It’s amazing how your memory can play tricks on you. In 1982 I was heading into the 8th grade and my console videogame experience was limited to my Atari 2600 and glimpses of Intellivision at other people’s houses and being hawked by the John Hodgman of the day. But then I saw the ColecoVision which was a burst of color and sound that literally blew me away. It just felt so rich compared to everything else we’d been playing.

In retrospect I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking as it looks pretty bare bones even for the eighties. But I remember the feeling of being impressed by it like it was yesterday. The game that really amazed me was the Smurfs. I remember thinking that it was like they’d brought the cartoon to life in videogame form. Here’s a taste:

It’s likely, I suppose, that it’s not my memory playing tricks, but this is really how I felt. The 2600 graphics were just blocky and crude compared to the polished entity that was the ColecoVision. And I really was blown away. Combine that with the fact that I’m kind of into nostalgia anyway and the memory grows in important. This type of reaction used to happen with each new generation of videogame consoles. For me, it doesn’t any more (with the exception of the Wii). Anyone want to update the Smurfs platformer for a modern console? :)