Microvision System Review

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Microvision System Review

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 6th, 2018, 5:29 pm

Check out this new Microvision system review contributed by Retro Strife!
A lot of people don't know about this one. Comments encouraged!

https://videogamecritic.com/extras/revi ... n.htm?h=22

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby Retro STrife » August 6th, 2018, 7:15 pm

Thanks for posting this, VGC. And for contributing a lot to the content and formatting - it looks good.

Back when I bought my Microvision, I could not find any game reviews around the internet. I was pretty surprised, considering its historical place as the first handheld video game system. Since I didn't know what games to buy, I did what any hoarder would do, and just bought all of them. Gradually, over the course of several months, I bought all 11 U.S. games. And then I bought the Europe-only game, Super Blockbuster, a few years later. After that, I figured I went through all that trouble so I might as well play each game and share my thoughts, so that other gamers wouldn't experience the same problem. Hopefully this review does that, while also shedding some light on an overlooked system. I originally posted this in the forums here, but I appreciate the VGC giving it more exposure on the main site.

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 6th, 2018, 8:31 pm

According to a reply on my Facebook page:

I believe this was the first system to have a licensed Star Trek game.


That's an interesting tidbit of info! Might need to incorporate that into the review.

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby scotland » August 6th, 2018, 10:56 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:According to a reply on my Facebook page:

I believe this was the first system to have a licensed Star Trek game.


That's an interesting tidbit of info! Might need to incorporate that into the review.


First, this review is wonderful. I would like to play the Baseball game on it.

As for Star Trek, 'Licensed' and 'video games' are key terms.

There is an unlicensed Star Trek video game called "Trek" that goes back to 1971 on an SDS computer, translated by David Ahl and Bob Leedom into BASIC and published as Super Star Trek in Creative Computing about 1976, and then into Microsoft BASIC in 1978, and continued to evolve and get ported. Stellar Trek http://videogamecritic.com/2600ssz.htm?e=67441#rev421 from 1980 on the Atari 2600 is a version.

There were also two other licensed Star Trek Phaser games about this time that I know of but they aren't video games. The first was Mego's Super Phaser Target Game, which a form of light gun, but there is no monitor involved. It was one of a type of light gun games of the time, which included the Pong systems (although those are video games)

The second is Mego's Star Trek Phaser Battle. While it looks like a video game, its really a little electromechanical tabletop game. In true 1970s style, it uses 6 'D' batteries. There are images of various space ships that are illuminated with a bright bulb on a rotating disc and mirror projected on the 16" screen. You would aim (just back and forth) and fire at the moving ships, but also left and right shields you have to engage at the right moment.

st1.JPG
st1.JPG (22.41 KiB) Viewed 2184 times

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby Retro STrife » August 7th, 2018, 12:38 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:According to a reply on my Facebook page:

I believe this was the first system to have a licensed Star Trek game.


That's an interesting tidbit of info! Might need to incorporate that into the review.


Interesting. And I'm impressed by Scotland's knowledge on this. I, on the other hand, haven't the faintest idea. It's a strong possibility, though. Think about it.. the Microvision game came out in 1979. Could any game predate that? In terms of commercially released video games, only the Atari 2600 or Intellivision would have been likely options to have a licensed Star Trek game by 1979. Yet, the only Star Trek game I know of from those systems is a 1983 release on the 2600.

So it seems likely that this was the first, at least when excluding unlicensed and standalone games like scotland mentioned. But that era is before my time, and I'm not a Star Trek fan, so hopefully someone else can confirm it.

Teddybear
Posts: 212
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby Teddybear » August 7th, 2018, 8:31 am

This is very cool!!! Thank you Retro Strife & VGC!

I never had one of these but do remember the commercial for it making me want one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqYa6yL8Jk

The Friday the 13th Pt. 2 photo was a nice touch too. I didn't realize that they were playing Microvision (I would have wagered that it was one of the Mattel handhelds) but I've never forgotten the perfume scene!

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby scotland » August 7th, 2018, 8:36 am

I looked in David Ahl's Basic Computer Games, and Super Star Trek does have the trademark notes on Star Trek, and "Used by Permission by Paramount Pictures Corporation". That seems to make it a preceding licensed video game, even if the license were essentially free.

However, the Microvision game might be the first licensed commercial Star Trek video game.

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby Retro STrife » August 7th, 2018, 11:00 am

Teddybear wrote:This is very cool!!! Thank you Retro Strife & VGC!

I never had one of these but do remember the commercial for it making me want one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqYa6yL8Jk

The Friday the 13th Pt. 2 photo was a nice touch too. I didn't realize that they were playing Microvision (I would have wagered that it was one of the Mattel handhelds) but I've never forgotten the perfume scene!


Thanks for posting that commercial. I had never seen it before, but it's cool to see the games in action like that. The pixels look really dark -- I wonder if that was just good camera work, or if the screen was really that dark back then. (Remember, these screens deteriorate over time, so the pixels aren't usually that dark today.) As you can see in my photos, between the screen dimness and glare, it was tough to get good photos of these games today.

As for Friday the 13th Part 2, props to my dad on that one. He's a big fan of the movies and told me about that scene when I showed him the Microvision. In the scene, the two characters are flirting with each other while playing the Microvision together and the girl really digs it. These days the Microvision isn't the same chick magnet it used to be. I tried the same move on my wife and she just asked me to go away.

matmico399
Posts: 1419
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 6:11 pm

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby matmico399 » August 7th, 2018, 2:16 pm

I think I remember a carpool friend of mine in fourth grade had the Microvision Star Trek game. Gosh that was almost 40 years ago. I can't imagine what else it could have been. Very cool!

User avatar
Marriott_Guy
Posts: 78
Joined: April 11th, 2015, 6:05 am

Re: Microvision System Review

Postby Marriott_Guy » August 19th, 2018, 11:18 am

Excellent overview of both the system and the games. IMHO, this may merit permanent inclusion in the 'Portables' menu section (if Retro is good with that). The information / review of the system is precise and includes technical details (like in your other portable review sections). Just a thought - it would be a shame to see this review to be lost in the archives after time.

Well done Retro!

Terry


Return to “Review Feedback”