ATARI 2600 vs INTELLIVISION competitive review by Classic Game Room

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Classic Game Room competitive review compares and talks about the differences, pros and cons vs ATARI 2600 and INTELLIVISION II, two old school game systems with style, personality and lots of great games!
Which is best? Atari 2600 vs Intellivision, Intellivision vs Atari 2600? CGR Competitive review looks at the pros and cons between the venerable Atari 2600 Jr. game console and the Intellivision 2 game system.

[@jefferymcdaniel2707]

I own and collect for both systems, but the Intellivision holds a soft spot for me since it was my first game console. The line about grey hairs and a mortgage was hilarious!

[@WARPUDDY666]

Great vid :) For anybody that doesn't know Mattel made a system changer add-on for the Intellivision II. It plugs into the cart slot and just like Colecovision it allows you to play 2600 carts.

[@FlutterGuy121]

I have my uncle's intellivision 2 that sat in an attic for probably 2 decades. Still works fine and I have the voice synthesis module.

[@gzsfrk]

You didn't even touch on the Intellivoice! That's an add on that really blew my mind in the early 80s. (The ECS as well, although World Series Major League Baseball was the only game I knew that really benefitted from that expansion.)

[@arthurs4964]

My first system was the 2600. My friend had an Intellivision which I sometimes played. While I admit the Intellivision had better graphics, I hated the controller and never bothered ever getting an Intellivision, but stayed a fan of Atari.

[@patsfan4life]

Ditto

[@dallase1]

My Intellivision 1 Works just fine and I even left it on for several days by mistake and it still woks fine and did not burn out.

[@BfDelano]

I'd go for the Super Pro System for the Intellivision. Looks exactly like the original, only without the wood grain. It also doesn't have the compatibility issues of the Intellivision II. Yes, the Atari has a larger library. The Intellivision only had 125 games officially released for it, but there's also new games coming out to this day through homebrew and "newbrew" developers. The homebrew versions of Donkey Kong (D2K) and Ms Pac Man are amazing. There's also a great holiday game called Christmas Carol vs The Ghost of Christmas Presents. And if you like the Intellivision, there are some guys doing a podcast about it called the Intellivisionaries.

[@Xbox_Central_Gaming]

bro. whats up with you. why arnt you using the wood grain atari 2600

[@johndean4727]

its sears version i had it.

[@atarileaf]

I've always thought the older atari heavy or light six switch models were the most reliable and had bad rf shielding for better pictures. However everyone's mileage will vary but that's been my experience.

[@Adamchevy]

atarileaf I agree! My Sears Heavy Sixer is a beautiful thing!

[@kylehazachode]

Mark, please turn off auto-focus on your camera. Just use manual focus, set it and forget it.

[@leonardogonzalez9506]

Both systems where awesome, these were the true video games golden years, Intellivision = quality.....atari = quantity....if I had to pick one it will be the intellivision, IMO its the best game console ever

[@grdurrbass8792]

why dont we play both ?

[@Jarod_Schultz]

I have the 4 switch Vader, and it still works. Many times electronic equipment lasts longer than people assume. I also have 32 carts, and all of them still work.

[@Clay3613]

What about the Atari 7800? It's backwards compatible.

[@Atari2600_Dude]

The atari 2600 had around 500+ original games released, the intellivison only had just over 100.

[@MrTripcore]

And unless every single intellivision game was gold, the atari 2600 is better, because it has at least 100 games worth playing.

[@patsfan4life]

Tripcore I would put that number at about 50 but I get your point

[@madsaltygaming7506]

The Atari 2600 would win for me, but I am biased since the Atari 2600 was my very first video game console back when I was a young child. Ah, the good ole days!

[@MrTripcore]

Just because you are biased, doesn't mean that you're wrong :)

[@ferndog1461]

IntelliVision was built with the idea of actually placing resources on motherboard & snapping up 2600 gamers who wanted more sophisticated games. The Atari was built as being a Pong/Combat player with life expectancy of ~24 months.

