I have never been so baffled by a game that I don't even know how to articulate my thoughts. Intellivision Lives! is maddening at how much it twists your perception of an era of gaming that many hold dear. With a collection of over 60 Intellivision titles in a single cartridge, this is easily the most comprehensive Intellivision experience you can buy, but that doesn't really say much, does it? Although I am too young to remember a time when Intellivision was a "new" thing, I do recall owning a console when I was younger and I remember being somewhat underwhelmed, but I never remembered it being this bad.
Sure, the crude graphics are primitive by today's standards, but the blocky pixels were always meant to serve as a representation of your imagination, much like a Monopoly board piece. Unfortunately, my imagination grew with me and looking back on on these games 28 years later has not been kind. Basic shapes inhabit even simpler backgrounds with two-frame animations that force an appreciation for the current standards of videogames.
Although, Intellivision Lives!' primitive design isn't just limited to the visuals; the sharp cacophony of "bleeps" and "blips" will make your ears bleed as you try to decipher any sort of message from the raucous. What's worse is that many games were only programmed with a single audio track back then, so the sound effects and the music were occupying the same space so music frequently skips for a split second as a sound effect activates. It is grating and irritating after just a few minutes and it is still amazing how an entire generation of gamers was able to put up with such shoddy standards.
