"A battle silently lost. A history narrowly averted."

Ever since mankind has entered the computer age, there have been platform wars. Two or more factions each create products with generally the same goal in mind, and end up in direct competition with one another. The winner of these platform wars become household items, and the losers are rendered obsolete and lost to the ages. Beta VCRs, for example, are now nothing more than a distant memory, but in my childhood, video rental shops had just as many Beta shelves as they did VHS shelves. IBM created the OS/2 operating system as a competitor for Microsoft's line of Windows OSes, but OS/2 ended up causing tremendous financial losses for IBM, and is now so outdated that most modern software won't even run on it (even though it is, barnone, a superior OS). And in recent video gaming history, Sega, Nintendo's long-standing competitor, began making GameCube games, after discontinuing support for their last remaining platform.

In 1982, a much more short-lived platform war began. And though very few remember it, it shaped the world of modern video games. Were the tides to have flown differently, everything from the PlayStation 2 to the Game Boy Advance would be radically different today, both in appearance and capability. Whether this difference would be for better or for worse is anyone's guess, but nonetheless, we mustn't forget about the time when the entire future of video gaming was, albeit silently and quickly, decided.

It all came down to one question: pixel, or vector?

This debate was sparked by GCE's release of an absolutely revolutionary video game system called ''Vectrex''. And regardless of what anyone may think of this system, no one can deny that it was far, far ahead of its time.

Regardless, Vectrex was unfortunately a late-bloomer, released at a time when its competition was already very well-established. With the Atari 2600 a smash hit, and the much less popular ColecoVision and Intellivision systems soon to dominate the home video game market, Vectrex's release was almost too radical for the general public's delicate 1980s sensibilities. By the time the NES debuted, the Vectrex had already died, and all hopes of a vector-based video gaming industry had died with it. Nintendo attempted to once again revive vector-based gaming with its late 1990s release of the Virtual Boy, but due to major design flaws and a lack of actual development in vector graphics technology since the death of the Vectrex, the Virtual Boy was even more short-lived than its predecessor.

But the question is, what made the Vectrex so revolutionary? How do ''vector graphics'' differ from ''pixel graphics''?

Well, the difference is in dimensions. Pixel graphics are composed of points (0D), whereas vector graphics are composed of lines (1D). In other words, whereas almost every video game system in existence produces images by means of small dots on the screen, the Vectrex (and later the Virtual Boy) utilized its own specially-designed video screen to produce images by means of lines. Not lines composed of dots, mind you, but actual honest-to-goodness lines, as in ''no matter how closely you look at the screen, there won't be a dot in sight'' lines. And though recent developments in video gaming technology have allowed for the use of polygon-based graphics (2D), this is, in actuality, merely an emulation of 2 dimensions in a field which is still limited by its pixel-based 0-dimensional nature. In other words, if you look closely at any polygonal character on any modern video gaming system, you'll discover that, even if it's hidden well, the image is still composed entirely of tiny dots. And for 1983, to be blunt, achieving true 1-dimensional graphics technology was pretty damn sweet.

The effects of this technology made game development a drastically different process. Characters and backgrounds could no longer be detailed in quite the same way, but anything and everything in any game's environment was fully rotatable and scalable, perhaps more smoothly than in even the most modern pixel-based system. This allowed for the first occurrences of truly 3D environments in video game history, as well as the oft-recurring trademark Vectrex ''spinning'' 2D game environments. And, indeed, when something more than spaceships or simple shapes were involved, characters were created, in 3D, out of lines, resulting in some of the video game industry's very first (if somewhat crude) polygonal characters. Graphically, in 1982, this was as good as it could get. When comparing Vectrex games like ''Spike'' and ''Web Wars'' to Atari and Coleco games of the time, there's absolutely no competition. Some of the games still look good even by today's standards. Vectrex games just plain LOOKED COOL.

This vector-based technology, however, had one major limitation that really hurt its otherwise wonderful look and feel in the eyes of consumers. In much the way the Virtual Boy could only display the color red, the Vectrex could only produce white lines. It managed to get around this flaw, however, with perhaps the most comically low-tech solution ever devised. Each game came packaged with a colored plastic overlay sheet that could be fitted over the Vectrex screen, for the sake of tinting the game to the desired color. The result was, indeed, a much better gaming experience, although the fact that the colors were constant throughout the game -- and came from a plastic sheet -- caused a lot of players to, quite frankly, not take the Vectrex seriously.

