Starting with the basic definition of Intellivision, so, Intellivision is a video game console designed and released by Mattel in the year 1979. The video game console development began in the year 1978 which is actually less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The Intellivision word is a mixture of two words “Intelligent TV”. More than 3 million Intellivision units were sold and a sum of 125 diversions was discharged for the game console.
Not only the ECS module but in addition with it, in the year 1982, there was the introduction of a redesigned video console which was called as the Intellivision II. The part II featured detachable controllers and sleeker case, the System Changer (which was used to play Atari 2600 games on the updated version of Intellivision), and a music keyboard add-on for the ECS. The major difference between Intellivision and Intellivision II was the presence of an external adapter in an updated version. Intellivision has an internal power supply while Intellivision II lacked it.
It was discontinued in the year 1990. There were a majority of changes that Intellivision brought along with it video game console such as it can be considered the first 16-bit game console, as it has a 16-bit microprocessor. It was also the first amazing home console and one of the first video games to use a tile-based playfield. Not only this but this application also allowed for the display of detailed graphics and color with very little random access memory.
The Games of Intellivision Video Console
There was the presence of many cartridges and cassettes for the popular Intellivision game system. Among various cartridges, some were released by both Mattel Electronics and Sears Tele-Games, and later Intellivision Inc. Between the year 1979 and 1989, a sum of 133 titles was released which was surely not less. The titles included:
- 118 cartridges along with one compilation cartridge for their Master Component
- 6 cartridges for running the ECS Computer Adapter
- Lastly, 8 CDs and 1 cartridge for the main Keyboard Component.
The cartridges released during the year 1979-1989 were many. Some of them were Auto Racing, Boxing, Major League Baseball, NASL Soccer, PGA Golf, Tennis, Armour battle, Sub Hunt, Checkers, Star Strike, Utopia, Horse Racing, Las Vegas Roulette, Bomb Squad and many other games were present. So to play this amazing games, there was a need for emulators.
The old emulators which are no more in the market are given below. After seeing the list of old Intellivision emulators, we will be moving towards the recent Intellivision emulators.
List of old known Intellivision emulators:
- IntelliWare: It was an Emulator and development kit for Intellivision which was made by Valter Prette and was successful.
- Intellivision Lives: It is a commercial emulator from the current copyrights owners (Blue Sky Rangers) for many of the actual Intellivision games.
- IntvWin/IntvDOS: The third old emulator information is very less on the sources. The application was made by John Dullea, author of PCAE (Atari 2600 emulator). IntvWin 1.1 version was released in the year 2002. The author also added WinXP compatibility in the emulator called as IntvWin 1.3 in the year 2007 (File can be found at GameTronik.).
- jzIntv Launcher: The application has the presence of complete GUI (Graphical User Interface) front end and menu utility for the Windows version of Joe Zbiciak’s jzIntv emulator. This emulator was designed and released by Rich Nagel.
All these old emulators can be downloaded from the link: Download
1. jzIntv
The first and the foremost application in the list is jzIntv. There are some of the exclusive features of this emulator. Firstly, it supports files like.ROM, .BIN+CFG, .INT, .ITV. It also plays properly paged ROMs, including WSMLB and certain prototype carts. The various types of ECS (requires ecs.bin), Intellivoice, Intellicart, etc are also supported. If the user loves playing in fullscreen, then the user doesn’t need to worry, this amazing emulator also supports fullscreen, 320×200 windowed, 640×480 windowed display modes. The analog joysticks also work well with jzIntv. The jzIntv emulator is not limited till here. The emulator also Supports the INTV2PC, and CGC, you can also take screen-shots to GIF, and movie recording.
Platforms: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
2. MAME
Coming to the second application in the list, MAME which stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. This application is a multi-platform which means that it works on various operating systems, open-source, multi-system emulator written in C++ programming language.MAME is an incredibly large application which supports the various number of machines and ROM sets. It has the presence of Intellvoice, ECS and Libretro Core. The emulator has very good support for the Intellivision and additional features like – ECS and Intellivoice. The MAME provides amazing users with an amazing user-friendly interface. MAME is regarded as one of the best Intellivision emulator. The speed and accuracy are not the best but neither the worst.
