13 difficulty settings, including a children's mode which never increases in difficulty during gameplay.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

On December 6, 1982, all of the programmers and graphic artists were herded into a conference room and shown a series of TV commercials -- the new Kool-Aid ad campaign. It was announced that Marketing had made a tie-in deal to release Intellivision and M Network Atari 2600 Kool-Aid Man cartridges. The games were scheduled to be ready in about 6 months, which meant that programming had to begin immediately. Worse, they wanted game-screen mockups to appear in the 1983 Mattel Electronics catalog at the Consumer Electronics Show -- one month away. A two-week contest to come up with the best game concept was announced. Separate ideas were developed for Intellivision and Atari 2600.

This led to a confrontation with Marketing. The programmers' viewpoint was that the features of a game should be tailored to the system it would be played on, to take full advantage of the system's strengths. Marketing, on the other hand, wanted games designed for multiple systems, with the features being the same on each system. If a game couldn't be ported to other systems, it shouldn't be done on any system.

The programmers argued that this meant all games would have to be designed for the lowest common denominator -- the Atari 2600. Marketing argued that keeping the features the same would make games easier to advertise and make word-of-mouth among customers more favorable.

This was the programmers' chance to make a stand, insisting that because of the tight schedule, the Intellivision and Atari versions of Kool-Aid Man would have to be developed independently and differently -- there was no time to create a design that could be implemented on both systems.

Reluctantly, Marketing agreed, and two entirely different versions of Kool-Aid Man were developed, designed to take best advantage of each system. The winning design for the Intellivision version came from programmer Vladimir Hrycenko (Convoy). Steve Tatsumi did the design and program for Atari Kool-Aid Man.

Programming won the battle, but Marketing won the war -- they never again allowed different versions of a game tailored for different systems.

And, well, it looks like they were right. To this day, people still seem upset that the two Kool-Aid Man games are different. Go figure.


FUN FACT: 

"And please, no 'Jonestown' references," admonished manager Russ Haft (TRON Maze-A-Tron) upon announcing the contest for game ideas. He was trying to stem the inevitable suggestions that would revolve around the 1979 mass suicide via cyanide-laced-grape-Kool-Aid of Jim Jones and his religious followers in Guyana. Some people at Mattel feared that sick, juvenile jokes made by the programmers might get back to the Kool-Aid folks and screw up the deal. Of course, the only people who feared that were the people who actually knew us.

Reportedly, General Foods was delighted with the games and the response to the special promotion, and expressed an interest in a Kool-Aid Man II project. But at the time (July, August, 1983) Mattel Electronics was dealing with a massive layoff and management restructuring, and Kool-Aid Man II apparently got lost in the shuffle.

One magazine dubbed Kool-Aid Man as the "stupidest video game of 1983," adding "What's next, the Michelin Man game?"As a result, to this day when someone refers to Kool-Aid Man, Mark Kennedy corrects them with, "that's the AWARD-WINNING Kool-Aid Man!"

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/kool-aid-man_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983c.html#kool_aid
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a6840736
Lady Bug
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Universal Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
An action game in the same style as Pac-Man but very very different. Players control a ladybug who must venture around different mazes collecting all of the food pellet "x"'s. In addition to there being regular lines of wall in the maze, there are also several rotating doors that can be used to trap enemies and escape. In fact these rotating doors are the key to survival in this game.  In the center of each maze is a different enemy insect hive that will spawn out enemy creatures. An new enemy creature is spawned every time the border around the screen makes a complete "lap". Timers for the border vary upon the level, so later levels will generate new enemies faster, thus progression through the game brings smarter, faster and more quickly spawning enemies.

In addition to the collection of X's, each maze also contains a variety of powerups that come in three types: Poison, Letters and Hearts. Poison is deadly both to the player and the enemy. If the player is able to lure and enemy creature into a poison powerup, it will die and be removed from gameplay. Letters and hearts are powerups with multiple conditions: Collected at the right time they will add letters that will eventually spell words providing bonuses. However collected during the the improper time will only earn the player a few points. For most of the gameplay the colour of all powerups (except skulls which are unaffected) will be blue. But every few seconds it will cycle through yellow and then red colours. Grabbing a letter when flashing the colour will add it to that colour's word. The red word is "SPECIAL" and the yellow word is "EXTRA". Spelling the word, EXTRA gains the player an extra life, and spelling the word, SPECIAL brings the player to a special bonus round.

Hearts are best used as blue powerups as they will act as multipliers for the X's being picked up, first as 2x, then as 3x and finally as 5x. Multipliers are lost when the player dies, but letter powerups are not.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/lady-bug
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604611C0
Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1-2
_________________________
*
Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack is a computerized version of different types of Poker and Blackjack, including 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Draw. The player inputs how much "money" that is available to bet with. There is one and two-player games, and Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack includes a dealer to play against.


FUN FACT:

Because it came free with the Intellivision Master Component during 1980, 1981 and most of 1982, Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack had the most distribution of any Intellivision cartridge: over 1,900,000 shipped by the end of 1982. When it was eventually replaced by Astrosmash as the free cartridge, distribution fell dramatically; only 2,500 Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack cartridges were shipped in the first six months of 1983.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/las-vegas-poker-blackjack
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/gaming.html#poker
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48D74D3C
Las Vegas Roulette
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Simulation
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Implements Las Vegas style roulette game. Most of the screen consists of the standard Las Vegas roulette betting table, and a moving strip on the top with wheel numbers on it represents the roulette wheel. Place your bets on the betting table, and spin the wheel. The game calculates your wins and losses.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/las-vegas-roulette
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E00D1399
Lock 'n' Chase
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Lock 'n' Chase is an arcade action game similar to Pac-Man. You play a thief who is trapped in a maze like vault. To get out, you need to collect all of the gold dots located in the maze. Your task won't be easy, since there are four police officers in the vault who are constantly trying to catch you! Located throughout the maze are numerous doors. As you run through the maze, you have the ability to temporarily close a door in an attempt to block the police. You can only close two doors at a time, and any closed doors automatically open again after a short amount of time. When all of the gold in the maze has been collected, the exit to the vault will open and you can escape and move on to the next, more difficult vault. Occasionally a bonus item will appear in the maze, such as a cash bag, crown, or briefcase, which can be collected to earn even more points.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/lock-n-chase
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6B6E80EE
Loco-Motion
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Konami Industry Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Based on a 1982 coin-op, Loco-Motion is a puzzle-style arcade game in which a train is riding on a grid of movable track pieces. The goal is to guide the train through the train stations located around the edge of the playfield. An empty section in the grid allows the player to shift adjacent track pieces into that section to alter the train's path, and a tracing light shows the path the train is taking as it moves. An accelerator button moves the train more quickly on its path, and a panic button will switch the piece of track the train is on with a random track piece on the grid.

A bonus timer ticks down during gameplay, showing how many points will be received if the train arrives at a station in a timely fashion. If the timer reaches zero, "Crazy Trains" and "Loop Sweepers" will appear and race down the track in an attempt to crash into your train. Other obstacles include "Crazy Tracks" which can send your train in another direction, and exploding stations (occurring occasionally if the bonus timer reaches zero.)

Loco-Motion has 4 play speeds, and offers play for 1 player or 2 players alternating turns.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

With Atari having most of the good arcade games sewn up, Mattel had to compete with other video game manufacturers for whatever was left over. Upon seeing the Konami arcade game Loco-Motion (one was moved into the Applications Software department in Summer 1982), the programmers and Marketing felt this was a great game for an Intellivision conversion -- it was fun, unique, and "doable" with our technology.

Marketing shelled out big cash to beat out some other bidders for the rights and Ray Kaestner was chosen to do the conversion. Ray was set to take two weeks of vacation in August, so he was scheduled to begin work on Loco-Motion upon his return.

But Dan Bass, who was working on the ECS game Wall Street at the time, became addicted to the Loco-Motion arcade machine and decided he had to do the Intellivision version. Not knowing that Ray had already been picked for the job, Dan set out to get it. In about a week, he secretly put together a demo of the game mechanism, then presented it to management.

Based on the quality of the demo, Dan was pulled off of Wall Street and given the higher-priority Loco-Motion. Ray Kaestner returned from vacation to find that he was off the game. VP Gabriel Baum and Director Don Daglow (Utopia) apologized to Ray and gave him a consolation prize: the job of converting the arcade game BurgerTime.

Everyone was excited about Loco-Motion and Marketing was prepared for a big advertising campaign. Then, just as Loco-Motion was going to ROM manufacturing (a three-month process), Activision released an Intellivision game called Happy Trails.

As far as most people at Konami and Mattel were concerned, Happy Trails was a blatant rip-off of Loco-Motion, actionably so. The programmers and Marketing personnel happily anticipated a lawsuit that would shut Activision down. But no lawsuit was ever filed. Why not?

A Mattel lawyer claimed the problem was that Konami and Mattel couldn't agree on who should file (and pay) for the suit. Mattel felt that since Konami owned the game, Konami should sue. Konami's position, according to the lawyer, was that essentially Mattel was the damaged party (Konami got a huge guaranteed royalty whether the game sold or not); it was Mattel's responsibility to sue.

So no one sued, and Activision got credit for their "originality" in the overwhelmingly good reviews Happy Trails received. Marketing dropped plans for the big push on Loco-Motion, and got rid of the large number of ROMs that had been ordered by discount pricing the cartridge.

An M Network Atari 2600 version was in development but never released.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/loco-motion
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983b.html#locomotion
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DAB36628
Major League Baseball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
Major League Baseball is an action baseball game for two players. The game follows most professional baseball rules and allows you to control all of the players on the team. You can throw a variety of pitches (from curve balls to fast balls), steal bases, tag players out, bunt, try for a home run, and in the event of a tie the game goes into extra innings! Several difficulty levels are available which control the game speed and whether or not stealing bases is allowed.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/major-league-baseball
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*
573B9B6D
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
In Masters of the Universe, you control He-Man as he battles Skeletor in two different types of arcade action scenes. In the first part of the game, you control the Wind Raider flying towards Castle Grayskull. You have a limited amount of fuel with which to reach your destination, plus numerous fireballs will be flying around the screen trying to stop you and Skeletor will be running along the ground. The Wind Raider is equipped with bombs and guns which can be used to defend yourself from the fireballs, and also can earn bonus points if you can hit Skeletor. The second part of the game takes place on foot. When you've landed near the castle, He-Man needs to pursue Skeletor. Skeletor will be firing numerous lightning bolts which can be blocked with a shield. There is a time limit here, and you must get past all of the screens and catch Skeletor before time runs out. If you are successful, the game will repeat at a tougher skill level.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Masters of the Universe -- a series of action figures tied in to an afternoon animated series -- was a smash hit for Mattel Toys, its biggest success in years. Getting Intellivision and Atari 2600 video games out for Christmas 1983 was a priority.

Wanting to avoid what happened with Kool-Aid Man, Marketing decreed that the two versions should be the same. A two-phase game was agreed on -- flying the Wind Raider to Castle Grayskull; battling Skeletor inside the castle -- with different programmers doing each phase to speed production. In February 1983, work started on the Intellivision version.

Rick Koenig (Motocross) was chosen to do the Wind Raider phase and Vladimir Hrycenko was pulled off the lower-priority Convoy to do the Castle Grayskull phase.

By the end of April, it became apparent that the Castle Grayskull section wasn't coming together. Vladimir was replaced with Ray Kaestner (BurgerTime) who was at the time experimenting with ideas for a proposed Intellivision III version of Night Stalker. Ray scrapped all of Vladimir's existing code and started from scratch with the deadline only four weeks away. Using some fancy graphics-handling routines that he had developed for the Intellivision III, Ray met the deadline.

When the game came out (on schedule) it did well, so Rick and Ray were put to work on Masters of the Universe II. It was unfinished when Mattel Electronics was closed in January 1984; Ray's part of the game eventually became the INTV Corporation release Diner, a sequel to BurgerTime.

A Colecovision version of Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man was completed but was unreleased when Mattel Electronics closed.


FUN FACT:

The Intellivision III routines that Ray used and the special graphics routines Rick independently developed for the game -- all of which bypassed the EXEC -- moved objects on screen smoother and faster than in standard Intellivision games. Marketing dubbed this improved look SuperGraphics, hoping it would help in the competition with the higher resolution Colecovision. While Masters of the Universe was the first (and only) game to carry the SuperGraphics logo on the box, Marketing liked the designation so much they started using it even before Masters came out to promote any game -- beginning with BurgerTime -- that simply had nice graphics and animation. At the June 1983 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, nearly every Intellivision game on display -- Buzz Bombers, Thin Ice, Mission X -- carried the SuperGraphics logo.

At the beginning of the video game boom, Mattel Electronics worked hard to keep the names of its programmers secret, for fear Atari, Imagic or Activision would lure them away. But by 1983, this secrecy was pretty much meaningless -- headhunters had learned the identities of every company's roster (often bribing employees hundreds of dollars for copies of internal phone lists). Sure that everyone knew their identities but the public, and rankled by Activision's publicizing of their designers, the Blue Sky Rangers started pushing for names on cartridges.

The cause was helped by an editorial in the June 1983 Electronic Games magazine, written by Arnie Katz, which called upon the game companies to reveal the programmers: "All designers of electronic games are just as much creative artists as painters and novelists...Why shouldn't the creator of such a work of art be entitled to put his or her name on it to reap the praise and brickbats of gaming consumers?"

Copies of the editorial appeared throughout Applications Software pinned to programmers' cubicles. More importantly, on May 11, a few days after the magazine had hit the newsstands, VP Gabriel Baum forwarded a copy to the Senior Vice Presidents, with a brief note supporting it: "The names of our key personnel are available to any investigative headhunter and I believe that we are more likely to retain employees than to lose them by publicly recognizing their connection with a cartridge. I also believe that our Marketing group could use programmer/designer recognition to their advantage."

On May 27, Mattel Electronics announced credits would appear on future game packages.

Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man, the Intellivision and M Network Atari 2600 versions, were the first cartridges in which the design teams received credit on the packaging. The Intellivision box lists Ray, Rick, Connie and Josh, plus "Project Coordinator" (what today would be called Producer) Mark Urbaniec (Vectron).

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/masters-of-the-universe-the-power-of-he-man
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983c.html#he_man
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FF68AA22
Melody Blaster
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
_________________________
*
The musical version of the popular video game, Astrosmash. And a fun, new way to learn musical notation. As musical notes fall from the sky in the pattern of a popular song, you must play the right keys to shoot them down. The faster you shoot down the notes, the faster you're learning to play your favorite songs!

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
The VP of Design & Development, Richard Chang, loved music-based games and toys; the ECS had a music synthesizer due to his pushing. This cartridge for the music sythesizer was based on his idea.


FUN FACT: 
This was the only cartridge released for the ECS Music Sythesizer.

Marketing kept pushing this as a musical version of Astrosmash, and in early catalogs even called it by the name Astromusic.
 
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-Melody-49101
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E806AD91
Microsurgeon
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
You're a microsurgeon, and your patient is in critical condition! First you need to examine the patient's medical chart to find out what's wrong, and which conditions are the most critical. Now to save the patient, you control a robot probe which can be used to administer aspirin, antiseptic, or ultrasonics to clear up the problem. You should clear up the most critical conditions first, then move on to the less serious areas to ensure your patient survives. Your probe should navigate through the veins, arteries, and lymph; if you guide the probe outside these areas, it's movement will slow down and swarms of white blood cells will attack it, depleting the limited energy supply. There are 197 different patients you need to help, each with different ailments.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/microsurgeon
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9D57498F
Mind Strike!
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
A futuristic, 3-dimensional space version of a chessboard game. Pit your skill against a computer, or another player. Alternate turns with your opponent or move simultaneously for a fast-action game. You can even sit back and watch the computer play itself. Use the keyboard to program the computer opponent to match your skill as you master the game. Select from over 50 challenging game boards.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Mind Strike was an original game that David Warhol had created before coming to Mattel Electronics.

He started work on it as an Intellivision cartridge. Since the Master Component didn't have enough memory for a computer player, he designed it as a two-player game.

When the Entertainment Computer System was introduced with its extra RAM, Dave was asked to change Mind Strike to a one- or two-player ECS cartridge. He proposed making it two-player for Intellivision, one-player for ECS, but Marketing insisted on it being unplayable without the ECS module in order to boost ECS sales.


FUN FACT: 
David Warhol called the game Mindstrike; he wasn't happy when Marketing changed it to two words.

All the game boards are symmetrical; they look the same when viewed upside-down. So Dave had the name Mind Strike on the title screen designed so that it, too, reads the same upside-down.


EASTER EGG:
Dave's favorite number is 47 (it's a thing amongst Pomona College alumni), so board 47 reads "DAVE."

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-Mind-28089
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11FB9974
Mission X
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Mission X is a vertically scrolling shooter played from a top down point of view.You are pilot of a World War II plane on a mission to destroy as many enemy targets as possible. Your missions will be flown over land and sea, and can take place during the day or at night. Try to earn as many points as you can by dropping bombs on the land targets which include bridges, tanks, trains, boats, and more. The enemy will be trying their best to stop you, and will send out large numbers of tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, and planes to try to destroy you!


PRODUCTION NOTE:

An M Network Atari 2600 version was announced but never completed. APh Technology Consultants started a VIC20 version without authorization, but were informed by VP Gabriel Baum that (a) Mattel hadn't decided to do VIC20 releases and (b) if they did, Mission X would not be included.


EASTER EGG:

Press 6 on the right hand controller, 9 on the left and hit RESET to bring up programmer John Tomlinson's name on the title screen.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/mission-x
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983.html#mission_x
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5F6E1AF6
Motocross
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Game is currently not working in BlissX.

Motocross is a bike racing game for one player against the clock, one player against the computer, or two players. Included are three different racetracks of varying lengths, each with many twists, turns, and even some jumps. Be careful when racing or you could skid off the track on a sharp turn or crash after a poorly timed jump! You can also use the track editor to create your own track to race on. For each race you can choose anywhere from one to ten laps to be completed.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Started by Rick Levine in 1981 as his follow-up project to PBA Bowling, Motocross was put on hold when Rick left Mattel. (Tired of commuting from Irvine to Hawthorne, Rick took a non-gaming job. Later, he went to work for Imagic, where he programmed the Intellivision games Microsurgeon and Truckin'.) Months later, biker Rick Koenig took a stab at completing the game. After several weeks, he got permission to scrap the existing code and begin from scratch. Only Rick Levine's basic concept and graphics were kept, with new animations by Joe Ferreira.

Rick Koenig approached the game scientifically, writing routines to simulate all the movements of the cycles according to the laws of physics. The result is motorcycles that accelerate, skid and jump realistically.

Although announced in Mattel catalogs in 1981 and 1982 as part of the Intellivision Sports Network, by the time the game was released in 1983 the themed "networks" had been dropped. The Sports Network isn't mentioned on Motocross's final packaging.


FUN FACT:

Gravity is a factor in the motion routines. During testing, Rick made gravity adjustable to determine the best looking arc when jumping. Several unsuspecting programmers were invited to test the game, not knowing gravity had been set to zero. The first time their cycles hit a ramp, the cycles would sail up-up-and-away off the screen, while the programmers frantically tapped the controller discs, trying to make them come back down.

