TV Games Video Game Systems Review Updated

Product Requirements:
Device:
Television with RCA inputs

03/18/04 Update: Pac-Man TV Game review added below

The other day, a package arrived from
Jakks Pacific. There in the bottom of the box was a Spongebob Squarepants TV
game system and an Activision TV game system. I guessed that the folks at Jakks
Pacific must have noticed the posting that I had made of one of their products
in the Latest Gadgets section of our front page, and had decided to send some of
their offerings for review. I began wondering who would be ‘stuck’ doing this
review, since Judie’s daughter is past the age for interest in TV cartoon
characters, and I’d never even seen the show before. But then my eye caught the
words Pitfall Harry and Grand Prix on the packaging of the Activision game
system. All of a sudden I started hearing Barbara Streisand singing: 
Memories… Like the corners of my mind…. Misty water colored memories…
of the way we were….

It was the late 70’s, and I was around 13yrs old. I kept begging my Dad for
an Atari 2600, and finally ended up getting the generic version from Sears
called Telegames. I didn’t care though, since it played all the Atari
cartridges. Some of the first games we had were
Grand Prix
and Breakout.
My sister and I would sit on my bed and play those games for hours on end.
Sometimes my Dad would come in and sit in a chair beside the bed to watch. He’d
never play the games though, he always said they made him nervous ;o)  I
can remember going to bed at night, still hearing and seeing the games playing
even while my eyes were closed…

I also remember that whenever we would go into town to the Hills store (think
Target or Kmart, but only crummier), I’d race back to the electronics area to
play with the Intellivision game system that they had setup there. They always
had the

Pitfall! cartridge installed, which I loved! I actually never did get that
game for myself. That is until now…

The Jakks Pacific TV Game Systems look like a joystick, but are actually plug
and play video game systems that have the games built into them. The cool thing
is that they are self contained systems. You don’t need game cartridges,
complicated cables, or AC adapters. They are powered by 4 AA batteries (not
included) and have the A/V cable built into the system.

After you install the batteries, you plug the RCA style video and audio cable
into a set of free input jacks on your TV. Then you turn on the TV, switch to
the input that you just plugged into, flip the On/Off switch on the game system
to On and viola, you’ve got games! I tested both of these game systems on my 65"
widescreen TV and all I can say is WOW!

Activision TV Game System

The first system that I tried out was the Activision system. After switching
the power switch to On, the title screen appears with the games menu. This
system has 10 built-in all time original classic Activision games:

Pitfall – You are Pitfall Harry the explorer, in search of treasures in the
jungle. Watch out for the gators!

Atlantis – Sort of like Defender but underwater. You shoot ships as they fly
back and forth above you.

River Raid – Vertical scrolling shooter. You fly a fighter jet, and your
mission is to shoot down ships, tankers, helicopters etc.

Spider Fighter – Similar to Space Invaders.

Crackpots – You are Potsy the gardener. You have to save the world from
spiders by throwing potted plants at them.

Freeway – Frogger clone, except with a chicken instead of a frog.

Tennis – Nothing to explain here…

Boxing – Overhead view boxing game.

Ice Hockey – Another obvious one…

Grand Prix – Horizontal scrolling race game.

My first impression of the games was pretty much: dang, graphics sure were
bad back then! ;o) But back in the day, this was cutting edge stuff, and we
liked it! It sure made me realize just how far gaming has come in 20yrs.

This system will probably not appeal to kids. The games are just too
simplistic. I see this as more for the nostalgic adult, wanting to recapture
days gone by. After playing all the games, I found that I enjoyed Grand Prix the
most. Pitfall was a little disappointing. I thought I remembered music, but
there were barely any sound effects at all, and I couldn’t get very far without
croaking. Let’s face it, I now suck at action games ;o) I found Freeway to be
too easy, and the rest of the games were just not appealing to me. Who ever
played Hockey anyway, (apologies to those of you that did) yuck!

The joystick itself seems pretty sturdy. It has both a fire button on the
base, and one on the top of the stick. Besides the power switch, there are also 
Select, Start and Reset buttons. There is also a power LED above the power
switch. The Reset switch allows you to get back to the main game menu.

