Videopac Collection 1 Reviews

Videopac Collection 1 is a set of 10 video games from the 2nd generation. It's nice to see that in 2024 I could get some rarely covered Philips Videopac games for my Steam library. Compared to today's titles, these retro games have a short playtime, but sometimes it is nice to appreciate their simplicity and how their design was adjusted to the technology of their time. The Philips consoles (G7000 and G7400) had many more games, and some titles like Alpine Skiing!, Cosmic Conflict, Monkeyshines!, Pickaxe Pete, Race/Spinout are missing from Collection 1, so I hope that one day we'll see a Collection 2. Collection 1 opens the emulator in a window, and you can choose the game from a menu. Games load instantly and run smoothly as expected. You can press Esc anytime to pause the game and view options. The keyboard remapping menu lists all buttons, including letter keys from the G7000's keyboard, which means you can type text, such as your name in '4 in 1 Row'. Here's how the devs can make a collection like this more interesting: Create a custom menu that features box art or sceenshot/gameplay animation for each game for easier preview Include simple intructions or the manuals for each game so that we get more explanation for on-screen events Show the most important buttons' mapping on an overlay during gameplay for first-time players Create Steam achievements and monitor the games' score or winning state so that players have a reason to come back to each title and try to beat them Release another collection and put it in a bundle with the first one As I'm writing this review, it's been 14 months since Collection 1 got released, and I don't know if or when another compilation of retro titles like this will see the light of day. I hope that Philips keeps contributing to the preservation of video games by making them available from their former platforms. For Steam users, I would recommend this collection if you love retro games and want to play games you will find nowhere else. If you want to play retro titles but don't like games in the trailer, e.g. because you are looking for something more complex, then you should probably look for games that are one or two generations higher, or maybe check out some CD-i games from the developer.

To my knowledge, this is the ONLY rerelease of any Odyssey 2/Videopac games out there. Even sweeter is the fact that they are the Plus versions from Europe (when applicable) that have extra detailed backgrounds! No Voice enhancements, but that's what I expected beforehand. What you get is a barebones emulator that has, by far, the most boring and mundane UI I have EVER seen. Ever. All it shows are menu options written in white text on a black backdrop and... that's it. No achievements, trading cards, points shop, manuals, boxart, or anything really. In summary, WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. Now, that's not to say the emulation is poor or lackluster. It is quite the opposite. The menu feels very responsive and games play as well as expected. Additionally, they have the difficulty switches in the menus so you don't have to mess around with various numbers try to get the gamemode you want. After digging around the game files, I discovered that this is literally just a Libretro (RetroArch) port using the O2EM core with the roms and the G7400 bios loose in a folder. Honestly, this was a huge bonus for me and I just play them all through RetroArch now (with Voice enhancements enabled). Would I recommend this? Well there are a couple things to consider. Only get it if you agree with one or more of the following. -You are an emulation guru that likes having easy access roms and bios -You have nostalgia for and/or are curious about a fairly obscure second generation game console -You don't care about the boring (but very responsive) UI Is this collection lazy? Yes. Would I like to see another? Absolutely! Edit: Since I have tried each of the games for a bit, I thought I should revisit this review and explain what each one entails. I've also added the North American names for my fellow Yanks. - 4 in 1 Row It is just Connect 4. Nothing special. At least you can play against the computer. - Air-Sea War/Battle (Armored Encounter/Sub Chase) The 2600's Air-Sea Battle and Combat in a single cartridge. Armored Encounter is just a bad clone of Combat, but to my surprise, Sub Chase was actually pretty fun! Think ASB, but one player is aiming while flying in the sky, and the other player from the within the ocean. - American Football (Football) I didn't really play it because it seemingly requires a second player, but it appears to be okay for its time. Find out for yourself. - Baseball A classic, but the 2600 one is better of course. - Battlefield (War of Nerves) You and your opponent try to guide your miniature army through a forest(?) to defeat each other. Pretty fun, but some of the maps can be pretty unbalanced. - Freedom Fighters One of the best games in the collection. You move around in space while trying shoot asteroids and enemy ships and pick up people floating in the void of space. The catch is that you can only shoot sideways. It gets very challenging the longer you play. - Golf Honestly, while the graphics are more simplistic than the 2600 one, the collision detection is way WAY better. If you like 2600 Golf, then you'll like this one even more. - Killer Bees Here it is. The Odyssey's killer app, Killer Bees. This game alone makes purchasing the collection worth it (though Freedom Fighters and U.F.O. are pretty awesome too). You fly around, attacking the robots while avoiding the other bees. If left unchecked, the "bad" bees grow more hostile until they hunt you down. Every time you destroy a robot, you get a charge for your laser, which you shoot to kill the other bees. Rinse and repeat. Wholesome arcade fun. Nothing else to say. - Nightmare You try to escape a mansion through the roof while all sorts of night time nasties lurk in the darkness. Occasionally, lightning flashes, illuminating the house and revealing its contents. To be honest, I didn't particularly like it, but that doesn't mean you won't. A solid game, but not my cup of tea. - Satellite Attack (U.F.O.) Kind of like an automatic twin stick shooter version of Asteroids. Every time you move, your aim rotates. Additionally, you can ram into stuff to attack it. Whenever you ram or shoot, you shield goes down and you have to wait for it to recharge. Solid, but I slightly prefer Freedom Fighters. All in all, half of the games are historical curiosities, and the other half are 45 year old classics.