1983
Not content with merely revolutionizing the home arcade/video field
at the 1983 Winter CES with their newly introduced, self-contained
home entertainment system, Ultravision also brought excitement of
Ultravision-designed games to owners of the Atari 2600 [sarcasm off].
Their first 2600 two titles, Condor Attack and
Karate, were hardly ever seen in stores due to a poor
distribution network, and it was just as well -- both games were horrid
examples of a company in the business to make a quick dollar.
Condor Attack was a pathetic Galaxian clone that substituted
aliens with birds, bats and spiders. Karate's graphics
are so poor that you might be mistaken to think that you're witnessing
two hangman figures playing patty-cake. Several other titles were
announced but never released, and for this, we should be forever
grateful.
A few years later, the infamous Froggo Games decided to release
Karate to a shocked public. Why would they choose to
license one of the worst games ever made? And K-Tel Vision picked up
Condor Attack and released the game as Vulture
Attack for the European and Canadian markets to a disinterested
gaming audience.
Combined with their vaporware machine that was to be the only
self-contained, video game/TV/personal computer system, Ultravision
should have been the joke of the industry. But because just about
every other company sunk along with them, nobody was in the mood
for a good laugh.
SOFTWARE LIST
- Astro Battle (not released)
- Condor Attack
- Exocet (not released)
- Karate
- Quest for the Idol (not released)
- Sea Hawk (not released)
- Space Robot (not released)
- Spider Kong (not released)
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