Released in 1981, the Vectrex had quite a short life in terms of games (only surviving three years until late 1984). However, it is desired by collectors due to it’s unique position in the market.
The Vectrex was one of the first early innovators, as instead of having to plug it into a TV, the Vectrex came with a screen for itself. The reason? It specialised in a vector games that were huge at the time. Instead of pixels, the display relied on a vector screen to draw the graphics. It did mean the game styles were limited to certain games which were popular at the times such as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. However, that game wasn’t released for the Vectrex, but many other ones, such as Space War, Cosmic Chasm & Armor Attack were released. It wasn’t just space games though, Pole Position, Heads Up & Spinball were released as well.
Whilst the graphics were in monochrome, overlays were produced to add a range of colours. By being translucent and with intricate backgrounds drawn on them, the Vectrex overlays added a splash of colour to the monochrome monitor.
There wasn’t that many games released for it though, which ultimately saw it’s demise. Nevertheless, the homebrew scene associated with the Vectrex is one of the most booming genres, with a number of games released every year. That alone makes it worth getting for any retro buff.
