Coleco Chameleon Launch Lineup Part One: Choplifter, Frenzy, Jumpman Junior, Venture, Pepper II

Here at Nintendo Love Affair we certainly love Nintendo, but we also have a special place in our hearts for all things retro and nostalgic.  Welcome to the beginning of our post series covering the upcoming Coleco Chameleon (more info here) launch titles.  We researched each game and brought together box art, game footage, and game play summaries from all across the interwebs!

Click for part 2, part 3 and part 4 and part 5 of our ongoing series.

Choplifter (Colecovision)

"In Choplifter, the player assumes the role of a combat helicopter pilot. The player attempts to save hostages being held in prisoner of war camps in territory ruled by the evil Bungeling Empire. The player must collect the hostages and transport them safely to the nearby friendly base, all the while fighting off hostile tanks and other enemy combatants. According to the backstory, the helicopter parts were smuggled into the country described as "mail sorting equipment." (source)

Frenzy (Colecovision)

"Frenzy followed the basic paradigm set by Berzerk: the player must navigate a maze full of hostile robots. The goal of the game is to survive as long as possible and score points by killing robots and travelling from room to room. The game has no end other than the player losing all of his or her lives.

The player has a gun with which to shoot the robots, and simple intelligence of the robots means that they can often be tricked into shooting one another. If the player lingers too long in a room, a bouncing smiley face (known as "Evil Otto") appears, and relentlessly chases the player. Evil Otto will destroy any robots in his way, and can move through walls." (source)

Jumpan Junior (Colecovision)

"The object of the game is to defuse all bombs in a platform-filled screen. Jumpman defuses a bomb by touching it. According to the story, these are placed on Jupiter by terrorists. Jumpman can climb up and down ladders, and of course jump, and there are two kinds of rope each allowing a single direction of climbing only. Hazards include falling "smart darts" (small bullets that fly slowly across the screen, but when orthogonally lined up with Jumpman, greatly speed up and shoot straight in his direction), fall damage and other hazards that are unique to a certain level. Upon being hit or falling from a height, Jumpman tumbles down to the bottom of the screen, with a measure from Chopin's Funeral March being played." (source)

Venture (Colecovision)

"The goal of Venture is to collect treasure from a dungeon. Winky is equipped with a bow and arrow and explores a dungeon with rooms and hallways. The hallways are patrolled by large, tentacled monsters named Hallmonsters, which cannot be killed, injured, or stopped in any way. Once in a room, Winky may kill monsters, avoid traps and gather treasures. If they stay in any room too long, a Hallmonster will enter the room, chase and kill them. In this way, the Hallmonsters serve the same role as "Evil Otto" in the arcade game Berzerk. The more quickly the player finishes each level, the higher their score." (source)

Pepper II (Colecovision)

"There are four mazes per level in Pepper II. Each maze has exits leading to 3 other mazes. All four mazes must be filled to advance to the next level. To fill in a maze, the player maneuvers "Pepper" around different segments of the maze. As Pepper travels, he leaves a "zipper". Once he encloses or "zips" a segment, it fills in and points are awarded. If Pepper backtracks on an uncompleted segment, it unzips." (source)

Click for part 2, part 3 and part 4 and part 5 of our ongoing series.