10 Best Colecovision Games That You Should Know Update 04/2024

best colecovision games

During the early 1980s, Coleco Industries made a machine called the ColecoVision that was more powerful than anything else. Most people know Atari consoles or the NES.

The ColecoVision, which was sold as “the arcade-quality video game system,” is known for its smooth gameplay and bright colours. It was also one of the few “home arcade” consoles that didn’t flicker when you played games.

Even though its sales and general prospects were hurt by the video game crash of 1983, it still had a lot of fans.

It was also hard for ColecoVision to get games from Nintendo after the NES came out, because Nintendo had very strict licencing rules.

Eventually, the system and the company that made it went out of business. Failed to remember: Gone but not forgotten.

We’re looking back at this great console and celebrating the best games that were made for Coleco’s old gaming system.

Mouse Trap (1982)

Mouse Trap (1982)

The ColecoVision game Mouse Trap is a lot like Pac-Man, so if you like Pac-Man, you should play it.

Pac-ghosts Man’s aren’t really ghosts at all. Instead, you control a mouse who is trying to eat cheese and other goodies while avoiding ferocious cats, which are this game’s take on ghosts.

Most of the game’s basic mechanics are the same, but there are a few unique twists that make it stand out from the typical pill chomper.

This includes changing the speed of the cats that are following you based on how well you do.

If you try this, keep an eye on the sky. In the game, a hawk could come and eat you at any time.

Spy Hunter (1984)

Having worked on racer arcade cabinets like Sprint and Pole Position put this game designer in a great position to make one of the first examples of a vehicular combat game, Spy Hunter.

If you don’t want to run and gun, this game will let you race and shoot your opponents from your exotic spy car as you kill them.

In this game, you play as a racer and a top-down shooter at the same time.

Spy Hunter is a great example of the ColecoVision’s power and speed.

And if you like this game consider trying out SpyHunter, its 2001 remake/sequel on sixth-generation video game consoles like the PS2 and GCN.

Steamroller (1984)

Steamroller (1984)

Steamroller is one of the most unique games on this list. It’s about driving over asphalt potholes and batches with a steam-powered road roller to fix them.

It’s not that simple.

You must look for balls that move and crush them for points. Be careful, though, because there are also bombs in the colourful orbs.

There are many different ways to play this game, but it’s also very fun. It’s also only for the ColecoVision!

If you look this up, it’s often called a title released in 2000, but it looks like it was released in 1984. History of gaming is full of weird things, right?

Gyruss (1984)

Gyruss, one of the best fixed-shooter games on the ColecoVision, has a lot of influence from Space Invaders, a game that came out in 1978.

We are in the middle of an intergalactic adventure. You must make it from Neptune to Earth and back again, avoid asteroids, and destroy all enemy ships with extreme prejudice.

How the game uses the direction of stars “flying by” to make it look like there is more depth is what makes it stand out.

If you’ve ever played a game in this kind of game before, this one does it in a way that was never done before.

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle (1982)

Smurf Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle (1982)

The Smurfs may not play games as much as before.

The game on the ColecoVision, on the other hand, was a big hit for blue-skinned Belgian comic book characters who played it.

Some of the things that make this game stand out from the rest are how detailed the graphics are and how appealing they are to look at. In the past, this was very new and exciting.

The gameplay and level design in this game were also great, even though it wasn’t very new.

Illusions (1984)

If you like optical illusions and other things that make the world look different, you’ll love Illusions on the ColecoVision.

The game is based on the idea of Escherian stairwells, also known as Penrose Steps, which are optical illusions that make it look like there are steps that are impossible to take in real life.

You’ll have to move blobs around these non-Euclidean spaces, combining and splitting them to get to your goals.

Make sure you don’t run into lizards, or if you do, put water on them. After a while, these immobilised reptiles will turn into birds and try to hunt down your blobs even more.

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984)

Pitfall II Lost Caverns (1984)

The sequel to the classic platform game Pitfall brings back the same great gameplay on a much bigger scale, with almost twice as much content as its predecessor.

One of the most important things this game did was add “checkpoints” to each level.

When a player dies, they didn’t lose all of their progress. This allowed the creators of the game to make longer and more difficult levels without alienating less-skilled people. Crazy now, but this was a new idea at the time.

Game play is just as good on the ColecoVision as it was on the Atari 2600. But the better visual quality of the Coleco machine makes the experience even better.

Gorf (1983)

Gorf is one of the earliest examples of a space shooter with a lot of different ways to move. It was first made for arcades in 1981.

Stopping aliens from getting to the surface of the Earth has been a gamer’s favourite since Space Invaders. This version of the basic formula has new twists that make it unique. Among them are the addition of boss fights and the ability to shoot at any time without having to wait for the last shot to leave the screen first.

This game was supposed to be a tie-in to Star Trek, but it had to change direction and become its own thing later on. This is why the game’s playable ship looks so much like the Enterprise.

Ladybug

Ladybug

Putting Ladybug on this list of the best Colecovision games of all time starts it off in style. Players can move gates in the game field to change routes and open or close off areas. Lock ‘n’ Chase is a lot like this.

A lot of it is based on the game Pac-Man, which is on this list.

System: Eat all the objects in a set amount of time while avoiding other people, and you’ll be fine

Ladybug isn’t a new idea on paper, but the fact that you can manipulate the gates makes it very different from other screen-clearing puzzle games at the time.

Many people think of it as “Pac-Man 2.0,” and the Colecovision port of the game beat the arcade cabinet in customer popularity.

It’s bright, it’s lively, and it has a system that’s easy to learn and use. Simples!

Popeye

Popeye is the reason I started eating spinach when I was a little kid because he was so strong. My body didn’t get stronger from it, but there’s still time.

However, the cans of spinach in each level of the Popeye video game do turn our favourite sailor into an indestructible machine that can knock back enemies and chase after Olive Oyl.

Remember Brutus, the bad guy in this game? He was so hard to fight. Knock him off the screen, and BAM, he’s back.

A lot of people talk about how hard they work.

When Olive Oyl drops different tokens on each level, you must pick them up and try to live through each one at the same time. In normal play, he can’t jump or attack Brutus. His only move is to punch flying projectiles.

I have to admit that I didn’t know this was a game made by Nintendo until now. Every day is a school day.