Vectrex
Vectrex
Vectrex
Encyclopedia
Copy/paste BY:
DaddaRuleKonge
DaddaRuleKonge
This is book is made for people who collect for or are interested in
the Vectrex. I made this book cause` I like to catalog and categorize
stuff, and to learn more about the system.
I have tried to make the book well presented and easy to look
through. If you are happy with the book then please look at some of
the web-sites on the “Reference Guide” page. Find a site that you
like and give them some spending money.
If you are annoyed, or the owner of some of the content i took from
you, send an email to me: sennep@hotmail.com. The book is free,
and I hope the information and pictures I use comes under free-use.
I hope you will get some use of this book, and maybe help you in
your quest on collecting, or just having fun with this great system.
All rights are NOT reserved. EVERY part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. I do not own anything in
this book. You use part of this publication on your OWN RISK though. As places in this book may have a copyright by the original owner.
Vectrex
wikipedia.com
The Vectrex is a vector display-based months of the buyout, and through a co-
home video game console that was de- branding agreement with Bandai, in Ja-
veloped by Western Technologies/Smith pan as well. However, the Video game
Engineering. crash of 1983 turned Milton Bradley’s
support of the Vectrex into a costly
The idea for the Vectrex was conceived
mistake. In May 1984, Milton Bradley
by John Ross of Smith Engineering in
merged with Hasbro, and the Vectrex was
late 1980. He, Mike Purvis, Tom Sloper,
discontinued a few months after. Over its
and Steve Marking had gone to Electro-
lifetime, it had cost Milton Bradley tens
Mavin, a surplus warehouse in Los An-
of millions of dollars.
geles. They found a 1” cathode ray tube
from a heads-up display and considered Prior to the Vectrex’s discontinuation, a
that a small electronic game could be successor console with color screen had
be made of this. A demonstration of a vector-draw- been planned. After the rights reverted to Smith En-
ing cathode ray tube display was made by connect- gineering, the company made plans to revive the
ing the deflection yoke in a standard television to Vectrex as a handheld, but the imminent arrival of
the channels of a stereo amplifier fed with music Nintendo’s Game Boy put an end to those plans. In
program material. An axillary yoke was used to the mid-1990s, Jay Smith, then head of Smith En-
keep the raster television’s horizontal fly-back high- gineering, released the Vectrex product line into the
voltage system running. The demo led to a system public domain.
originally conceived as a handheld called the Mini
The Vectrex was the first and only home-based sys-
Arcade, but as Smith Engineering shopped the idea
tem to ever use a vector-based screen. It was also the
around to developers, it evolved into a tabletop with
first home system to offer a 3D peripheral (the Vec-
nine-inch screen.
trex 3D Imager), in 1984, predating the Sega Master
The system was ultimately licensed to General Con- System’s SegaScope 3D by several years.
sumer Electronics in 1981. After an exceptionally
The Vectrex was a commercial failure, due in part
brief hardware and software development period,
to its release just prior to the North American video
the Vectrex was unveiled in July of the following
game crash of 1983. However, it retains a small, de-
year at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in
voted fan base. In addition, critics have praised the
Chicago. It was released to the public in November,
system’s durability, the design of its controllers, and
just in time for the holidays. The launch sales were
its library of games.
strong enough that Milton Bradley bought out Gen-
eral Consumer Electronics in early 1983. Since late 1995, there is a Usenet Vectrex commu-
nity that creates homebrew games for ParaJVE, a
Milton Bradley’s greater resources allowed the Vec-
Vectrex emulator.
trex to be released in parts of Europe within a few
Design
The computer and vector generator were designed The cathode ray tube is a Samsung model 240RB40
by Gerry Karr. The computer runs the game’s com- monochrome unit measuring 9 × 11 inches, display-
puter code, watches the user’s inputs, runs the sound ing a picture of 240 mm diagonal; it is an off-the-
generator, and controls the vector generator to make shelf picture tube manufactured for small black/
the screen drawings. The vector generator is an all- white television sets. The brightness of the CRT is
analog design using two integrators: X and Y. The controlled using a circular knob on the back of the
computer sets the integration rates using a digital- display. A vector CRT display such as the one in the
to-analog converter. The computer controls the inte- Vectrex does not require a special tube, and differs
gration time by momentarily closing electronic ana- from standard raster-based television sets only in the
log switches within the operational-amplifier based control circuits. Rather than use sawtooth waves to
integrator circuits. Voltage ramps are produced that direct the internal electron beam in a raster pattern,
the monitor uses to steer the electron beam over the computer-controlled integrators feed linear amplifi-
face of the phosphor screen of the cathode ray tube. ers to drive the deflection yoke. This yoke has simi-
Another signal is generated that controls the bright- lar, if not identical inductances, unlike a TV deflec-
ness of the line. tion yoke. The yoke uses a standard TV core. The
high-voltage transformer also uses a standard core
and bobbin. There is special circuitry to turn off the
electron beam if the vector generator stops or fails.
