Retro gaming fans rejoice, for now you can rediscover Vectrex, the failed, extremely short-lived game console from 1982 on your iPad. The Vectrex wasn’t anywhere near as popular as, say, the Colecovision or Commodore 64 and disappeared from store shelves by 1984–around the time I was picking up an Atari 2600 controller for the first time. It’s a rare console with a small library of even rarer games, and something of a prize among retro gaming collectors.
Just released, Vectrex Regeneration is the iOS app that emulates the Vectrex console gaming experience, much like the equally awesome Atari’s Grestest Hits and Activision Anthology apps I’ve posted about before. The app itself is free to download (get it here) and comes with a few free games like MineStorm, but if you want the whole collection it’ll cost you $6.99. In addition to original titles like Ripoff and Solar Quest, there’re a few indie titles as well.
Probably the coolest thing about the app is how it’s designed as if you’re inside a kid’s bedroom from the 1980’s, complete with posters all over the walls and retro-tastic electronics. Here’re a couple of screenshots from my iPad to show you what I mean:
I love too how you can actually use the wood-paneled VCR to play old Vectrex commercials from that shelf of VHS tapes:
Obviously I never had a Vectrex, but I think it’s pretty cool I can now get acquainted with this particular slice of retro gaming history on my iPad. Beats paying out the ass for one on Ebay, anyway.
