Even if you're not old enough to remember the Atari 2600, you'll probably have seen one. Teak effect sides, switches on the dash. Out of the primordial ooze of early consoles, it was the machine that crawled onto dry land and made the stongest case for the evolution of videogaming beyond the realms of passing fad. It was to coin-ops what VHS was to cinema.

And if the Atari 2600 was the VHS of domestic gaming, say hello to its Betamax, arch rival, Intellivision. Only... well, Betamax was actually superior to VHS; not a charge you could really level at the 'Intelligent Television System', as this exhaustive library of some 62 of its blocky titles demonstrates.

The 2600 may have had relatively simpler graphics, but what it lacked in finesse it more than made up for in titles developed around genuine gameplay. As such, compared to the likes of Frogger, Berserk and Breakout, the games on offer here, including Space Armada, Frog Bog and Battle Tanks feel light on ideas and those all-important killer hooks. It's a pity, particularly when you realise how ambitious the developers could be; incredibly you'll find an early flight sim (B-17 Bomber) and realtime strategy game (Utopia) here. Unfortunately though, once you add to the mix the practical impossibility of translating Intellivision's unwieldy, numeric pad interface into an accessible PS2 setup, you're looking at a retro compilation that even videogame archivists will struggle to show much love for.

Graphics 0%
Hard to imagine anything more basic.

Sound 10%
Authentic. Right down to the Intellivoicer.

Gameplay 20%
A handful of games have merit.

Lifespan 20%
Plenty here - for historians, not gamers.

Overall 20%
Just because the Intellivision system deserves a place in videogame history, it doesn't mean you should be playing it in 2005.