This prevents burning of the screen’s phosphors.
This design is a great deal smaller than the electron-
ics found in the free-standing, full-sized Asteroids.
Early units have a very audible “buzzing” from the
built-in speaker that reacts to the graphics gener-
ated on screen. This is due to improper production
grounding of signal lines of the low-level audio cir-
cuitry, and was eventually resolved in later produc-
tion models. A “ground loop” had been created by
a grounding strap added in production to meet U.S.
Federal Communications Commission signal radia-
tion requirements. This idiosyncrasy has become a
familiar characteristic of the machine.
CONTENT
Vectrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
You are Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Vectrex Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3D Crazy Coaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3D MineStorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3D Narrow Escape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
AnimAction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Armor Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Art Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Bedlam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Berzerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Blitz! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Clean Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cosmic Chasm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Fortress of Narzod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Heads Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Hyperchase Auto Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Melody Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
MineStorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Mine Storm II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Mr. Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Polar Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Pole Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Rip-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Scramble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Solar Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Space Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Spike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Spinball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6
Star Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Star Trek: The Motion Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Starhawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Web Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Homebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Peripherals and Collector items
3-D Imager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Light pen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Playstation to Vectrex Controller Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Spectrum I+ Stress Tester Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Mini-Cade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Vectrex Regeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Checklist
US Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Canadian Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
European Games - Made in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
European Games - Made in Rep. of Ire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Bandai Japanese Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Homebrew/Cancelled/Prototype Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7
Reference Guide
These are web sites that i use alot for pictures/screenshots, reference and much of the information. If I have not
used wikipedia on a game description, then I have tried to credit it at the bottom of the text.
I can recommend all of these websites, as they are very informative and fun to look through. If you are the owner
of one of these sites and feel that i have done you wrong, then please send me an e-mail and i will make the neces-
sary change to your wish.
GameFAQs
“Founded in 1995, GameFAQs has over 40000 video game FAQs, Guides and
Walkthroughs, over 250000 cheat codes, and over 100000 reviews.”
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
Vectrex Wikia
“Welcome to the Vectrex wiki! A place for all Vectrexians to gather to discuss the
best -- and only -- vector gaming system ever made! ”
•Used for some pictures and information.
A good wiki on the Vectrex. It feature several articles on the system, with pictures
and detailed information.
http://vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/Vectrex_Wiki
8
Vectrex Museum
“The most ambitious and unusual Home Arcade System ever released”
http://vectrexmuseum.com/
A webiste that featue different topics like politics, entertainment, money and tech.
It also feature (what i found) a great rarity score on the vectrex.
http://www.vectrexnews.com/
“This guide began as a chronicle of all previously produced Homebrew games and
accessories made for the Vectrex and has been expanded to also include all origi-
nally released games.”
9
Vectrex Games
This is the main portion of the book. A collection of every official Vectrex game with cover art, title/overlay
screen, a screen-shot and some information about the game.
Page Break-Down
This is a break-down on what the pages consist of:
B C
A E
5.9 Clean Sweep
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Maze
G F D
A. Cover-Art
This represent the North-American cover art. I used GameFAQs for much of the pictures.
B. Info
This is the Info box. I used mainly wikipedia, mobygames and Vectrex museum for help for infor-
mation on the information. In the info or trivia section, I wanted some content that would reflect
on what the game is about, or an interest part of trivia. If I used another site for information and
10
did a direct transcript, I would try to credit the source material. The credit is in italic.
C. Title Screen/Overlay
This is a screenshot from the title screen of the game, found wherever. More often then not on
gametrailers.com or mobygames.com. If they game had a overlay, it would be present here.
D. Screen-shot
This is a random screenshot from the game. I mainly used gametrailers or mobygames.com.
