Down and Dirty Reviews: Vectrex -- A - Z |
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Ohya, baby! The Vectrex looks so cool with it's unique vector based visuals but then you ask how are the games? Well, there are so many Asteroids
clones on this system like Bedlam and Mind Storm but there are so many cool action/arcade titles too like Berzerk, Pole Position, and Scramble.
Oh, thank God for hard-core Vectrex fanatics as well that still makes home made
titles like Vector Vaders, Tsunami, VFrogger, and many more! The scores are out of 100. The graphics, sounds, and game play are out of 10. |
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SCORE/NAME
74 ALL GOOD THINGS (John Dondzila, 1996)
This unique collection of games includes the 4 Vectrex homebrew games: Rockaroids,
More Invaders, Vectris, and Spike's Water Balloons. There is a review for each game which is listed
below.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 7
sound: 5
gameplay: 9
Find this game on eBay here!
52 ARMOUR ATTACK (GCE, 1982)
Armour Attack is a very Combat-like game that's actually good to play for
single players. In Armour Attack you have to shoot down a constant flow of enemy helicopters and tanks
in this fun but limited fight for survival. Not a bad action game to have on the Vectrex and the controls are decent too.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 2
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
30 BEDLAM (GCE, 1982)
In this Bedlam game you get to shoot incoming enemies from an enclosed vector shape, but sadly
you can't move your ship from the center of the grid making for a very limited
game. This can be fun for a few minutes though but other games like Asteroids
and Tempest kill Bedlam in design.
*Uncommon Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 4
gameplay: 1
Find this game on eBay here!
72 BERZERK (Centuri, 1982)
The classic shooter of endless mazes comes to the Vectrex. In this action
game you help your fighter survive a warehouse filled with giant robots and
the deadly Mr. Happy. Berzerk on the Vectrex is a good looking version of
the arcade classic but there are no difficulty settings so the game is a little
on the easy side but it's still a fun action game.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 5
sound: 4
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
27 BLITZ
Blitz here is a very basic football title with only X's and []'s for the players. There
are no NFL players on fire like there are in the later editions of
Blitz, but I doubt that the two games have anything in common other than the
name there.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 2
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
72 CLEAN SWEEP (GCE, 1982)
Here is a Pac Man clone on the Vec that's actually pretty good. Your cleaner um, thingy must
pick up dust or fallen cash on the board but if you collect too much you have drop off your
dust mites in the center to continue plus you have to worry about weird claw
things that want to stop you at any means. It's not as good as Pac Man because
of these strange new features slow it down a bit but I still liked the intensity of it. This is one to
look out for.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 5
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
44 COSMIC CHASM (GCE, 1982)
Here is the first ever console game to be translated to the arcades
and it's too bad it isn't that fun to play. This shooting game could have
been great if it wasn't so slow especially in between levels.
For 1 player only
graphics: 4
sound: 4
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
66 FORTRESS OF NARZOD
(GCE, 1983)
This game is so odd that it possible to have your own shots can kill you here.
In the game you have to shoot down enemies from a fortess and you all are enclosed in the castle gates so you don't have a lot of room to move around in. The game does have some fairly good 3D graphics and the action never seems to slow
down either so if you looking for some solid arcade action then check this one out.
*Rare Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 7
sound: 5
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
34 HEADS UP (GCE, 1983)
Heads Up here is a simple soccer game on the Vectrex and it sounds like it could be a decent title for the system. It had some decent controls
for it's time but it still very slow and it's still not enough to hold my interest for very long.
*Rare Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 3
sound: 3
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
22 HYPER CHASE
This driving game has controls that are way too sensitive especially when
compared to Pole Position. It's almost impossible not to hit the sides
of the road (which is an instant death) and good luck avoiding the other cars
at 150km per hour. Hyper Chase seriously needs some Prozac.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 6
sound: 3
gameplay: 2
Find this game on eBay here!