Rick was able to reuse his basic algorithms from Motocross several times: in Racing Destruction Set, a Commodore 64 game for Electronic Arts (produced by his old Mattel boss, Don Daglow), in Stadium Mud Buggies, an Intellivision game for INTV Corp., and in Monster Truck Rally, an NES game also for INTV.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/motocross_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#motocross
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6B5EA9C4
Mountain Madness Super Pro Skiing
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1987
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 6 VS
_________________________
*
The thrills and excitement of a day on the slopes! Explore the turns and obstacles of unknown courses or slalom through flags at breakneck speeds to beat the clock! All the fun without the lift lines!

* Ski an existing course or design your own!

* For the ultimate challenge, "Helicopter Skiing" drops you onto an uncharted course, created at random by the computer!

* Ski through, over, and around moguls, powder, ice, trees, and patches of ground!

* Race the clock on both downhill and slalom courses!

* The real feel of skiing -- perform power turns for speed or snowplow into turns for more control!

* 1 to 6 players can compete!

* Choose steepness from 1 (beginner slope) to 15 (experts only)!


EASTER EGG:

Credits roll automatically if you leave the title screen up long enough.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#superpro_skiing
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598662F2
Mouse Trap
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Exidy, Inc.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Mouse Trap is an arcade action game similar to Pac-Man. You control a mouse in a maze; your goal is to eat all of the bits of cheese in order to score points and move on to the next maze. Wandering throughout the maze are several cats who are trying to catch you! Your mouse has the ability to temporarily turn into a dog and be able to chase the cats. To do so, however, he will need to eat the dog bones which are located throughout the maze. The maze also contains numerous doors. The mouse can move these doors to reconfigure the maze in an attempt to outsmart the cats.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/mouse-trap
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0B50A367
Mr. Basic Meets Bits 'N Bytes
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
_________________________
*
An introduction to computers and BASIC programming through the fun of a video game. Control "Mr. BASIC" and capture the "Bits" and "Bytes" in one of three exciting games. Learn to write simple programs on the Computer Keyboard. Or, use the hand controllers just for fun. These programs use our unique color-coded graphics system to make learning programming as easy as a game.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
The Entertainment Computer System hardware and internal software was designed and programmed in the Design & Development department headed by Richard Chang. This game was intended to teach users the simplified BASIC language built into the ECS.


FUN FACT:
This game has the longest instructions of any Intellivision game, consisting of a 72-page spiral bound instruction book
 
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-Mr-31253
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DBAB54CA
NASL Soccer
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
NASL Soccer is an action soccer game for two players. The game follows typical soccer rules; attempt to score more goals than your opponent in the two 45 minute periods (this is in simulated time). You control one player on your team at a time while the computer takes control of the rest. The game allows you to dribble and pass, and features throw ins, corner kicks, goal kicks, and in the event of a tie the game goes in to overtime! Several skill levels are available which control the speed of the game.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/nasl-soccer
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81E7FB8C
NBA Basketball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1978
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
Two teams square off at mid-court. Up they go for the jump ball. It's tipped to your team. You fake, drive, and move in for a slam dunk!

Each three man team of remarkably realistic athletes can dribble. Pass in any direction, jump, block, steal...even take a casual set shot when they've caught the other guys napping.

Four action-packed quarters -- plus overtime when needed!

* Pass, steal, rebound, fast break, jump or set shot 
* Two players

PRODUCTION NOTE:
NBA Basketball was one of the games to be included on the Go For the Gold album cartridge. 

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#basketball
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4B91CF16
NFL Football
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
NFL Football contains almost all the elements of a real football game. The game consists of four quarters, fifteen minutes each. There are four difficulty levels; high school, college, semi-pro, and pro. There are nine different plays to call, including running plays, field goals, passing plays, and punting. The only thing that's not realistic about NFL Football is the teams only have five players on offense and on defense.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/nfl-football
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76564A13
NHL Hockey
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
NHL Hockey is a two-player, action hockey game for the Intellivision. Players control their team's puck handler, while the CPU controls all other team members, including the goalie. The players can either shoot the puck quickly or pass it slowly, and can also trip other players (at the risk of a penalty if they do not have the puck.) Stealing the puck and intercepting shots are also possible during gameplay. NHL Hockey features 4 different speed settings, selectable at the beginning of the game.


PRODUCTION NOTE:

NHL Hockey was one of the games to be included on the Go For the Gold album cartridge. 

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/nhl-hockey_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#hockey
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7334CD44
Night Stalker
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
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Robots, bats, and spiders chase you around a maze in Night Stalker, which boasts similar gameplay, if some what slower, to the arcade smash Berzerk. Players must pick up a gun that is randomly placed in the maze. The gun provides the player with a certain number of shots. Once depleted, the gun is again placed in a random part of the maze.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
You're on the run. Your attackers are relentless robots. Destroy one and it's replaced by an even smarter, faster robot. It's a nightmare. Your only defenses are avoidance and weapons found somewhere in the labyrinth. When one weapon empties, you avoid robots to find another. Duck around a corner or go into your safe house. But, be careful. There are also people-size spiders and their webs to slow your escape. Bats also wing their way at you. If either spiders or bats bite you, you're stunned; easier prey for the robot attackers.

* One player game 
* Realistic antagonists 
* Challenge increases as game progresses 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Steve Montero is an expert on robotics, so it was natural for him to program Night Stalker. In development late in 1981, the game was a favorite with other programmers, who didn't need their arms twisted to spend hours testing it. Unfortunately, the first time Marketing brought in some 12-year-old kid to try it out, he got further than any of the programmers had. A new, tougher robot had to be added to the game, at the cost of losing one of the best features: the spider's web (the game was only 4K in size). Originally, as the spider crawled around the maze it left a web that would slow you down considerably as you ran through it. You could shoot the web away, but you'd use up bullets. Without the web, the spider became like the bats: just a nuisance.

After Night Stalker was finished, game cartridges began getting larger in size, so Steve proposed Ms. Night Stalker, a 12K sequel that would include the web and all the other features he had wanted, including multiple weapons (bazookas to blast through walls!), multiple scrolling mazes and smarter robots. Marketing shelved the idea and Steve was assigned to program Space Shuttle instead, which may have been a contributing factor toward Steve leaving Mattel and the game industry not long after.

Mattel Electronics released M Network versions of Night Stalker for the Atari 2600, the Apple II and the IBM PC. (The Atari 2600 version was called Dark Cavern.) A version was also released for the Aquarius Home Computer System.


PLAYING TIPS:

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 4, Winter 1983:

Carefully count how many bullets you have left. It's always wise to kill a robot with your last shot to give you time to get a new weapon. 
In the beginning, shooting bats is a good way to rack up points. However, after 5,000 points, remember every bat that you hit turns into a Gray Robot. 
Don't just concentrate on robots at higher point levels. The bats and spiders can sneak up on you when you're not watching. 
When being followed by the White Robot, don't be afraid to use the bunker. Peek your head out and fire a quick shot at him and then duck inside for cover. 
The only sure way to kill the Black Robot is to fire at him from pointblank range. Try ducking around a corner or come out of the bunker and fire off a quick shot. You have to be very close to make a direct hit. 

Night Stalker is a favorite of Blue Sky Ranger Steve Roney (Space Spartans, B-17 Bomber). He plays the game with a controller in each hand -- one to run, one to shoot -- since buttons and disk cannot be used simultaneously on one controller.

Steve adds: "Another trick to bagging the later robots has to do with there being only one moving object available for the robot bullets. If you wait just above the place where the robot appears and dangle your feet where the robot can see, the robot will shoot below your feet. You can then safely drop down and quickly get off all three shots to nail the robot before his bullet gets all the way across the bottom!!!!"

FUN FACT:

Russ Lieblich was proud of his sound effects for Night Stalker, especially the constant heartbeat. Whenever he heard someone playing the game, he'd run into their cubicle, grab the volume control on the TV, and turn it up full.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/night-stalker
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#stalker
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5EE2CC2A
Nova Blast
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
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Nova Blast is a side-scrolling sci-fi shooter in which your must defend 4 shielded cities from invaders that attack from both in the air and on the ground. Each city has a bubble shield that can sustain one hit; another hit to an unshielded city will destroy it.

Players control a ship that can fire lasers horizontally and drop bomb vertically. The ship is also equipped with an energy beam that can absorb energy from energy tanks, and can also use that energy to create temporary shields around unprotected cities. The ship can also sustain up to 10 blows in each round. If all 4 cities are destroyed or the ship takes 10 hits in a round, the game ends.

Nova Blast is a single player game with 3 difficulty levels.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/nova-blast
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E5D1A8D2
Number Jumble
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Cut across fire in a Time Sailer, cruise under water in a Submarine, fly through thin air in a Zeppelin, or roll across the Earth in a Tank -- but never stop firing at the dreadful creatures that beset you! Shoot them down with the fireballs you control and they'll turn into black numbers. When you shoot enough creatures, you get a chance to solve exciting mathematical equations...and score big points! Hurry, for every second counts! Have fun!

* 1 or 2 players. 1 little man under your control when the game starts, 4 more in reserve. 4 different environments to choose from! 

* Simple to more complex equations. Both "scratch pad" and "solution" areas to work on. Choose from 48 skill levels. 

* Transport Houses found in every environment to give you bonus multipliers. Progressive scoring setup, according to your skill level and speed in solving equations. 

* Automatic transfer to a higher level once you've mastered the one you're on! 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Early in 1983, Mattel Electronics created an Educational Products department to develop educational game ideas, primarily for the Entertainment Computer System.

Number Jumble was one of the ideas that came out of that department. Others that went into production were Jetsons' Ways With Words and Flintstones Keyboard Fun.

The game was completed late in 1983. Packaging reached the black & white mockup stage, but Mattel Electronics was closed before the game could be released.

Although designed for the Entertainment Computer System, the game was played with the hand controllers. The ECS keyboard was only used if the player needed to do scratchpad calculations before entering answers.

 
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-Number-32592
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A21C31C3
Pac-Man
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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One of the most popular and influential games of the 1980's, Pac-Man stars a little, yellow dot-muncher who works his way around to clear a maze of the various dots and fruit which inhabit the board.

Pac-Man's goal is continually challenged by four ghosts: The shy blue ghost Bashful (Inky), the trailing red ghost Shadow (Blinky), the fast pink ghost Speedy (Pinky), and the forgetful orange ghost Pokey (Clyde).  One touch from any of these ghosts means a loss of life for Pac-Man.

Pac-Man can turn the tables on his pursuers by eating of the four Energizers located within the maze.  During this time, the ghosts turn blue, and Pac-Man can eat them for bonus points.  This only lasts for a limited amount of time, as the ghost's eyes float back to their center box, and regenerate to chase after Pac-Man again.

Survive a few rounds of gameplay, and be treated to humorous intermissions between Pac-Man and the ghosts.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pac-man
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6E4E8EB4
Pac-Man
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
One of the most popular and influential games of the 1980's, Pac-Man stars a little, yellow dot-muncher who works his way around to clear a maze of the various dots and fruit which inhabit the board.

Pac-Man's goal is continually challenged by four ghosts: The shy blue ghost Bashful (Inky), the trailing red ghost Shadow (Blinky), the fast pink ghost Speedy (Pinky), and the forgetful orange ghost Pokey (Clyde).  One touch from any of these ghosts means a loss of life for Pac-Man.

Pac-Man can turn the tables on his pursuers by eating of the four Energizers located within the maze.  During this time, the ghosts turn blue, and Pac-Man can eat them for bonus points.  This only lasts for a limited amount of time, as the ghost's eyes float back to their center box, and regenerate to chase after Pac-Man again.

Survive a few rounds of gameplay, and be treated to humorous intermissions between Pac-Man and the ghosts.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pac-man
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169E3584
PBA Bowling
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 to 4 VS
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This is a game of skill that requires you to knock down pins as in real bowling. Play alone or with up to three friends. Two game are available: standard bowling and pick-up spares. Pick-up spares sets the pins in a variety of ways to let you practice difficult shots.

Options allow you to select 1 of 10 conditions of alley slickness and the weight of your ball. Players can also choose to be a right or left handed bowler. While trying to knock down the pins you will need to control the curve and loft of the ball.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

PBA Bowling was the first Intellivision game actually programmed by Mattel employees: Mike Minkoff and Rick Levine from the handheld-games department. Since Mattel didn't have development equipment yet (1980), Mike and Rick commuted from Mattel in Hawthorne to APh in Pasadena three days a week. Mike gives Rick, an avid bowler, credit for the many realistic details in the game. 

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pba-bowling
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#bowling
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FF87FAEC
PGA Golf
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 to 4 VS
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PGA Golf is a golf game played from an overhead point of view. Up to four players can compete on a nine hole, par 38 course containing a variety of terrain (greens, fairway, rough, water, and sand) as well as numerous trees. Each player has nine clubs (3 woods, 4 irons, a wedge, and a putter) and is able hook, slice, and control the power of each shot. You will receive penalty strokes for balls that land out of bounds and in the water, and of course the lowest score at the end of the round wins!
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pga-golf
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D7C5849C
Pinball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Simulation
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Pinball is a pinball simulation for one or two players. You begin the game with five balls, and need to score as many points as possible by hitting the ball into the various bumpers and targets on the pinball table. The pinball table consists of three different screens, each with a different layout and level of difficulty. To advance from one screen to the next, you need to use a single ball to hit several targets and then get the ball into a white cup that appears. If you are on the second or third screen and the ball falls off the bottom, you will be back to the lower screen; if the ball falls off the bottom screen you will lose that ball. The game ends when all five balls have been lost.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
A challenging and exciting video version of the time-honored Pinball machine you find in arcades. You get it all -- five balls, flippers, two- player scores, with all the sounds and action of the real thing. If you've ever "tilted" a real pinball machine, try our Pinball. You're in for some surprises and a whale of a lot of fun.

* One or two player game 
* Realistic arcade action 
* Authentic sounds 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Pinball was in production longer than any other Intellivision game -- well over two years. Chou Tran, who started the game, could never get the ball motion debugged. Finally, Bob Newstadt was assigned to help her. He got the motion problems worked out, then he and Chou expanded the design from it's original single screen to its final multi-screen layout.

Although originally announced as part of the red-boxed Action Network, the game was released in 1983, after the "network" concept was dropped. Pinball was released in a purple box.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pinball_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#pinball
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9C75EFCC
Pitfall!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1
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Pitfall! is a platform action game. You play Pitfall Harry who is on a quest to locate treasure deep in the jungle. With a little luck you'll be able to find money bags, silver bars, gold bars, and diamond rings. But many obstacles will get in the way, some of which merely deduct points from your score, while others are fatal. Rolling logs and falling down a hole will deduct points, and scorpions, alligators, snakes, bottomless pits, swamps, and fires will cause Pitfall Harry to lose a life. You have 20 minutes to try to collect all of the treasures on the numerous screens, if you can live that long!


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Pitfall!, originally released for the Atari 2600, was Activision's first big success (it spawned a sequel - Pitfall II: Lost Caverns - on Colecovision). David Crane, the game's designer, programmed this Intellivision version. Activision later released versions of Pitfall! for Atari 5200 and ColecoVision.

PLAYING TIPS: From designer David Crane in the Pitfall! instruction manual:

"As you set off on your first adventure with Harry, you'll notice two important features: that the logs always roll from left to right, and that the 'replacement' Harrys (after Harry loses a life) drop from the trees on the left side of the screen. So, to minimize the number of rolling logs to be jumped, and the catastrophic hazards to be retried, simply run to the left.

"Pitfall Harry's trip must be made through a maze of surface and underground passages through the jungle. To capture all 32 treasures in under twenty minutes, Harry will have to use some of the underground passages. I'd suggest that you make a map of the terrain each time you play. Knowing the jungle and planning the best route to all the treasures is the only way to insure success time after time.

"Until you get really skilled at making Harry jump from croc to croc, you might wait until the crocodiles' jaws are closed, jump to the top of the first croc's head, then wait for the jaws to open and close again before jumping to the next one. Soon, you'll be skipping across crocs like they were stepping stones in a stream."


FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score of 20,000 or more received an "Activision Explorers Club" emblem.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pitfall
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#pitfall
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BB939881
Pole Position
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1
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Early racing game, a conversion of the arcade classic. Race as far as you can against other cars before time runs out.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

INTV Corporation had the chance to license the popular arcade game Pole Position and asked Dave Warhol if it could be converted to the Intellivision. While the Intellivision is technologically not well suited to a point-of-view driving game, Dave did some experiments and determined that it could be done.

Former Mattel Electronics manager Mark Urbaniec (Vectron) was approached to do the programming. His first reaction was "Pole Position? On the Intellivision? You're crazy." But, seeing the tests Dave had done, agreed to try it. The result was an acceptable translation of the arcade game, but in hindsight everyone agreed that it was a game that probably shouldn't have been attempted for Intellivision.

(An earlier unfinished attempt at Pole Position had been made at Atarisoft; none of that code was used in this version.)

http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/pole-position
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#pole
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C51464E0
Popeye
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Popeye is a conversion of the arcade action/platform game. As Popeye, you are trying to win Olive Oyl's love! She is at the top of the screen dropping tokens of her love, and you need to collect them before they hit the ground. After you have collected the required number of items, you can move on to the next, more difficult level. There are many obstacles trying to stop you from completing your task, though! Brutus wanders around the screen and is constantly trying to catch you. If you collect a can of spinach, you can temporarily knock him out, otherwise Brutus will knock you out. Other objects such as bottles or birds are also flying around the screen and will cause you to lose one of your lives if you are hit. Each level features a different layout of platforms and ladders, and will have you collecting different items as they float towards the bottom of the screen!
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/popeye
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D8C9856A
Q*bert
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Q*bert is a conversion of the popular arcade game. The goal is to change all of the tiles on a pyramid to the target color. To do this you guide Q*bert around the pyramid, and every tile he hops on will change color. On early levels, a single hop will change the tile to the desired color, but on later levels you may need to hop on a tile multiple times or even avoid hopping on a tile multiple times! Trying to stop Q*bert are many different creatures which wander around the board, including Coily the snake, Slick and Sam, and falling balls. On the edge of the board are floating discs; if Q*bert jumps on one of these discs when the snake is in pursuit, the snake will fall off  the board while Q*bert is safely transported to the top.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/qbert
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C7BB1B0E
Reversi
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Reversi is a computerized version of the board game Othello. During the game, two players take turns placing game pieces on the board in an attempt to trap pieces of their opponents color. Any trapped pieces will then be reversed in color. When the board becomes completely filled up, whomever has the most pieces of his own color on the board wins. The game can be played by two players, or one player against the computer. There are three skill levels the computer can use, and three different board sizes are available, 6 by 6, 8 by 8, and 10 by 10.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Three levels of difficulty insure you'll be playing Reversi for a long, long time. Your objective is to take control of the board. Your opponent is either another player or the computer. Either way, it's great fun. As the game progresses, the playing pieces switch from black to white or white to black depending on which player takes control. Your score is continuously displayed on the screen.