E. Web Reviews
The review score SHOULD and MUST be taken with a grain of salt. I used the review score from
“GameFAQs.com”, cause` they can often be seen as fair, as they usually are reviews by several
users. Though, some of the more obscure games often had few reviews, and could be seen as bi-
ased. If the site did not have a review, i would not include one.
F. Rarity
In this section is used the rarity info found on Vectrex Internet News. The rarity scale is a general
indicator of how easy or difficult it is to come across a game. The scale starts at 1 (very easy to
find) and finishes at 10 (nearly impossible to locate). The rarity scale is include five sets. US
(North-America), CA (Canada), EU (Europe), IR (Ireland) and JP (Japan). Remember, you should
just take these scores with a grain of salt, and should only be used as a refrence point, and not to
be taken all too literally.
G. Release
These indicate what sort of release the game had. Red “N” for North-America and blue “P” for
PAL/European, and “JP” for Japan. The information are from Vectrex Internet News.
.
11
9.0 3D Crazy Coaster
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher Milton Bradley
Release date 1983
Genre Simulation
3D MineStorm
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1983
Genre Shooter
“vectrex.wikia.com”
12
3D Narrow Escape 8.7
“vectrex.wikia.com”
AnimAction 7.6
AnimAction is one of the Vectrex titles that requires the light pen
accessory to operate. The light pen pack-in cartridge Art Master,
only had rudimentary animation capabilities. AnimAction takes
animating the vector based artwork to another level.
An interesting fact about the AnimAction cartridge is that it is
not on any of the the aftermarket multi-carts because it had extra
memory built in to save the artwork, making it a more desirable
US Rarity: 6
program cartridge for a Vectrex collection.
“geekvintage.com”
13
7.8 Armor Attack
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Shooter
Art Master came packaged in with the Vectrex Light Pen and was
a program that allowed users to draw vector graphics right on the
screen.
This cartridge required the Vectrex Light Pen accessory. There
were three modes; Sketch, connect and animate. Providing end-
less hours of creativity and exercising the imagination.
US Rarity: 6
“geekvintage.com”
14
Bedlam 7.4
Berzerk 7.6
Players have been sent into a building infested with robots, and
must do their best to clear it out. Each rooms has a number of
walls through the middle, which restrict the movement. There will
be a number of bad guys in the room - on early screens they may
be immobile and not shoot at players, but after a few levels they
become capable of shooting in multiple directions. Players can
shoot at them in 8 directions, but can’t shoot diagonally while
moving. There are gaps at the side of each room, through which US Rarity: 3
they exit, before or after clearing the room (there is a bonus for CA Rarity: 5
clearance). Players get an extra life every 2000 points. EU Rarity: 5
IR Rarity: 4
“mobygames.com” JP Rarity: 8
15
7.3 Blitz!
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Sports
Blitz! is one of the oldest football games, using X’s and O’s using
a top-down look on a football field with four options a piece for
offense and defense. Two player game play is supported through
an additional control panel. There are three game options that
change the game’s speed and difficulty.
In Europe, Blitz! was subtitled American Football, in the US
the subtitle was Action Football (perhaps a licensing issue at the
US Rarity: 3
CA Rarity: 6
time). It was not available in Japan.
EU Rarity: 5
IR Rarity: 5
16
Cosmic Chasm 7.6
Cosmic Chasm was a color vector arcade game created for the
arcades by Cinematronics in 1983, but was originally a game cre-
ated by GCE for the Vectrex home game system.
The player controls a space ship armed with lasers and shields
on a mission to destroy the Cosmic Chasm space station from
the inside out. Each room of the space station has protector ships
that attack the player directly and a center that slowly expands
US Rarity: 3
thus forcing the player not to linger in the room for too long after CA Rarity: 5
defeating the protector ships. The player must shoot away force EU Rarity: 4
fields that protect the exits in order to traverse the corridors that IR Rarity: 4
lead to other rooms. JP Rarity: 7
17
7.3 Heads Up
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher Milton Bradley Ltd.
Release date 1983
Genre Sports
18
Melody Master 7.2
“geekvintage.com”
MineStorm 7.3
19
Mine Storm II
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1983
Genre Shooter
One of the built-in versions of Mine Storm had a glitch that made
the game crash at level 13, so GCE decided to send a copy of Mine
Storm 2 to gamers that wrote to the company and complained.
This game is rare, because most of the gamers didn’t know about
the offer, and also because not many gamers got to level 13.
