Are these 1984 Colecovision games really jewels?

The video game crash happened in 1983. The market had become saturated, and it would send that industry into a spiral. But it was not as precipitous a plunge as people might think it was now. Instead, the media and public took a while to realize that it was not business as usual.

I love finding writing from the year after the crash, that seems to not pay any attention to what was happening to video games at the time. Recently I found from May 1984 that talks about the new jewels from Colecovision for 1984. It is an info-packed set of short star-based reviews.

Having played a lot of these games, I would like to share my opinion on them. I actually agree with the author on a lot of these titles, but not all of these 1984 Colecovision games are jewels.

I would like to share my own on these particular 1984 Colecovision games. Mind you, I am a bit of an Atari fan. So my opinion on these games may differ from popular opinion.

Moonsweeper

Moonsweeper for the Atari 2600 is great, but I got to admit I really enjoy the improved graphics on the Colecovision. They add to the game without distracting from the gameplay.

BurgerTime

BurgerTime for Colecovision is a remarkable port, especially when compared to the Atari 2600 version. I was blown away the first time I saw it, it felt perfectly in line with the arcade experience.

Keystone Kaper

I prefer the Atari 2600 version of this game. The sound and gameplay just feels smoother to me. On the Colecovision you do see very improved graphics, but that does not enhance the experience enough for me to want to play it there.

River Raid

Of all the versions of River Raid, the Colecovision port is my least favorite. Sure you have some enhanced graphics, but the sound is hard to take and it does not add much to the gaming experience. The Atari 260 is better, but the Intellivision version is maybe better than them both overall.

Beam Rider

Beam Rider is great on both systems, but while I like the crisp graphics on the Colecovision, I think Atari still did it better. The visuals and sound become overwhelming in what is already a challenging game to process.

Summary

Besides BurgerTime I am not sure any of these games are better outside their improved graphics. This is a perfect example of why the crash would damage the industry and kill games like Colecovision. These 1984 Colecovision games were the same games you could get on any other system. People were not pushing the systems to their limits, nor for the most part creating IP that could be enjoyed just on one system. Add a flood of low quality games to the mix, and you have a recipe for disaster.