Has it really been two years? Yep, I had to check but it was indeed March of 2024 that I last reviewed a tome from the keyboard of Jamie Lendino, and it really hadn't feel like that long ago. But here we are with his seventh book: Frenzy.
The ColecoVision was but a minor player in a small game as far as the UK, as home consoles were kind of lost in the home computer scrum of the early 1980's, but it is a machine that was part of my collection back in the day. And one that I do have fond memories of playing Donkey Kong on, but these days, RetroArch scratches the Coleco itch. Genuine hardware is lovely, but so is having space to swing a cat (so to speak).
Anyhoo, Mr Lendino is back to talk us through the history of the ColecoVision, the hardware it spawned, and the software that endeared the format to millions of fans. Regulars will know what to expect, but for the newbie, we have a well put together paperback of some 240-plus pages. This is a little more svelte than previous volumes, but not by a great deal, and this is determined by the subject matter anyway.
The book is divided into ten sections: the ColecoVision story and the hardware take up the first two, with the following four concentrating on the arcade conversions the system was renowned for. Console exclusives/conversions make up the seventh, whilst computer conversions are the eighth section's highlight. The Coleco situation today makes for an extremely interesting ninth category, before the final part details the rather active homebrew scene of the format. An epilogue ties everything together before the as-always comprehensive bibliography and notes list.
This is an excellently written guide to one of the stand out formats of the original console era, and one that certainly had me pining for some spare time to re-visit more than a few games. There are a fair few photographs and screenshots, albeit in mono, and as with the author's previous tomes, this will remain part of my library for years to come as a go-to reference on the subject.
What really caught my interest was the acknowledgements, and the casual comment of further books to come. The editor of the series wants a TI-99/4A entry, but there are ten more to come before that! Tongue in cheek maybe, but since Scullion hasn't agreed to do an Amstrad GX4000 Encyclopaedia yet, maybe Lendino will??? I mean, 250 pages, only 20-ish released games - that's got to be a winning ratio, surely??? No? Just me? Bugger!
Yeah, I'm being silly, but what isn't silly is Frenzy, and once again, the author has delivered a high quality history about a classic gaming format. I only hope that it won't be two years until the next book. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy from Amazon here, and check out his previous titles here. These are the UK links but you get the idea. You can also follow the author on BlueSky here.
P.S. Although only briefly mentioned in the text, if you'd like to know more about the absolute dumpster fire that was the Coleco Chameleon, then check out my review of Smoke and Mirrors here.
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