US Rarity: 8
“vectrex.wikia.com”
Mr. Boston
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1983
Genre Maze
This rare game is one of the most sought Vectrex items. The liquor
company Mr. Boston gave out a limited number of customized
cartridges of Clean Sweep. The box had a Mr. Boston sticker on it.
The overlay was basically the regular Clean Sweep overlay with
the Mr. Boston name, logo, and copyright info running up either
side. The game itself had custom text, and the player controlled a
top hat rather than a vacuum.
US Rarity: 10
Very few (four?) cartridges are known to exist. The last Mr Boston
Cart sold for $3400.00 plus a boxed Bandai Vectrex. It is listed at
gamesniped.com as number seven of the ten worlds most expen-
sive video games ever.
20
Polar Rescue 7.8
21
5.3 Rip-Off
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Shooter
8.4 Scramble
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Shooter
22
Solar Quest 7.5
23
7.9 Spike
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1983
Genre Platformer
8.7 Spinball
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1983
Genre Pinball
24
Star Castle 7.8
25
6.6 Starhawk
Developer General Consumer Electronics
Publisher General Consumer Electronics
Release date 1982
Genre Shooter
The player slips into the role of Hawk King. His mission is to
search the Web of Fantasy for certain legendary creatures and col-
lect them all.
The Hawk King is controlled in a third person perspective, flying
through the Web. The 20 creatures that can be captured are pro-
tected by drones, which can in turn be destroyed with the blaster
weapon. Other actions the player can take is speeding up or slow-
US Rarity: 3
CA Rarity: 5
ing down the Hawk King, and extending a rod to capture a rare
EU Rarity: 5 species once the player encounters one.
IR Rarity: 5
“mobygames.com”
26
Homebrew
The Vectrex has an extremely active, loyal, and old homebrew community, which has produced multiple emula-
tors, entirely new games, and designed their own peripherals for use on the Vectrex. The available game library
has effectively doubled in size in the last 15 years.
Included on these pages are some of the homebrews released. More were released, and often in several different
verstions (i.e. limited editions). For more on the Vetrex homebrew scene, please visit vectrexmuseum.com.
3D Lord of the Robots was limited to 100 copies, all of which had
a special engraved metal box label.
All Good Things was the world’s first 16K Vectrex cartridge. A
compilation with: Rockaroids, More Invaders!, Vectrex Blocks
(aka Vectris) and Spike’s Water Balloons. It also include a “secret
puzzle game”, 23 Matches.
Becky’s Message
Developer Dan Siewers
Release date 2004
Genre Platformer
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City Bomber
Developer Andrew “Andy” Coleman
Release date 2007
Genre Action
Based on an old VIC-20 title called ‘Blitz’. The plane flies above
an abandoned city, slowly descending towards the buildings. The
only hope of survival is to destroy the towering city blocks be-
neath the plane to clear a runway for the plane to land on.
Color Clash
Developer Revival Studios
Release date 2006
Genre Action
Continuum
Developer George Pelonis
Release date 2010
Genre Puzzle
.
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Debris Exclusive Edition
Developer Revival Studios
Release date 2005
Genre Shooter
This edition was limited to 20 and were all numbered within the
box and on a (included) signed Certificate of Authenticity by crea-
tor, Martijn Wenting. This was the only edition of Debris which
came with an overlay and offset-printed box.
Debris Revisited
Developer Revival Studios
Release date 2010
Genre Shooter
Gravitrex
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 2002
Genre Shooter
.
I, Cyborg
Developer George Pelonis
Release date 2004
Genre Action
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Koko’s Retribution
Developer Dan Siewers
Release date 2004
Genre Shooter
Logo
Developer vectorzoa.com
Release date 2006
Genre non-game
LOGO (based on the original Logo learning tool from the 1980’s)
is a programming language for Vectrex. Fans of the LightPen pro-
grams will find LOGO to be much more involved, with tons of
features.
Minestorm III
Developer Fred Taft
Release date 2001
Genre Shooter
Fred Taft modified the Minestorm code, so that the level 13 bug
is no longer present. In addition, he added the concept of ‘stages’.
When the game first starts, the first 13 levels are ‘stage 1’. Then
players move onto the 13 levels of stage 2.