57 MIND STORM (MB, 1982)
The Asteroid-like build it Vectrex game plays great and it also slows
off the powers of the Vectrex fairly well too. You know the deal; blow up stuff till there is nothing left on the screen but you but watch out since one hit from anything here and you're dead. The action is always choatic and it can get tough in a hurry. This game will freeze after
level 13 because of an in game bug so be careful.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 7
sound: 4
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
63 MORE INVADERS (John Dondzila,
1996)
This is an update to Vector Vaders but I liked the first one a bit
better because of greater detail of the aliens (they look like V's). This
is still good though that's part of the 'All the Good Things' cart
and multi-cart.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 3
sound: 5
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
91 MULTI-CART! (Sean Kelly)
This cool cart includes all the released Vectrex games on one cart. You not
get the standard cart games but you also get the 3D games, Pen games, and
some versions may even include some newer releases like the 'All the good
things' games. Nice package and excellent for the first time Vectrex player.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 8
sound: 8
gameplay: 10
Find this game on eBay here!
61 OMEGA CHASE (Christopher
L. Tumber, 1999)
Imagine Asteroids in a enclosed space but the only way to see the walls
is to either shoot them or just remember where they were before the stage
starts. A fun game that gets harder and harder per level. The game also comes
with a mini bonus game similar to Imagic's Cosmic Ark.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 5
sound: 5
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
68 PATRIOTS (John Dondzila,
1996)
WOW, it's Missile Command! The only major difference between Patriots and
Missile Command that there are only two anti air missile launchers
instead of three but you still have to defend your 6 cities from an heavy missile
attack so that's all good. You can even Pause your game which is a welcome
plus.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 5
sound: 3
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
15 POLAR RESCUE (GCE, 1983)
This super lame
submarine 3D shooter is the shame of the Vectrex is packed with limited ammo
and confusing game play. Who's going to rescue me from this awful game play?
*Extremely Rare Vectrex game!
For 1 player only
graphics: 2
sound: 3
gameplay: 1
Find this game on eBay here!
70 POLE POSITION (GCE/Namco, 1993)
It's cool to see this popular arcade racer done in vector lines and it's easily
the best racer for the Vectrex. The graphics and sounds are not too impressive
cause I really miss the colours from the arcade game but the game still plays well at least and it's way better then that stupid Hyper Chase game.
*Extremely Rare Vectrex game!
For 1 player only
graphics: 5
sound: 4
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
66 ROCKAROIDS (John Dondzila,
1996)
Rockaroids is a near perfect arcade translation of Atari's Asteroids complete
with multi sized rocks and those annoying spaceships. The only think I didn't
like here was that buttons 1 and 2 used to turn the star ship instead of the
joystick plus I'm not too sure people want another Asteroids clone (no matter
how good it is) on the Vectrex.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 5
sound: 4
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
76 SCRAMBLE (GCE/Konami, 1982)
Konami's early shoot them up originally from the arcades kind of plays like a lack luster version of Gradius here.
The game started out well enough since blowing up stuff is great and you can blast stuff from both the air and ground. The problem is its just way too easy and I got kind of bored
with it.
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 2
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
47 SPACE WARS
Here is a classic. In this really old school game two space ships try to blast
one another out of the sky in makes for a decent two player game but the single
player game is totally dull. Space Wars maybe an omage to some of the first video games ever created but it still lacks the depth of other Vectrex titles.
*Uncommon Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 3
sound: 4
gameplay: 3
Find this game on eBay here!
77 SPIKE (GCE, 1983)
In this unique platformer here you help the funny looking Spike character on a mission to save his girlfriend Molly in this good looking and fun action
game. This game also has a lot of cool voices too which is very rare for the
Vectrex machine. The game constantly repeats so Molly is always getting kidnapped here but at least you can try for the high score, eh?
