As someone born in 1980, I "missed" the golden age of video games. Sure, I technically was ALIVE during them (the so called Golden Age is generally considered between 1978 and 1983), but I was barely what could even be considered sentient during those years. For many, the years preceding the North American launch of the venerable Nintendo Entertainment System are thought of as the Atari years. In our minds, there was a neat line that goes from the Atari 2600 until the so called gaming crash in 1983, that lasted until 1985, when Nintendo saved the day, dragging the home console business kicking and screaming into a new age, and obliterating all competitors in its path. If E.T.: The Video Game was the Jimmy Carter of gaming, then Mario was Ronald Reagan, delivering us from the gaming malaise of the early 80's. But gaming, much like life and politics is never that simple. Caught in the wake of Atari's dominance of self destruction was a series of lesser known consoles, and today I would like to discuss one that holds a special place in my heart: The Magnavox Odyssey 2.
I couldn't tell you the first video game I ever played, or when I played it, but I know it was on this system. Launched in 1978, the Odyssey 2, sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G700 (a name that just rolls right off the tongue) and in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey, the Magnavox Odyssey 2 was the natural followup to the original Odyssey, what is generally considered the first home video game console. While the Odyssey featured rudimentary graphics, if they could be called graphics, the followup was similar to the commercial and critical hit, the Atari 2600, with one drawback: every game had a monochrome background, and music was for the most part, non-existent.
So how did this of all things become my introduction to gaming? A system that I have only met one person who owned one in the wild? Easy, for whatever reason, my parents bought one at some unspecified time either before I was born, or not long after, along with my grand-parents. There are home video of me, as a baby, sitting on my dad's lap a he played "Speedway!", so there is a very solid chance THIS was the first game I ever laid hands on. Get used to exclamation points on Odyssey titles btw, they used this shit like X's in names of products in the 90s. I guess they decided if your games can't sell more than Atari, they can at least be louder.
"Speedway!" was a pack in title, on a 3 for 1 cartridge with "Spinout!" (another racing title) and "Crypto-Logic! (basically virtual hangman, but with more exclamation points.
Now, while I did title this as "The console that time forgot", that is not entirely true. It did make it's mark in history with the game "K.C. Munchkin!", a 1981 "Pac-Man" clone that become the target of a copyright lawsuit from Atari, claiming Philips had copied "Pac-Man"and undercut them by getting their clone on the market before the Atari port of the arcade classic, becoming the first lawsuit of its kind! Congrats Odyssey 2! Eventually Atari prevailed, and production of "K.C. Munchkin" was ordered to cease in 1982. Ironically, and sadly, "K.C. Munchkin" was a much more fun game to play than the home console port of "Pac-Man", which has been reviled for decades for it's poor quality compared to its arcade counterpart. While Munchkin was indeed inspired by Pac-Man, it had more pleasant graphics and sound effects (the Atari 2600 verision of Pac-Man famously lost the pleasant "wakka wakka wakka" effects of Pac-Man moving, replaced with an ear shredding "BONK BONK BONK), as well as a unique spin on the formula: the pellets K.C. was to collect drifted around the maze, and the maze itself would shift and change during gameplay. Here are the two side by side:
Personally, I have fond memories of playing this game at my grand-parents house with my cousins, the Odyssey 2 still being a favorite among us to bust out and play well into the Nintendo years and beyond. When my grand-parents bought a river house on the California side of the Colorado River in the mid-90s, the Odyssey 2 made the trip, plugged into a TV in the guest room.
Since during this time period, home console games were mainly first party affairs, knock offs were the name of the game! Ironically, while K.C. caught flak for being a knock off (in a sea of Pac-Man knock offs, seriously, they were a dime a dozen), the Odyssey was home to all kinds of knock offs (which don't get me wrong, were an absolute blast to play. ) Have an Odyssey and want to play Donkey Kong? "Pickaxe Pete!" has you covered. (side note, when a kid I knew in first grade turned out to ALSO have an Odyssey 2, becoming the singe human being I ever met I could trade games with, I thought he said the name was "Pick Ass Pete", so I was less than enthused about the prospect of playing it.
Like "Space Invaders"? "Might I direct you to "Alien Invaders PLUS!"?; which honestly had some of the most badass box art of the era.
Maybe "Asteroids" was your jam. Well buckle the fuck up for "U.F.O.!"
More of a golf guy? Well we got you covered with "Computer Golf!" The exclamation point making a mockery of the concept of golf, but it doesn't matter, because Odyssey is here to fuck your shit up and break all the rules.
The list really does go on, but honestly, despite being a system that was probably less successful than the Intellivision, these are the games that made me fans of gaming. For the first 6 years of my life or so, my gaming experiences revolved around begging my dad for quarters at arcades, and the Odyssey 2. So pour one out for the little console that almost could. Time may have (mostly) forgotten you, but I haven't.
Happy gaming, everyone.
Update! 05/24/2020
Just found a site where you can actually play K.C Munchkin, in your browser!
Type "1" when it says "choose game" when it loads, and control with the arrow keys. Have fun!
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