Moon Lander
Developer Clay Cowgill & Chris Salomon
Release date 2000
Genre Action
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Nebula Commander
Developer Craig Aker
Release date 2005
Genre Action
Omega Chase
Developer Christopher Tumber
Release date 1998
Genre Shooter
Patriots
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 1996
Genre Action
This was Dondzila 2nd game. After this one he also made Patri-
ots Remix and Patriots III. The game is based on Atari’s Missile
Command. It also includes a hidden game, Breakout.
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Pitcher’s Duel
Developer n/a
Release date 2007
Genre Sports
Pitcher’s Duel was found though a private sale and was held until
a high quality release could be done. It was released at Classic
Gaming Expo 2007 in retro-styled reproduction Vectrex box, and
also as a loose cartridge.
Protector/Y*A*S*I
Developer Alex Herbert
Release date 2003
Genre Compilation
Pythagoran Theorem
Developer Rob Mitchell
Release date 2002
Genre non-game
Revector
Developer Craig Aker
Release date 2004
Genre Shooter
.
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Rockaroids Remix
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 1996
Genre Shooter
Royal 21
Developer FURY
Release date August 8, 2009
Genre Cards
33
Sean Kelly’s Vectrex Multi-Cart V 2
Developer Sean Kelly
Release date 200
Genre Compilation
Sectis
Developer FURY
Release date 2010
Genre Shooter
3D Sector-X
Developer FURY
Release date 2010
Genre Shooter
Shifted!
Developer Revival Studios
Release date 2011
Genre Puzzle
.
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Space Frenzy
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 2006
Genre Shooter
.
Spike Hoppin’
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 1998
Genre Action
Spike’s Spree/VeCaves
Developer Mark De Smet
Release date 2002
Genre Compilation
Players must help out hero, Spike, win Molly’s affections by win-
ning a wet and wild game of water balloon catch. The game can
be played with a standard Vectrex controller or a modified Atari
2600 Paddle controller.
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Spikes Circus
Developer Alex Nicholson
Release date 2006
Genre Action
Spinnerama
Developer Chris Tumber
Release date 2002
Genre Compilation
Star Sling
Developer Alex Nicholson
Release date 2006
Genre Action
In Star Sling, the player must match two or more like asteroids on
the screen by slinging them together in order to make them ex-
plode and disappear. A Turbo Edition and Limited Edition of the
game were also released, the latter came with an overlay.
Sundance
Developer FURY
Release date 2011
Genre Puzzle
36
Thrust
Developer Ville Krumlinde
Release date 2004
Genre Shooter
Tsunami/VIX
Developer Christopher Tumber
Release date 2002
Genre Compilation
V-Frogger
Developer Chris Salomon
Release date 1998
Genre Action
V-Hockey
Developer Revival Studios
Release date 2010
Genre Sports
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Vec Sports Boxing
Developer Manu Pärssinen
Release date 2002
Genre Sports
Vec Sports Boxing has both a one player mode and a two player
mode. In one player mode, the player controls a boxer who is
training to become the top fighter. In two player mode, the players
control boxers who are sparring.
Tour De France
Developer Mark Indictor
Release date 1983
Genre Sports
Vecmania
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 1999
Genre Compilation
Vectopia
Developer John Dondzila
Release date 2001
Genre Compilation
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Vector 21
Developer George Pelonis
Release date 2006
Genre Cards
Vectrexians
Developer Kristof Tuts
Release date 2008
Genre Shooter
.
War of the Robots
Developer George Pelonis
Release date 2003
Genre Shooter
,
Zantis
Developer George Pelonis
Release date 2013
Genre Shooter
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Peripherals and Collector items
3-D Imager
The 3-D imager, invented by John Ross, turns the 2-D black-and-white
images drawn by the Vectrex into a color 3-D experience. The imager
works by spinning a disk in front of the viewer’s eyes. The disk is black
for 180 degrees and then has 60 degree wedges of transparent red, green,
and blue filters. The user looks through this to the Vectrex screen. The
Vectrex synchronizes the rotation of the disk to the software frame rate as
it draws 6 screens: with the right eye covered: the left eye red image, then
green, and then the blue image is drawn... and then, while the left eye is
covered by the black 180 degree sector: the right eye red, green, and then
the blue image is drawn. Only one eye will see the Vectrex screen and its
3 associated images (or colors) at any one time while the other will be
blocked by the 180 degree mask. The prototype was made in the plastic
casework of a Viewmaster. The disc spins freely and is driven by a motor.