One or two player game 
Three difficulty levels 
Three board sizes 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Reversi is an old board game that seems to make a reappearance every generation or so. In the late seventies, it had regained popularity from one toy company under the trademark Othello.

Atari licensed the name Othello for a video game version, but the game itself was in public domain, so Mattel also did a version. In trying to come up with a title for it, Mattel discovered that the classic name of the game, Reversi, had never been trademarked. So Reversi (TM Mattel) became the name of the cartridge.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/reversi
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#reversi
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8910C37A
River Raid
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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River Raid is a vertically scrolling action game. You fly a jet up a river in an attempt to destroy bridges which are vital to the enemy. The river is heavily guarded, however, with balloons, ships, choppers, and enemy aircraft trying to stop you. Along the way you will need to fly over fuel stations to refuel your jet and keep flying.

The plane is armed with a cannon with unlimited ammo. It can be used to destroy the enemy vehicles and bridges, but a careless player can accidentally destroy a fuel station. Colliding with the riverbanks or with the enemy aircraft destroys your plane and makes you lose a life.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Carol Shaw originally designed and programmed River Raid for the Atari 2600. Peter Kaminski programmed this version for Intellivision. Activision later released versions of River Raid for Atari 5200 and ColecoVision.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Carol Shaw and programmer Peter Kaminski in the Pitfall! instruction manual:

"The River of No Return holds many special challenges and dangers for would-be River Raiders. You'll not only have to know your assault jet, but you'll need to have a good idea of your basic flight plan before you start.

"By knowing the river, pinpointing areas with the highest concentration of enemy, and the most fuel depots, you'll have a much better chance of surviving. We suggest you use the river banks and islands to your advantage, since you can fly over them, while the helicopters and ships can't.

"Fuel is also a critical factor. When you're far up the river, fuel is scarce. Hence, flying to the next fuel depot should be your top priority. Also, you'll find you can actually blow up a fuel depot right in the middle of refueling. That way, you can gain points and refuel at the same time.

"The really advanced player should practice flying through the trees. Not only is it a lot of fun, but winging it through the forest might get you out of a tight spot sometime."


FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score of 35,000 or more received an "Activision River Raiders" emblem.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/river-raid
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#riverraid
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47AA7977
Safecracker
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
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You're the super spy and your mission - recapture sensitive stolen documents, top secret equipment, and gold! Cruise the city streets in your limousine but watch out - enemy secret police are on the hunt...for you! Keep an eye peeled for the building where the secrets are stored then slip inside.

Can you crack the combination? Maybe you should blow it open, or would that bring enemy agents down on you? Run for it! The chase is on. Can you keep ahead of them? Your gunfire says maybe so. But watch out! Your car careens mighty close to one curb...can you pull it off, or will you do time in a foreign prison? Available in June, '83.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
This was an original game for Intellivision.

EXPERTS CLUB PERFORMANCE STANDARD: 25,000 points.
 
http://intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.html#safecracker
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E9E3F60D
Scooby Doo's Maze Chase
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
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Scooby-Dooby-Doo!
The ever-popular television cartoon dog had his first video game conversion in this maze game similar to  Pac-Man.  You control Scooby as he chases ghosts through a maze while himself being chased by the skull & crossbones.  If three ghosts are caught within a time-limit, the skull will disappear and a submarine sandwich appears. When eaten, it gives you a magic bone which when dropped in the path of the skull will momentarily freeze it in place.  When Scooby is caught by the skull, the difficulty will go down.  There's 10 mazes in all, but with the keyboard addon for Intellivision you can also make your own mazes.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
This was an original game called Three Blind Mice designed by Mark Kennedy (actually Mark named it Three Blond Mice, but it wound up on Marketing schedules as Blind). But Marketing was looking for games to drop the expensive cartoon licenses they had obtained into. Thus, Three Blind Mice became Scooby Doo's Maze Chase.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/scooby-doos-maze-chase
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-Scooby-54858
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99AE29A9
Sea Battle
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
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Sea Battle is a strategic game for two players only. Each player controls a fleet of ships including Submarines, Destroyers, and Battleships. The goal is to engage and sink enemy ships. The winner is the player who commands the troop transport ship into the opponent's harbor. There are two phases in Sea Battle; the strategy phase, and the combat phase. The strategy phase includes maneuvering your fleet into different strategic positions on the map, laying mines, and repair fleets. Opponents engage in ship-to-ship warfare in the combat phase, triggered by the ENGAGE button. Each of the different types of ships has there own strengths and weaknesses, such as weapon range and maneuverability.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Destroyers, battleships, submarines, minesweepers, and aircraft carriers! You're the Admiral, and your mission is to rid the seas of the enemy fleet.

Start by setting a strategy. Lay invisible minefields where you think the big enemy ships will travel. But be careful, because the other Admiral is laying mines to foil you...

Battle stations! Now you slug it out with shells, torpedoes, and naval tactics. Sleek battleships are waiting to pounce on sluggish minesweepers. You can't relax for a minute.

But who worries about the torpedoes, you say. Full speed ahead!


PRODUCTION NOTE:

An M Network version of the game - called Sea Battle in some catalogs, High Seas in others - was announced for the Atari 2600 and completed, but never released. An Aquarius version was also announced, but never completed.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/sea-battle
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#sea
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E0F0D3DA
Sewer Sam
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Interphase Technologies Inc.
Publisher: Interphase Technologies Inc.
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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It's a lovely day and Sam is waiting in Central Park to meet his girlfriend Sally. He sees her and walks to her. He only has eyes for her and before he realizes it he finds himself in the New York sewer system.

Three Russian submarines have been located in the New York sewer system and they have blocked off the system.
Sam's only way out of the sewer system is to destroy the Russian submarines. Luckily, Sam carries his revolver.
Sam can't go back... once he's gone through the City Sewer Department seals the tunnel. Luckily, Sam carries his revolver.

The sewer system has three types of sewer tunnels. Tunnels with solid dry floors, tunnels with a water passage in the middle and tunnels with pits. 
Sam can walk, run and creep through the tunnels but Sam can't move as quickly in water.
Sam can move from tunnel to tunnel by entering one of the passages that appear occasionally on his way.
Each time he enters a new sewer, Sam receives a fresh supply of oxygen.

On it's way through the sewer system Sam is under attack by nasties like rats, bats, spiders and more.
The ultimate nasties are the Russian submarines. They are located only in water canals. The status bar at the top of the screen contains a distance indicator. It tells you how far Sam has traveled into the sewer. If it's red, it means there's a dreaded submarine at the end of the sewer.
The more nasty elements you shoot, the higher you'll score.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/sewer-sam
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2A4C761D
Shark! Shark!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
In Shark! Shark! you control a fish! Your goal is to earn as many points as possible while staying alive. Swimming in the ocean with you are other fish of various sizes, lobsters, crabs, jellyfish, and a very fast shark. You are able to eat any fish that is smaller in size than you are, and any fish that is larger will eat you! The shark can also be killed if you nibble at its tail several times, but careful for the shark can turn quickly. Each time you eat a fish or nibble on the sharks tail, points are earned. Each time you score 1000 points, your fish will grow larger in size allowing you to eat even more of the fish on the screen. Several different game speeds are included, and one or two players can play.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

It's survival of the fittest in the deep, dark waters of the ocean. And you're just a little fish! You must eat smaller fish to stay alive and grow. But you're not the only one struggling for survival. Bigger fish are out to eat you. Beware, the most feared predator of all is on your tail. Shark, Shark! One or two-player action.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Marketing totally dismissed Shark! Shark! as an inconsequential kiddie game and was reluctant to release it. It had one of the smallest initial shipments of any Intellivision game -- only 5,600 copies in 1982 (compared to nearly 800,000 for the heavily advertised Star Strike). So, of course, there were almost no copies in the stores when Shark! Shark! went on to become one of the best reviewed Intellivision games ever ("Shark! Shark! is an original. A must cartridge for Intellivision owners...positively delightful...certainly one of the finest cartridges for this system." -- Videogaming Illustrated, June 1983).


BUG:

Due to a timing error in the Intellivision II, the bubble sounds don't have their full effect when the cartridge is played on that system.


FUN FACT:

Everyone thought it would be a great gag to use the song Mack the Knife ("Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear...") for the "game over" music. Andy Sells put together a hilarious arrangement of the song which was used in the prototype version, while the Mattel crack legal team looked into getting clearance to use it. We had never licensed a song before, so they weren't used to tracking down rights, but they finally found the owner: Warner Communications...parent company of Atari. Andy wrote an original tune to use instead.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/shark-shark
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#shark
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FF7CB79E
Sharp Shot
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Sports
Release Year: 1982
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Sharp Shot is collection of 4 single-button action games: Touchdown Passing, Space Gunner, Submarine, and Maze Shoot. The goal of each game is to score as many points as possible within 60 seconds.

Touchdown Passing - Play as the quarterback and pass the ball to your receiving end waiting at the goal. Be careful not to let the opposing team intercept the pass! Touchdown Passing offers gameplay for one player or 2 players alternating turns.

Space Gunner - Squadrons of enemy alien ships fly through your cross hairs. Time your shots right and blast as many ships as you can! Space Gunner offers gameplay for one player or 2 simultaneous players.

Submarine - Fire torpedoes from your sub to sink as many enemy ships as you can within 60 second. Submarine offers gameplay for one player or 2 players alternating turns.

Maze Shoot - Use your bow and arrow to fend monsters off of your piles of treasures located at different points in a maze. Shoot at corners to ricochet your shots down different corridors of the maze. Maze Shoot offers gameplay for one player or 2 simultaneous players.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

An exciting new target shooting game specially designed for children. There are four different shooting ranges for one or two players. Hit the pass receiver. Shoot down the spinning spacecraft. Bomb Navy ships. Fire at the maze monsters. Challenging action for video game beginners.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

These four single-button games were originally programmed by APh for a TV game show -- contestants controlled the single fire button by saying "Pow!" With no advance notice, APh sent over these four games stitched into one with the intention that Mattel release it as a children's cartridge. Since Mattel by contract had to buy a certain amount of product each year from APh, Marketing agreed to release the cartridge, over the objections of Gabriel Baum, VP of Application Software.

Gabriel particularly objected to the packaging. In a memo to Marketing (August 31, 1982), he wrote: "...the packaging and instructions do not in any way indicate that the game and graphic content of the cartridge is extremely simplistic...I believe that Mattel Electronics is going to be exposed to very unfavorable comment when consumers discover that the quality of the cartridge is in many ways reminiscent of early Atari games." In answer to this memo, Marketing had a label added to the front of the package reading, "Specially designed game for children over 4."

An M Network Atari 2600 version of the game was also submitted by APh. It was rejected.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/sharp-shot
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#sharp_shot
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800B572F
Slam Dunk Super Pro Basketball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Updated / enhanced version of the original Mattel Intellivision Basketball game, featuring manager mode, player statistics, and more.  At the time, this was the only sports game cartridge that let you own & manage your team.  

Selecting from a pool of 70 players, each with statistics taken from the actual NBA (and attributed with 'fake' names so as to avoid licensing issues), each player must manage salaries to stay under the salary cap.

As player/owner, you run, pass, shoot, defend, and rebound.  Keep an eye on your players - if they tire, they play more poorly.  And keep an eye on the 24 second shot clock!

Play against an opponent or against the computer.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY"

The speed of the on-screen players and their shot percentages are influenced by the players' statistics. Steve Ettinger compiled the stats from real pro players, using fake names (many borrowed from INTV and Mattel employees) to avoid licensing issues.

FUN FACT:

One group of Intellivision fans in Chicago became so addicted to Slam Dunk that they started searching in phone books from across the country for the names listed in the game credits, finally tracking down Steve Ettinger over a year after the game was released. They wanted to commission a custom version of Slam Dunk, using their names and playing statistics. Taken by the group's enthusiasm, Steve and Dave Warhol complied, providing them with a special prototype cartridge. Last Steve heard from them, they were still holding regular tournaments on their Intellivision.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/slam-dunk-super-pro-basketball
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#superpro_basketball
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BA68FF28
Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1987
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
INCREDIBLE ACTION, SPEED, AND SOUNDS PUT YOU RIGHT ON THE ICE! 

* Play against a friend or take on a tough computer-controlled team! 
* Full control of ALL your team's players to pass and shoot! 
* Special SLAP SHOT button for a screaming shot into the goal! 
* Penalty box! 
* Face offs, trapping, interceptions! 
* 4 skill levels! 
* For One or Two Players 
 

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Unlike some of the other Super Pro titles, which included enhanced features such as choosing individual computer players of different abilities to make up the teams, Slap Shot: Super Pro Hockey is essentailly just the original Intellivision NHL Hockey cartridge with a one-player mode. 

Ray Kaestner made the additions to the original APh Technological Consulting code.


Fun Fact:
Programmer Ray Kaestner points out that, probably because there are so few differences from the original over 5-years-old NHL Hockey cartridge, one magazine reviewer called Slap Shot: Super Pro Hockey the worst Intellivision game ever. The same reviewer had, in an earlier magazine, called BurgerTime the BEST Intellivision game ever. Ray is amused at being the programmer (according to at least one person) of both the BEST and WORST Intellivision games.
 
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/gamepage.php?gameId=86
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8F959A6E
Snafu
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Snafu is an arcade action game similar to the Atari game Surround. You control a constantly moving and growing wall; the goal is to trap all of your opponents before you become trapped yourself. If you crash into the borders of the screen, into another players wall, or your own wall, you are out for that round. The last player left standing wins the round! Several game options are available which allow or forbid diagonal movement, set obstacles in the playfield, allow a players wall to disappear or remain on the screen after they crash, control the speed of movement, and select the number of rounds to play. The game can be played by one or two human players, and optionally two additional computer players can be added for up to four players on the screen at a time.

Also included is a two player only game where you control a serpent containing 10 links, and your goal is to bite the links off of your opponent one at a time. Only the very last link of the serpent can be bitten off, so you need to be sure you keep your tail away from your opponent! The screen walls and the players links are non lethal if you crash into them in this variation, however if you double back accross your own path you will lose a link. The first player to bite off all of his opponents links wins.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

You each start off with little lines that start to grow.

They grow fast, tangling, weaving, writhing like magic beanstalks. And you're at the controls, trying to completely enclose the other guy so he can't grow any more.

This is a game of lightning quick strategic decisions. Hesitate...or slip...and you'll find yourself surrounded.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Developed under the working title Blockade+Snakes to reflect the two basic versions of the game. In the first, inspired by the board game Blockade, opponents try to surround and trap each other. In the second, inspired by a handheld LED game in development at Mattel but never released, opponents bite at each other's tails until one is reduced to nothing.

Mike liked the name Ssssnakes! and started using it on the title screen; he fought for it to be the final name. Marketing instead chose Snafu, from the military acronym "Situation Normal -- All Fouled Up" (actually, most veterans use a different word than "Fouled"). Mike hated the name since it had nothing to do with the gameplay.

Snafu was the only game released to use the Intellivision video chip's colored squares mode.

An Aquarius version of Snafu was also released.


PLAYING TIPS:

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 2, Winter 1982 (credited to "Mike, another Intellivision programming specialist"):

* Practice steering -- Get a good feel for the action of the direction disk. 

* Anticipate -- Concentrate on the moves of the opposing snakes as well as your own. 

* Plan ahead -- Press the direction disk JUST SLIGHTLY ahead of when you want to turn. If you wait too long, you won't be able to turn until the next avenue. 

* For the "trap" games -- try getting in front of the opposing snakes forcing them to the outside. If you're clever, you can create channels around the perimeter from which the opposing snakes cannot escape. Allow a snake back into the middle and you make it easier for it to double back to trap you. 

* For the "bite" games -- learn to read the rebounds. Be careful not to bite off your own tail by doubling back on yourself. Alternate between the horizontal, vertical and diagonal modes to cross up your opponent. Go on the defensive when you have only a few links left. This will give your snake time to grow new links. For a twist in strategy, go on the defensive right from the start. Grow extra links before you attack.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/snafu
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#snafu
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E8B8EBA5
Space Armada
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Space Armada is a clone of the game Space Invaders. Rows of bomb dropping aliens are invading your home planet, and you need to protect it! You control a laser gun at the bottom of the screen; your goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying the waves of attacking aliens at the top of the screen. The aliens march steadily downward, and if they reach the ground or you run out of laser guns, the game is over. When all aliens in a wave are destroyed, you move on to the next, more challenging round. From time to time, a flying saucer will pass by at the top of the screen which can be shot for bonus points.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Space Armada is a clone of the arcade game Space Invaders. According to Mattel lawyers, the copyright of the original game hadn't been properly protected. Any other company could make their own version as long as they changed the name ("Space Invaders" is a trademark).

Space Armada was the first Intellivision game to take advantage of sequencing GRAM to create the illusion of more than eight moving objects (sprites) on-screen at one time.


PLAYING TIPS:

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 3, Summer 1982:

* Start to the right. Knock off vertical columns to delay the armada from advancing down another rank. The fewer columns left in the armada, the better your chances of clearing the screen as the armada approaches the bottom. 

* Hit the saucer. It's difficult but well worth it. Not only do you get points, a bunker will be rebuilt as well. 

* Don't get hit. Stay mobile or hide behind the bunkers. You'll need every "life" possible late in the game. 

* Remember the red spiral missiles don't need a direct hit to cause damage. If you're too close when the missile hits bottom, your base will be destroyed. 

* Outmaneuver the red homing missiles. Lead them into a bunker. They will crash and self-destruct. Or, lead them along to one side, quickly double-back underneath and fire. 

* Concentrate. Remember the structure of the invisible armadas. Many good players suffer early defeat because they forgot the presence of just one alien.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/space-armada
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#armada
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F95504E0
Space Battle
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1979
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Space Battle is a one player game that pits you against the computer.

Six alien fleets of different sizes are attacking your mothership, and it's up to you to defend it using your three squadrons.  Alien ships will dodge your attacks and will attack you with photon blasts.

There are two game modes; Radar Mode, which is more strategy, and Battle Mode, which is all out action.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Outer space action! You must outwit the computer-controlled invaders! Consult the situation map, deploy the defense. Switch to cockpit close-up. Fire lasers! Save the command ship! You do it all, amidst the simulated sounds of outer space combat.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

If the enemy spacecraft look familiar, it's because they are Cylon raiders from the late-seventies TV program Battlestar Gallactica. One of Mattel's subsidiaries, Concepts 2000, had the license to produce Battlestar Galactica electronic toys, so it was figured to be a lock that Mattel would get the license to produce the official Battlestar Gallactica videogame. Wrong. The game was well into development when they discovered Mattel didn't get the license. The name was changed, but the graphics remained the same.

An M Network version of the game, called Space Attack, was released for the Atari 2600.


RUNNING CHANGE:

When the game was finished, Dale Lynn, who tested it, said it was too easy. APh cranked up the difficulty, but Dale told them it was still too easy. "Maybe for you," he was told, "but not for the general public." Wrong again. Consumers found the game too easy when it was released.