[@uriituw]

The Intellivision wins hands-down. Next battle: which is the best Pong clone?

[@allenreynolds2449]

Intellivision is my baby.

[@ericwood3709]

It's kind of funny how NES has nothing like Yar's Revenge, Demon Attack or Berzerk. Those games are so unique compared to everything on later consoles.

[@cgraham6]

Gotta go with Intellivision. My best friend as a kid had one and I'd spend the night at his house for the sole purpose of playing Intellivision all night.

[@omegasupreme1970]

my 2600 is original 1st edition heavey sixer. still works great never had a problem just cleaned it every so often mine is ultra rare as it was a pre release unit. It has carved in the bottom for promotional use only NOT FOR Sale

[@yourgirlfriendtwilightspar5496]

I like the intelivision a lot.

[@dallase1]

Saying Atari is better than Intellivision is like saying NES is better than Genesis.

[@mistertagomago7974]

It is in terms of library. Its also dumb to compare a system that came out in 1983 to one that came out in 1988.

[@wildbilltexas]

Over the years I've seen more used 2600 consoles and games than Intellevision at thrift stores, flea markets, pawn shops etc. I think when the Intellevisions disc controller stopped working or the cable shorted out a lot of them sadly went into the trash.

[@MrTripcore]

plus the fact that the 2600 massively outsold the intellivision

[@marklechman2225]

Never had it fixed. Never had it modified. Never wiped off the pizza that landed on it face-down in 1997.

[@lurkerrekrul]

I seem to recall having trouble getting some of the third-party game cartridges to fit in the 2600 Jr. It didn't actually prevent them from working, but it was quite hard to plug the cartridges in. I think Tigervision carts gave me trouble. Maybe the cartridge port on mine was slightly out of spec?

[@rs3377]

I have a Intellivision II and I just ordered a Atari 7800 and some 2600 games!

[@samthemultimediaman]

INTELLIVISION 2 for the win because i grew up with it!

[@MOS-MHz]

Same my first system was a 2600 aswell, an amazing system and one of a kind. The games have their own feel that no other system can replicate.

[@travishoel3755]

Yars Revenge is The Truxton of the 2600

[@evilash570]

...and river raid is the M.U.S.H.A!

[@purpletentacle6248]

And Berzerk is the Robotron 2084 of the 2600!

[@evilash570]

+Purple Tentacle well done sir! Well done!

[@MrTripcore]

River raid is by far the best game on the system

[@Automatik234]

Please do Virtual Boy vs 32x!

[@grungyperry7530]

Virtual Boy vs. R-Zone lmao

[@elmastaa]

The Virtual Boy has a Wario game I believe so the R-Zone wouldn't even win this battle... No, the real battle would be R-Zone VS Game.Com (aka choose your cancer)

[@jcrowley1985]

What a race for last place.

[@90adriaan]

Still waiting for the Nintendo 64 versus Atari 7800 review you promised some weeks ago. That would be spectacular and intresting.

[@randomgamer-st1ie]

Why compare 2 systems released 3 years apart? Are you going to do a comparison of the NES and Genesis next? Try comparing apples to apples with Intellivision vs. Colecovision.

[@herbiehusker1889]

The original Intellivision is awesome. The woodgrain is the best.

[@scarosone14]

I went from Odyssey 2 to the Colecovision. I skipped both 2600 and intellivision. Colecovision is still my favorite old school system to play and collect. Got a 7800 to play 2600 and 7800 games but never played intellivision.

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Or, go for the ultimate, and get an Intellivision II with the "System Changer" add-on. An Atari 2600 clone that plugs in to your Intellivision! Accepts real Atari joysticks, all games play.

[@joshuajayne8926]

I miss my Atari, Kaboom! and my paddles.

[@drjoshfox]

But does the vectrex have TRUXTON?! I think not

[@Morbatx]

Haha, it's funny you mention the 2600 was your first console so you're more biased towards it. The Intellivision was mine, and I didn't get my 2600 until I was in my teens. I enjoy both (though I'm biased towards the Intellivision)! Sadly, I have no idea what happened to my childhood Intellivision, so my Atari collection is much larger, ironically.