The true reason that the Vectrex was around as long as it was, however, was because of its smart and economical design. One of the Virtual Boy's major flaws was its attempt to utilize its vector-based graphics technology in a HELMET rather than on a screen. And since it's a completely different technology altogether than that of any monitor or television screen, merely plugging your Virtual Boy into a TV wouldn't quite cut it (and probably wasn't even possible). The Vectrex, on the other hand, was a cute little vertically-oriented black monitor with a cartridge slot and an attached controller which could be stowed underneath when not in use. It was an all-in-one package, modelled after arcade machines (thus the choice of a tall vertically-oriented monitor rather than a normal TV-like horizontally-oriented monitor). The system itself was just large enough to suggest that finding a niche for it would be a better choice than pretending it to be portable, and thus not too big or bulky, and somewhat reminiscent of a smallish television set turned on its side. The controller was more like a long strip than anything else, with a tiny pressure-sensitive control stick on the left side, lined up with four buttons stretching across its length, which were rather uncreatively labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4. When stowed, the controller was virtually unnoticeable, and had the appearance of a closed TV control panel. When not stowed, the controller happened to be the exact width of the Vectrex itself, and could thus be laid out directly in front of it in an arcade-like fashion.

In terms of aural capabilities, the Vectrex definitely had a distinctive ''Vectrex sound'' to it, consisting largely of hums and various ''BWEE, BWEE'' sounds. Not quite up to today's standards, but extremely crisp and clear for the time, and absolutely perfect for space shooters (BWEE, BWEE, KA-BLAM!) and racing games (VroooooooooOOOOOOOOOM, VROOOOooooooom!). The sound system of the Vectrex also offered a few surprises every now and again, with occasional background music (very reminiscent of old-school MIDI files, which is still far better than what any of the other systems had to offer at the time), as well as a short catchy melody for the title screen of each game (many of which are inexplicably memorable). The game ''Spike'' even managed to contain fully-voiced dialogue (perhaps for the first time in home video game history!), and it actually sounded really good, too, though there obviously wasn't much of it, and the voice samples were obviously rather low-quality (though oddly in keeping with how one might imagine the weird scruffy dog-things would sound).

The Vectrex also had the unusual benefit of containing a built-in game. ''Mine Storm'', a fairly interesting Asteroids-style game, is perhaps more worthy of the title ''pack-in game'' than any other title ever, seeing as how it was packed inside the system itself, and could be played at any time by turning on the Vectrex without a cartridge inserted. The only problem is, the Vectrex was a somewhat shoddily-constructed system, and if a game cartridge wasn't inserted at JUST THE RIGHT ANGLE, it would assume no cartridge was present, and default to booting up Mine Storm. A minor complaint, and one remedied by a minute or two of jiggling, but a very real complaint nonetheless.

And, indeed, though they certainly weren't the best games in the world, and most were merely space shooters or racing game variants, Vectrex games on the whole offered much longer and more complex gameplay experiences than most any of their Atari, Coleco, or Intellivision counterparts (not to mention a much greater challenge level on the average!), and many games have become cult classics since the Vectrex's demise. Some of the Vectrex's most memorable efforts include the following:

''Spike''
Perhaps the Vectrex's most addicting game (and perhaps one of the best choices to show off the power of the Vectrex), this odd little level-based platformer sent a weird scruffy dog-like creature named Spike to rescue his girlfriend Molly from a hanging cage after she had been kidnapped by other evil furry things. Although it's a 2D platformer, the camera is positioned in such a way that the whole game has a very 3D look to it. The gameplay consists of working your way, as Spike, to the top of a series of three moving platforms (with gaps in them, of course), where Molly's cage awaits, during which time you're expected to find and retrieve the key to unlock this cage. All the while, you're avoiding various enemies, including bats and bouncing television sets attached to springs (which, consequently, look an awful lot like Vibri's most devolved form from the PSX game ''Vib Ribbon''). Your abilities include a jump, a kick to the left, a kick to the right, and the ability to move a solitary ladder between four different locations (two on the second floor, and two on the first floor) by means of... erm... some kind of telekinetic warp, I suppose. Each time you move the ladder, Molly's cage is also moved, though it's always somewhere at the top of the screen. If you fall off the screen or get touched by an enemy before you have a chance to kick it to death, you lose a life (and yell ''Darnit!''). If you catch Molly's falling bow, your enemies will be temporarily frozen. And each time you rescue Molly, you'll be sent in to rescue her AGAIN, but with tougher and/or faster and/or more enemies, as well as faster-moving platforms. Survive as long as you can, and see how many times you can rescue Molly! This is also the first game, possibly ever, to include full voice acting, the entirety of which consists of the following dialogues: ''Eek, help, Spike!'' ''Oh no, Molly!'' ... ''Oh, Spike!'' ''Molly!'' ... and, of course, ''Darnit!''. In general, a very addicting, well-rounded platformer, and undeniably far more involved than almost anything that came before it (though Activision's ''Pitfall II'' for the Atari 2600 still remains the most involved platformer of this era).

''Web Wars''
Definitely the coolest-LOOKING Vectrex game, Web Wars is a true 3D space-shooter which places your ship in the middle of a half-octagonal webbed tunnel in space. But unlike most shooters, Web Wars isn't about killing things or advancing to the next level, but trophy-hunting for rare animal species! Although you're being constantly bombarded by enemies, there are also a few ''rare'' enemies that will sit in one area motionless. Your goal is to keep an eye out for one of these rare beasts (without getting blown up by the many other enemies in the area) and ''collect'' it with a special tractor-beam-like ray, then high-tail it through the next warp you come across so you can deliver it to your ''trophy room''. The goal is to fill up your trophy room with all of the game's many species of animals, though the challenge level rises with the more creatures you collect, and I've never successfully completed it. Nonetheless, it's a lot of fun, and the graphics are absolutely wonderful, with a camera angle that's constantly shifting in very subtle ways, an unbelievably far draw distance, and some really freaky-looking rare species to collect. Not to mention the giant phoenix that tracks you down and shoots a REALLY BIG BALL OF FIRE at you if you take too long to get through the trophy room warp. A great, fast-paced shooter with a really stylish look to it that only the Vectrex could pull off. And the repetition of the first seven notes of ''In the Hall of the Mountain King'' every time you enter the trophy room will definitely haunt you. For the rest of your life.

''Star Castle''
The biggest cult classic on the Vectrex, Star Castle is one of the Vectrex's many ''spinning'' 2D shooters. The basic concept is that you're a spaceship, and you're trying to blow up an enemy base. It should only take one hit to blow it up, but it's surrounded by many many layers of shields, each of which are rotating around it in different directions and at different speeds, and each of which can only be destroyed piece-by-piece. To make matters worse, the base is constantly deploying all sorts of enemy ships to try to shoot you out of the sky. And should you manage to make a hole in the shields that actually exposes the base, you will certainly have a shot at destroying it, but it will also have a shot at destroying you, and will take every chance it can get to fire several really big, really fast energy bolts at you. Now, add to all of this the fact that the base can actually REGENERATE ENTIRE LAYERS OF SHIELDS every now and again, and you have one exceptionally hard, yet undeniably addicting, game.

''Cosmic Chasm''
Another of the Vectrex's 2D shooters, but with a very unique twist. In this game, you control a drill-ship, and you're on a rather difficult mission to blow up the core of an enemy planet (thus blowing up the planet, as you might imagine). Your ship must work its way through a maze of underground chambers and attempt to find the enemy core, whereupon you have to set a time bomb on the core and high-tail it out of there before it blows. There is only one core, and only one exit (which is also your starting point), and movement between underground chambers takes place on a mini-map so you have some clue where you are in relation to where you've been. The real kicker, though, is the fact that every chamber has (A) enemies and (B) a mini-core of its own, which will expand at a constant rate until it fills the entire room. Touching the mini-cores is, of course, deadly, so getting through each chamber a.s.a.p. is of the utmost importance -- especially since you're going to have to work your way back later, with a time limit no less! Each chamber exit is sealed, too, so you must take a moment to drill through the force field that seals it before you can continue. Cosmic Chasm is definitely one of the most fast-paced games ever to appear prior to the 1990s, and could be one of the hardest games the Vectrex has to offer, as well as the one with the most modern-day appeal (due to the ''extremely dangerous infiltration of an enemy base'' theme).

