Classic Game Room HD - DEFENDER for Colecovision review

[joe11350]

I USE TO PLAY THIS BACK IN THE DAY

[nandi075]

hi, i came to this review because mark told me I SHOULD revisit this review on twitter

[CJRivard]

Atari 800 version is by far the best version of this game. Just don't hit that space bar too hard!! Many Atari 800's keyboards were damaged by hitting the space bar too hard which activated the smart bombs.

[pvtchapman1beer]

those lasers sound so official, like they would just f'n vaporize you

[xXHaymaker69Xx]

ahhh back when games were good

[QuiteUnused]

I never stopped to think about it before... just took it at face value that abducting humans against their will and turning them into mutants was bad, but if you look closer, they're still mostly human after the transformation, just yellow, with multiple limbs, able to fly and engage in airborne combat. Seems pretty superior... ohh, and if the planet is destroyed, they're perfectly capable of space travel. Yay mutants!! Screw defending the humans LoL

[spinamajig]

I suck at this game! :)

[xxxIronLeexxx]

If you don't like the stock Coleco controller with this game, try it with the Colecovision Super Action controller. It's pretty sweet...

[xxxIronLeexxx]

If I had to choose between a Xbox, Playstation, or my Colecovision to play for the rest of my life, I choose my Coleco everytime.

[Bittergamer1886]

I doubt that's what the Defender theme sounds like. It's too bright and happy. Make it more dark, ominous, serious, and spacey, with a lot of echoes. Like Metroid, Space Fury, or some of the Super Mario Galaxy themes,

[0M9H4X]

the colecovision is such a sexy console.

too bad its kind of rare in europe and its bulky too, i dont know where I'd put it.

and still... i want one. its a master of arcade ports and it has FRENZY.

only the wondermega is even sexier.

hm, do you have one? pls review it, its... damn.... its.... untouchable.

[johnwx777]

This looks pretty close to the actual coin-op.

Brilliant in its simplicity,or simply brilliant.

[amethystdreamarian]

as an 80s champion of the Mighty Defender arcade game I wud have to say no way does the intro music have any place as its sountrack. It weakens its majesty, its brilliance, its excitement, its power & its magic.

Long live Defender.

[earthad666]

more they live refences! great playing by the way -i suck at defender

[winnslaw]

"I still think that the Atari 5200 version is the best."

[weman2341]

i got defender for gameboy advance

[wavecrashes]

CLASSIC GAME ROOM PWNS AVGN

[ransman413]

PLEASE DO A REVIEW OF BOSCONIAN!!! pleeeeeeeeeeease!

[rdbiker69]

Thanks for posting this piece of history. I used to dream of getting a colecovision, but my dad shot the Atari 2600. Now I got a read arcade Defender and Stargate Defender to play! Cost me $590 / $330.

[Ogma01]

Wait... Your dad "...shot the Atari 2600"???

[Xegethra]

@Ogma01 i think he just means wore it out?, i dont think he means litterally shot

[QwoPhasaArius]

BEEEB BOOO BOO BOO BEEP BLIP BEEEP BOO

[WARPUDDY666]

I noticed that the game is not fully compatible if you have the roller controller hooked up it plays ok but when you fire your main weapon it also triggers the smart bomb kinda weird cause hooket up normally no problem both buttons work

still one of the best games love it

[jupreindeer]

That explosion effect for the ship is just awesome!

[intellaricovision]

I just bought a Colecovision yesterday for only 50$ (plus 15$ shipping) and today I bought this game boxed and never opened for 14$ total.

I bought those from Ebay and I'm waiting for them to arrive in mail...

[Tryzon]

Do you intend to open Defender?

[intellaricovision]

Yes, and play.

Long ago, I had 2 never opened Odyssey2 games and I opened and played them.

[Tryzon]

Good for you: games are meant to be played.

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

And, as one ColecoVision owner to another, I say you made a wise investment.

[tinykicksass]

i have this on the 2600. personally i think that the 2600 version is better. it had more colour.

[dougd1015]

So color accounts for quality??

[tinykicksass]

well not necessarily i guess. i just mean i think it's better, but i guess i shouldn't judge because i've never actually played the colecovision version or well any other version and so i cannot judge the quality of the gameplay of those versions. but i think the 2600 version looks much better graphically than the colecovision version because it has more colour.

[dougd1015]

Ya know what, okay; I can see where your coming from.

Its easy to program a whole colour palette, but effort doesn't necessarily account for quality.

[carm3d]

Defender on the Atari 800 computer was better than this.

[misterintellivision]

I FINALLY GOT A COLECOVISION

[dougd1015]

Hurray!

[armonigann]

the gamecube version is really good..midway treasures!!