[@marccaselle8108]

When I was a little kid. Most people had a hand me down atari. I only knew of one person that had intellivision and I only got to play it 10 times and enjoyed the games I played on it. I'm waiting or my intellivision system to come in through the mail and I have 11 games coming via ebay. Can't wait. 🙂

[@lexahvalentine8610]

If I'm not mistaken the only games that doesn't work on the intellivision 2 are the coleco games

[@BriansManCave]

I love this! My two favorite systems.

[@djugel]

Please get into the TI99/4a

[@crowningchristopher8273]

2016? Thought it was 2085???? I am thoroughly confused now!

[@Talneharus]

2600 vs Intellivision? Hmmm I pick the beastly 5200! XD

[@joedigger9919]

Wow, these are even before my time (Born December 1979)

[@ii8192ii]

Both Amazing.

[@dallase1]

Intellivision is Better because it's graphics are way better. What Good is more controller options if the games are crappy with crappy graphics and sound and most Atari games are the same due to the limited abilities of the system. Ms Pac Man an Atari is till crap, of course it's better then Pac Man on Atari because any other Pac Man or Pac Man clone on Any System even those amature shareware games you would download of BBS system for the PC is better then Pac Man on the VCS, even the Fairchild Channel F home brew Pac Man is better then Pac Man on the VCS even though the Channel F is a less powerful system then the VCS. The Home Brew of Ms Pac Man on Intellivision proves the Intellivision is a way better system that was definitely a system capable of doing quality home versions of the Arcade games of it's time.

[@TheRPGChick]

Atari 2600 all the way!!! It would've been great if you went more into the different games for both systems (like, which Intellivision games were of better quality than those for the Atari 2600?), but overall, very cool and entertaining video.

[@TheRPGChick]

I don't even know what that looks like. XD

[@TheRPGChick]

Then your comparison makes no sense, heh

[@TheRPGChick]

Oops!

[@TheRPGChick]

Probably Planescape: Torment.

[@TheRPGChick]

The game goes for $10 on gog.com, but I bought it on sale for 1/2 off. I'm not rich. :P

[@meneerjansen00]

Back in the day the Intellivision sucked. I always had to take my Atari with me when I visited my niece and nephew because they had an Intellivision... and hated it.

[@smokingunclefrank6037]

Grey hair no mortgage, my first system too, I'm such a nut I have all the Atari game systems well not all 2600 versions but mine dose have wood grain not to mention the colecovision attachment sadly no Atari 5200 add on😩😩😩😩just get two Vectrex like me play in STEREO

[@Chriserino]

great vid man! i just got an atari 2600. love it. grew up on nes and genesis but imo the atari is by far the better system for playing with your friends.

[@Xgxor]

2016: The year Mark stopped giving a fuck about cable management.

[@JonathanDeane]

When collecting for the 2600... Get a 7800 "Pro" system lol

[@MrTripcore]

The jr. takes up less space

[@kamiboy]

I choose not to choose. I only like the Japanese systems. If i had to choose something I'd choose the PC Engine, old faithful.

[@SweatPantsJoe]

I recently played PAC-MAN on the intellivision. I found the controller to work well with it.

[@Widkey]

There was no Sega Genesis controllers when the Atari 2600 first came out.. there wouldn't be for nearly 10 years.. so that's not really a fair bias.

[@katt-the-pig]

Because Intellivision vs. Colecovision has already been done by The Nerd. =P

[@allluckyseven]

What? You don't make Classic Game Room since 1986? Son, I am disappoint. And, yes, 1986 called and it wants its meme back. By the way... It's funny that game consoles are never going to be different from one another like they were back in the day. As games get more and more complex, and basically only two companies make general purpose or graphics processors, you'll end up getting the same stuff.

[@dallase1]

Nite Stalker is not a Pac Man Clone you don't eat ghosts you shoot robots so it's more of a Bezerk Clone without the changing mazes and it's not as fast paced.

