[intro sounds]
Thank you to Square Space for sponsoring.
Now, when you think about games consoles released in 1994, where does your brain go to? The
Sony PlayStation maybe? The Sega Saturn? Even the Sega 32X?
But how about the RAMBO TV GAME!
The Greatest Console of them all!
OH YES.
Honestly, look at this thing. NEW 1994! How could you not want this console.
We’ve got Rambo there, loud and proud, a totally official endorsement I’m sure. We’ve
got a multitude of ill-fitting fonts and colours. We’ve got “NEW JOYSTICK”. We’ve got
2001 built in games and we’ve got a shock-bezzled transparent window so we can peer at this
miraculous console.
The back of the box is even better;
“Turn your television into a challenging and exciting adventure for you and your family.
The RAMBO TV Games console attaches easily to your television set and lets you choose
from the largest and most popular selection of video games in the world. Games that bring
together lightning fast action, spectacular sound and graphics, and intruiging game design.
Educational games that stimulate the mind and spark the imagination. The RAMBO TV Games
Console–a new world in home entertainment”
F*CK YEAH!
Look at that selection of games on offer too. What have we got here…..
Actually, that console looks familiar too.
Oh god. It’s an Atari 2600 clone isn’t it? But the question is, is it, in reality,
a disguised Familcone, like we’ve come to know, or is it an actual clone of a 2600.
Imagine creating this packaging, and thinking, right, it’s obvious its an outdated console.
I know, let’s slap Rambo, from a 1985 film poster on the front. That should sort it.
The problem is…. “they made one mistake. They forgot they were dealing with Rambo.”
Yes, this is very obviously a console that was made in China and then sold in various
countries in the 90s, including many in Eastern Europe, with the premise to offer low cost
gaming, and Atari 2600 compatibility; for the most part at least. Whilst we were drooling
over the latest in CD gaming, some kids were digging into the RAMBO TV GAME, some 17 years
after the Atari 2600 (or VCS as it was known then) landed in Western living rooms. That
would be like getting your hands on an XBox 360 now, as a brand new console…. although,
it’s not, because the difference between an Atari VCS game and a Sega Saturn games
is miles apart from the difference between a 360 game and an Xbox Series X title.
This one claims to have 9,999 built in games, but I’ve seen boxes that claim anything
from 128 built in games to 1,000,000 built in games…. lol… can you imagine? ONE MILLION
GAMES. It would takes you decades to get through them. This one, rather cunningly claims to
have 2600 built in games. I like what they did there, because are they talking about
Atari 2600 built in games, or 2,600 built in games… cheeky.
Inside the box we get two joysticks made from the cheapest plastic known to man. We’re
talking lower quality than Kinder Egg toys.
An AC adaptor. One of those funky RF switches, so you can flip between gaming and TV on the
fly.
An instructional pamphlet, that’s mostly in German, indicating that this particular
console perhaps originates from Germany or Austria perhaps. Although we do get a side
of English too, with 2600B TV Game System at the top.
And then there’s the console itself, that feels like it could snap in half at a given
moment. Clearly, it’s based on the 1982 Darth Vader 2600. The ports and switches are
the same, but some have different names. We’ll come back to that. First let’s set this
thing up.
Just like the 2600, we’ve got a 3.5mm power jack, and also just like a 2600, we’ve got
a permanently connected RF lead. Which means, in lieu of modding, which no-one would have
the time for, we need to tune it in, to the correct UHF. The problem is when you’re
working with something as old and scrappy as this, that’s no easy task.
So let’s push the power switch….
DON’T PUSH IT…Don’t push it, or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe.
Well he wasn’t lying this is certainly a war with the TV’s tuning function.
But after some severe perseverance, we get a vague image. I mean, you can tell it’s
definitely an Atari 2600 clone. In fact you can almost identify a game, if you can see
through the jungle of noise and ignore the ear piercing static.
Yes, of course it’s Criminal Pursuit, by Suntek, released in 1983. My favourite feature
is being able to control the game by wobbling the RF lead. Honestly, this is the peak of
this video. It all goes downhill from here.
By flicking down the AutoSearch button, which would normally flip between colour & black
and white modes on certain games, the console will start cycling through its built in games.
Let’s count them and see if we have 9,999 like it claims.
32 doesn’t sound much like 9,999 to me. But then, Atari 2600 games are notorious for
counting all their different modes as additional games. Usually accessible via. the GAME SELECT
switch, although here its labelled DIFFICULTY for some reason. Even so, that would mean
that each game has 312 OTHER MODES.
I sense some bull-shittery here RAMBO.
Now, the games you’d get on this thing vary from console to console. Some are reported
to have Atari’s 32 in 1 game cartridge installed. This one doesn’t, it seems to be an even
more random mish mash of games.