[Tryzon]

I prefer arcade-style games that don't last forever unless you're freakishly good, such as the sublime Berserk.

Does anyone happen to know if you could pause ColecoVision games?

[TenguGuy]

I don't think you could.

[adog262]

It depends on the Colecovision game. Time Pilot has a pause feature, but Donkey Kong doesn't.

The Intellivision, however, did have a pause feature with virtually all of its games. All you have to do is press #'s 1 and 9 at the same time. Cool, huh?

[Tryzon]

Yes, that is very thoughtful of them. I can hardly imagine not having the luxury of a pause button, expecially when you're going for a high score.

[adog262]

Well, I'm used to not using the pause button when playing. The button should have been labeled "I Need to Pee" instead.

[Tryzon]

But what if the phone's ringing or the post just arrived with something exciting in it? ^_^

[adog262]

If the phone rings, I ignore it.

"Oh! It's my mother! Whatever!"

*hangs up and continues playing*

[Tryzon]

A reliable strategy with no kinks whatsoever.

[adog262]

Lolz.

[TKTannerman89]

I don't think so, Tim

[rubin3364]

I love the Colecovision; Just got one for $5 yesterday at a yard sale with D.K., Popeye, and Q*Bert!

Could you guys tell me what you use for recording, and how much it is?

[wingnut4427]

it looks like He made the recordings on a VHS & has converted them on his hard drive. You can use a device called dazzle to accomplish this. Google dazzle video converter hardware & you'll find listings all over the internet. :) Hope this helps.

[spriterlicous]

Capture cards, they cost about $50. I think, I'm british, making an estimate based off of our prices for it and the currency exchange rate.

[kjaerjakcajk]

this guy is boring, but in an entertaining way

[SirGameandWatch]

When I was a kid I used to play this just to kill all the people and blow the planet up.

[walkerctranger]

because then hed be another boring AVGN rip off... and he actually likes to talk good about video games, he seems to acutally like them, instead of just saying fuck to sound cool. Mark is funny, but his humor is incredibly subtle

[Amaranthus616]

@walkerctranger yeah, he talks about a game based on hisd thoughts about it...not other peoples thoughts on it. if he likes, he will say...if he doesnt like he will also say

i like mark too, having variety in what you watch is something people drastically undervalue..if everything went the same, theyd soon regret it. as in this case, mark comes up with good points about games, others dont. he does proper in depth reviews on how the game works too and what its about....many others dont so much

[Luigi84289]

@Amaranthus616 That's why I want to see him review Donkey Kong 3. I love that game but 99% of people bash it and hate it solely because of the different shooter style game play and not having mario.

[JESSIEEDSELL21]

i had the atari 2600 version of this but this one wipes the floor with the 2600 version

[starblazers1969]

This version looks good, but I personally do not like the Colecovision controllers.

[iGLGred]

Yeah, it's big and awkward, but the joystick reminds me of a thumbstick, so that part is pretty cool.

[walkerctranger]

yeah but you have to admit the controllers look pretty bad ass lol

[daro2096]

I perfer Defender on the Atari 2600. You couldn't accidently kill the humans in that version.

[1devo6587]

i got somthing for you to review! defender 2 for the nes! its exactly like the arcade version!

[Snotnarok]

HiFi bandits? What next, coaxial nazis? AV pirates?! Composite villains?!

[atarileaf]

I love the colecovision but the 5200/XL version is far superior.

[Schush]

Wrong bout that bud!!!

[atarileaf]

No, I'm not, bud.

[TenguGuy]

5200 would have been the best atari ever if the controller didnt suck so bad.

[atarileaf]

Oh I agree. But the point is the defender is better then the CV version. I actually don't own a 5200 because of the controller problem but I do have an 800XL and and XEGS. The 5200 is basically a stripped down Atari 8-bit computer, thats why the games are for the most part exactly the same.

So I play Defender not on a 5200 but on an Atari 8-bit computer. Same game but on the computer you can use a standard joystick which makes playing it a fantastic experience.

[BrokenYarn2]

Stupid sucky controllers

[here4thedonuts]

Its actually not a simple game. At least in the arcade, it had the record for the most buttons at the time. Up. Down. Fire. Reverse. Smart Bomb. Thrust. Warp. It was tough.

[HappyWulf]

Defender dosen't need a soundtrack! It's epic explosions and laser blastings were perfect for it's time. I owned this too, on a fat Colecovision and I also had a Atari 2600 Plug-In on it. I also loved the sound effect on the Mine Layers when you blew them up.

I always used a BOSS Joystick, so I never had the luxury of Smart Bombs.

