ColecoVision > NES

[VectorGamer]

I just got my ColecoVision back in the mail yesterday from Yurkie and fired up Galaxian, Jungle Hunt, Popeye, Moon Patrol and Pippols. The joy of playing those games brought a tear to my eye and reminded me of just how much I love this temperamental piece of hardware.

 

I can't say the same for the NES. Yes I had an NES back in 1985 or 6 and I played my share of Super Mario Bros. BITD. But Super Mario isn't calling me back to play the NES today is he?

 

Sure Popeye and Donkey Kong l00k better on the NES but does the NES have Zaxxon? NO!

 

Does the NES have Moon Patrol?

Does the NES have Pepper II?

Does the NES have Mouse Trap?

Does the NES have Roc N Rope?

Does the NES have Congo Bongo?

Does the NES have Carnival?

NO!

 

These are the games I grew up with and that's why the CV to me is the better system.

 

The NES to me isn't a terrible system, it's just that the library for the CV appeals more to me. If you want to play ports of golden age arcade games then the ColecoVision is THE console to play 'em on.

 

I got to go study for a Cisco exam.

 

Time's yours...

[retroillucid]

Those are my all time two favorite systems

I love both

 

CV is my first love, and since I grew up in Arcades, it's no wonder why I like the CV

There's so many great ports, and with today's homebrewers, that's just plain awesome!

 

In other hand, I love playing some Megaman, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Punch out! , Little Samson, Contra and so many others!

 

For me, having both the CV and the NES seems to make a full circle

[gamecat80]

I primarily grew up with the C-64 and NES back in the day. I was only a toddler when the ColecoVision was released in 1982, so I didn't get to experience it back in the day. The C-64 was released the same year as the CV, but was on the market much longer.

I do love the NES, but I also love the CV and play it quite a bit now. I love the "feel" of CV games......it's in that weird place between the Atari generation and NES generation. The games are mostly arcade classics (which I love), but with a few obscure titles thrown into the mix, and noticeably higher-res graphics than the other systems out at the time. And I love the "limited" 16-color palette -- very vibrant and clear colors -- not as "dull" as NES colors. I like the sound on the CV, too. And when you throw in the Roller Controller, Driving Controller/ w pedal, Atari 2600 module, etc it just makes the ColecoVision awesome!

 

The Famicom/NES was quite good when it came out, but it aint "all that", especially when you realize most NES games have added hardware chips inside their cartridges. Early NES games like Duck Hunt and Excitebike are on-par with many ColecoVision games.

 

I think most of us can agree that Nintendo and Sega owe a LOT to the ColecoVision

[retroillucid]

 

 

I think most of us can agree that Nintendo and Sega owe a LOT to the ColecoVision

 

Sure thing!

[bomberpunk]

yawn.

 

Colecovision doesn't have Bomberman, Double Dragon II, Duck Tales, Legend of Zelda, Rivery City Ransom, Snow Bros, Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight, etc etc etc.

 

apples and oranges, bro.

[NIAD]

yawn.

 

Colecovision doesn't have Bomberman, Double Dragon II, Duck Tales, Legend of Zelda, Rivery City Ransom, Snow Bros, Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight, etc etc etc.

 

apples and oranges, bro.

Hmm.... that sounds like a challenge that the current crop of CV game programmers can easily rise to the occassion to especially now with all the benefits of modern technology such as the MegaCart PCB (possibly up to 1024K games), SaveRAM PCBs and added RAM and sound capabilities provided by the SGM! Sounds to me that the playing field has been leveled now that we are not talking about early 80's pricing of rom chips that always seemed to hold back games of that era as well as unrealistic deadlines placed on programmers to complete games.

 

Seems to me that the NES doesn't have Pepper II, Side Trak, Mecha8, Princess Quest, Moon Patrol, Lady Bug, Looping, etc., etc.

 

Don't take this the wrong way as I did buy an NES in '86/87 and enjoyed the heck out of it, but when compared to the CV, it just doesn't have the same appeal, nostalgia and WOW! factor for me and for that matter, no other system does so I am very, very biased.

[Pixelboy]

Well, I'm certainly not biased despite being a ColecoVision homebrew publisher, and I say the NES has the upper hand. Given the actual choice, I'd be far more inclined to play a session of Mega Man, Metroid or Zelda on NES rather than a game of Pepper II, Bump 'n Jump or Gateway to Apshai on the ColecoVision. But that's just me.

[+LS650]

I've never been much for the NES, so I side with the O/P - though I'm sure we're in the vast minority.

