Megalextoria: Computer & Video Games

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

‘Vectrex Regeneration’ Review - iOS Gains a New…Old…Platform

Interest in the retro gaming scene has really expanded in the last few years, thanks in no small part to the proliferation of capable mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad and the App Store behind them. As such, retro-minded iOS gamers have a wide range of games to choose from, such as retro-inspired new releases, retro remakes, as well as the actual games of olde brough forth through faithful emulation. It is in the last arena that, early this year, Rantmedia Games decided to toss its hat, sharing word of their upcoming Vectrex Regeneration, a one-stop-shop for fans of the much vaunted, early ’80s Vectrex console.

We have been following Rantmedia’s progress closely since then, and are pleased to have finally had an opportunity to put their Vectrex emulation / game library through its paces. Vectrex Regeneration [Free], a universal app for the iPad (2 and up) and iPhone (4 and up), is now live in the App Store, and here’s the low-down.

First, some needed history. Released in late 1982 by General Consumer Electric (GCE), the Vectrex is a highly unique game system. Unlike every other console of the time, the Vectrex features an integrated CRT display — but not of the standard, horizontal-scan variety. The Vectrex utilizes a vector monitor, which is similar to an oscilloscope and draws its graphics on the screen in a fashion similar to the display process of a laser light show. It’s the only console from gaming’s past defined by a complete lack of jaggies.

The Vectrex features a wired controller with an analog stick (one of the first ever brought to market) and accepts games on ROM cartridges, though a single, Asteroids-like game called MineStorm is built into the system. Each game title came with a pack-in plastic screen overlay to add cabinet bling and simulate color on the built-in monochrome display. There was even a light pen and an optional 3D imaging peripheral available for the system, the first ever offered for a console.

Thanks to the video game crash of 1983, brought on by hundreds of extremely low-quality games being poured into the market, the production of the Vectrex was terminated in 1984, leaving the system with just 28 released games in all. Due to its relatively short market run and unique system configuration and game library, the Vectrex is, today, a console prized by many retro gaming collectors. Here ends the history lesson.

In creating Vectrex Regeneration, Rantmedia Games strove to deliver the complete Vectrex experience to iOS gamers — and what they’ve delivered is pretty darned close.

At startup, the app drops you into an exquisitely detailed ’80s kid’s bedroom (some of you may have seen it before…). You can pan about the 3D-rendered room, moving from item to item. Most importantly, on the desk is your Vectrex. Over there on the wall are your game shelves. And over the bed, there, is your leader(chalk)board, and right over there is the achievement corkboard, next to the media shelf, with photos from early app production and videotapes of Vectrex TV ads that can be played on the VCR over in the corner.

After pulling a 3D-rendered game box from your shelf (instructions are there if you’d care for a glance), you can send it to the Vectrex on the desk for a quick play. In that virtual Vectrex runs a Vectrex emulator that renders the games to your iOS screen. And, fortunately, there is probably no other screen anywhere that could better approximate pixel-less vectorscope renderings than an iOS Retina display. Not only is the display crisp and smooth, but there is a nice, affected flicker to the vectors that makes the experience all the more authentic.

As for the aforementioned games — they aren’t just carbon-copy replicas of the original ROM cartridges; they have been modified to hook into Game Center leaderboard and achievement systems, to add a competitive element, absent from the original. And, what games are we talking about here?

Original Titles
Armor Attack
Bedlam
Berzerk
Blitz
Cosmic Chasm
Fortress of Narzod
Heads Up
Hyper Chase
MineStorm
Pole Position
Rip-Off
Scramble
Solar Quest
Spike
Star Castle
Star Ship
Starhawk
Web Wars

Indie Titles

Continuum
Thrust
Vector21
War of the Robots

The above list represents the currently available games at launch. The free Vectrex Regeneration download comes bundled with the original release MineStorm, the Asteroids-like game that came built into every Vectrex, as well as the four listed indie titles, the most notable of which is certainly Thrust — the best version of the game I have encountered. The rest of the listed original titles can be had via the Mega Pack that can be purchased within the app for $6.99. The Mega Pack also includes the iCade connectivity and WiFi remote-iOS-device controller feature packs.

Full article: http://toucharcade.c … -a-new-old-platform/

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

• 5 comments
• condividi su