We’ve got everything from Dragon Defender to XXXX.
All playable through static-vision, and there is no chance in hell I’m going to spend
time replacing any capacitors in this. Instead, I’ll just hook up an actual 2600 via RF,
so you can see what things should look like.
Mmmm, look at this Light sixer VCS. So called, because these original ones had six switches
across the top, rather than the 4 on 2600 models. So solid. So nice.
Honestly, the build quality between this Rambo console and a proper 2600 is like night and
day. It’s like comparing a basic WordPress website
to a polished, and gleaming Squarespace Website. Mmmmmm, SquareSpace, the sponsor of this segement.
Yes, I can read your mind, you need a website. You need a website that you can have total
control over, yet will look utterly professional. That’s where SquareSpace excels.
Just look at all these templates you can choose from.
Look at all the customisation options you have available. You can add a shop, a blog,
your creativity is the limit. Drop on by squarespace.com/nostalgianerd for
10% off your first website or custom domain, and create something wondrous.
Not like this piece of utter nonsense.
See. It’s possible to get a good picture over RF, even on 40 year old hardware….
I honestly never thought I’d be relieved to use an actual 2600 joystick. The rubber
rigidity just feels so sublime compared to the utter plastic splinterfest that the RAMBO
joysticks offer you.
The strange thing is, these joysticks are each made from completely different types
of plastic. This one feels and sounds like it’s about to snap in half, but ironically,
it’s actually the better stick out of the two. I suppose it’s nice that they give
us a fire button on top of the stick as well with these, but it’s like putting a bow
on a turd, and that bow also happens to be sculpted out of the turd itself.
We’ve also got some nasty switches on the back, like a standard 2600, for difficulty,
and the switch that would usually be for swapping between frequency channels. Here, that’s
not really needed, and so on some versions of the Rambo, it would swap between game sets.
Unfortunately, mine seems to have only the single 32 game set, and this switch does flap
all.
Alright let’s open this up and see what’s going on.
Well, very little. There’s a tiny board in here, which is apparently Revision 3. There’s
a RF cable soldered into a socket, which you’ll actually also find on an Atari system. No
shielding for the componentry here though… and then over here, there are a few rather
dubious looking chips;
We’ve got a beefy 9435M… and a 12802P-1, and a tiny UM6583.
If we tear open this VCS, then you’ll find a huge lump of shielding, which underneath
houses the MOS 6507 CPU, clocked at 1.19MHz along with 128 bytes of RAM. But this block
also provides important stability to the whole unit. This makes it easier for inserting cartridges,
and generally interacting with the console.
The RAMBO has this, single plastic stump to do the job of that massive metal slab, and
because of it, it warps like hell whenever the slightest breeze passes by.
The general bendyness of the whole structure also makes it incredibly hard to get cartridges
in and out. Especially with the ill fitting plastic guideplate. I can see why Sylvester
Stallone is holding that rocket launcher now. It’s to blow this damn thing out existence.
At least when you finally do get a cartridge
in, the game actually loads up. So this appears to be a fully functional 2600 on a chip. It’s
a massively reduced 2600, launched in 1994, designed to upset anyone who comes into contact
with it.
But this was actually a more common thing in the 90s than you might expect. Famiclones
might have cornered some areas, but if you wanted a budget gaming experience in most
of Europe, then you’d have to settle for a 2600 clone. After all, by this point, in
the mid 90s, Atari Games under Time Warner were purely concentrating on arcade releases,
whilst Jack Tramiel’s Atari Corporation really had zero interest in this ‘ancient’
hardware. A while back I reviewed the TV Boy, which was just a handheld version of the Rambo
TV Game, complete with a load of built in games, and this was sold all over the place.
Argos catalogues, Index, high street shops. My mind used to boggle at what it was back
then.
Of course, with hindsight, it’s obvious.
The Rambo console, with it’s dubious licencing, and quality control didn’t make it to quite
as many places as the TV Boy, but honestly, that’s a good thing. At least the TV Boy
had the good grace to condense everything down, and give you a control pad. Whilst this
is still trying to carry the full 2600 flame, in a similar way that the monumental Strike
Commando tried to carry the full, unfettered and undiluted flame of Rambo.
But this console didn’t just go under the name Rambo TV Game. This clone was sold under
various names, and with various revisions, including the more
appropriately named GAMEOVER2600. Although mine has no mention of its origins, other
than a “made in China” label, they’re usually traced back to Jone Yuan Telephonic
Enterprise Co, who made a variety of clones and cartridges.
But they all do the job they’re intended to do, and they do it cheaply. Much like Rambo.
I’m starting to see why they went with that name now.
Of course, if you did want a Famiclone edition specifically, then you luck may just be in…
Until next time, I’ve been Nostalgia Nerd.
Toodleoo.