Platforms: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
3. Nostalgia Emulator
The renown application in the list is Nostalgia Emulator. It was made by Joe Fisher, one of the great programmer. This emulator has the absence of Libretro Core. But additional features like Intellivoice, ECS are surely present. The emulator will run all the existing games of Intellivision with the presence of new games also. Nostalgia Emulator has a groovy, retro-feel interface which attracts a variety of users. Not only this but the application also has command line support to allow the use of emulator front-end software. The best thing about the emulator is that it is completely customizable joystick/keyboard interface. Lastly, you can also invite your own friends to play the game via a network and easily save and restore your games if you want to play them later. You can conveniently add game box, overlay images, and manual to display in the emulator.
Platforms: Windows
4. Bliss
This renown application called as Bliss was first created in the mid-2000s and at that point, it was relinquished. Subsequently, the creator, Kyle Davis, endeavored to code it in C language and add versatility. Later he chose to come back to C++ language and a less difficult codebase. It has great help of Intellivoice and ECS’s recreations. But after some months, it was shockingly discarded from the market with the absence of notice in 2006. This application was considered one of the great emulators. And it can be still downloaded from various sites. So bliss can be surely considered as one of the blessings for Intellivision fans.
Platforms: Windows.
5. FreeIntv
Coming towards the next Best Intellivision Emulator which is FreeIntv. FreeIntv emulator is basically an open-source libretro emulation core made for playing the Mattel Intellivision. It is made in such a way that it should be compatible with joypads from the SNES era forward even if in reality they require a number pad. One of the amazing features is having the presence of virtual Keypad and a full 16-way movement. There is a button for pausing the game so. Other amazing features include things like Pre-configured .int and .bin, extra support for intellicart ROM images, being pre-compiled for RetroPie on Raspberry Pi 3 and lastly Pre-compiled for Windows 10 (x64). So because of these exclusive features, we add this emulator to the list of best emulators available across the e-world. The disadvantage includes that it does lack the additional features like Intellivoice, ECS.
Platforms: Windows, Raspberry Pi 3, etc.
6. Pantheon
The sixth application in the list is Pantheon. Pantheon is considered as one of the amazing application. The speed and efficacy are nice of the Pantheon emulator. It has the feature of Intellivoice and lacks the feature which is called as ECS. It also doesn’t have Libretro Core. It is an active emulator until now. The emulator is also a popular multi-system emulator for Windows OS and tries to work on many old computers and 1970’s-1980’s consoles. So, as we said earlier, it tries to support Intellivoice games but unfortunately, no ECS games work in this software yet. This emulator called as Pantheon was made by Boštjan Grandovec. Because of better speed and efficacy, it has the presence of friendly users. The graphics of the emulator is also good and holds a larger population.
Platforms: Windows
Conclusion
Now, We are near the end of this amazing topic. Intellivision Video Console was our favorite of all time. But due to some reasons, the video console was made to exit from the market. It was a piece of disappointing news. But as soon as the emulators hit the market, the fans of Intellivision were enlightened with happiness.
The topmost emulator in the market is jzIntv. So yes, jzIntv is considered as one of the Best Intellivision emulators because of the exclusive features like supporting every type of file and having additional features. Mostly, it is considered as the best one because of the speed and compatibility.
The applications like FreeIntv and Nostalgia Emulator are also a sophisticated choice for this purpose. They also try to make their users happy with the features. Though FreeIntv lacks additional features, still it runs at an appreciable rate. Every emulator has some different features so it is a very tough task to judge the best one. Your requirements will make some or the other emulator as the best one. So, it is your task to enlist your needs and match them with features of the emulators to get your best Intellivision emulator. Ending with it, Keep playing the best games!