A more difficult version was released soon after as part of the new Space Action Network. This version, in a blue box with a blue label, is the more familiar.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/space-battle
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#battle
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39D3B895
Space Hawk
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Space Hawk is an arcade action game feature gameplay similar to Asteroids. You are an astronaut stuck in deep space. You are equipped with a jet pack to help move around, and a laser gun to destroy enemies. Your main enemy is a white space hawk which wanders around the screen, leaving a trail of deadly bubbles behind him. Try to score as many points as you can be destroying both the space hawk and the bubbles, both of which are constantly trying to get you. In case of emergencies,  you have the ability to enter hyperspace which will temporarily bring you away from danger. Hyperspace ability is limited, however, so be sure to conserve if you can!


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Most new programmers started their first day with a copy of a simple training game called Killer Tomatoes. They were expected to spend a few weeks playing with it and modifying it to get a feel for how the Intellivision system worked before being assigned to a real game.

Bill Fisher, however, had a different training game. On his first day in June 1981 he was given John Sohl's original Asteroids version of Astrosmash. He was told to modify it into a game that would still be like Asteroids, but different enough that the Mattel lawyers would allow it to be released. Space Hawk was the result. (And while he was at it, he fixed the bug in displaying the score.)


FUN FACT:

While testing the game, Bill came across a bug: every now and then, the game would, seemingly at random, hyperspace you. He and his boss, Mike Minkoff, went over the code with a fine-tooth comb before realizing what the problem was: the Intellivision hand controllers encode button presses in such a way that an action (side) key pressed at the same time as particular directions on the disc will be interpreted instead as a numeric key being pressed. There was no software way around this; shooting while moving would occasionally be interpreted as pressing 9 -- the hyperspace button.

After several days of puzzling over a solution, the bug was ultimately "fixed" by including the following note in the instruction manual:

"Every once in a while, your space hunter will move near a 'black hole,' and the computer will automatically put him into HYPERSPACE. This will cost you the same number of points as if you had pressed the HYPERSPACE key yourself. On the other hand, it will save your hunter."

This led to an axiom frequently heard around Mattel: If you document it, it's not a bug -- it's a feature. Anytime a game in development crashed -- no matter how badly or bizarrely -- witnesses would invariably turn to the frustrated programmer, shrug, and calmly say "document it."

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/space-hawk
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#hawk
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3784DC52
Space Spartans
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Like the ancient Spartans that fought (and won) the Persian army in the battle of the Thermopylae, you are the last stand before the alien invasion. 

The game has two screens. When it begins, a female voice welcomes you as the commander of the star ship. You have three star bases to defend while alien ships surround you. Then you choose a space sector where you enter in to the battle section. 

Your ship has 5 systems (Battle Computer, Impulse Drive, Hyper Drive, Tracking Computer and Shields): if your  ship is hit you can repair the damage at a star base. Repairs during battles are allowed, but they are slower, use ship's energy and can't repair destroyed ship systems. The game ends when you run out of energy and/or your ship is destroyed. The ship is destroyed when all the systems are destroyed, or if Hyper Drive blows the ship up (50% chance of this occurring if you use Hyper Drive when destroyed).


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Space Spartans, the first Intellivoice game, was begun in mid-1981 by Brian Dougherty, who only worked on it a short time before leaving to join the startup company Imagic. Mike Minkoff took over the project and developed it further. When Mike was promoted to manager, he passed it off to the team of Bill Fisher and Steve Roney, who really defined the game and made it more than just Space Battle with voice.

At the time the game was in development, all Intellivision cartridges were 4K in size. To accommodate the voice data, Space Spartans was the first to be given a seemingly generous 8K. This turned out to be woefully inadequate; dialogue had to be cut to a minimum, and the sampling rate was dropped to the point where it's difficult to distinguish the male voices from each other. Luckily, dropping these to a very mechanical sound added to the sci-fi feel of the game. Only the female computer voice was kept at a higher rate, since it adds a strong note of personality. (Check out a sample of her voice below.) All the voice games that followed were allocated 12 or 16K; even the foreign versions of Space Spartans (Gli Spartani Dello Spazio, Les Spartiates De L'Espace and Spartaner Aus Dem All) were given 12K each.

Most of the sound effects were written by Bill Fisher, but Bill Goodrich contributed the explosions; this was fortunate, since it helped find a bug in Intellivision II. While playing Space Spartans on an Intellivision II, Bill Goodrich was distressed to discover his explosions sounded "thin." Comparing other released cartridges, he discovered similar loss of sound quality in the bubbles in Shark! Shark! It was too late to fix the bug in Intellivision II, so subsequent games were tested and reprogrammed to get around any sound problems.


BUG:

The level counter is not checked properly -- it allows you to reach one higher level than it's supposed to. On that "level," you can reposition the alien bases as if they were your own.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/space-spartans
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/voice.html#space_spartans
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A95021FC
Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1989
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Features Indoor (6-man) volleyball in a gymnasium and Outdoor (2-man) volleyball on the beach.  Realistic volleyball simulation featuring serving, bumping, sets, jumps, spikes, blocks, dives, and digs.  

As player, you control every member of your team.  Aim your serves; pass the ball to the setter; crank on the spike; leap to block the spike.

Play against the computer, or play against an opponent.  There's even a special option that lets two players play together against the computer.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

As with Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf, this game was a labor of love for designer/programmer Steve Ettinger. Steve had played intercollegiate volleyball in school and suggested the sport to producer Dave Warhol as an Intellivision cartridge. Dave, whose office at the time was in his living room overlooking a volleyball court on the sand at Hermosa Beach, California, readily agreed and sold the idea to INTV Corp.

Steve worked hard to replicate the speed and power of a real game, with particular attention to "pass-set-spike" play. By this time, 1988, Steve had been programming Intellivision code for over five years and knew how to get the most out of the system. He quickly completed an excellent adaptation of the sport.

But along with Stadium Mud Buggies, Spiker: Super Pro Volleyball sat on the shelf for a year while INTV Corp. raised the money to release them. Finally introduced in late 1989, they were the last games released for the Intellivision system.


EASTER EGG:

To display the credits, press 0 (zero) on either hand controller while the title screen is displayed.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/spiker-super-pro-volleyball
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv4.html#spiker
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B745C1CA
Stadium Mud Buggies
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1988
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Gear-grinding, teeth-jarring excitement -- it's STADIUM MUD BUGGIES! Get behind the wheel and floor it! Take that first hill -- you're airborne! SMACK! Bad landing -- you stall -- your opponent passes you! Jam it into gear -- your wheels spin, throwing mud everywhere -- finally some traction! You're back in the race! A car in your way? Crash over it! You're catching up! Drawbridge ahead...and it's rising! Use it as a ramp -- gun it! -- take off and YES! A perfect landing as you zoom first across the finish line! 

* Realistic graphics, animation and sound effects put you right on the track! 

* 9 events pit you against merciless obstacles: Hill Climb! Drag Race! Bog! Tug-O-War! Car Crush! Donuts! Drawbridge! Combo Course! And the MONSTER RALLY -- all events combined into one ironman challenge! 

* Compete alone, against a friend, or against the toughest computer driver ever! 


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Essentially, this is a super-enhanced version by Rick Koenig of his own Motocross game for Mattel Electronics. Developed as Monster Truck Rally (and announced with that name in the Fall 1988 INTV catalog), the decision to change it to Stadium Mud Buggies was made after the game was complete. 

Christmas 1988 was bad for INTV Corp. The video game resurgence was in full swing, led by Nintendo. Mail orders were down, and the stores that had still been carrying Intellivision cartridges cut way back or stopped stocking them altogether, freeing up more shelf space for Nintendo games. As cash flow slowed, cartridge production of the completed Monster Truck Rally and Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball was put on hold and over a year went by without a new INTV game or catalog released. 

In 1989 INTV moved into Nintendo cartridge production, with the first release to be a conversion of Monster Truck Rally, also produced by Realtime Associates and again programmed by Rick. Apparently by using the completed Nintendo version of Monster Truck Rally as proof of INTV Corporation's promising new direction, INTV President Terry Valeski was able to raise enough cash or credit to put the two finished Intellivision games into production, and to mail out a Christmas 1989 catalog (which would turn out to be the last). 

Thinking that it might hurt the Nintendo Monster Truck Rally's chances if it was seen as based on an Intellivision game, Valeski had the name of the Intellivision version changed to Stadium Mud Buggies. The title screen name was changed, but the graphics remained the same -- the vehicles still look like trucks, not buggies. 

Ultimately, instead of releasing it themselves, the failing INTV Corporation sold the Nintendo Monster Truck Rally to another distributor to raise cash.

 
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/gamepage.php?gameId=93
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2DEACD15
Stampede
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1
_________________________
*
It's a stampede!! Your job is to round up as many of the calves as you can. The screen scrolls to the right as you chase the calves; if more than three calves get past you, the game is over. The calves all run at different speeds, and when you rope one you earn points based on how fast it was running. As the game progresses, more and more calves will be on the screen at one time, and other obstacles will begin appearing to trip your horse and slow you down.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Stampede was one of the first Activision cartridges. The designer/programmer of the original Atari 2600 version also programmed this Intellivision version.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Bob Whitehead in the Stampede instruction manual:

"If you are really a savvy cowboy, you could probably play Stampede till the cows come home. Strategy, patience and smart herding and roping are what really count.

"First of all, keep in mind the particular sequences in which the dogies appear. My advice is to establish a priority for roping the stampeding herd.

"One strategy is to lasso the high-point dogies first, while keeping the darker (low-point) ones herded in front of you.

"Herding is the most important part of the game. But remember, a dogie that is repeatedly herded will get tired and become more difficult to herd, because he won't run as far ahead on the screen.

"You'll notice that the dogies appear in rows. When you rope the last one of a group of dark red Herefords...get set for some fast action, 'cause there's trouble ahead!"


FUN FACT:

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score of 3,000 or more received an "Activision Trail Drive" emblem.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/stampede
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#stampede
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72E11FCA
Star Strike
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Star Strike was clearly inspired by the Death Star battle sequence in the movie Star Wars. You fly a space craft into the enemy launch trench. Your mission: to destroy the alien station before Earth passes directly over the launch trench. You must evade the alien ships that are defending the launch trench while being sure to bomb the red "Hot Targets". The very first red target that is missed when the Earth is directly in the middle of the launch trench becomes a missile. The missile is launched and destroys Earth.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Inspired by the Death Star trench sequence from the movie Star Wars, Star Strike is actually a very simple game; most players quickly learn the timing of it to consistently win. But visually it was stunning, with a 3-D effect (accomplished by sequencing GRAM) not seen before in a home videogame. Heavily promoted, it was the top-selling Intellivision game of 1982, with nearly 800,000 units shipped that year.

An M Network Atari 2600 Star Strike was also released.


BUG:

Hold down the left controller disk in a single position while simultaneously pressing one of the top action keys. The fighter will soon remain in a fixed position on the screen. Release the disk to unfreeze the fighter.


PLAYING TIPS:

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 3, Summer 1982:

* Stay mobile. Keep moving up, down, left and right when the aliens are behind you. Don't give them a stationary target. 

* Practice firing at the aliens. Line up the alien ship between you and your laser's vanishing point. 

* Try shooting down both aliens. Doubling up on targets will give you a little extra time to align your ship for bombing before a new wave of aliens appear. You'll add extra points to your score. 

* Stay on the deck. It's much more difficult to bomb the alien's silos from a high altitude. Stay low and score higher. 

* Keep a mental scorecard. Keep track of alien silos destroyed. Don't risk damage by going after a "dead" silo. 

* Be aware of damage. Keep a careful record of your ship's capabilities. Damage reduces control. Don't ask your ship to do something it can't in emergency situations. 


FUN FACT:

The Star Strike TV commercial became probably the most notorious of all videogame commercials of its era, with Mattel Electronics spokesperson George Plimpton bragging about "our most amazing visual effect ever: the total destruction of a planet!" while the earth is seen being blasted to pieces. Comedians, cartoonists and politicians all jumped on this as an example of the glorification of violence in videogames.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/star-strike
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#strike
*

*
D5B0135A
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Parker Brothers
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back recreates a scene from the movie of the same name. You are on the icy planet of Hoth, and Imperial Walkers are closing in on the rebel power generator. As the pilot of a snowspeeder, you need to take out as many of the walkers as you can. The walkers are heavily armoured, and it will take a lot of fire power to destroy one! The game is played on a large, scrolling screen with a radar screen at the bottom to help keep track of where the enemy is located. If a walker reaches the power generator, or you run out of snowspeeders the game is over. Good luck, and may the force be with you!
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/star-wars-the-empire-strikes-back_
*

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3D9949EA
Sub Hunt
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Release Year: 1981
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
In Sub Hunt you control a group of four submarines one at a time. The goal is to destroy six convoys which will be attempting to cross the stretch of sea you are guarding. You can aim and fire torpedoes using a periscope view, have your submarine dive and surface, and adjust your speed. An overhead display allows you to strategically move your submarines in the position of your choice. There are five difficulty levels to choose from.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

You're at the periscope of a Nautilus class nuclear submarine, the last line of defense between the enemy and the fleet. Enemy PT boats drone around seeking you out. Meanwhile, enemy destroyers constantly jockey for depth-bombing position. You must keep you head to control depth, speed, direction and torpedoes. You have simultaneous periscope and satellite horizon displays with compass readings to keep you afloat and the enemy at bay. If you do it, you should be immediately commissioned an Admiral in the U.S. Navy.

* Simultaneous displays 
* One player game 
* Control depth, speed, and torpedo launch
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/sub-hunt
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#subhunt
*

*
8F7D3069
Super Cobra
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Konami Industry Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Super Cobra is a side scrolling shooter based on the arcade game. You're a chopper pilot on a surveillance mission in enemy territory; your goal is to make it through the various obstacle courses alive and score as many points as possible. Tall buildings, mountains, narrow tunnels, and various enemies (such as tanks, rockets, mines, and more) can all get in the way and destroy your chopper if you aren't careful. To help defend yourself, the chopper is armed with a machine gun and bombs which can be used to destroy the enemy tanks and rockets. To make the task more difficult, your chopper has a limited amount of fuel. Throughout the landscapes are fuel tanks; if one of these is shot or bombed, you will be awarded extra fuel. As the levels progress, the enemies become more aggressive, fuel becomes more scarce, and the landscape becomes trickier to navigate.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/super-cobra
*

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16BFB8EB
Super Pro Decathlon
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1978
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1-4 Players VS
_________________________
*
The winner of the Decathlon is often called the Greatest Athlete in the World -- competitors must show world-class skill in 10 different events! Speed and endurance on the track. Form and timing on the jumps. Strength and determination on the throws. Now put yourself to the test with 10 tough contests that will challenge you like never before! Don't be surprised if you find yourself out of breath and your heart racing!

* 10 Complete Events! 100 Meter Dash! Hurdles! Long Jump! High Jump! Pole Vault! Discus! Shot Put! Javelin! Triple Jump! 400 Meter Run! 

* Compete in the full Decathlon, or practice individual events. 

* 1 to 4 players can compete! 

* 3 difficulty levels. 


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Super Pro Decathlon was the only new title released by INTV Corp. not done by one of the original Mattel Electronics programmers. Scott Robitelle was a friend of Dave Warhol's who had done the hardware design of the development systems used by Realtime Associates. Dave gave him a shot at designing a game. (A later game programmed by Scott, Choplifter!, was never finished.)

Super Pro Decathlon was timed for release with the 1988 Summer Olympics.


FUN FACT:

For the title screen music, Dave Warhol recycled the fanfare he wrote for the unreleased Mattel Electronics cartridge Go For The Gold.

INTV used the successful "Super Pro" designation, despite the fact there are no professional decathlon competitions.
 
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#decathlon
*

*
32076E9D
Super Pro Football
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1986
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Realistic Action & Sound Effects
REAL LIVE ACTION -- Just Like Sunday Football!

* Super Pro Football -- One & Two Players 
* You are the Coach & Quarterback 

* Full Football Rules & Play, including running, passing, punts, interceptions...Even 2 point safeties! 

* You and your opponent call & control the play 
* The challenge is to outwit your opponent or play against the Computer

Never Before So Real!


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

David Warhol, who had programmed Thunder Castle at Mattel, had helped prepare the Thunder Castle cartridge for its INTV Corporation release. Terry Valeski, President of INTV, approached Dave a short time later. Would he be interested in programming an enhanced one- or two-player version of the original NFL Football cartridge?

This was quite a challenge. So far, the "new" INTV titles -- Thunder Castle, World Championship Baseball, Thin Ice -- had simply been unreleased Mattel Electronics product and had already existed as EPROM prototypes. Preparing those games for release had essentially involved getting the files into the proper format for General Instruments to manufacturer ROMs. An enhanced football cartridge, though, would require new programming.

It was now 1986, over two years since Mattel Electronics had closed. All of the development equipment had long since been sold off. Valeski could supply the NFL Football source code on 8-inch floppy disk, but nothing else -- including any startup money.

Taking a big risk, Dave put his own money into having a custom card designed and built (by his friend, hardware expert Scott Robitelle) that would interface an IBM PC and Intellivision Master Component. He put his own time into writing a cross assembler and linker to develop 1610 games on the PC.

He then hired former Mattel programmers Ray Kaestner (BurgerTime) and John Tomlinson (Mission X), plus former Mattel graphic artist Connie Goldman (Thunder Castle) to help put together the enhanced football game.

The risk paid off. INTV Corp. bought the completed game, Super Pro Football, introducing it for Christmas 1986. The cartridge was so successful that INTV used the "Super Pro" designation on all of their later sports titles, and Dave Warhol's company -- Realtime Associates -- was hired to do all of INTV's subsequent games.


FUN FACT: 

Dave hedged his bet by having Connie put a couple of sports announcers on the statistics screen -- and having them look like Terry Valeski and INTV Vice President Dan Stout. Dave was counting on Valeski's ego -- figuring he wouldn't pass on a game he appeared in. He was right; Valeski went nuts upon seeing the screen. Dave feels it clinched the deal.

The announcers are programmed so that Terry (the balding one) and Dan (the bespectacled one) keep interrupting each other, just like they did in real life.


EASTER EGG:

To display credits, press 0 (zero) while the title screen is displayed.

 
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv1.html#superpro_football
*

*
51B82EB7
Super Soccer
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*

*

*
15E88FCE
Swords & Serpents
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Adventure, Role-Playing (RPG)
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 CO-OP
_________________________
*
A one or two player "Dungeons & Dragons"-style dungeon crawl.  In a one-player game, the player controls the Warrior Prince on his quest to collect treasures, learn the secrets of the Fortress of the Sinister Serpent, and locate the Serpent's lair. In a two-player game, the right player controls the Warrior Prince, while the left player controls Nilrem the Wizard.