The Vectrex software generates its own frame-rate and compares it to an
index signal from the glasses once per revolution. Score is kept of how many wheel rotations are early compared
to the software frame rate, and how many are late. The software tries to keep these two trends equal by adjusting
the power being delivered to the motor that spins the filter and mask wheel. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is
used to control the motor speed: the ratio of the “on” time versus the “off” time of a rapid stream of power pulses
to the motor. In this way the software synchronizes the wheel rotation to the software’s frame rate, or drawing
time, for the combined and repeating group of up to 6 evolving images.
A single object that does not lie on the plane of the monitor (i.e., in
front of or into the monitor) is drawn at least twice to provide in-
formation for each eye. The distance between the duplicate images
and the angles from which they are drawn will determine where the
object will appear to “be” in 3-D space. The 3-D illusion is also en-
hanced by adjusting the brightness of the object (dimming objects
in the background). Spinning the disk at a high enough speed will
fool the viewer’s eyes/brain into thinking that the multiple images
it is seeing are two different views of the same object due to the
persistence of vision. This creates the impression of 3-D and color.
The same 3-D effect is in fact possible with raster or film-projec-
tion images, and the shutter glasses used in some 3-D theaters and
virtual reality theme park rides work on the same principle.
40
Light pen
The light pen allows the user to “draw”, to create images and
to indicate, on the screen. It has a photo-detector that can see
the bright spot of the vector-drawing display monitor when it
goes by under the light pen’s position where it is being held
to the screen. The photo-detector feeds internal pulse-catching
circuits that tell the Vectrex and its software of the event. The
prototype was made in the plastic casework of a Marks-A-Lot
felt-tipped marker pen. The Vectrex draws a spider-web-like search-pattern to track the pen’s location. The soft-
ware changes the pattern size as the pen changes motions and velocity in an attempt keep a continuous lock on the
pen’s position. The Vectrex light pen was also invented by John Ross.
“vectrexmuseum.com”
41
The Mini-Cade
Before the Mini-Cade was discovered, it was rumored to exist as several
people reminded an arcade cabinet in the public areas playing Minestorm.
This could be the system they saw. There are seven systems known to ex-
ist. Two systems were found in the Massachusetts state.
The Minicade is a table-top arcade system that was built in 1982 by a so-
ciety named ESI in the Boston area in the USA. The Mini-Cade is interest-
ing for the Vectrex collectors because it’s built arround a vectrex system.
It’s like if the Vectrex system was taken back to its original roots: after all,
the Vectrex was made to bring home the arcade excitement.
42
Vectrex Regeneration
Developer Rantmedia Games
Format iOS
Release date 2012
Size 148 MB
Genre Compilation
At startup, the app drops players into an ex- fied to hook into Game Center leaderboard
quisitely detailed ‘80s kid’s bedroom (some and achievement systems, to add a competi-
of players may have seen it before...). They tive element, absent from the original.
can pan about the 3D-rendered room, moving
The game feature the standard, on-screen
from item to item. Most importantly, on the
controls. These involve a virtual analog stick
desk is the Vectrex. Over there on the wall are
and four action buttons. The buttons can be
the game shelves. And over the bed, there, is
stretched, rotated, and moved around the
the leader(chalk)board, and right over there
screen to the players liking, and the stick is
is the achievement corkboard, next to the me-
the sort that lands and centers wherever they
dia shelf, with photos from early app produc-
press on the screen.
tion and videotapes of Vectrex TV ads that
can be played on the VCR over in the corner. Games include: Armor Attack, Bedlam,
Berzerk, Blitz, Cosmic Chasm, Fortress
After pulling a 3D-rendered game box from
of Narzod, Heads Up, Hyper Chase, Min-
the shelf (instructions are there if one would
eStorm, Pole Position, Rip-Off, Scramble,
care for a glance), they can send it to the
Solar Quest, Spike, Star Castle, Star Ship,
Vectrex on the desk for a quick play. In that
Starhawk, and Web Wars. And four indie ti-
virtual Vectrex runs a Vectrex emulator that
tles: Continuum, Thrust, Vector21 and War of
renders the games to the iOS screen. And,
the Robots.
fortunately, there is probably no other screen
anywhere that could better approximate pix- The free Vectrex Regeneration download
el-less vectorscope renderings than an iOS comes bundled with the original release Min-
Retina display. Not only is the display crisp eStorm, the Asteroids-like game that came
and smooth, but there is a nice, affected flick- built into every Vectrex, as well as the four
er to the vectors that makes the experience all listed indie titles. The rest of the listed origi-
the more authentic. nal titles can be had via the Mega Pack that
can be purchased within the app for $6.99.