*Uncommon Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 6
sound: 8
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
58 SPIKE'S WATER BALLOONS
(John Dondzila, 1996)
This game here is very similar to Activision's Kaboom. In it Spike's old rival is dropping water balloons from the sky and good old Spike here has to pop them before they touch the bottom for whatever reason. Spike can
even use his kicks to bounce balloons back if they fall to deep for him to break with his head. The game can be playable but Water Balloons
is a very repetitive game after a while and there are no voices either even though this is a Spike game.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 3
sound: 1
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
41 SPINBALL (1983)
Like that crappy Sonic Spinball game on the Sega Genesis this Spinball here is actually a Pinball game for the Vectrex; something we needed this on the vector machine, eh?
It's an OK game I guess but it's too easy to lose a life in that big gap between
the flippers and there isn't a chances to score big points either since isn't a lot on the board. Spinball is overall rather plain.
*Uncommon Vectrex game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 5
sound: 4
gameplay: 5
Find this game on eBay here!
38 STAR TREK
This is a weird first person shooter that could of easily be named something
else other than Star Trek (in fact the game was renamed in other countries). Not
even the sound tracks and effects are familiar to the original TV series here. If you are looking for your standard and uneventful first person space shooter then this is it.
For 1 player only
graphics: 6
sound: 3
gameplay: 4
Find this game on eBay here!
81 TSUNAMI/VIX
Limited Edition (Christopher L. Tumber, 2002)
Yes, it finally happened! Atari's famous arcade hit Tempest is on the Vectrex and so is the amazing little puzzle game Qix! Some of my favourite classic video games from
the early 80's and each one have a separate review below.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 7
sound: 5
gameplay: 8
Find this game on eBay here!
71 TSUNAMI
(Christopher L. Tumber, 2002)
I don't know what Tsunami means but this is a close to as Atari's Tempest
has you may ever get on the Vectrex. Tempest was an acclaimed shooter that
used Vector graphics in web based levels with enemies invading from the center.
Tsunami really captures the feel of Tempest, although the sound effects were
fairly lacking and there is no colour of course, it's still a fast paced shoot
em up with tons of levels and all the hazards like flippers, spikes, and more.
Tsunami is worth picking up for Vectrex fans.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 6
sound: 2
gameplay: 7
Find this game on eBay here!
64 VECTOR VADERS (John Dondzila,
March 8, 1996)
The original Space Invaders clone on the Vectrex is also the first Vectrex
game in 12 years! Quite a impressive feet although there is some slow down
problems because of the large amount of characters or lines (the game starts
off with only 25 invaders but thing's speed up after you kill a few of them)
and the shield guards are not destroyable unlike the real Space Invaders.
Another problem with this game is that the ship can only be moved by the 1
and 2 buttons which can be quite awkward. Vector Vaders as its problems, but
it's still a very enjoyable game that should please classic arcade fans.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 5
sound: 3
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
69 VECTRIS/VECTREX BLOCKS (John Dondzila, 1996)
"Yes, this is Tetris on the Vectrex!" Sadly, it's a little hard on the
eyes because of all the lines on screen at once will blink a lot but it's still very playable and even
increases in difficult as the game goes on too. I also like how there is a pause
feature as well which is fairly rare for a Vectrex game.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 5
sound: 2
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!
53 VIX (Christopher L.
Tumber, 2002)
If you haven't figured it out, this is Taito's cult hit Qix.
In Vix you have to defend the Internet by blocking off the Vix virus but beware
of the sparks. Vix was a fairly good game but at times it was a little too
easy plus there is a bug that may give you a super quick victory even though
you just drew a block that deleted everything else. Vix is still an awesome
and relaxing that will make you think.
*Home-brew Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 4
sound: 5
gameplay: 7
Find this game on eBay here!
55 WEB WARS (GCE, 1983)
Web Wars plays kind of like Atari's Tempest but the web moves as you
travel and you can even control the speed of your ship down this long corridor or whatever it is I'm travelling on.
An interesting game that may be a bit repetitive but is still quite challenging thanks to the slow speed of you hero.
*Uncommon Vectrex game
For 1 player only
graphics: 7
sound: 5
gameplay: 6
Find this game on eBay here!