_{Cover of the Summer 1983 issue of T.V. Gamer}

T.V. Gamer is a gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the early 1980s. The premiere issue from Summer 1983 included reviews of the major systems and games already out at that time.

Atari

System Review - This review points out the advantages and disadvantages of the venerable Atari 2600 (VCS). As the most popular system still at that time it had a massive game library and was still well supported. However, it was already pretty old for a game system in 1983 having been released in 1977 and memory was very limited at only 4K.

Software Reviews - Brief reviews or overviews are given for the following Atari 2600 games. While I've played many more since, the ones with a '*' are ones that I owned and/or played as a kid.

Adventure
Air Sea Battle
Amidar
Asteroids* (Arcade classic. A pretty decent conversion on the 2600.)
Atlantis
Backgammon
Barnstorming
Basic Maths
BASIC Programming
Basketball
Berzerk* (I didn't own this one but remember playing it at someone's house. I was probably around 5 years old. One of the earliest games I played)
Bowling
Boxing
Brain Games
Breakout*
Bridge
Carnival
Casino
Centipede* (Arcade classic. Another pretty decent conversion on the 2600.)
China Syndrome
Chopper Command
Circus Atari*
Codebreaker
Combat* (came with every Atari 2600 for a long time)
Concentration
Cosmic Ark
Cross Force
Defender* (Arcade classic. Another pretty decent conversion on the 2600.)
Demon Attack
Demons to Diamonds* (This one got bad reviews even at the time but I spent a lot of time playing it.)
Dishaster
Dodge'Em
Donkey Kong
Dragonfire (I first played this game on a Color Computer 3.)
Dragster
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial* (a pretty bad game but by no means the worst ever)
Fire Fighter
Fishing Derby
Freeway
Frogger* (Another I first played at someone else's house. One of the earliest games I played)
Frogs 'N' Flies* (A more obscure game but I spent a lot of time jumping from lily pad to lily pad trying to catch flies.)
Galaxian
Gangster Alley
Golf
Gorf
Grand Prix
Hangman
Haunted House
Human Cannonball
Ice Hockey
Indy 500
International Soccer
I Want My Mummy
Kaboom
Laserblast
Lock 'N' Chase
Lost Luggage
Math Gran Prix
Maze Craze
Megamania
Miniature Golf
Missile Command* (Arcade classic and yet another pretty decent conversion.)
Mousetrap
Ms. Pac-Man
Nexar
Night Driver* (I don't think I owned this one but I know I played it.)
Othello
Outlaw (I didn't have this one but I once knew someone who referred to this game as "Sit Down" because it looks like you just sit down when you get shot)
Pac-Man* (The game play wasn't too bad but the graphics were far worse than they needed to be, even for the 2600)
Pele Soccer
Phoenix
Pitfall* (One of the best though I preferred Pitfall II on the Commodore 64.)
Planet Patrol
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raquetball
Reactor
Riddle of the Sphinx
River Raid (I played this on the Commodore 64)
Room of Doom
Sea Quest
Shark Attack
Skeet Shoot
Skiing
Sky Diver
Slot Racers
Smurf
Space Cavern
Space Chase
Space Invaders* (I never really liked this game despite it being the one that really gave birth to the "modern" arcade)
Space War
Spider Fighter
Spiderman
Stampede
Starmaster
Star Raiders* (This game did a great job for the time of creating the feeling of a larger universe.)
Star Voyager
Star Wars - Jedi Arena
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back
Street Racer

_{Table of Contents from the Summer 1983 issue of T.V. Gamer}

Vectrex

System Review - The first portable game system to accept cartridges and also the only vector based home system. It was quite popular for a short time but suffered a premature death due in part to the video game crash.

Software Reviews - This system had a fairly small library...

Armor Attack
Berzerk
Blitz
Clean Sweep
Cosmic Chasm
Hyperchase
Minestorm
Rip Off
Scramble
Solar Quest
Space Wars

Competition - A sort of connect the dots competition based on the fact that the Vectrex used vectors for display. You could win a Vectrex and two games.

Colecovision

System Review - At the time, the Colecovision was the newest game system available. It had more memory than the 2600 or Intellivision (32K) and the best graphics. Games on the Colecovision looked a lot like games on the Commodore 64. The Colecovision had a few expansion modules and could even be turned into a full-fledged computer with printer. However, their timing was bad as the video game industry was experiencing a drastic down-turn and there were already better home computers available.

Software Reviews - The Colecovision while not having the largest library did have some pretty impressive games for the time.

Carnival
Cosmic Avenger
Donkey Kong (By far the best home conversion at the time)
Gorf
Lady Bug
Mousetrap
Smurf - Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
Turbo

Intellivision

System Review - Next to the Atari 2600, the Intellivision was the next most popular video game system of the first half of the 1980s. Technically, it fit somewhere between the Atari 2600 and the Colecovision though it managed to create its own niche with sports games and the Intellivoice add-on. I was not a fan of the hardwired controllers though.

Software Reviews - While not as massive as that of the Atari 2600, the Intellivision did develop a pretty impressive game library.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons / Cloudy Mountain (I was always a fan of the Gold Box AD&D games but this was the first licensed AD&D video game I am aware of.)
Armor Battle
Astrosmash
Atlantis
Auto Racing
B17 Bomber
Backgammon
Baseball
Basketball
Beauty and the Beast
Bowling
Boxing
Burger Time
Carnival
Checkers
Chess
Demon Attack
Donkey Kong
Dracula
Dragonfire
Frog Bog
Frogger
Golf
Gorf
Horse Racing
Ice Hockey
Ice Trek
Lock 'N' Chase
Loco-Motion
Math Fun
Micro Surgeon
Mission X
Night Stalker
Pitfall
Poker & Blackjack
Reversi
Royal Dealer
Roulette
Sea Battle
Sharp Shot
Skiing
Snafu
Soccer
Space Armada
Space Battle
Space Hawk
Space Spartans
Stampede
Star Strike
Sub Hunt
Swords and Serpents
Tennis

TV Gamer (Summer 1983)

Atari

Vectrex

Colecovision

Intellivision