This TV game system makes a great inexpensive gift for the video game nerd in
your life.

Price: $20.00

Pros:
Plug and play
10 games in 1 system
Blast from the past

Cons:
No real music or sound effects
Can’t save high scores

Spongebob Squarepants TV Game System

Like the Activision system, this system also has everything you need to just
plug and play. Although there are only 5 games with this one, they are more
modern in appearance and will appeal to kids. The games include:

Invasion of the Hooks – Spongebob has to save his friends from being hooked.
Fast paced, but pretty easy. At least in the first few stages. There are 20
levels.

Patrick and the Maze – Patrick has to find his friends in the maze without
getting zapped by some mean jellyfish. There’s even a built in Simon type game
where you have to repeat the tune played to you.

The Super Chum Bucket – Nifty little platform game where Bob has to rescue
Sandy. There are 40 levels.

Sandy’s Surf Adventure – Horizontal scroller. I didn’t like this one that
well…

Bubble Pop – Similar to Breakout. My favorite game of the bunch. There are 50
levels.

This system is shaped like Spongebob himself. His nose is the actually stick
on the joystick, which is kind of cute :o) It feels pretty robust, but I’m not
sure how well it will stand up under the abuse that kids can dish out. This unit
has the power status LED, one fire button on the base, and a reset switch.

This system is quite a bit more fun than the Activision system, just because
the graphics are better, the sound effect / music are better, and the games are
just more robust.

Price: $19.99 – $24.99

Pros:
Plug and play
5 games in 1 system
Good graphics and sound

Cons:
Can’t save high scores

NAMCO Pac-Man TV Game System

And now, straight from the 80’s comes the Pac-Man TV Game System. Like the
other products reviewed above, this plug and play gaming system requires 4 AA
batteries (not included) and connects to a standard TV by way of RCA jacks.

Modeled after a co-op arcade system (minus the display), the unit has a
pretty hefty base with a responsive joystick and firing button on top. A small
reset button, power switch and power LED are also located on the face of the
system.

Upon turning the unit on, you will be greeted with the game menu. There are 5
games built-in to the unit: Pac-Man, Rally-X, Galaxian, Dig Dug and Bosconian.
Here is a little info about each one.

Pac-Man – Wow, I think everyone knows who this little dot muncher is! Did you
know though that the character was originally supposed to be an animated pizza
pie with one slice missing? But due to the fact that graphics were not as
sophisticated as they are now, the pizza details could not be achieved, so we
were left with a solid yellow dot instead.

The object of the game is to run around the maze munching up all the dots
while avoiding the multi-colored ghosts. Here’s another bit of trivia… the
ghosts are named Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.

This game is completely faithful to the original, which I lost many many
quarters to… The only thing it can’t do is save high scores.

Rally-X – I remember this game too. It remains as fun as it was back then.
You have to drive your little car willy nilly through a maze, collecting flags
as you go. Avoiding the other cars and boulders can make it a short trip. This
is one of those games that gets your adrenalin going!

Galaxian – This game is similar to Space Invaders, but more intense. Enemy
ships swoop down on you instead of just coming down in waves a line at a time.

Dig Dug – Here’s another favorite of mine. The goal is to collect the veggies
without running into the bad guys. When you do come across the meanies, you can
either drop boulders on them, or over inflate them like a balloon with your
pump. Can you say "pop"?! 

The only thing that gets monotonous about this game, is the background music.
It will definitely drive you nuts after awhile.

Bosconian – This is one game that I don’t remember ever playing or even
seeing before. Not sure which game originated first, but this one is similar to
Asteroids, where you can rotate your ship to fire on the enemies.

It’s an ok game, but not one of my favorites.

Of the three TV Systems reviewed here, I would have to say that I enjoy
playing with the NAMCO Pac-Man game most. Pac-Man is easy to play and never gets
boring for me. Rally-X comes in a close second.

Price: $$24.99

Pros:
Plug and play
Pac-Man!
Good graphics and sound

Cons:
Can’t save high scores