As you explore the labyrinthine fortress you can collect treasures, magic scrolls, and healing items while battling Phantom Knights and Red Sorcerers.  But be careful -- if your adversaries catch you, you can lose half a life, and may need to be "reincarnated."  Each player has only 9 Reincarnations, and when those are gone, it's "Game Over."
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/swords-serpents
*
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*
03E9E62E
Tennis
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 2 VS
_________________________
*
Tennis is a singles tennis game for two players. The game follows standard tennis rules, and allows you to hit both forehand and backhand shots to any location on the court.  Whether serving or volleying, you have the choice of hitting the ball hard or soft, and you may hit either a lob or a regular ground stroke. The game allows you to set the difficulty by selecting one of four different speeds.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tennis__
*

*
F3DF94E0
Thin Ice
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1986
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
In this quirky arcade game, you play Duncan the penguin, who enjoys skating on thin ice-- especially around the other penguins. The goal of this game is exactly that; to skate around the other penguins, dunking them into the frigid water while consuming tasty shrimp cocktails (to make him go faster). Duncan has to watch out for the evil seal and polar bear, who both like to bat Duncan about! If you can manage to sink all the penguins, you move onto the next level-- where even more penguins await to be dunked.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

As described on the Arcade Network page, Mattel Electronics had a first-look deal with Data East for their arcade games. One day, Data East brought in a new game called Disco No.1 in which a roller-skating Disco Boy moved around a dance floor, trapping Disco Girls by skating squares around them.

Everyone agreed that the game was original and fun, but they also agreed that the theme was dated and sexist and that, technically, it probably couldn't be done for Intellivision.

Keith Robinson (TRON Solar Sailer), a fan of the game, wrote a proposal, dated May 28, 1982, for a new premise: Thin Ice. A mischievous penguin would skate around other penguins on a frozen lake. By completing squares around them, those sections of the ice would fall into the lake, dunking the victims. Between levels, a Zamboni would drive out to repair the ice.

In addition to writing the proposal, Keith programmed a demo showing that the game was feasible by limiting the skating penguin's movements to the borders of the screen's background cards.

Based on the proposal and demo, Thin Ice was given the go-ahead. After programmer Julie Hoshizaki completed the revised Lock 'n' Chase in August, she and graphic designer Monique Lujan-Bakerink began work on the game. Everything went smoothly, except for a brief fight with someone in Marketing who wanted to change the name to Arctic Squares, a play on Arctic Circle. (He lost, but not before some literature was released to the public using that name.) The game was completed on schedule in mid-May, 1983.

While Thin Ice was in the game testing process, the Marketing department suddenly got excited about heading in a new direction. Instead of going outside the company for cartoon licenses, they wanted to start developing original characters for the games, then spinning off those characters to other products. And they wanted to start with the penguin from Thin Ice.

 From June 17 to June 30, a penguin-naming contest was held, with the winning name, Duncan, submitted by David Warhol (Mind Strike). The game officially became Duncan's Thin Ice and the cartridge size was increased from 8K to 12K so that Monique could add special animated title screens introducing Duncan and his penguin pals, Bobo, P.J., Minky and Norman.

Just as this new version was nearing completion, though, there was major upheaval in the management structure of Mattel Electronics. President Josh Denham was out, replaced by Mack Morris, who came to Mattel from Teledyne- Waterpik (and, earlier, from Breath Savers mints). Unfamiliar with video games, Morris brought in Jeff Rochlis, a former Mattel executive who had been instrumental in launching Intellivision, as a consultant. On July 15, 1983, sweeping through the Applications Software department like the Black Death through Europe, Rochlis briefly reviewed each game in development and gave it a thumbs up or down on the spot.

Luckily, he liked Thin Ice, but he thought the penguin was too cute. He ordered it replaced with a fisherman (Fishin' Sam) chopping at the ice with an ax. He also recommended changing the name to Iceman. Julie and Monique, less than thrilled, set about changing the animations.

But Rochlis's morale-crushing performance hadn't gone over well. The VP of Application Software, Gabriel Baum, told Mack Morris that Rochlis was no longer welcome in his department, and forbade Rochlis having any further direct contact with the programmers. Not long afterward, Rochlis was gone. Word was that Morris felt Rochlis was trying to grab too much power.

Once Rochlis was out, so was Fishin' Sam. Julie and Monique returned to completing Duncan's Thin Ice.

And, of course, as soon as it was done, Marketing came up with yet another brilliant idea. They had spent millions for the rights to the 1984 Winter Olympics license, yet, through bad communication, an original game using the license hadn't been developed. (An album of old sports titles was rushed into production as Go For the Gold.)

 But why not change Duncan into Voochko the Wolf, the mascot for the Winter Olympics, and release Thin Ice as an official Olympics cartridge? Suddenly, with Go For the Gold, Mattel would have two official Olympics titles. The change was ordered on October 17; Duncan's Thin Ice would become Voochko on Ice. [Julie and Monique changed the "penguin pals" to Cossack dancers Ivan, Oskar, Misha and Bobo.]

Everyone connected with Thin Ice was disappointed; they had grown to love Duncan. So an unprecedented move was made: although Easter eggs in cartridges were forbidden -- you could be fired if found out -- VP Gabriel Baum gave permission for Duncan's Thin Ice to be hidden within the Voochko On Ice cartridge without Marketing's knowledge, even though it meant increasing the size from 12K to 16K. He said that if Marketing complained about the size increase, he would tell them it was necessary because of the last-minute nature of the change they had ordered. "They'll believe it," he explained, "none of them understand the technology."

[Gabriel had a low opinion of most Marketing personnel, and was particularly derisive of the deals they had made to obtain character and movie licenses. "When these people go to a meeting," he said, "they pull down their pants and walk into the room backwards."]

Julie, along with Group Leader Steve Ettinger (Hover Force), put together two versions: Voodun, in which Duncan was hidden within Voochko; and Dunvoo, in which Voochko was hidden within Duncan. Voodun was the one scheduled to go into production; Dunvoo was the version the programmers took home for themselves. To switch between Duncan and Voochko in either version, you pressed ENTER on the left hand controller, CLEAR on the right one, and pressed RESET.

But in January 1984, six months after the original Thin Ice had been completed, just as Voochko on Ice was about to manufactured, Mattel Electronics was closed down.

Finally, in 1986, INTV Corporation released Thin Ice. They went with the original 8K version -- no introduction screens, no hidden Voochko -- to save production costs. (The title screen still says "Mattel Electronics presents...") The game was introduced in the Fall 1986 INTV catalog.


FUN FACT:

Early in production, David Warhol came to Keith Robinson, who was manager on the game, and said he had a friend who wanted to break into the video game field as a composer and was willing to write a theme for Thin Ice for free. Keith told him no; it was against Mattel policy to use freelancers, even if they were literally free. Following Keith's authority about as much as anyone at Mattel did, Dave had his friend write the music anyway. Dave coded it for Intellivision and Julie linked it into the game.

The theme, "Carnival of the Penguins," was so addictive and perfect for the game that Keith agreed it had to be used. He contacted Mattel's crack legal department and suggested they buy the rights for $100. They probably could have, but they procrastinated for months. By the time they got around to contacting the composer, the game had been demonstrated at a number of trade shows using the music; the composer was able to negotiate a payment of $1200 for the 15 second theme.

Thus George Alistair Sanger sold his first video game melody. He has gone on, under the nickname The Fat Man, to become the most famous composer of music for interactive media. He and his Team Fat have provided the music for Loom, Wing Commander, The 7th Guest and many other computer games.

In 2000, George "The Fat Man" Sanger recorded the Thin Ice theme in a rock surf arrangement. "Surfing on Thin Ice" is available as a free MP3 download at mp3.com/intellivision.

Richard Zamboni, president of Frank J. Zamboni & Co., gave permission for his company's trademark to be used in the Thin Ice instruction book. He sent over a series of photos - the history of the ice-repairing machines invented by his father - so that Monique could accurately depict a Zamboni in the game.

The penguins Norman and Minky were named after Julie and Monique's boss Keith Robinson (who only reluctantly admits that his rarely-used first name is Norman) and his boss Mike Minkoff (Snafu).

By 1986, when INTV Corporation was ready to release the game, Keith had started his own graphic design business, Strand Cruisers. Because of his connection to Thin Ice, INTV hired Keith to write the instructions and illustrate the package. This led to Keith designing the packaging and writing all of the copy for most of the subsequent INTV releases.

Collector's note: There are two versions of the box. On the original, the game title was yellow-orange. This was changed to white in the second run to make the title stand out more.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/thin-ice
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv1.html#thin_ice
*

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C1F1CA74
Thunder Castle
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Adventure
Release Year: 1986
Developer: Mattel Electronics, Quicksilver Software, Inc.
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
In this medieval fantasy game, players take control of a brave knight as he sets out on a quest of treasure hunting and survival.  The quest takes the knight into three different realms of danger, each with its own challenges, and an ever changing maze of which they must navigate through.  The quest is broken down into these challenges:

Forest - The Knight must confront three dragons, each one more difficult than the last.  Along the way, an enchanted bat will give him the strength to overcome the danger.

Castle - The Knight must overcome six wizards, his only aid being a mouse that will generally try to avoid capture.

Dungeon - A randomly appearing skull is the only defense against the nine demons that make up the sinister dungeons.

Along the way, the items that the Knight will find may be of some help (or hinder) his quest to make it through the different areas.  Challenge the areas again and again for the highest score possible!


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

On January 22, 1982, Vice President of Application Software Gabriel Baum announced a competition for the best game idea with a magic theme. The reason was never announced -- probably Marketing had an idea for a promotional tie-in somewhere -- but whatever it was must have fallen through, since Gabriel didn't bother picking a winner until April.

The winner was Connie Goldman. Connie had been hired as a programmer, but it quickly became apparent that her strength was character animation. She started work on the game, originally titled Magic Castle, but she was continuously pulled away from it to do graphics for other, higher priority games and to put together demos for Marketing. (She did excellent animations of Peanuts, Garfield and McDonalds characters, among others, when Marketing was trying [unsuccessfully] to obtain those licenses.)

Whenever she had time she would return to her game, which had begun appearing in Mattel Electronic catalogs as Mystic Castle, but it was further delayed when Bill Goodrich got permission to use half of the animated characters from it in his own, higher priority, Intellivoice game Quest.

After completing his own game, Mind Strike, and overseeing the programming of Bump 'N' Jump, David Warhol was given the task of helping Connie finish Mystic Castle. They strengthened the game play and, after the cancellation of the voice games, reinstated the animations stolen for Quest. Under the new name Thunder Castle, the game was completed, well over a year after Connie had first started working on it.

Mattel Electronics was closed shortly thereafter, before the game went into production; Thunder Castle was finally released by INTV Corporation in 1986. (Strangely, in the Spring 1986 INTV catalog it is listed under its old name of Mystic Castle; in the Fall '86 catalog it was, and remained, Thunder Castle.)


FUN FACT:

If the painting on the Thunder Castle box cover seems scarier than the game, it's because it was painted for the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TREASURE OF TARMIN Cartridge magazine ads. When Mattel Electronics closed down, no artwork for Thunder Castle had been completed, so when INTV Corporation released the game, they simply used the Treasure of Tarmin painting.


EASTER EGG:

Press 0 (zero) on either hand controller while the title screen is displayed to see game credits.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/thunder-castle
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv0.html#thunder_castle
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D1D352A0
Tower of Doom
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Adventure, Role-Playing (RPG)
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Reaching high towards the heavens, the Tower of Doom stands, beckoning brave adventures to confront the bizarre creatures and brave the deadly traps it contains in hopes of collecting the bountiful treasures and magical items found within its corridors.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

With the success of the first Dungeons & Dragons cartridge, Marketing wanted a continuing series of D&D games. They were a bit concerned that the second release, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TREASURE OF TARMIN Cartridge, was a bit too complex, so when adding a third D&D game to the schedule, they took to calling it Arcade D&D. "Arcade" was their code word for more action, less brains.

After completing Loco-Motion, Dan Bass took up the challenge of defining what Arcade D&D would be. He designed a screen layout with scrolling text instructions that made the game easy to follow, but would still allow the complex, strategic play that D&D fans expected. Battle scene close-ups provided the action Marketing wanted.

A limited demo of the game appeared at one trade show with the name ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS REVENGE OF THE MASTER Cartridge (once again, the bizarre capitalization and inclusion of the word "cartridge" in the title was demanded by contract), but by the time it appeared in Mattel Electronics catalogs it had been renamed ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TOWER OF MYSTERY Cartridge.

The game was only half-completed when Mattel Electronics closed its doors in January 1984. Over two years later, INTV Corp. expressed an interest in releasing it. Dan, working full-time in Massachusetts by this time, was not available to finish it, so John Tomlinson (Mission X) was hired for the job. Connie Goldman (Thunder Castle) completed the graphics started at Mattel by Monique Lujan-Bakerink and Karl Morris.

Not wanting to pay for the Dungeons & Dragons license, INTV released the cartridge in 1987 under the new name, Tower of Doom.

Mattel Electronics had an M Network Atari 2600 version and an Apple version of the game in development when Mattel Electronics closed.


EASTER EGG:

Press 0 (zero) on either hand controller while the title screen is displayed to view game credits.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tower-of-doom
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1984.html#tower
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1AC989E2
Triple Action
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action, Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1981
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Three games in one! Triple Action features three uniquely different arcade games:
Racing Cars - Race side-by-side down the highway against an opponent, dodging standard traffic as you go. First one to 100 miles wins!

Battle Tanks - Get in a tank and fight another player, hiding behind cover as you go. Choose between long-range or short-range bullets, or the ability for the bullets to bounce off objects for a true strategic challenge.

Biplanes - Get into the cockpit of a biplane, fighting another player with either short or long range bullets. Hit the balloon for an extra point, but don't stall! First to 15 wins.
Each game is specifically designed for two-players, resulting in a unique party game.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

It's three classic video games in one!

Racing Cars -- You and your opponent race against the clock down a crowded highway.

Battle Tanks -- It's a duel to the finish between two heavy tanks. One of you will end up as scrap iron.

Biplanes -- It's a thrilling dogfight -- biplane style! Watch out for the control tower...don't get lost in the clouds. But most of all, watch out for that blood thirsty baron with a leather cap!


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

This started out to be a collection of six games "inspired" by Atari 2600 cartridges, hence the APh working title, Some of Theirs. Space considerations forced this to be dropped to five: a tank battle, a car race, a dogfight, a Breakout-like game and a Pong-like game. Within Mattel Electronics, the cartridge was known as 5-in-1 Arcade.

Shortly before completion, Mattel's lawyers stepped in and decided that some of Some of Theirs was TOO MUCH like some of theirs. To avoid a lawsuit from Atari, the lawyers asked that Brickout!, the Breakout-like game, and Hockey, the Pong-like game, be dropped from the cartridge. The game was renamed 3-in-1 Arcade and, finally, Triple Action.

A sequel, More of Theirs, was started by Rich O'Keefe but never completed.


FUN FACT:

More hours were spent in the programming cubicles playing Biplanes than any other Intellivision game. Although it's one of the simplest, many programmers felt it was the most challenging and fun of the two-person games. The first time you deliberately stall, go into a free fall, then pull out with a backward loop at the last second to blast your opponent at pointblank range is a joy!

So many hours were wasted on Biplanes, that when a memo was circulated April 1, 1982, ordering Triple Action deleted from programmers' hard disks, Biplanes-addict Steve Montero (Night Stalker) didn't argue; sheepishly, he erased it, only later discovering that the memo was an April Fool's hoax.

In Biplanes, although the game ends when one player reaches 15 points, bullets in the air at that point are allowed to score. It's possible, therefore, to have a game with a 15-15 tie, or to win with 16 points.

Brickout! was another early programmer favorite. Although cut from Triple Action, the game was available for downloading on a programmer's development system and led to a one-person waste of time when an opponent for Biplanes wasn't available.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/triple-action
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#tripleaction
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CA447BBD
Tron: Deadly Discs
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
*
Based on the movie from Walt Disney, you play a man trapped in a computer world who must keep moving to avoid being hurt.

Enemies will come at you three at a time, and will throw discs at you.  You must keep moving to avoid them while also firing discs right back at them.  There are different doors you can enter that will teleport you to another part of the room, giving you a chance to catch the enemies off guard.

There are two skill levels, and the higher your score, the harder the game becomes.  Do good, and your enemies will move faster, become more accurate, and the discs will go much faster.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Our hero, TRON, is locked in battle against the Evil Blue Warriors. Score points by knocking out the computer-controlled attackers with flying discs. Your task is to bring your man safely through battle after battle. The attacking warriors are also armed with destroyer discs, and they'll come after TRON in wave after wave. You get them, or they'll get TRON!

* One player game 
* Intense strategy and action 
* Ricocheting discs 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

TRON Deadly Discs was in production at the same time as TRON, the Disney movie; the design for the game was based on storyboards and production stills from the film.

Mattel Electronics bet a lot of dough that the movie would be a phenomenon. A state-of-the-art special effect film about video games, the hottest trend in the country -- how could it miss? Well, it did. The lukewarm reception the movie received did little to boost interest in the six TRON games Mattel released (four originals, two conversions). TRON Deadly Discs, though, was a strong enough game in its own right to garner good reviews and word-of-mouth; it went on to sell over 300,000 copies -- a respectable number, but only about a third what Marketing was hoping for. Ironically, the original production run was planned to be 350,000, but at the last minute it was increased to 800,000. "The reason for the increase," explained Marketing man Dick Baumbusch in a June 1, 1982 memo, "is due to the anticipated popularity of the Tron film and the fact that we will feature it in a commercial this Fall. Also, the international demand for Tron will limit any downside risk." It was this type of forecasting that put Intellivision where it is today.

In answer to a frequent question, there was no connection between the production of Mattel's TRON video games and the arcade games TRON and Discs of TRON. A separate company had licensed the arcade rights to the movie and there was no communication between them and Mattel.

Early catalogs listed TRON Deadly Discs (under its working title TRON I) as a Space Action Network cartridge; it was actually released as part of the Action Network.

An M Network Atari 2600 version and an Aquarius version were also released.


BUG:

There is a trick that pretty much lets you rack up unlimited points, as first pointed out in a letter Mattel received November 3, 1982 from Steven M. Little, an Intellivision owner in Minneapolis: "Once you are able to open the top left and top right doors, which enables you to go in one door and out the other...just step out the right top or left top door and stay there...90% of the enemy discs go through you and your man is not hit or destroyed. If you stay at that position, you can reach a score of 1,000,000 very easily by just breaking the enemy's discs and...throwing your disc just enough to keep only one enemy on the board at all times. Once you reach close to a million points, don't destroy any more warriors. Just hold your disc in the block mode and break discs. If you do get hit just go back and forth for repair. (Never throw disc to destroy warrior for you may get a replacement that carries the stick.) I went from 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 with no problem."


PLAYING TIPS: 

From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 5, Spring 1983:

Keep moving because a moving target is hard to hit. Try to line up a shot where the Warrior is in front of an open door. That way you can de-rezz the attacker and jam open the door with just one disc. 
When a leader Warrior appears (dark blue), concentrate all of your shots at him since the Warriors become quicker and more accurate when he is on the game grid. 
To knock out the Recognizer, run to the very top center of the grid. From this position, you have a good chance of making a direct hit on his eye. However, in this position, you are very vulnerable to the Paralyzer Probe. Take aim, throw your disc quickly, and run out of the path of the Probe. 

