Retro gaming with a Vectrex

Actually, make that retro gaming with a Vectrex emulator, as I haven't yet managed to get my hands on one of these vector producing beauties just yet. Yes, despite blogging about a pretty interesting Vectrex auction over at Retro Treasures and despite being really intrigued by its compact 80s Apple styled design.

The Vectrex (first release: 1982 US, followed by a 1983 UK & Japan release), much like the admittedly beautiful Mac Classic of yore, came with a built in 9'' monochrome but crisp monitor, which unlike the Mac one, was capable of producing some impressive and quite 3d-ish vector graphics. Zooming and rotation effects were also available, while some rather ill-conceived screen overlays added a touch of color to the games. Speaking of games, only 28 were officially released for the short-lived console, but a vibrant homebrew community has added many more during the last ten or so years, as well as some quirky hardware add-ons. Oh, and it had a controller featuring a proper and obviously innovative analog stick.

The following video (created by the brilliant tr0d) will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the 8-bit Vectrex. The games showns are Mine Storm, Web Wars, Heads Up, Solar Quest, Hyperchase, Armor Attack, Spike, Berzerk, Clean Sweep, Spinball, Fortress Of Narzod, Scramble and Pole Position.


Now, to emulate the thing, you could either use the ParaJVE Vectrex emulator, the Vecx or the ultra impressive multi-machine emulator MESS. Googling around will get you most of the system's games. For further Vectrex info try the following:

• Vectrex Wikipedia entry
• Vectrex @ MobyGames
• Vectrex Resource Center
• Vectrexcarts & Vectorzoa
• Vectrex Game Database

Related @ Gnome's Lair: PSX: the PlayStation PDF guide, the best in online NES emulation, Shredz 64, retro features archive