Spike

Spike is a game that comes up every time the conversation turns to what the Vectrex could do beyond the competition. The reason is sound: the game uses digitized speech, played through the console's speaker without any extra accessory. The characters talk, comment on the action, and the intro even features a short spoken scene. In 1983, that meant a great deal on a home system, and it drew people to the screen just as much as the gameplay itself.

The game itself is a platformer with a story: the title character Spike sets out to rescue his Molly, kidnapped by a malicious villain. The path leads across a system of platforms and ladders, where you must jump between them, dodge falling boulders and thrown obstacles, and collect rocks, your only means of defense. The level isn't just an obstacle course – it's mainly about timing, because danger arrives in a rhythm, and the player has to wait for the right moment instead of charging blindly ahead. Threats gradually stack up, acting simultaneously, and the heights you can fall from keep growing too.

Visually the game uses the vector image differently than the shooters do: the characters are drawn with bold, cartoonish lines, and the animation has surprising personality even though everything is built from just a handful of segments. It's exactly this combination of spoken word, humor, and a recognizable hero that turned Spike into something like the platform's unofficial mascot – his likeness appeared in promotional materials and in later homebrew titles alike. Today the game is appreciated mainly as a likeable, short arcade piece with an exceptional technical backstory that can still surprise. The difficulty is honestly arcade-tough, and the game doesn't spare you punishment for a bad jump, so there's no shortage of challenge, but thanks to a quick restart you never get stuck for long. Of all the Vectrex titles, Spike is also the one that feels the most like an actual game with a character and a story, not just an abstract duel of lines on a black background.