This is the favorite Intellivision game of Blue Sky Ranger David Warhol (Mind Strike). He plays with one controller in each hand -- one for maneuvering (thumb on disc), one for throwing (thumb on keypad). "If you like Deadly Discs with one hand controller, you'll love it with two," he says. "Try it now and thank me later."


EASTER EGG:

Deadly Discs fan Dave Warhol put together his own private version of the game, replacing the enemy warriors with the hot dogs from BurgerTime. He called the result Deadly Dogs. If you want to play it, it's hidden in the INTV Corporation release of Dig Dug: press 47 (4 and 7 simultaneously) on both hand controllers and press reset. The Deadly Dogs title screen will appear.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tron-deadly-discs
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#discs
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7A558CF5
Tron: Maze-A-Tron
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
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You play the role of Flynn, who's been zapped into the circuits of the Master Control Program (MCP). The MCP has plans for world domination, and only Flynn can stop it.

The ultimate goal of Maze-A-Tron is to disable the MCP. Maze-A-Tron is played in rounds; Circuit Maze and the Master Control Program. You go around the maze and collect energy for your shields, which can be used to protect Flynn from some enemies. You also collect zeroes that are used to clear RAM. 

When you proceed to the Master Control Program, the MCP works to fix the RAM you cleared. Your goal here is to fire a Bit-Gun at pairs of BIT streams and BIT stacks before they hit the top of the screen.

These two phases repeat with a higher difficulty each time.


CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Based on the Disney movie TRON, this is a great action game for 1 or 2 players. You are engaged in a deadly struggle to penetrate the inner circle of the Master Control Program. Watch out for the deadly "bits." You've got to destroy them to reach your goal and accumulate the most points.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Like TRON Deadly Discs, this game's production paralleled the production of the movie. And like TRON Deadly Discs, the movie's less-than-enthusiastic reception didn't help sales.

Note: Despite what the above early catalog description says, TRON Maze-A-Tron is a one-player game.

An M Network Atari 2600 version was developed, but the results were so different from the original that the release name was changed to Adventures of TRON.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tron-maze-a-tron
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#maze
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07FB9435
Tron: Solar Sailer
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
_________________________
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Take the role of Flynn in Tron: Solar Sailer, an Intellivoice game based on the movie Tron. Navigate your way through the computer world to find the MCP (Master Computer Program). Overload the MCP to escape the computer world and return to reality!

Tron: Solar Sailer is a 1-player game with 2 stages of gameplay. In stage one, the player is given an access code to write down, and then is to guide the solar sailer down tracks in the computer world with the goal of reaching Track 0, where the MCP is located. As the player traverses the tracks, tanks attempt to shoot the sailer and recognizers attempted to move the sailer farther away from Track 0. I/O beams teleport the player closer to the MCP if they can properly enter the access code given to them at the beginning of the game. Moving down a track and shooting at enemies depletes energy from the track; switching tracks restores energy to full. If energy fully depletes before the player switches tracks, the sailer stops moving and the game is over. Energy levels can be monitored by the amount of "energy bugs" on the grid surrounding the track, with more bugs meaning more track energy. An audible warning also announces when track energy is low.

If the player makes it to Track 0, stage two begins. The player is placed in the heart of the MCP as it attempts to make continuous data transmissions to keep the player from entering the override code, thereby overloading the MCP and allowing Flynn to escape the computer program. 0s and 1s fly at the player in a first-person view. An in-game voice gives the player the override code in binary, and the player uses a cursor to catch the appropriate bits. Using the number pad, the player can then specify where in the code sequence the captured bit should go. Red bits, when colliding with the cursor, automatically fill in a randomly selected part of the sequence. This area is timed, so the code must be entered as quickly as possible!

Once the correct sequence has been entered, the MCP overloads and the game is over. However, the game gives the option of going into "Overtime Mode" for extra points, at which point the player attempts to block all incoming transmissions or lose the game.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

TRON Solar Sailer was started by Don Daglow, but it was almost immediately put on hold when he was promoted to manager. A couple of months later, Keith Robinson picked up the project. As the drop-dead deadline of October 15, 1982 approached and the game was 25% oversize, Gene Smith was assigned full time to optimize the code while Keith (to Gene's dismay) continued to add features. The day before deadline, they finished a version that both fit into 12K and was pronounced bug-free by Traci Roux in Quality Assurance.

French, Italian and German translations of the dialog were recorded but never used.

In early releases about the game, Marketing spelled it Solar Sailor, with an or. It took months to convince them that the proper spelling was Sailer. (A sailor is a person who sails, a sailer -- as in this case -- is something a person sails on.)

Keith wanted to use music from the film, but the Mattel legal department wasn't sure if our license with Disney included to rights to use Wendy Carlos's score; they said they'd check on it. They never did get back to Keith, so he just went ahead and used it. If you're reading this, Wendy, your check's in the mail.

While testing the game, Keith's boss Mike Minkoff kept getting access codes that ended in "69." Mike accused Keith several times of skewing the random numbers for an adolescent joke. Tired of being unfairly accused, Keith put the data stream 01000101 (the binary representation of 69) in the game's opening demo screen. He then told Mike, "Look, if I was going to put a '69' in the game, I'd put it right on the title screen!" and waited to see how long it would take Mike to notice. He never did; the game went out that way. 01000101 appeared on the demo screen, in the advertising, on the back of the box and in the instructions. When Keith finally pointed it out, Mike said, "But that's 45!" Mike is such a dedicated programmer, he saw the number in hexadecimal (base 16); he never made the final calculation that 45 (base 16) is 69 (base 10).

Keith and Gene felt that the digitized word "can't" in the MCP's line "I can't allow this" sounded...well...obscene, even though Deidre Cimarusti from the Voice Department insisted it had tested fine. To prove their point, Gene edited the voice file to isolate the word. They then altered the Space Spartans title screen so that it read and said "Mattel Electronics presents Space......" Well, you get the idea. This title screen became so popular among some programmers that a game was inevitable. They tacked the screen onto a version of Astrosmash with new graphics: the missile launcher, the missiles and the flying saucer were replaced with...c'mon, do we have to spell this out? (You can check out the word for yourself; it was left as-is in the game.)

EASTER EGG:

When you enter the access code on track one, append Keith's birthday -- 991955 -- to the code before pressing enter. He'll wish you luck before the next phase of the game.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tron-solar-sailer
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/voice2.html#solar_sailer
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6F23A741
Tropical Trouble
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
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Clumsy Clarence is vacationing on a tropical island with his girlfriend Doris. Unfortunately, their vacation is interrupted when Doris is kidnapped by the bully Beach Bruiser. Now Clarence needs to rescue Doris by chasing the Beach Bruiser all over the island! The Beach Bruiser will be carrying Doris to the right and the screen scrolls to follow. You need guide Clarence and catch up to Doris. There are many obstacles on the screen which temporarily slow down your progress. Coconuts, ferns, clams, sand snakes, and lava will all appear in your way. If you get slowed down too much and hit the left side of the screen, you lose one of your lives. From time to time, Doris will drop a handkerchief; collect this and you become temporarily invincible! If you catch Doris, you then move on to the next section of the island; when each section of the island has been completed you then need to battle the Beach Bruiser on a bridge. If you're successful, the game will then repeat at a more difficult skill level.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tropical-trouble
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734F3260
Truckin'
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
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Get behind the wheel of a big rig and drive down the Interstate Highway system. Haul cargos to and from the cities of your choosing using your trusty road map. The player also has to watch out for Smokey or he will end up with a nifty speeding ticket. Deliver the cargo safely and it's on to the next job in Truckin'.

The screen is split in to halves, and a rear-mirror is featured. Players need to avoid incoming trucks and carefully plan the routes, even by consulting a real paper map to find the correct side roads. Some of the scenery included features Texas, Kansas and New York with distinct differences in the environment.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/truckin
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275F3512
Turbo
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Racing / Driving
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Corporation
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1
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It's you and several other cars racing through a variety of landscapes in Turbo. From the starting line onward, you need to maneuver around and pass various cars in your way while racing towards the finish line. Some of the landscapes you'll travel through include city streets, long roads in the country, seaside highways and dark tunnels.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/turbo
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6FA698B3
Tutankham
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Konami Industry Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
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Tutankham is an arcade action game played from a top down point of view. You are an explorer in King Tut's tomb on a mission to retrieve as many of the valuable treasures as you can find. In addition to the treasures, you will also find a key in each of the chambers. This is needed in order to unlock the entrance to the next, more difficult chamber. Be careful, for the tomb is guarded by many dangerous creatures! Cobras, bats, scorpions, and more all appear in the maze and will cause you to lose a life if you're caught! To defend yourself you are armed with a laser gun which you can fire left or right, but not up or down. In each of the mazes you are also give one "flash" which can be used to destroy all creatures currently on the screen.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tutankham
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F093E801
U.S. Ski Team Skiing
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: APh Technological Consulting
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 to 6 Alternating
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In U.S. Ski Team Skiing, players race down the hill, avoiding trees and jumping moguls in their path. The game features both slalom and downhill courses. 1 player may race against the clock, or 2 to 6 players can alternate turns and race to see who gets the fastest time, and each race has 3 heats.

Both downhill and slalom courses have 15 different slope grade settings to affect acceleration. 4 different settings for overall game speed are also available.


PRODUCTION NOTE:

U.S. Ski Team Skiing was one of the games to be included on the Go For the Gold album cartridge. 


FUN FACT:

A couple years after the game was finished, a Mattel programmer needed to take a look at the original APh source code. He was startled to find that all variables and subroutines were named with the vilest (and most creative) obscenities.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/us-ski-team-skiing
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#skiing
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752FD927
USCF Chess
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics, Teletape, Inc.
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Pit your wits against a friend or challenge the computer in USCF Chess!

Game features include taking back and redoing moves, rotating the game board 180 degrees, and setting up the chess board for special moves and instances. When playing against the CPU, players can also switch sides with the computer to make a move for the CPU. If the computer takes too long to make a move, the player may force the CPU to immediately make the best move it can think of, or cause the game to make an audible tone and pause before making the move.

USCF Chess allows 2-player gameplay or for 1 player against the CPU with 7 difficulty levels available.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

A great new way to play the ultimate game of strategy, whether you're a novice, intermediate or expert. Pit your skill against the computer or an opponent. Select from eight degrees of difficulty and a time limit on moves. Move up in skill as you improve.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

A good Chess program was beyond the capabilities of the both the Intellivision hardware and the Intellivision programmers, but Marketing felt that it was a must-have title to establish the Intellivision as more than a toy.

Money was authorized to produce the Chess cartridges with 2K of RAM on board to bolster the insufficient 147 available bytes in the Master Component. No other Mattel Intellivision cartridge was released with onboard RAM.

The gameplay programming was farmed out to Teletape, Inc., a company with experience in Artificial Intelligence. In-house, Russ Ludwick programmed the on-screen display and user interface.

Although on the schedule from early on, the technical difficulties (including a record 19 weeks of testing and debugging) held up release of the cartridge until 1983. When finally released, it did receive the good reviews Marketing was looking for.

The program code was recycled in the Triple Challenge cartridge released by INTV Corporation.


FUN FACT:

Russ tested the program by playing countless games against the cartridge at all levels. He found that when playing at the highest levels, the cartridge was good, but slow. He got in the habit of making a move, then going home and letting the Intellivision think about a response overnight. Because of this, three features were added: (1) the normal Intellivision time-out feature was disabled, (2) a feature letting you switch to an easier level in the middle of a move was added, and (3) a warning that moves at higher levels could take hours -- or days --was put into the instruction book.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/uscf-chess_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#chess
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F9E0789E
Utopia
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Utopia is a game played by two players on two continents. Players must build their island nation by building farms, housing, schools, hospitals, and factories and making other improvements while also competing against another player. Players are able to sabotage the other player as well, but they must also handle maintaining a fleet of PT boats to protect their fishing fleet, building forts to prevent rebellion, and dealing with the occasional hurricane.

The game is played in real time. Each player moves a box shaped cursor around the screen to perform construction and moving of boats.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

You and your opponent each have an island to rule. Points are accumulated based on the welfare of your island people. You can choose to be a benevolent ruler or an aggressive dictator. Your people need food, housing, and industry for clothing and other essentials. What you cannot manage are natural disasters. A single hurricane could wipe out your crops, sink your fishing fleet, destroy all the homes and factories you've built. Rebels may automatically appear should the welfare of the people drop. They could attack. Classic dilemmas in a game that is sure to become an absorbing classic in its own right.

One or two can play, either competitively or cooperatively. 
Colorful computer graphics and special sound effects. 
Computer measures your people's well being through a sophisticated scoring system that weighs ALL island conditions. 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

In college, Don Daglow had been a fan of mainframe computer simulation games, so it was only natural that he would try a simulation game for the Intellivision. His result, Utopia, was hailed by reviewers for its originality: it wasn't another arcade rip-off, and it wasn't just a video version of an existing game or sport. It was even educational without being boring. 

Although Marketing didn't put much of a push behind the game (they preferred graphically splashier, no-brainer games like Star Strike), the reviews (Playboy Magazine put it in their "Video Game Hall of Fame") and word of mouth pushed sales to a respectable 250,000.

Today, Utopia is one of the best-remembered Intellivision game, with some people referring to it as Civilization 0.5, a reference to Sid Meier's later breakthrough computer simulation game.

An Aquarius version was also released.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/utopia-
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#utopia
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A4A20354
Vectron
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
The object of Vectron is to construct an energy base, section 
by section. You add each section by moving your energy block in place and filling it with an energy blast. You must protect your energy block against Hungrees, G-spheres, splits, sweeps, and prizums who can destroy it. Shoot them down with energy blasts or neutralize them with special energy from an E-Pak. Don't run out of energy or you lose an energy block. There are three energy blocks per game. When they're gone, the game is over.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Mark wanted to capture the speed and color of the arcade game Tempest in an Intellivision title. The challenge was that Tempest used vector graphics, while the Intellivision used TV's standard raster graphics. To reflect that the game would have a vector graphics look and feel, Mark chose the name Vectrix. Unfortunately, late in the development of the game, the Vectrex Arcade System from General Consumer Electronics (later bought by Milton Bradley) was announced -- a self-contained home game system that used true vector graphics. Mattel briefly considered fighting for the name, then decided to let it go. The game was briefly titled Vortex before the final name -- Vectron -- was chosen.


FUN FACT:

Mark and Keith Robinson, who was programming TRON Solar Sailer at the same time Mark was programming Vectron, both disliked the built-in Intellivision font, and they both hated that the "at" sign (@) was used as a copyright symbol on the title screens. They developed custom fonts for their games and made a special point of including a true c-in-circle copyright symbol in the character sets. They proudly showed off their custom title screens to Management, pointing out that for the first time Intellivision games would have correct copyright symbols.

Management vetoed their use. The argument: if there was ever a court fight over the legitimacy of the copyrights on the old games, Mattel could argue that the "at" sign should be accepted in context as a copyright symbol, since the Intellivision can't generate a true one. Ah, but Vectron and TRON Solar Sailer would show that the Intellivision could generate a true copyright symbol, thus jeopardizing the copyrights of all previous Intellivision games. Mark and Keith were ordered to use "at" signs, instead.

Feeling that this was about the stupidest thing they had ever heard, Mark and Keith went directly to Roy Ekstrand, head of Mattel's legal department, and presented their case. His decision: Mattel could argue that technological advancements since the earlier games now made it possible to use correct copyright symbols, where previously it wasn't. It would be safe to use the real copyright symbols.

Gabriel Baum, VP of Applications Software, was furious that Mark and Keith had gone over his head, and told them to "never do it again." Then he told them to use their real copyright symbols.

They later wondered: Was it worth risking their jobs over something as trivial as having the correct copyright symbol on their title screens? Their conclusion: "Damn right it was."

According to the instruction book, if you beat the top level, #99, you will be rewarded with "a special little visual treat." The treat? Due to space constraints, there was only room for a message reading "Congratulations. You are very good." The difficulty increases so much, though, that it is impossible to beat level 99. Or at least, Mark hopes it is. "If I went through all that to see the 'special visual treat' and all I got was, 'You are very good,'" Mark notes, "I'd sure be pissed."


EASTER EGG: 

With the right combination of maneuvers with the energy block, you can get Mark's name to appear on screen. Since Mattel forbid hiding names in games, Mark made sure that the combination was so complicated that no one would stumble across it by accident. Well, he did such a good job hiding it, that he can't quite remember anymore how to do it. He's trying to recreate the combination; we'll post it here as soon as he finds it.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/vectron
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/arcade.html#vectron
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6EFA67B2
Venture
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Exidy, Inc.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
Venture is a conversion of the popular arcade game. You control Winky, the heroic adventurer. Your goal is to collect as many treasures as you can which are scattered throughout numerous dungeons. In each dungeon, there are several chambers which each contain a treasure. Armed only with your crossbow, you need to get past the varied creatures which guard the chamber, snag the treasure, and make it out again. When you collect the treasure from each of the chambers in a dungeon, you can then move on to the next, more difficult dungeon.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/venture
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F1ED7D27
White Water!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
_________________________
*
In White Water! your goal is to raft down a river in the shortest time possible. The river features many dangerous turns, rocks, whirlpools, barrels, and other obstacles that get in your way. You begin your trip with three men, and if you don't navigate carefully they can fall out of the raft! If any men remain in the raft, they can try pick up anyone who has fallen out but must do so before they hit a rock, a whirlpool, or leave the screen (if all of your men fall out of the raft, the game will end). In the easier game variations, your score is based on how quickly you can reach the finish line. In the more difficult game variations, you not only need to reach the finish line as quickly as possible but also need to earn points by landing your raft at various beaches along the way and collecting treasures that can be found in the forest. Some of the treasures will be guarded by the natives, so be careful (also be sure not to wander too far into the forest, or you'll become lost). The game ends when you reach the finish line, or all your men are lost either by falling in the river or in the forest.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/white-water
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A12C27E1
World Series Major League Baseball
Platform: Intellivision (ECS)
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
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World Series Major League Baseball is a baseball sports game that supports both ECS and Intellivoice (for play by play announcements). The game is based on real baseball player statistics (even though the names had been changed to fictional ones before the release) and offers baseball games using multiple cameras (including in-game split-screen), showing the game in a 3D display rather than side-scrolling fashion.

It supports two players simultaneously, where a center camera is used to show pitcher and batter. While one player chooses the pitch type, the batter decides when to swing or bunt. The screen then switches to an external camera view for the defending player to control the fielders, while the other player handles the baserunners. The games can be saved and loaded through the RAM chip on the cartridge.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Major League Baseball launched the Intellivision; Marketing hoped a super-Baseball cartridge would do the same for the Entertainment Computer System. This was to be the most complex Intellivision game yet, using both the ECS and Intellivoice.

Programming started as a team effort of Ken Elinger and Eddie Dombrower, but it quickly became a solo effort of Eddie's.

The results were spectacular. Eddie designed the screen views as if the game were being covered by multiple television cameras there were even insert shots appearing in the corners.