[Gamester81]

I think both the NES and CV have it's pros and cons and it simply comes down to nostalgia for me. The CV will always have a special place in my heart because it was my very first system I ever played, while the NES does have a larger library of games.

[youki]

i have no nostalgia at all about the NES. I never liked that console.

 

My first console was the colecovision that i enjoyed , then i quickly move to the C64 because i wanted make my own game. When the NES has been released i never understood what people could find to that console . You could not program it , Music sounds bad (compared what i used to hear on C64 games, Scrolling was not so smooth (still compared to C64) ,Gamepad was unsuable for me (nothing is better than a real joystick!!) , the design of the console was terribly ugly for my taste , there were not very reliable , and there were console around that was better like the Sega Master System.

 

With the time, i changed my vision on lot of machinse , for instance back in time i hated the MSX , and now i love them. But for NES , it didn't change i still don't like it. Even if i admit it is no more hate , but of all existing console it is the console i like the less (equality with the PlayStation ).

 

But neverless, it does not mean there is no fun game on the NES.

Edited June 11, 2014 by youki

[Manoau2002]

I owned a NES before I bought my first Colecovision in the early 90's. When I got into retro gaming by playing emulators I played primarily the NES. When the Colecovision emulator for the Wii first came out it reignited my interest in the Colecovision . When it came to physical collecting I chose the Colecovision and then went on to own other Pre-NES consoles. I think there are two reasons I have gone this route. First I find that the NES emulates very well. The unique controllers of the Pre-Nes consoles make them hard to emulate in an acurrate way. Second: Time. I don't have the time to play a huge game like The legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy. I do however have time to load up frogger or GORF and play for 15-20 minutes at a time.

[Atari_Bill]

I'm sure that for people raised with one or that other that machine will generally win out. I personally grew up (kind of) with the Colecovision. I saw kind of because it was late high school and even into college years where it was prominent. I never felt the desire to own an NES back in the day. Gaming on it just never felt right. It didn't have any spark for me. Even today, I have some NES stuff as part of my collection, but I only half-heartedly collect it. I can't have more than a 100 titles for it.

[Rey]

I owned and loved the NES. It really was an incredible console but the coleco and in my case the ADAM was and is my first love. Buck Rodgers was the first video game I ever played and I still love playing it. Coleco holds a special place in my heart that no other will ever take. I had the Atari 7800, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis,Sega CD, N64, DreamCast,PS2, Game Cube and XBOX 360. They were all great and really enjoyed them being but I don't have that emotional attachment to those other consoles.

[carlsson]

As far as I understand, Carnival, Congo Bongo, Turbo and Zaxxon were games licensed from Sega. As they were about to release the SG-1000 contemporary with the Famicom, I kind of can understand if they were not eager to have their games available for the competitor. The same could of course be said from Nintendo's perspective, after the release of the Famicom, later on the NES, not many of their games were legally ported to other systems. Take for instance Giana Sisters which even exists in versions with hacked sprites to look like Super Mario Bros. Rather than a cease and desist note, Nintendo could have acquired the game, rework it and actually sell Super Mario Bros for C64, Amiga, Atari ST and so on. Obviously it would have been a dumb thing to do, as it kind of became a killer app to sell NES consoles.

 

So yes, it is a good thing that at least some of the classic systems have exclusive titles. Which games bring you the fondest memories and you like the best to play is an individual choice. Regarding scrolling abilities, I never tried to program the NES but the games I've seen seem to rather fluently scroll the picture, at least as easily as the C64. From a technical point of view, it really seems like Nintendo did their homework when designing the custom hardware, or perhaps someone else did it for them, I haven't read up on the development history.

[Flojomojo]

They both have SPY HUNTER.

You know what? I like them both.

Plus, the NES has better controls.

[R.Bear]

 

You're going to upset AtariAge's NES fans. XD

[fast eddie]

The Colecovision is a great system. If there hadnt been a industry crash and the focus shift to low cost computers, it may have become the most popular system within a few years. I always wonder how different the gaming industry would have been if the crash hadnt happen.

 

There was alot of potential in the machine that was never reach as the system matured. Would have liked to have seen Galaga, Zookeeper, and many of the other popular arcade games of the time released on it. The system could have really used a few RPG games as well. Not sure how well that could have been done on a colecovision cart.

 

The NES got to mature though. It seems like they were really pushing the system by Super Mario Bros. 3. My biggest complaint has to be the flickering. I didnt like Nintendo as a company by the time Tengen (Atari) started releasing unauthorized games on the system. It led to me eventually getting a genesis.