This is the point where, from a historical perspective the Angry Video Game Nerd start to really get interesting – the “Double Vision” episodes. For those previous years, the character and the series were generally focused on games from the Nintendo Entertainment System, with some branching out Sega Genesis and Super NES topics with only one major exception – the Atari 5200 review. The Double Vision episodes changed this, marking the first point the Nerd really began tackling pre-NES hardware and software, this time focusing on the Intellivision and Colecovision.
The Intellivision in all its gold and brown glory!
For part 1 of Double Vision, James places a focus on the Intellivision console, released to market in 1980 to compete with the Atari 2600. It’s quite an interesting console from a hardware standpoint being the first home console to use a custom 16 bit CPU, which allowed the games on the system to be quite a bit more complex than those on the Atari 2600, but at the same time the system was limited by the nature of the supporting graphics and sound systems available. A more powerful CPU isn’t everything, as the future would show us.
The way you interface with the system, however, is a mess. For some reason, the design ethos of the early 80’s decided that a keypad, much like that of a phone, was a good input method alongside conventional fire buttons. The directional input is the worst, though, with that strange disc being used for movement. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not the best input method for games…
An example of an Intellivision game, in this case Buzz Bombers.
That being said, when the controls work they actually work quite well, and the system can be fun to play. James spends the bulk of the review covering various games and finding out where the problems are, usually in the controls themselves. He quickly goes from game to game with reactions ranging from complete confusion as to how to play to actually enjoying them, give or take. Of course, all through this, he has to find a way to make some crude reference or comparison to keep this review on par with the absurdity of others.
By the end, James moves on to cover the Voice Synthesis Module of the Intellivision – yes, a speech add-on for the console! He only covers 2 games which used this module, B-17 Bomber and Bomb Squad. B-17 Bomber he doesn’t even play, seemingly only including it because of the hilarious voice sample used for the games name, and one of my favorite jokes to come from the series! The other game, Bomb Squad, is actually played, albeit only to act as a way to end the episode with a (literal) bang, and to act as a transition to part 2.
BEE SEVUNTEEEEN BAWMERRRRRR!
Final Rating: 5/5
I just plain love this episode. Yes, it’s a short one, but it not only covers what has become one of my favorite consoles ever, but it does so in such a way that is just that right blend of frustration and stupid comedy but also serious commentary that I feel only a small portion of nerd episodes really have. I feel the reactions to the games are genuine and criticisms raised are pretty valid, if exaggerated for comedic effect (a standard for the series, of course.)
You also can’t ignore Kyle Justin performing that pretty awesome cover of the Foreigner song “Double Vision” for the opening. Good times.