As for the aforementioned games -- they
aren’t just carbon-copy replicas of the origi- TouchArcade Rating: 4/5 stars
nal ROM cartridges; they have been modi-
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Checklist
These two pages consist of every official Vectrex game. The games are listed in five categories.
I used the rarity list by Martijn Wenting on Vectrex Internet News for making this list.
The Checklist are made for people to cross out the games they have. “C” measn the cart, or CD. “I” is the manual/
information/overlay, etc. “B” is the box. And “S” is for collectors who collect sealed games.
US Games
Game Title Game-ID Pg C I B S
Animaction VT 3604 13
Armor Attack VT 3301 14
Art Master VT 3601 14
Bedlam VT 3305 15
Berzerk VT 3302 15
Blitz! VT 3202 16
Clean Sweep VT 3303 16
Cosmic Chasm VT 3101 17
Crazy Coaster 3D VT 3634 12
Fortress of Narzod VT 3304 17
Heads-Up VT 3203 18
Hyper Chase VT 3201 18
Melody Master VT 3602 19
Minestorm VT 3000 19
Minestorm 3D VT 3632 12
Minestorm II VT 3000 20
Minestorm II, ver.2 VT 3000 20
Mr.Boston n/a 20
Narrow Escape 3D VT 3633 13
Polar Rescue VT 3308 21
Pole Position VT 3206 21
Rip Off VT 3102 22
Scramble VT 3103 22
Solar Quest VT 3104 23
44
Game Title Game-ID Pg C I B S
Space Wars VT 3105 23
Spike VT 3306 24
Spinball VT 3204 24
Star Castle VT 3109 25
Star Hawk VT 3106 26
Star Trek VT 3107 25
Web Wars VT 3108 26
CA Games
Game Title Game-ID Pg C I B S
Armor Attack 3301-C1 14
Bedlam 3305-C1 15
Berzerk 3302-C1 15
Blitz! 3202-C1 16
Clean Sweep 3303-C1 16
Cosmic Chasm 3101-C1 17
Fortress of Narzod 3304-C1 17
Heads-Up Action Soccer 3203-C1 18
Hyper Chase 3201-C1 18
Minestorm 3000-C1 19
Rip Off 3102-C1 22
Scramble 3103-C1 22
Solar Quest 3104-C1 23
Space Wars 3105-C1 23
Spike 3306-C1 24
Spinball 3204-C1 24
Star Hawk 3106-C1 26
Star Trek 3107-C1 25
Web Wars 3108-C1 26
Star Castle (has not been known to exist?) n/a 25
45
European Games (Made in Hong Kong)
Game Title Game-ID Pg C I B S
Armor Attack 602-8124-72 14
Bedlam 602-8134-72 15
Berzerk 602-8123-72 15
Blitz! 602-8131-72 16
Clean Sweep 602-8122-72 16
Cosmic Chasm 602-8126-72 17
Flipper/Pinball 602-8133-72 24
Fortress of Narzod 602-8132-72 17
Hyper Chase 602-8128-72 18
Minestorm n/a 19
Rip Off 602-8129-72 22
Scramble 602-8120-72 22
Solar Quest 602-8121-72 23
Space Wars 602-8130-72 23
Soccer Football 602-8135-72 18
Spike 602-8137-72 24
Star Hawk 602-8127-72 26
Star Ship 602-8125-72 25
Web Warp 602-8136-72 26
46
Hyper Chase 602-8128-72 18
Minestorm n/a 19
Rip Off 602-8129-72 22
Scramble 602-8120-72 22
Solar Quest 602-8121-72 23
Space Wars 602-8130-72 23
Soccer Football 602-8135-72 18
Spike 602-8137-72 24
Star Hawk 602-8127-72 26
Star Ship 602-8125-72 25
Web Warp 602-8136-72 26
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Homebrew/Cancelled/Prototype Games
This list include homebrew games. I used the homebrew list from vectrexmuseum.com.
M Modern release (coded after 1995), some not on cartridge.
P A prototype or a binary exists.
PM A prototype or a binary exists. Has had a modern release (after 1995).
R Only rumors or vague mentions of the title exist.