And the gameplay, based on real ball player statistics, was beyond any other video game sports cartridge.

Unfortunately, by the time the game was released, Mattel Electronics management had changed and the ECS had dropped to a low marketing priority. The system - and the game - received little support. Few people ever saw the game.

Ten years later, a new generation of "virtual reality" baseball games hit the computer market. Reviewers raved about their multiple-TV-camera viewpoints and statistics-based game play, features World Series Major League Baseball pioneered in 1983.

FUN FACT:
Eddie Dombrower used historic and current ballplayers' names and stats to create the players in his game. The original marketing even advertised this, as in the catalog description above. But at the last minute, the legal department told him he couldn't use the real names. So Eddie changed their last names to those of the Mattel Electronics programmers. The first names - nicknames - are inside jokes about the programmers. (He slipped in a few personal references, too, including Paul Jule, his brother's first and middle names, and Joe "Pug" Menosky, his best friend from college.) The stats, though, are still those of the real players. Any true baseball fan can look at the stats and tell who the players are.

Steve Ettinger continually annoyed Lynn [Lilliedahl] Fordham by calling her "Babe." Finally, one day she turned on him and said, "That's MS. Babe to you." So for the game a player was named Babe Lilliedahl. The legal department, though, made Eddie take it out - they wouldn't allow any of the NICKNAMES to be those of real ballplayers.

NOT-SO-FUN FACT:

This may have been the first integrated video game - Eddie had designed the animated players to be black or white depending on the real players they were based on. When the names were changed to those of the programmers, he left the skin colors as they were. At least one programmer, though, came to Eddie and asked for "his" skin color to be changed, not wanting to be black in the game.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/world-series-major-league-baseball
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/ecs.html#Anchor-World-52700
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24B667B9
Worm Whomper
Platform: Intellivision
Region: 
Media: 
Controller: 
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Cheshire Engineering
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Players: 1 or 2 VS
_________________________
*
Felton Pinkerton wanted to take his wife to the fair, so he didn't get a chance to spray pesticide on his crop of corn. But due to his laziness, all of the bugs have now arrived and are trying to eat every last bit of corn! You control Felton who is armed with a spray gun. Your crop of corn is displayed on the left side of the screen, and you need to protect it from the incoming hoard of inchworms, moths, caterpillars, slugs, and other assorted bugs which approach rapidly from the right. If any of the bugs sneak past you, they will eat part of your corn crop. The game ends when all of the corn has been eaten. On each level you need to spray all of the bugs that appear in order to move on to the next round; as the rounds progress, the bugs become faster, more numerous, and home in quicker on the corn.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Worm Whomper was an original Intellivision game programmed at Cheshire Engineering under contract to Activision.


PLAYING TIPS:

From designer Tom Loughry in the Stampede instruction manual:

"As you will undoubtedly discover, protecting corn from invading bugs can be a full-time chore. And even then, there will always be at least one hungry bug that will survive the battle. Here are some pointers to help you control the number of bugs and increase the productivity of your crop.

"First of all, remember to spray the larger bugs first. They move the fastest and take the most spray to destroy.

"Also, it is especially important to exterminate the moths as soon as they appear. Although they don't actually destroy the corn themselves, they do lay eggs that mature into hungry caterpillars. If moths have the chance to lay their eggs close to the corn, the caterpillars will only have a short distance to travel and feast.

"Another strategy is to save your plough balls for the later waves of attack. All of the bugs will be moving much faster and that's when you'll need the plough balls most.

"Finally, only defend those sections of the field that have the corn growing on them. Don't even worry about the sections of the field that have lost their corn, unless new stalks appear."


FUN FACT: 

Players who sent a photo to Activision showing a score of 75,000 or more received an "Activision Worm Whompers" emblem.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/worm-whomper
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#worm
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15C65DC5
Zaxxon
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
Publisher: Coleco
Players: 1
_________________________
*
The Zaxxon defence system must be destroyed in this isometric-viewed shoot 'em up which was originally hugely successful in the arcades. The game has 3 stages, first taking you through Asteroid City, which is heavily protected by aircraft, guns and missiles. Many barriers are alarmed, leaving you with limited space to progress through, and fire must constantly be dodged.

Stage two is a space shoot out against hordes of enemy aircraft - those you failed to destroy in the first part of the task. Complete this and you reach the final battle with Zaxxon, with the game looping with increased difficulty if you can survive the first time. There are 3 distinct skill levels, while controls involve using forward to dive and back to climb, in the manner of flight simulation.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/zaxxon
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D7C78754
4-Tris
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Homebrew)
Genre: Puzzle
Release Year: 2000
Developer: Joseph Zbiciak
Publisher: Joseph Zbiciak
Players: 1
*
4-Tris is a fabulous game. The gameplay is reminiscent of Tetris (that should be obvious from the name ;-) so if you like Tetris, you should like this game. All of the mind-numbing addictiveness is there, and the graphics are all they need to be. A nice touch is the use of special new fonts for the score and other status information. And the soundtrack is superb! For those of you who tire of it eventually, you can disable the music at any point in the game.

Other handy features include a 'Next Piece' preview and a sound test screen accessible from the startup screen. If you watch closely, you'll notice a nice touch on the title screen - the copyright date scrolls from 1979 to 2000. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to decide why these dates are relevant. I can say that you will find yourself spending waaaay too much time playing this game

http://www.intvfunhouse.com/games/tris.php
*

*
2C668249
Air Strike
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
You're piloting a biplane through enemy territory. Drop bombs on factories and ammunition depots. Engage enemy planes in dogfights to the death!

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Due to the popularity (especially with APh and Mattel programmers) of the Biplanes game in the Triple Action cartridge, APh proposed this one-player version. A prototype was shown to Mattel with scrolling mountain terrain and targets that could be bombed. The plane graphics, sound effects and flight control were lifted directly from Biplanes. (Enemy planes, which would have presented an artificial intelligence-programming challenge, were not included in the prototype but promised for the finished game.)

Marketing (not as crazy about Biplanes as the programmers) chose not to release the game and it went unfinished.


FUN FACT: 
A nice touch is that the second you lose control and smash into the side of a mountain, another biplane flies on-screen, cheerfully circling the crash site, trailing a banner displaying your score.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983.html#air
*

*
B45633CF
All-Stars Major League Baseball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1980
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*

*

*
D0F83698
Astrosmash Competition
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Late in 1981, Mattel held a series of local "Intellivision VideoChallenge Tournaments" in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles benefiting Variety Clubs International. Contestants competed for prizes (Grand Prize: an RCA projection TV) playing Major League Baseball, Auto Racing, and U.S. Ski Team Skiing. The publicity was so good, that Marketing took the idea national in 1982 with the "$100,000 Astrosmash Shootoff."

From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.

Over 13,000 people entered, and quickly it became obvious there was a problem. First, because of the scoring bug, many of the pictures showed scores made up of seemingly random ASCII characters. John Sohl had to review the photos and, with an ASCII table, decipher the actual scores. Second, it turned out that no one in Marketing realized that Astrosmash, like many Intellivision games, can be played at slower speeds simply by starting the game by pressing 1, 2, or 3 instead of the disc. (This is a feature programmed into the EXEC.) There was no way of telling who had legitimately obtained a high score and who had played at the easiest speed. There were reports of competitors who literally played for days at the slowest speed, pausing the game (pressing 1 and 9 simultaneously, also programmed into the EXEC) to sleep or go to school.

Unable to decide who was legit and who wasn't, instead of the announced 16, Mattel Electronics wound up flying 73 entrants to Houston for an all-expense paid weekend, September 11 & 12, 1982. There, the entrants competed in 1 hour of timed play. 18-year-old Manuel Rodriguez of Stockton, California won the $25,000 top prize with a score of 835,180.


http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#astrosmash
*

*
00BE8BBA
Astrosmash - Meteor
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Astrosmash started out as a clone of the arcade game Asteroids, called Meteor!. The game wasn't very big, so John Sohl used the extra room in the cartridge to come up with a variation called Avalanche using the same graphics and sound effects. At the last minute, afraid of a lawsuit from Atari, the Mattel lawyers killed the Asteroids-like Meteor!. Rather than risk introducing bugs by deleting code, John simply put a branch around the opening-screen menu straight into the Avalanche! variation, which was released under the name Astrosmash.

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#astrosmash
*

*
18E08520
Bouncing Pixels (Homebrew)
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1999
Developer: JRMZ Electronics
Publisher: JRMZ Electronics
Players: 1
*

*

*
9F85015B
Brickout!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Use your paddle to bounce a ball against descending rows of colored bricks. Hit bricks disappear, scoring points.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Brickout! was an Intellivision version of the Atari arcade and video game Breakout. It was intended for the Triple Action cartridge, which was originally to have included five arcade-type games. Brickout! was shelved for fear of legal action from Atari; such fears also killed the original version of Astrosmash, which was an Asteroids-like game.

The stand-alone version of the game was popular with the Mattel Electronics programmers. It finally had its commercial release on the Intellivision Lives! CD-ROM in December 1998.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#brickout
*

*
E1EE408F
Crazy Clones
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*

*

*
CDC14ED8
Deadly Dogs!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Graphics Hack)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1987
Developer: Unknown
Publisher: Unknown
Players: 1
*
While debugging the cross assembler and disassembler he had written to develop the new INTV games, Dave Warhol tested the software on one of his favorite Mattel Electronics game, TRON Deadly Discs. He substituted the men in the game with the hot dogs from the BurgerTime cartridge, creating a new game: Deadly Dogs! Later, while preparing Dig Dug for release, Dave found there was enough space on the cartridge to slip in his new game. To play it: Press 47 (four and seven simultaneously) on both hand controllers and press reset.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv3.html#digdug
*

*
6802B191
Deep Pockets - Super Pro Pool and Billiards
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1990
Developer: Realtime
Publisher: Unknown
Players: 1 or 2 VS
*
Deep Pockets is a unique pool and billiards game - it is actually NINE games in one. You can learn many pocket billiard (pool) and carom billiard games in the privacy and comfort of your own home - and brush up on rules and strategy before venturing out to a billiard parlor.

Play against a friend, or practice "against yourself" -- in 1 player games, you control both players 1 and 2.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Programming pool was a challenge: with 16 balls on the table, the game requires more than the Intellivision's 8 moving objects. At Mattel Electronics, Marketing had rarely allowed programmers to multiplex objects because they objected to the resulting screen flicker (the one exception had been the fireballs in Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man, since it made sense for them to flicker). But for pool, it was the only practical solution.

Producer Dave Warhol tapped math-whiz Rick Koenig (Motocross) to work out the multiplexing and movement of the balls. Steve Ettinger (Hover Force) did the overall game design and program, becoming an expert in all the variations of pool and billiards in the process.

By the time the game was completed, however, INTV Corporation had fallen into financial difficulties and was unable to pay for it. Realtime Associates retained ownership of the game and it was never released. The last game for the Intellivision system completed, it carries a 1990 copyright date, making Intellivision the only cartridge-based game system to have software produced for it in three separate decades (the earliest games carry a 1978 copyright date).


FUN FACT:
The process of programming music for the Intellivision was a tedious, time-consuming job that Dave Warhol and Steve Ettinger, both musicians, had plenty of experience with. But for Deep Pockets, they tried an experiment: they programmed an interface that would convert a MIDI file into Intellivision sound chip code.

They then hired a professional Blues pianist to improvise a theme on the piano. They recorded him, then processed the tape through a MIDI synthesizer, through their interface, and wound up with Intellivision code that accurately duplicated the music. The result: the first "live" Intellivision music playing on the title screen. Unfortunately, neither Dave nor Steve can remember the name of the pianist.


EASTER EGG:
To display the credits, press 0 (zero) on either hand controller while the title screen is displayed.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv4.html#pool
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DBCA82C5
Go For The Gold
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 2 VS
*
Four Intellivision sports hits in a single cartridge makes the "Official videogame of the 1984 Winter Olympics" a winner -- play Skiing, Hockey, Basketball and Boxing.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
After Chris Markle, who was working on the official Winter Olympics cartridge, left Mattel Electronics, no one was assigned to continue it. Midway through 1983, Marketing suddenly realized they had spent millions of dollars to obtain the Winter Olympics license, but didn't have a Winter Olympics cartridge.

Salvation came in the form of the multi-game album concept that Design & Development had demonstrated with Happy Holidays. Keith Robinson (TRON Solar Sailer) was assigned the task of slapping together some old sports titles and calling it an Olympics cartridge.

Of the previously released Intellivision Sports Network cartridges, six -- Boxing, NBA Basketball, NASL Soccer, Tennis, U.S. Ski Skiing, NHL Hockey -- were, in their amateur form, Olympic sports, so those were chosen to be in the album. Keith modified their code to remove designations such as HOME and VISITOR from the scores to make them look more like Olympic events.

Monique Lujan-Bakerink animated a runner lighting the Olympic torch for the title screen, and David Warhol composed a fanfare that sounded very close to the familiar Olympic theme.

The game went together very quickly and Marketing was delighted, even though it meant that six sets of hand controllers and an especially thick instruction book would have to go into the package. The boxes were already printed and ROMs were just about to be manufactured when the legal department threw a wrench into the works: Mattel had purchased a license for the 1984 Winter Olympics. They didn't have the rights to the Summer Olympics. Including summer sports on the Go For The Gold cartridge could open Mattel to a lawsuit. Legal demanded the summer sports be removed from the cartridge.

Keith pointed out that would leave only Skiing and Hockey. Two games made for a pretty poor album. Marketing agreed that the cartridge couldn't be released that way. Keith, his boss Mike Minkoff (Snafu), and Marketing worked out a compromise that Legal thought they might be able to get away with: in addition to Skiing and Hockey, Boxing and Basketball would also be included. That would make half the cartridge winter sports (as opposed to before when it was mostly summer sports) and, since Boxing and Basketball are played indoors, they could be played in winter. (Yes, that was stretching it.)

Keith reworked the cartridge to remove Soccer and Tennis, and new packaging was designed (only a black and white mockup was finished), but Mattel Electronics closed before the game went into manufacturing.

FUN FACT:
As a bonus, each cartridge was to come with an embroidered 1984 Winter Olympics patch. Mattel Electronics purchased tens of thousands of these, with little "GO FOR THE GOLD WITH MATTEL ELECTRONICS" ribbons attached. Mattel employees kept maybe a hundred or so as souvenirs; the rest are probably in a landfill somewhere.

David Warhol recycled the Go For The Gold fanfare in the INTV Corp. release Super Pro Decathlon.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1984.html#gold
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291AC826
Grid Shock
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
An arcade game. Carom your shots against the moving wall to fill in the pattern on the back grid.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
This original game by Andy Sells looked great; it had a strong 3-D effect as the moving wall swept back and forth across the screen. But while Andy wanted to continue developing the game, management wanted to take advantage of his musical talents. (Shortly before coming to Mattel, his award-winning song "You Love Love [More Than You Love Me]" was recorded by the English group Buck's Fizz. Ask for it by name.)

Andy was continually assigned to work on music and sound effects for other games, including Shark! Shark! and TRON Solar Sailer. He also co-developed the Intellivision sound development tool, Mr. Sound. Whenever he had a chance he returned to Grid Shock, but the game was never elevated to official status.

While the game never made it onto the Intellivision release schedule, it was demonstrated as part of the Intellivision III product line. This was bogus; when the Intellivision III wasn't ready to be shown at the June 1983 Consumer Electronics Show, regular Intellivision screens with particularly nice graphics were passed off as examples of the forthcoming system. Grid Shock was one of these; color packaging was even printed up for it.

After C.E.S., Andy never had a chance to return to the game. His boss, Manager Russ Haft, left Mattel for Atari; Andy was tapped to take his place. A short time later, Andy, too, left for Atari and Grid Shock was abandoned

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/1983.html#gridshock
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B6A3D4DE
Hard Hat
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Bill, Keith and Andy proposed the Party Line as a series of six cartridges, each sold separately. From their presentation:

Each team is building a skyscraper. Between the two structures hangs a platform stacked with bricks. Players must grab bricks for their building without upsetting the platform. Each team can slow down the other -- or themselves, if they're not careful -- by throwing the platform off balance. First team to complete their skyscraper wins.

Hard Hat was sent to the French office for programming (in the finished game, bricks were changed to panes of glass which could be knocked off of your opponent's building with a very satisfying crash). Julie Hoshizaki (Thin Ice) did Space Cadet.

http://intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/1984b.html#party_line
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*
F8EF3E5A
Space Cadet
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
The looniest space battle ever. Each team is in command of a decrepit flying saucer that seems to work best as a battering ram. It's outer space demolition derby!

President Josh Denham and the other senior staff were enthusiastic about the concept, but instead of six separate games, they decided that the Party Line would be perfect for the new multi-game album concept. Three of the games -- Blow Out, Hard Hat and Space Cadet -- were chosen for the cartridge. The Party Animals would appear on the title screen.

The project was delayed in July 1983 when Josh Denham was replaced by Mack Morris. Morris's right-hand man, Jeff Rochlis, didn't like the Party Line, and expressed doubt that there was any market for it. He had Marketing do extensive testing; luckily the results were positive and the cartridge was back on track. An M Network Atari 2600 version of Blow Out was even ordered.

The three games were completed and shown with a title screen by Monique Lujan-Bakerink at the January 1984 Consumer Electronic Show. They were well received, but Mattel Electronics closed two weeks later.

Despite the fact that the games were done, INTV Corp. chose not to release them. For the post-crash market, INTV President Terry Valeski felt only one-player games were viable.

http://intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/1984b.html#party_line
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2919024
Intellivision - Intelligent Television Demo
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Demo
Release Year: 1978
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: None
*
Demo Cart
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C83EEA4C
Intellivision Test Cartridge and Baseball
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Diagnostic
Release Year: 1978
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: None
*
Diagnostic Cart
*

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4422868E
King of the Mountain
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
King of the Mountain is an under rated game. Even without sound f/x, the game play makes you return for more. The easy levels do not require much strategy but the higher levels challenge and make you take risk. 

http://www.beeslife.com/roms/roms.php
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*
9DB7197E
King of the Mountain (Bug Fix)
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
*
Major bug fixed and contains a menu allowing you to pick a level to start on.

King of the Mountain is an under rated game. Even without sound f/x, the game play makes you return for more. The easy levels do not require much strategy but the higher levels challenge and make you take risk. 

http://www.beeslife.com/roms/roms.php
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3825C25B
Land Battle
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 2 VS
*
Land Battle is a two player war game which utilizes both strategic and tactical modes of play. Each player controls an array of forces with the objective of capturing or destroying his opponent's "flag."

The game can be played on any of thousands of different countryside maps -- the first thousand of which are selectable at the beginning of the game. All of these maps show roads, towns, hills, lakes, forests, orchards, and fields, and these geographic features impose restrictions and necessitate clever planning on the part of the player.

At the beginning of the game each player has control of the following military resources:

* 12 infantry 
* 3 armored personnel carriers 
* 2 tanks 
* 1 artillery piece 
* 2 bazookas 
* 2 mortars 
* 1 flag 

You can capture opposing forces which subsequently become yours.

