Coleco Chameleon Launch Lineup Part Two: Montezuma's Revenge, Gateway to Apshai, Armor Battle, Astrosmash, Frog Bog

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 1, part 3, part 4 and part 5 of our ongoing series.

Montezuma's Revenge (Colecovision)

"The player controls a character called Panama Joe (a.k.a. Pedro), moving him from room to room in the labyrinthine underground pyramid of the 16th century Aztec temple of emperor Montezuma II, filled with enemies, obstacles, traps, and dangers. The objective is to score points by gathering jewels and killing enemies along the way. Panama Joe must find keys to open doors, collect and use equipment such as torches, swords, amulets, etc., and avoid or defeat the challenges in his path. Obstacles are laser gates, conveyor belts, disappearing floors and fire pits." (source)

Gateway to Apshai (Colecovision)

"The player's character is summoned to the chambers of an old priest called Merlis, who informs him that he is the son of the greatest warrior of Apshai, and that it is written in the prophecy that only he can reclaim the fabled Temple of Apshai and rid the land of its monsters and curses. This game covers the Gateway to Apshai, which they have to clear in order to reach the Temple of Apshai.  The levels become progressively harder to survive as the player descends deeper and deeper into the dungeon. Each dungeon is covered in complete darkness that illuminates as the dungeon rooms and corridors are explored. The Gateway consists of 8 levels, each consisting of 16 dungeons, each consisting of 60 rooms, for a total of 7680 rooms."  (source)

Armor Battle (Intellivision)

The object of Armor Battle is to be the first to destroy all opposing tanks. The game takes place on one of 240 randomly selected battlefields,^[1] each with a different configuration of structural and environmental obstacles. Each player commands a pair of tanks, with one active and one in reserve, located randomly on the battlefield. Players maneuver their tanks one at a time around the battlefield in order to target opposing tanks while simultaneously evading enemy fire. (source)

Astrosmash (Intellivision)

Astrosmash resembles a cross between the early arcade games Space Invaders and Asteroids. The player controls a laser cannon that can scroll left or right along a flat plane in order to target falling objects, such as large or small meteors, large or small spinning bombs, and guided missiles, as well as a UFO that crosses the screen from time to time at higher levels. Low hills and stars are seen in the background. Unlike in Space Invaders, the player does not face direct enemy fire, cannot hide beneath bunkers, and the game does not end when targets hit the ground." (source)

Frog Bog (Intellivision)

There are two different levels to Frogs and Flies that players can select. On the first level, the jumping off and landing points are fixed, the user needs to time their jumps to catch any flies who may come into the frog's flight path. On the second level, the frogs are free to move about the ground to catch flies as the jumping and landing points are not fixed. A player can even cause a frog to jump into the water – in that case, the frog will swim back on to the nearest pad. Generally this is to be avoided since it takes several seconds for the frog to swim back to the pad. (source)

Click for part 1, part 3, part 4 and part 5 of our ongoing series.