How the Colecovision flashback got me back into video games

[AlexKIDD]

Hey everyone. I used to hang out on here a bit many years ago along with the Digital Press and Sega-16 forums.

 

As a kid in the '90's I loved my Sega master system and later Genesis. I never really got into the whole 3d games thing (with a few exceptions like Fable and the Mario Kart games). I prefer 2d graphics, side scrolling platformers and classic arcade style action. In high school I found out about this site and Digital Press and got really into the whole retro gaming thing. I got into the nes,SNES, 2600 and especially the TurboGrafx. I loved these systems because they were in the old style I like but they were new to me.

 

Then 5 years ago I stopped playing video games. I was really depressed and didn't care about anything other than music, drugs and alcohol. For the past 5 years the only games I've played are Geometry Wars, Mario Kart Wii and occasionally the Sonic games for Genesis. I mostly just played Geometry Wars 'cause I wanted something to do with my hands while I listened to music.

 

My mom ,being the wonderful person that she is, recently surprised me with a Colecovision flashback. I know this sounds crazy but this was the first time I've gave a shit about anything in years. I had never played ColecoVision when I was younger since the systems were expensive and hard to find. I find the graphics charming and the game play fun and addictive. I think this system is the closest I've had to having the experience of '80's arcade machines in my home. It did the same thing the TurboGrafx did for me 10 years ago. Gave me something that was old but new to me and awesome to discover.

 

I have since bought a real Colecovision since I wanted to play all the good games that weren't on the Flashback. Plus I just love cartridges and collecting them. I also bought an Nes clone to play all my old games and hooked up my Master System.I converted the storage room in my apartment into a little gaming room.

 

Well sorry if that was a long story but I just wanted to say hi, I'm happy to be back and thank you Colecovision.

[Kamshaft]

Welcome! Glad you're back into the swing of things!

[TPR]

Awesome! I can fully relate to this story!

[LutzfromOz]

The colecoflashback is indeed epic, I was disappointed about the licensing issues to get the games we all loved, lady bug, donkey kong, looping, Gorf, and the console got filled up with homebrew filler games, but I was amazed by the homebrew games, Mecha 8 is awesome, nonetheless im going to fit a Raspberry Pi B+ into my flashback so I can have best of both worlds, and in hdmi

[JEFF31]

'epic'!?

 

Thousands of responses in other threads - some good - some not...

 

Have not seen it in local stores but I've read a lot about it...

Have not purchased it - send me $100 bucks and I might...

Based upon what I've read in the various threads...

 

Would rather not pick up this piece of 'junk'...

Just my opinion...

 

 

Jeff31

[+nanochess]

I use the Colecovision Flashback to play Frenzy, it's easier than getting my Colecovision, its mammoth power source and finding my cartridge besides the controller is softer for my hands

[AlexKIDD]

I personally wouldn't use the words "epic" or "junk" to describe the Flashback. To me it's somewhere in the middle. The biggest disappointment to me was that the controllers were not backwards compatible and vice versa. They did it with the Atari and Sega Flashbacks. They should have figured out the problem instead of rushing it.

 

I was also bummed that some of the games I wanted to play weren't on there. At the same time I understand that companies like Nintendo and Namco aren't going to fork over the rights to their games and that isn't the Flashback's fault. I still think there were quite a few enjoyable games on there such as Bump n Jump, Pepper 2 and Jumpman Junior. Some people complained about the inclusion of homebrew titles but I was actually happy to see them on there. Most homebrew games seem more expensive/harder to find than the original Coleco games so it's nice to have them on the Flashback where the average person can actually play them. I thought Princess Quest and Mecha 8 were awesome.

 

I don't think any of these plug and play games are any substitute for the original hardware but they are cheap, easy to hook up and convenient to travel with. Plus they (hopefully) help to get more random people interested in retro gaming.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Awesome story! Everyone needs to have something positive in their lives that gets them excited and inspires them to have fun working on, playing with, or collecting in their free time. For a lot of the people here I think that thing is one or two retro game systems in particular, and I'm really glad to hear you've found yours. I used to be a pretty heavy drug user and drinker in my teenage years, and retro gaming was the thing that gave me something positive to focus on and look forward to every day when I eventually gave that stuff up. I turned 30 last February and retro gaming is still one of my biggest passions, second only to my passion for my wife lol In my case the systems I like the most are the Atari 2600 and Sega Genesis, but I know that I owe my love for Atari to the ColecoVision. My first game system as a kid was my older brother's ColecoVision with an Atari 2600 expansion module, and while I mostly played Atari games on it there are still some ColecoVision games that will always hold a special place in my heart: Venture, Donkey Kong, and GORF.

 

The Atari 2600 versions of those games are still fun and very playable, but the ColecoVision versions I grew up with were nearly arcade perfect ports that were miles ahead of the 2600 versions. I don't own a ColecoVision and I've yet to buy Donkey Kong Classics for my NES (though I do have the slightly inferior Atari 2600 version of GORF), but I did go out and pick up a ColecoVision Flashback when they were on sale for $25 at Family Dollar about a month ago; and I did it just to play Venture the way I remembered it again. So far I've been very happy with my purchase! Venture plays just like I remembered it, and I've discovered a whole bunch of great ColecoVision games that I missed out on as a kid as well as some new homebrews like the phenomenal Mecha 8. The Flashback was a great buy and more than anything I think it really made me want to go out and get a proper ColecoVision at some point.

 

The only complaint I could really make about the Flashback (aside from it's lack of a cartridge port, but that would probably be asking too much) is the controllers. The controllers that came with my ColecoVision flashback had the left and right button layouts reversed from what they were supposed to be, but all I had to do to fix that was unscrew the back plate of the controller, pull out the two button contact plates, and carefully switch them around to the other sides. Fortunately the wires were plenty long enough to do this, so in just a few minutes I was able to fix the button reversal issue. I was a little bugged by how short the joysticks on the controllers were too, since they're a lot shorter than I remember them being on the original ColecoVision. That lead to me having to find a new way to hold the controller and maneuver the stick that was pretty different from what I was used to, but overall I've still had a great time playing the system. I've gotten way more than $25 worth of fun out of it, and I'm glad to hear that you have too.

[+LS650]

I'm not sure how anyone can call something they've never experienced 'junk'.

I have both a real CV and a Flashback, and I think it's ... Okay.

The emulation is, well, not bad. Could it be better? Yes, but it's not so far off from the real thing.

 

Where I think the FB falls down is the included library - there are too few of the better games that people remember. I'd say maybe about 12 or 14 games are good; the rest are mediocre homebrews or third party shovel ware.

[sbufh]

I hadn't given a crap about video games since I was a kid before getting the flashback, same story gone wild ever since got a real one now and loads of games, on the hunt for an Intellivision next, glad I found this place!!!!

[AlexKIDD]

That's awesome. Cool to see you had a similar experience. That's the thing about the Flashback systems and similar products. While they may not be all that great themselves, they help to get new people interested in retro gaming along with older people like us back into it.

 

Now I'm having a similar situation with the Neo Geo X. Bought it, kind of liked it but it's not good enough. Now I want to buy real Neo Geo stuff. Unfortunately that is going to cost me a lot more money than Colecovision.

 

Still really happy I got back into all of this stuff. Went from playing one game on my 360 to having a Colecovision, Nes, SMS and Neo Geo X all hooked up at once and playing them all.