[DXSnakeEater]

Holy this is way better then for the atari 2600 vcs, heh nice

[robotontoilet]

yeah, man, check out video of the 5200 version if there is one and compare it to the arcade. It was much more fun and captured the "feel" of the arcade much more. One of the few titles that did the 5200 justice. The 5200/Coleco were my last consoles as well. I moved to an Apple 2e.

[xgamer3000]

Too bad the atari 5200 SUCKED.

[robotontoilet]

ugh, no way, not if you've actually played it. Defender on the 5200 was far better. This one had really poor sound and it was SLOW. Even the firing for the ship was terrible, a 1shot-at-a-time mechanism. Though I think the swarmers were implemented better on this version.

[BONESIV]

do you have any plans on continuing wind squid or edit station 1 reviews mark

[KyosukeUrameshi]

They Live was a pretty awesome movie.

[morgangamer22]

COOL

[tandy40]

how do u record the screen like that

[Anarchist86ed]

He used the hubble telescope.

[carnivalofsouls2047]

lol - now that's how you record a game screen!

[191191119]

with a vcr, mini dv tape adapter and camara

[jamkidaruen]

GOOD a rember this game

[carnivalofsouls2047]

Defender is one of my all-time favorite arcade games ever.

[crammage]

true Dat yo!

[kittehLORDZ]

o.o?

[utubehereafter]

(Y) Very Good

[MetalGearNaked]

You must really like your Colecovision.

[themage747]

Is Classic Game Room getting paid to produce these videos ?

[xgamer3000]

I think so. There was this one clue that made me think that this was their job but I forgot what it was.

[themage747]

Ya i mean i looked on his site and he produces domuentrais too. It's just that the audio and editing is way too good to be being done for free, that stuff takes awhile i know. I don't like where youtube is heading with the paid channels. I do enjoy these game videos.

[BONESIV]

if you look at the episode were he gets the saturn it prety much becomes clear that this is part of his job. also i think in the mark and dave interview they refrence working for inecome

[rob99cole]

he is

[themage747]

how can you tell ?

[V1RG1N1AN]

im sure that for their accountants to worry about

[VidCat23]

These recordings are all from the TV?

It would be useful to know how to do that so well. I need to figure that out for myself.

[Leoooonard]

you have a cable from the system in to the vhs or a recording station and youll be able to record your gameplay

[sinistermoon]

Awesome video man. I have put many many hours into different ports of this game.

[stafax]

this looks like a great port of Defender, much better then Defender for 2600.

[maiki60fps]

the scrolling looks smooth even with some parallax effect (there is no HW scrolling on Colecovision)

[delfmeek]

Great review.

Defender will go down in history as one of the best video games of all time.

[wawern]

sweet

[swihac]

Roddy Rowdy Piper??? from WWE???

[starsoldier1]

No Roddy Rowdy Piper the Senator.

[JBHutto]

PUT ON THE GLASSES!!!

[holymanxx]

funny yesterday i was thinking about asking him to reveiw defender

[oblivinater]

is it me..

or does that spaceship look like a tadpole?

[classicfps]

you know, i didnt think that until i read your comment...

[uglypinkmoose]

love defender :P

[marvelmania]

They Live is an awesome movie.

Devender is an awesome game.

Classic Game Room is an awesome show.

Now it's way too dark to wear those big 80s shades, and I'm all out of bubblegum =)

[agenstuall85]

"They Live" reference that's awesome

[ItsEddHomies]

you forgot 1 thing ITS NOT IN HD!!!

[theking21083]

Defender is my favorite game on the Colecovision. I could sit and play for hours at a time. This is one of the best ports of Defender and it is also one of the easiest. The Atari 5200/8-Bit version is also very good but was incredibly more difficult.

[StarInvasion]

whys it called defender? i mean, your hardly defending anything, more just mindlessly blowing up aliens... which donw get me wrong is cool, but why defender?

why not attacker or destroyer?

[Someone0like0me]

i tought u were defending the humans..?they are getting captured by aliens if you dont blow the aliens up and then grab the humans in mid air they die

[airgilbert]

I used to always play this back in the day, good fun.

But I prefer Space Invaders.

[goofydude223]

did you know they made a 3d version of defender i got it for gamecube its not very fun for me

[CyanProductions]

That's because older games can't stand up anymore. Megaman 9 is a perfect example. Some people loved it, But most new gamers hated it.

[goofydude223]

new gamers probably hated because their used to breezing right through everything but with older games like megaman you have to have skill

[CyanProductions]

Megaman was really not that hard, but games are really easy now.

[goofydude223]

thats what i mean

[devilxking2]

Defender, a true classic. Love your reviews. Keep it up.

[CyanProductions]

I am now taking this spot so someone can not say first. Defender is one of the best games ever.

[CyanProductions]

And I have failed.....

[mexicoman101]

I hate that first comment shit.