[@ferndog1461]

Bro, I love you, Man!

[@d.vaughn8990]

The Atari 2600 is better to collect for. The 2600 always works! Joystick’s are pleasant to operate and accurate - not to mention plentiful! Intellivision games are amazing, but you can barely find a controller that works properly. It’s beyond frustrating playing (Intellivision) “Lock n’ Chase” and missing every turn! But even if you find a controller that works correctly, the design is just not fun to use - never has been!

[@The-Fishkeeper]

2600 by far.

[@FukugawaUtake]

Have both and both are awesome for different reasons! Both systems aren't too hard or expensive to collect for either.

[@OldCityBob]

Where Atari wins is arcade ports. Intellivision just didn't have the arcade games I wanted to play.

[@Billy2600]

Atari 2600 coupled with a Genesis arcade pad.

[@johneygd]

1 game wich should be compared on both legendary systems is donkeykong,only bad thing is,that donkeykong does not work on the second model intellevision system,that sucks.

[@eternalhalloween1]

The Intellivision would have done better if it had had better controllers. Of these two, I would say go with Atari. I recently got an ATARI FLASHBACK. And it's really cool.

[@InnocentExile69]

Atari by a mile. In its defense, Intellivision was the 1st of the decent game machines with numerous sprites and a framebuffer, but the hardware was poor and under-powered even at the time, especially the abominable controllers. Due to the Atari being designed around the inner workings of a CRT television, amazing things were possible in the right programmer's hands. Games like Space Invaders, Missile Command, Adventure, Pitfall, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Yars Revenge, Kaboom!, Warlords, River Raid, etc. were mind-blowing at the time. And nothing beats those great paddle games for the ultimate in twitch gaming. Even today no console or emulator can duplicate those games' look and playability. Add in the HUGE array of different controllers available, the first game console enhancement add-on (Starpath Supercharger), and the longevity of the system (77-92!!!), and there's no comparison. Heck, the home brew community is STILL making great Atari 2600 games for sale!

[@Michirin9801]

The Colecovision is better than both... Why? Because it's the exact same hardware as the original MSX! (And the Sega SG-1000 to an extent) In other words, it's a more advanced system and well, I can't really go back much farther than the MSX, I'm spoiled by having grown up with 16 bit graphics and sampled soundtracks, but I have a pretty high tolerance for games much older than that (and than me) but even that tolerance can only go so far... I really can't go back to Atari, but I have never tried Intelevision to be honest, but the grafx are still too chunky for my taste... (It sure looks a heck of a lot better than Atari though)

[@brillopad6901]

I prefer the 2600 over the Intellivision but once that NES came out I put my Atari away in the back storage room for at least 20 years before I got it out to even see if it still worked. Still does but it's lame in comparison to the 3rd generation of gaming. If I play anything Atari 2600 it's only for nostalgia reasons today. I remember being so excited for Pac-Man then completely disappointed it was so lame looking. Adventure was always my favorite Atari game.

[@KingLich451]

review 3do to something similar to that... maybe sega cd or another similar old cd console

[@MarkTheMorose]

If I don't see a rash of videos showing woodgrain 2600 Juniors, then I'll know it's time that humankind had run its course.

[@MarkTheMorose]

***** You hear that, viewers? It's easy, so let's see some tasteful woodgrain Juniors. And remember, when it comes to woodgrain, more is always better.

[@memorekz]

If you do Vectrex versus Genesis/Mega Drive, it will bring the End Times.

[@Metal-Possum]

Emerson Arcadia 2001, the games are numbered so you know which ones you're missing. The 2600 had such a huge library, and nobody knows what defines "complete" due to all the unlicensed games released for it. Just kidding, the Arcadia 2001 was more or less a piece of shit. I just bought a licensed clone though, it had a game called "Tanks A Lot", which made me think of you. I think you need to review Tanks A Lot for the Emerson Arcadia 2001, just because of the name alone.

[@LiviuDragon]

my favorite consoles are ps4 and nintendo switch

[@keithcarlson7267]

Colecovision!! Awesome library plus the expansion module plays 2600 games!

