Kralizec / various

There are consoles that simply refuse to die, and the ColecoVision is one of them. Under the banner of Kralizec and other creators, a whole range of new games continues to be made to this day for a machine whose commercial life ended way back in the mid-eighties. It's a fascinating testament to how deep a piece of hardware can put down roots with a devoted community.

This isn't a single game, but rather a window into a living homebrew scene. Here you'll find new arcade action, platformers, puzzle titles and conversions of well-known arcade-cabinet classics that never made it to the ColecoVision in the eighties. The common denominator is the effort to squeeze the maximum out of the console and offer players content that the market of the time didn't manage or didn't dare to.

The development context is the most interesting part here. Whereas the original titles were created under the pressure of deadlines and limited cartridge memory, modern creators work with decades of accumulated hardware knowledge. They know exactly what the graphics chip and sound unit can do, and can use them in ways there was neither time nor room for in the commercial era. The games thus often come across as more mature and more polished than the period originals.

The form matters too. These titles typically come out as real cartridges in limited series, with a printed manual and a box. For collectors it's a small holiday, because they get a new game in the same format they once bought the originals in. It's retro in its purest form — not emulation on a computer screen, but a physical piece for the shelf.

Since this is a summary of several titles by various authors, there's no point citing specific sales figures or awards that couldn't be verified. What matters is that this scene exists, creates and entertains. And as long as there's someone to play, the ColecoVision won't grow old.

Why play: For anyone fascinated that an old console still gets new games, it's a fantastic gateway into the world of retro homebrew creation.