''Clean Sweep''
For all intents and purposes, a Pac Man clone, though it has a few unique points to offer as well. Instead of controlling Pac Man, you control a vacuum cleaner, and your goal is to suck up all the dirt in the level while avoiding your enemies. As you suck up more and more dirt, however, your vacuum bag gradually fills up (and makes a really cool noise as it does), and you will eventually have to work your way back to the center of the maze in order to empty it before you can pick up more dirt. There are also power-ups in the corners which give your vacuum super-suction -- enough to suck up, oh, I dunno, maybe an enemy? They don't last forever, but while they do last, you become a lean clean enemy-sucking machine, and you gobble the enemies into nothingness after sucking them up. Heck, they don't even need to be emptied from your bag, and you can even suck them up if your bag is full! Fun for all ages, especially if you can't stand dirt!

''Dark Tower''
The Vectrex's super-rare treasure, and its only RPG. An extremely complex, near-impossible game featuring a faux-3D forest split into four sections, which you must thoroughly explore in your search for four keys so you can unlock the dreaded Dark Tower and... erm... win. The forest itself doesn't exactly showcase the Vectrex's power, but the famed ''brigand sequences'' certainly do. Every now and again, when you open a treasure chest, you'll be warped into a small chamber and pitted against up to twenty brigands who are all hiding behind walls. They'll hurl ''flamoids'' at you, and you'll hurl ''flamoids'' at them (I love the word ''flamoid'', don't you?). Flamoids can be hurled either straight ahead, angled left, or angled right, and you can move your character back and forth to avoid the enemy's flamoids. If your aim is dead-on, you'll be rewarded by the awesome scene of a SHATTERING BRIGAND, who will split into 4 or 5 pieces that spin away in all directions and slowly fade from view. The remainder of this game is a bit annoying, though, with such wonderful concepts included as a fog that can teleport you anywhere in the forest at random, or a plague that will kill your character instantly. But it's still the only Vectrex RPG, and it's also the single rarest game released for the system (extremely hard to find, appeared near the end of the Vectrex's reign), and is thus something of a Vectrex fan favorite.

Other notable titles include a couple great racing games called ''Hyperchase'' and ''Pole Position'', a very interesting remake of the classic robot shoot-em-up ''Berzerk'', a fairly faithful rendition of Gradius's predecessor ''Scramble'', a space-shooter called ''Solar Quest'' which attempts to realistically portray gravitational effects, a football game called ''Blitz!'', a 3D space-battling ''Star Trek'' game, and several others.

Sadly, the Vectrex died out before it had a chance to develop a truly impressive game library, and the total number of Vectrex games available is under 40. However, in the early 1990s, GCE sold the rights to the Vectrex, and the buyer made it public property. Since then, a fantastic Vectrex emulator has been developed, called DVE (DOS Vectrex Emulator), and the entire Vectrex game library is available for download on various sites, legally, in one big ZIP file. And, amazingly, a couple years ago, one insane programmer actually went about developing two new Vectrex games for use with this emulator, including ''Patriot'' (a truly fantastic Missile Command clone) and ''Vectrex Vaders'' (a pretty good Space Invaders clone).

Of course, considering that our computers are all pixel-based, and Vectrex was not, the act of playing Vectrex games on a modern-day PC doesn't quite have the same effect as it did on the Vectrex itself. All of the lines are, as you might expect, a bit pixelated, and it just doesn't quite look as cool as it did way back in the day. For the maximum Vectrex experience, getting your hands on an actual system is, of course, the best way to go.

And if you can manage to get ahold of one, or even if you have to settle for an emulator, I urge you to give this forgotten system a try. Vectrex is a part of video gaming history, and could have potentially been a major turning point within it. And though we all know it wasn't, I find it extremely interesting to imagine what life might have been like for us today if video games had switched over to vector-based graphics back then. Playing a Vectrex is like reading the history of a lost culture. It's gone, and it's not coming back... but you have to admit, it sure is a fascinating read.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/02, Updated 09/03/02