[@joedigger9919]

ah yes, back in the day when you could do such things and most likely not get sued. Before my time by a bit but those were the good 'ol days.

[@patsfan4life]

Everything plays better on the Atari 2600

[@pumbaaj]

Ya know what's even cooler than using Intellivision for your videos- Sears Super Video Arcade !!! (That's the generic version of Intellivision.)

[@johneymute]

Both The intelevision 2 and atari 2600 jr do look much more sleecker and cooler in design and while the intelevision 2 is more powerful then the atari 2600 jr ,but the atari 2600 can be upgraded with the super charger cart to add 6KB of video ram to allow better graphics on your atari 2600 to make it nearly on par with the later 8bit systems, Now i really want to have an intelevision 2 over that ugly looking intelevision 1 system,however 1 thing that holds me back is it’s high price on ebay and secondly all nintendo games such as donkeykong and DKjr etc,,, do not work on the intelevision 2 all because of mattel did not adding extra memory for security reasons,instead they just reserved parts of it’s existing memory for validation checks,msaning that games wich does take full advantage of that memory inside it will not work on it,that’s bullshit,shame on you mattel doing that😡

[@fluffyninja3467]

gameboy VS NES (i know they are made both by nintendo, but you must!)

[@awesomeamericanpanda]

I love how all he takes away the #whodefeatz tag and suddenly the same reviews are suddenly less controversial. I personally preferred the whodefeatz style tbh...youtube viewers are so fickle...

[@duke1647]

Ninetheeng Eighty Six or Ninetheeng Eighty Seven.

[@bitknight2336]

Pitfall 2 and kaboom is awesome

[@riverdealer]

atari had more arcade ports

[@doodoobrn]

Check out Intellivania. I'm gonna buy a Mattel now.

[@Sinn0100]

How dare you, I do not see a single Sega Genesis in this review! I think you are going to have too redo this entire video and at least add a Sega Dreamcast. ;) The Intellivision is much stronger than the 2600. The games have aged far better on the Intellivision. Actually the Atari vs. Intellivision is alot like the Xbox One vs PS4. Tje PS4 is a much stronger machine than the stock Xbox One. Many Xbox One games can't hit a proper 1080p...which is sad. Now the Xbox One X is an absolute beast and what I generally play games on. Although I am currently playing Day's Gone on my PSPRO.

[@roastedramen7929]

Hey man I can't I got my for 75$ with orinal Atari and Game Center and games it's my favoret

[@OtterloopB]

Intellivision has the better name.

[@dallase1]

The VCS does not have great arcade ports, it has the worst ports, fluckery washed out graphics amdvhorrible off key music and simplistic sound effects. All the arcade games on Intellivision are great except for Frogger because of the slugish controls and the music is harsh and too loud but the graphics are better. Q*Bert is actually better on Intellivision than Colecovision because it actualy makes a sound for when Q*Bert curses.

[@chadpike4650]

I like the intell but the controller sucks atari controller is better

[@smokingunclefrank6037]

Yes get all the old school game systems and join the wrest of us crazy collectors in the poor house but hay at least you'll be having fun😜😜😜😜

[@MetalBacon64]

I probably won't ever be playing on either of these lol.

[@ethanlautzenhiser4152]

ps2 vs xbox

[@cameronpickard7456]

intellivision was dull

[@philv2529]

unfortunately Atari and Intellivision will not live forever. After the generation that played them dies, so will they.

[@odeiup]

Phil V there’s a thing called parents telling here kids about there old consoles

[@philv2529]

and their kids will know that they existed but wont play them and then the grandkids won't know they even existed.

[@godfatherNYC]

To me, the controller was the deal-breaker with Intellivision. If I remember correctly, Intellivision was quite a bit more expensive for the console and the cartridges, which in the early days was a big deal!

[@busterwise4274]

The atari 2600 has better software

[@zyrgle]

I had an Intellivision II when i was young, and that's why I have an Atari now. Worst. Controller. EVER.