W Work in Progress (click on game’s name for more info)
48
Game Title Note Compilation Pack Limited Pg C I B S
Debris Exclusive Edition M 20 29
Debris Limited Edition M 80 28
Demo 3D R X
Disc Duel Demo M Vecmania 38
Engine Analyzer PM X
Exec ROM Version B R X
Exec ROM Version C R X
Exec ROM Version D R X
Expander + BASIC R X
Exploring the Solar System R X
Gold R X
Gravitrex M 29
Hangman R X
I, Cyborg M 29
I, Cyborg Edition X M 10 29
I, Cyborg Omega Edition M 1 29
Imagine R X
Koko’s Retribution M 30
Laser Ball R X
LOGO M 30
Mad Planetoids Demo M Vectopia 38
Mail Plane P X
Minestorm III M 30
Missile Lords W X
Moon Lander M 30
More Invaders! M All Good Things 27
Music Maestro R X
Narrow Escape 2D M X
Nebula Commander M 31
Newport Cigarettes Promo Cart R X
Nonagalf W X
Omega Chase M 31
49
Game Title Note Compilation Pack Limited Pg C I B S
Omega Chase Deluxe M 31
Omega Chase Deluxe Trained M X
Paratroopers M Gravitrex 29
Patriots III M Gravitrex 29
Patriots Remix M Vecmania 38
Patriots M 31
Paul Slocum Vectrex Art M X
Pitcher’s Duel aka Batter Up Action Baseball PM 32
Polar Rescue Prototype PM X
Pole Position 3D P X
Pop W X
Power Trip R X
Protector M 32
Protector Limited Edition M X
Pythagoran Theorem M 32
QAC, Quality Assurance Cartridge R X
Repulse M Vecmania 38
Revector M 32
Ring of Fire R X
Robotron Clone W X
Rockaroids M All Good Things 27
Rockaroids Remix 3rd Rock M Vecmania 38
Rockaroids Remix M 33
Ronen’s Game Cart M 33
Rounders W X
Sledge 3D P X
Snowball R X
Space Frenzy M 35
Spikes Circus W X
Spike Goes Down M Protector 32
Spike Goes Skiing W X
Spike Hoppin’ M All Good Things 27
50
Game Title Note Compilation Pack Limited Pg C I B S
Spike’s Slam Pit W X
Spike’s Spree M VeCaves 35
Spike’s Water Balloons M All Good Things 27
Spike’s Water Balloons Analog M Vectopia 38
Spinnerama M 36
Spudster’s Revenge W X
Star Fire Level 1 Demo M Vectopia 38
Star Fire Level 2 Demo M Vectopia 38
Star Fire Spirits M Vecmania 38
Star Fury 2D W X
Star Fury 3D W X
Star Fury 3D Visual Demo M Vector 21 39
Star Fury Demo M Vectopia 38
Star Sling Freeware Edition M (only on ROM file) 36
Star Sling Premium Limited Edition M 25 36
Star Sling Turbo Edition M 36
Star Trek Debugged PM X
Stress Tester P X
Super Spike World W X
Test Cartridge revision 4 PM X
The Sound Studio R X
Thrust M 37
Tour De France PM X
Trakkers M Vectopia 38
Tsunami M 37
Tsunami Trained M X
Unknown puzzle game? W X
Unknown Spike card game? W X
Untitled (Astro) W X
UTG W X
Vaboom M Ronen’s Game Cart 33
War of the Robots M 39
51
Game Title Note Compilation Pack Limited Pg C I B S
War of the Robots Bow to the Queen Edition M (only on ROM file) 39
War of the Robots CGE2K3 Edition M 1 39
War of the Robots Omega Edition M 1 39
War of the Robots the Freeware Edition M (only on ROM file) 39
VeCathlon W X
VeCaves M 35
Vecmania M 38
VecSports Boxing M 38
VecSports Boxing LE M 13 38
VecSports Kingpin W X
Vectopia M 38
Vector 21 M 100 39
Vector 21 A Fistful of Wildcards! M 21 39
Vector 21 Omega Edition M 1 39
Vector Patrol W X
Vector Pilot W X
Vector Vaders M X
Vector Vaders Remix M X
Vectorion W X
Vectrace M X
Vectrepede M X
Vectrexians W X
Vectris M X
Vectropolis 500 Demo M X
Verzerk M X
V-Frogger M 37
VIX Trained M X
VIX M 37
Wormhole M X
VPong M X
Xudoku M X
Zap M X
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