Intellivision Amico Games Released on Nintendo Switch

[atarifan88]

For those of you who were interested in the Intellivision Amico games, a few are now released on the Nintendo Switch:

 

Shark Shark!

 

Astrosmash

 

Has anyone played these and can give an honest review?

[+eebuckeye]

I bought Shark Shark! and it is fine.  I like the original better with a dash button and on the new version your fish slows as it gets bigger.  You can also bump into larger fish without dying.  I would have been happier with it at $10 instead of $15 myself.  Not a bad game but you can also make it through the set levels in about an hour.  Multiplayer might be good but I have not tried.

 

I don't think Astrosmash is out yet.

[mdoerty]

23 hours ago, eebuckeye said:

I bought Shark Shark! and it is fine.  I like the original better with a dash button and on the new version your fish slows as it gets bigger.  You can also bump into larger fish without dying.  I would have been happier with it at $10 instead of $15 myself.  Not a bad game but you can also make it through the set levels in about an hour.  Multiplayer might be good but I have not tried.

 

I don't think Astrosmash is out yet.

I think Astrosmash is supposed to be released today. 

And I concur on the price. I am not yet pulling the trigger -- hoping for a sale.

 

 

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, mdoerty said:

I think Astrosmash is supposed to be released today. 

And I concur on the price. I am not yet pulling the trigger -- hoping for a sale.

You might be waiting for a while, as the existing BBG games don’t drop in price very often, at least according to a quick glance at Deku Deals. Especially on Nintendo Switch. 
 

I got my fill of Astrosmash in the 1980s and I don’t want to support what Intellivision has become, so I won’t be buying. 

[mdoerty]

17 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

You might be waiting for a while, as the existing BBG games don’t drop in price very often, at least according to a quick glance at Deku Deals. Especially on Nintendo Switch. 
 

I got my fill of Astrosmash in the 1980s and I don’t want to support what Intellivision has become, so I won’t be buying. 

I have these games -- plus Boulder Dash -- in my Want List on my Switch for if/when the price drops.

And I don't think of buying these games as supporting Intellivision. I think of it as supporting a developer that made the games and then had to take ownership of them to protect their investment from a bankrupt company. 

[wolfy62]

Along with the many other unfortunate occurrences with the Amico,it's a shame that AD&D,Night Stalker,Skiing  etc. apparently weren't finished and now getting a release. 

I may have been interested in those games.

[atarifan88]

26 minutes ago, wolfy62 said:

Along with the many other unfortunate occurrences with the Amico,it's a shame that AD&D,Night Stalker,Skiing  etc. apparently weren't finished and now getting a release. 

I may have been interested in those games.

Other than Astrosmash, I was hoping for a release of AD&D and Night Stalker. Maybe if the existing games sell well, those others might be released?

[Flojomojo]

Guys it’s been 40 years, maybe it’s time to play other games in the same genre or other reimagined older games. Mike Mika did an update to Wizardry recently, for example. 

 

We have never seen more than a couple of seconds of Night Stalker or Cloudy Mountain remakes. 

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, mdoerty said:

I have these games -- plus Boulder Dash -- in my Want List on my Switch for if/when the price drops.

And I don't think of buying these games as supporting Intellivision. I think of it as supporting a developer that made the games and then had to take ownership of them to protect their investment from a bankrupt company. 

That’s a reasonable take and I respect your perspective.
 

The developer was already paid via the Bavarian arts grants from the 2010s though. Any money taken from the sale of these games goes right into BBG’s pocket, and they didn’t make the games. 

 

I guess you could say I don’t want to encourage any more commercialized shenanigans from Intellivision. From my perspective, the best thing they could do with these old properties is to just leave them alone. 

 

Even better: release them into the public domain. 

[mr_me]

2 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

You might be waiting for a while, as the existing BBG games don’t drop in price very often, at least according to a quick glance at Deku Deals. Especially on Nintendo Switch. 
 

I got my fill of Astrosmash in the 1980s and I don’t want to support what Intellivision has become, so I won’t be buying. 

By what's been said, BBG Entertainment has acquired the IP for these two games.  Whatever their investment was in that acquisition, the money goes towards recovering that investment. The Intellivision hasn't become anything.  Intellivision Entertainment is a new company founded in 2018 and their focus wasn't the Intellivision.  There are people making new Intellivision games, as you can see in this discussion forum, and there's a new book about the Intellivision expected next year.

 

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

That’s a reasonable take and I respect your perspective.
 

The developer was already paid via the Bavarian arts grants from the 2010s though. Any money taken from the sale of these games goes right into BBG’s pocket, and they didn’t make the games. 

 

I guess you could say I don’t want to encourage any more commercialized shenanigans from Intellivision. From my perspective, the best thing they could do with these old properties is to just leave them alone. 

 

Even better: release them into the public domain. 

It's not the first time Intellivision inspired games have been made on other platforms and probably won't be the last.  And you don't need anyone's permission to do it.

Edited October 12, 2023 by mr_me

[atarifan88]

21 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Guys it’s been 40 years, maybe it’s time to play other games in the same genre or other reimagined older games. Mike Mika did an update to Wizardry recently, for example. 

 

We have never seen more than a couple of seconds of Night Stalker or Cloudy Mountain remakes. 

Been doing that through the Atari Reimagined series. I'm more of a simple game person. I don't like games that takes too much time to complete. I do like the ones that are simple to play, but difficult to master. Those are the ones that hold my interest and keep me coming back.