In order to wage an effective war, you must allocate your resources into patrols, direct the patrols across the map, encounter enemy patrols, fight battles, besiege towns, and eventually capture or destroy the enemy flag.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
This wargame simulation took a long time in programming (officially 391 days, compared to 170 days for Night Stalker, begun at about the same time); when completed in mid-1982, Marketing was concerned that its design already looked dated.

A second concern was that, due to the complexity of the game, it required more memory than an Intellivision contained; the cartridge would have to include 256 bytes of RAM onboard. Only USCF Chess had been approved for onboard RAM, an expensive proposition.

When the Entertainment Computer System (ECS) was given the green light, Gabriel Baum, VP of Applications Software, proposed changing Land Battle to an ECS title; the ECS had an additional 2K of RAM available for cartridges. Marketing resisted this -- they still wanted Land Battle as a stand-alone game. Peggi Decarli was assigned to give the game a graphics makeover.

After the makeover, Marketing still didn't find it visually interesting enough. By that time, wargame fanatic Steve Sents, having completed Deadly Discs, had started work on an ECS wargame called Desert Fox, which Marketing liked the looks of better. The decision was made to kill Land Battle and incorporate as much of its gameplay and programming as possible into the Desert Fox design.

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action.html#land
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*
19360442,B4287B95
League of Light
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Players: 1
*
Maneuver down an abstract tunnel of colored light without crashing. Succeed and go on to a musical memory game: notes are randomly played that you must then play back using the hand controller keypad. Score points for how quickly you duplicate the series of notes. Then its back into the tunnel and on to a longer series of notes in the memory game.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Russ Lieblich did the sounds and music for a number of games at Mattel Electronics (including Snafu) before going to Activision where he designed this game. Peter Kaminski, who programmed River Raid, helped Russ with the programming.

http://intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#league
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*
2C5FD5FA
Learning Fun I - Math Master Factor Fun
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1987
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
*
Two exciting games in one cartridge that strengthen your math skills while you have fun! Battle math problems to arrive at answers in MATH MASTER! Or use given answers to create math problems in FACTOR FUN! Race the clock or an opponent! Skill levels can be set for players of any age -- first graders to adult! 

MATH MASTER is an improved version of the previously released MATH FUN. FACTOR FUN is an entirely new game! 

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/gamepage.php?gameId=48
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*
632F6ADF
Learning Fun II - Word Wizard Memory Fun
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA
Genre: Edutainment
Release Year: 1987
Developer: INTV
Publisher: INTV
Players: 1 or 2 VS
*
Four exciting games in one game cartridge that strengthen your spelling and memory skills while you have fun! 
CROSSWORDS: Build words from a random jumble of letters! 
WORD ROCKETS: Exercise both manual dexterity with spelling skills -- launch vowel "rockets" to complete words! 
WORD HUNT: Scramble through a jungle, finding letters to build words! 
MEMORY FUN: Uncover hidden letters two at a time, looking for letters that match. A challenge to your memory! 
For one or two players 

CROSSWORDS, WORD ROCKETS, and WORD HUNT are enhanced versions of games previously released as WORD FUN. MEMORY FUN is an entirely new game! 


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
As with Learning Fun I , this was mostly recycled material that Dave Warhol could put together himself quickly and profitably. 

BUG: While enhancing the game Crosswords , Dave accidentally left off a prefix that indicated a number was supposed to be base 10 instead of base 16. As a result, the computer only selects words beginning with letters A through T instead of A through Z.

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/gamepage.php?gameId=49
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*
5C7E9848
Lock 'n' Chase (Modified)
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
*
gives better control over the released version. Contains the collapsing Lupin.

Lock 'n' Chase is an arcade action game similar to Pac-Man. You play a thief who is trapped in a maze like vault. To get out, you need to collect all of the gold dots located in the maze. Your task won't be easy, since there are four police officers in the vault who are constantly trying to catch you! Located throughout the maze are numerous doors. As you run through the maze, you have the ability to temporarily close a door in an attempt to block the police. You can only close two doors at a time, and any closed doors automatically open again after a short amount of time. When all of the gold in the maze has been collected, the exit to the vault will open and you can escape and move on to the next, more difficult vault. Occasionally a bonus item will appear in the maze, such as a cash bag, crown, or briefcase, which can be collected to earn even more points.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

A fast-action chase game as you maneuver your thief through the maze, picking up coins and other treasures. Billy-club swinging cops are in hot pursuit, but you can temporarily escape them by locking gates behind you. The longer you survive, the more valuable the treasures become. One or two players.


PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Lock 'N' Chase was the first in a series of conversions based on Data East arcade games, a series that eventually would include Bump 'N' Jump, BurgerTime, Mission X, Thin Ice (based on the arcade game Disco No. 1) and the unfinished PizzaTime (a BurgerTime sequel). The association carried over to INTV Corporation, which did Commando and Diner (another BurgerTime sequel).

Mike Winans almost killed himself trying to fit the game into 4K. He finally proclaimed it couldn't be done and, reluctantly, 6K was authorized. Mike managed to just squeeze it into the 6K, although the control of Lupin wasn't ideal. (In the arcade game, the thief is named Lupin, a nice touch of personality that Mattel left out of our version.)

When the game was released, press and customers complained about how difficult it was to control Lupin. (You had to time turns precisely, or Lupin would stop dead.) The problem was considered bad enough that a running change was ordered: after the 6K cartridges were sold out, improved 8K versions would be released. By this time, Mike had transferred to the Design & Development department, so Julie Hoshizaki was assigned to make the improvement. The improved versions aren't marked on the package; the easiest way to tell if you have an improved version is to watch what happens when a cop catches Lupin. In the arcade game, Lupin collapses into his hat -- an animation there wasn't room for in the 6K version. The collapsing animation is in the 8K version.

An M Network Atari 2600 version and an Apple II version were also released. IBM PC and Aquarius versions were announced, but never completed.


FUN FACT: 

In the arcade version, the thief is named Lupin, but not in the Mattel Electronics version. Why not? In the early 1900s, French author Maurice LeBlanc wrote a series of books featuring Arsene Lupin: Gentleman Thief. The books became popular in Japan, where they later inspired a series of comic books that were even more popular. The problem: the comic books were not authorized by LeBlanc. At the time, it was difficult enforcing a French copyright in Japan, so Lupin entered Japanese culture, eventually becoming synonymous with the word "thief." The copyright was enforced in the United States, though, where the Japanese Lupin comics developed a following. In English translations, the name Lupin is often changed to Rupin to avoid the copyright problem. For the game Lock 'N' Chase, Mattel avoided the copyright problem by leaving out the name altogether.

An insignificant typo almost caused Mattel to dump tens of thousands of dollars of perfectly good ROMs and to delay the release of Lock 'N' Chase by several months. Why? First, some background:

The legal department required programmers to include an ASCII copyright notice somewhere in every game so that it could be read if someone dumped the cartridge's object code. Traditionally, if there was room, the programmer would also include his or her name. (It was forbidden to hide your name in the game such that it could ever show up on screen, but object code was OK.) For Lock 'N' Chase, Mike included his, Peggi's, and Bill's name in the code. The day the game was to be shipped to the ROM factory, the three of them went to lunch to celebrate. At lunch, Mike realized for the first time that Peggi's last name is spelled "Decarli." He had spelled it "de Carli" in the code. No problem; he went back after lunch, corrected it, then bid everyone farewell and went off to his new job in Design & Development.

What Mike didn't know was that Bill Fisher, who was in charge of coordinating with the factory, had copied the finished game off of Mike's hard disk during lunch and shipped it out.

Three months later, ten thousand plus ROMs were finished. Sample chips were sent back from the factory. Bill loaded one into a ROM reader, then compared the chip's checksum to the checksum of the archived version on Mike's hard disk. To Bill's horror, they didn't match. There was a bug in the ROMs!

Programmers started playing the game for hours on end, trying to see how bad the bug was -- would the game crash? Marketing needed to know instantly if the game was releasable. Should they toss out tens of thousands of dollars worth of chips and lose at least three months time, or should they risk the bad publicity of sending out a bug-filled version?

Finally, after a couple days of panic and anxiety, they asked Mike to come up from Design & Development to help track down the bug. After working on the problem for awhile, he slowly remembered lunch that day three months earlier. Learning how to spell Peggi's name....

Mike went to the archived version of the game, changed "Decarli" back to "de Carli" and recompiled the program. Now the checksums matched. Crisis averted, the cartridges went out.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/lock-n-chase
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/action2.html#lock
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A982E8D5
Pong
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA
Genre: Arcade
Release Year: 1999
Developer: None
Publisher: None
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Comeon!  It's Pong!  What more did you expect?
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1682D0B4,243B0812
Robot Rubble (Prototype)
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Players: 1
*
A robot is shooting at you - lob a grenade to destroy it. Boom! But once it's gone, a tougher robot takes its place!


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
Steve Montero developed this game at Activision after programming the robot-themed Night Stalker at Mattel Electronics.

The game was completed in late 1983, just as Activision decided to give up on releasing new Intellivision titles.


FUN FACT:
Robot Rubble received its first known public display at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, August 1999. Expo attendees were able to play the cartridge in the Intellivision Productions booth.

http://intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/activision.html#robot
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DCF4B15D
Royal Dealer
Platform: Intellivison
Region: USA
Genre: Card
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
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If you don't always have someone to play cards with and you're not challenged enough by Solitaire, this cartridge introduces you to three players and three different card games: Hearts, Rummy and Crazy Eights. Your computer deals the cards and keeps score. You can choose to play against one, two or three players. 
One player game 
Choose from three different games 
One, two, or three computer opponents 


PRODUCTION HISTORY:
While a fairly minor release (36,000 initial shipment), Royal Dealer had a major effect on the development cycle inside Mattel Electronics. Long overdue from APh, when the game was finished it went straight into production with only brief playtesting by a few other programmers. When it was too late, it was discovered that the cartridge contained a major -- and easy to come across -- bug that crashed the game. Because of the low sales expected, Marketing decided to ship the cartridge anyway with an errata slip, but they were furious. The Quality Assurance department, which had frequently been bypassed on late games such as this one and B-17 Bomber, was immediately given life-or-death authority over all future games: nothing was allowed to be released until the official game testers Traci Roux and Dale Lynn had signed off on it. They were merciless: stomping on a game then gleefully showing the videotaped results to the programmer when they found a bug. But it paid off; to this day, we haven't seen any reports of bugs in games they approved.


Bugs:
Recreating the bug discussed above was outlined in a September 30, 1982 memo from game tester Traci Roux to Joel Crain, head of Quality Assurance: 

The following steps lead to the problems with Royal Dealer. They occur in all four games. 

1.  You are rearranging your cards and have a card out of the deck. Then one of the players lays down her final card and that round ends. 

2.  The new round starts and you hit the disk. The card from the last hand appears. Depending on how you rearrange and throw your cards, different errors can occur. (If you hit rearrange first, the game will progress normally, and the errors never occur.) The errors that occur are: 

     a. You can rearrange the blank cards that are displayed. If you rearrange enough times,the program gets confused and the screen blanks out. You have to hit reset to start over. 
     b. Sometimes when you lift up a card to rearrange, you see it where the card was. This usually occurs if this is one card by itself. 
     c. If you have to draw 15 cards and they are all in a row, it usually will not let you pass. The result is that you have to hit reset to start over. 
     d. In Rummy, if you win the round the music plays and the card screen comes up. The screen doesn't show "GIN" by your hand and a card shows up in your final hand that wasn't there before. Results are that you can't continue to the next hand, and you have to hit reset to start over. 
     e. If a gap appears between your cards, you cannot get to the cards on the left side of the gap. The gap will go away if you can discard your cards on the right of the gap. If you need a heart, for example, and you draw until you have 15 cards, you may have to pass. If there is a heart on the left side of the gap, you cannot get to it, the program sees the heart, and will not allow you to pass. The result is you have to hit reset to start over.

Because of this bug, the following errata slip was added to the packaging: "Please correct your instruction booklet on Page 2 to read: You can only rearrange your cards each time it is your turn before playing or discarding a card from your hand. Once you have played or discarded, you must wait until your next turn before rearranging your cards." 

http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/gaming.html#royal
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6E0882E7,12BA58D1
SameGame & Robots
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Homebrew)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 2005
Developer: Michael J Thomas
Publisher: IntelligentVision
Players: 1
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full-featured version that should have been put on the produced carts under #100.

Strategy and planning is the name of the game regardless which title you choose to test your wits against. Learn to analyze and predict how the game will unfold to achieve the most points and successful completion. Welcome to the peaceful world of SameGame and the tense world of Robots. Either choice is an addicting path. 

SAMEGAME - There are three different pieces on the board. Connect as many shapes of one type to score higher points and clear the board. The two variations of the game only have different game rules. 

ROBOTS - Move the cursor to destroy all the Robots on the screen by making them collide into each other, by making them hit their left over scrap, or by using a bomb. 

http://www.beeslife.com/intvgames/sgr/sgr.php
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AF9005A8
Space Patrol Teaser Edition
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Homebrew)
Genre: Arcade
Release Year: 2007
Developer: Joe Zbiciak
Publisher: Joe Zbiciak
Players: 1
*
Considered one of the best games released for the Intellivision, Space Patrol is an immediate classic. After years of coding the game, Joe Zbiciak has made every effort to bring you the best product possible.

Understanding collaboration is important to produce the best, Joe worked with the best in the industry to have the best sounding music, courtesy of Arnauld Chevallier, and challenging level design, courtesy of David Harley. Presentation also plays a large role so all the artwork was hand drawn by Teresa Zbiciak with Oliver Puschatzki designing the box and overlay.

When you hold the Space Patrol package in your hand, you immediately realize that this could have and should have been sold in the early 80's. Simply said, this product is in the top of it's class!

The Federation of Planets has control of strategic planetary bodies in our solar system and needs to protect their interest. You, as a Space Patrol cadet, will patrol the various planets looking for smugglers and aliens intent on capturing the established outpost. Your tank is equipped with the latest technologies to help you survive any onslaught you may encounter. The object is to complete the varying legs of the patrol course as quickly as you can while avoiding rocks, craters, mines, attacks from enemy craft, and more. Your on-screen display has indicator lights warning you of approaching danger. Keep an eye on it to stay ahead of threats. Reach the 5 major check points and have your time evaluated against the average time. Beat it for bonus points.  Play among 4 different planetary bodies. They each have different challenges and play at different levels. Do you think you are good enough to handle Mercury? Not hearing enough SFX? Hook up your ECS to make the game sound better! Space Patrol uses all 6 audio channels when connected to an ECS. Use this ROM to help you set the volume correctly.

http://www.beeslife.com/intvgames/spacepatrol/spacepatrol.php
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66D396C0
Stonix
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Homebrew)
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 2004
Developer: Arnauld C
Publisher: Arnauld C
Players: 1
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Cntains updated levels. Similar to cart release.

You have come head-to-head with the enemy, STONIX! His goal is to exhaust your life energy; yours is to destroy his power source! It will take time to reach it because he has laid many barriers that you need to penetrate. Lucky for you, your power balls mix with his shields to give you zapping deflectors, larger deflectors and even extra life power! Stay sharp, you have a long journey ahead of you! 

You control the reflector located at the bottom of the screen. You start with a ball on the paddle and use it to destroy the shields above. Bonuses will randomly fall from the shields so be quick and collect the ones you need. Clear the screen and advance through the levels.


History:

The title STONIX was first used for a breakout game that Arnauld Chevallier started to write on the Atari ST many years ago; it was never completed. When he decided to write a breakout game for the Intellivision he recalled this old title, so STONIX for the Intellivision® was conceived. 

The very first Stonix demo, Beta 1, was written in a couple of days and was posted on the Intvprog discussion group on the 3rd of March, 2003. Feedback from the Intvprog gang was given allowing Arnauld to fix some bugs. Beta 1.1 was then released which was playable and contained 3 levels. 

Wanting to move on, Arnauld started to work on other projects such as INTYOS and MAD DRIVIN'. An editor for game levels was designed for STONIX, but no other effort was put towards the game play. Arnauld always had big dreams for it though. 

In early September of 2003, David Harley contacted Arnauld. They discussed a plan for the development of a brand new Intellivision cartridge which would be packaged with a manual and overlays. When Arnauld was asked whether he would be interested in finishing STONIX for that purpose, he said "Yeah, sure! That's a great idea!". 

It was time for Arnauld to make all his dreams for STONIX a reality. Graphics, music, and a lot of code were still missing from the game. Arnauld was undecided how many levels the game would have. Wanting Arnauld to focus on the game, David offered to assist with designing levels. Arnauld wrapped up the editor and translated it to English. With David busy on the levels, Arnauld was able to make CP-1610 assembly programming his primary focus. Heather Harley took over the editor at times, making some of her own levels. This allowed David to move on to other aspects of the project such as the manual and graphics. 

As the manual was being made and a storyline developed, it was pitched to Arnauld. He liked the storyline and knew how he wanted to end the game. This required more time for programming. Lucky that the cart could support a 32k game because space was running out quickly. While Arnauld was waiting for testing to finish, he wanted to add more features such as the multi-ball and a zapper bonus. 

The manual was coming together and it was not clear if overlays would actually be produced. David decided to give the graphics a shot, but Heather ended up making them. They put together an overlay and looked for a source to make them.

Testing results returned with positive feedback. Arnauld realized the game did not reach the 32k maximum size, so he decided STONIX needed some Easter Eggs. After cleaning up some code, squeezing in the Easter Eggs and over 100 levels of play, and more testing, the game was done.

In early May of 2004, the final game code was finalized.

http://www.beeslife.com/intvgames/stonix/stonix.php
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4830F720
Street
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Unknown
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
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BAB638F2
Super Masters!
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Unknown
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1
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1ECDD51B
Tag Along Todd
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Homebrew)
Genre: Action
Release Year: 2004
Developer: Joe Z
Publisher: Joe Z
Players: 1
*
pick up cans while avoiding Todd. *INCOMPLETE*

This game was designed by Joe Z. and released in the SDK1600 package. In version 2, he added Intellivoice support. I have added features such as a fence that lowers as each level is completed, growing grass, additional sound effects, and the Running Man. I believe this is the first playable game to use the Running Man since Mattel. He looks a little different than the sports titles. There are plans on allowing an option for you to choose which Running Man to use. I am open to adding more features. Let me know what you would like.

http://www.beeslife.com/roms/roms.php
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1F584A69
Takeover
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA (Prototype)
Genre: Strategy
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Mattel
Publisher: Mattel
Players: 1 or 2 Vs
*
PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Essentially an Intellivision version of the war/strategy board game Risk, Takeover was well-liked among the programmers. Unfortunately, the game used the same colored-squares graphics mode used by Snafu, limiting the screen graphics to colored blocks, plus the eight moving objects. Marketing felt that while the game was good, it looked too boring to be a successful seller. The game was never released.


http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/strategy.html#takeover
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15D9D27A
World Cup Soccer
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Genre: Sports
Release Year: 1985
Developer: Nice Ideas
Publisher: Nice Ideas
Players: 1 or 2 Vs
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