NASL Soccer

Also known as: Soccer (Re-release)

Developer: APh Technical Consulting

NASL Soccer is a solid game of soccer that likely satisfied fans of the sport back in 1980. For those who have no idea what NASL is, it stands for the North American Soccer League, which died just a few years later. Basically, the North American television audience for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, as well as a soccer documentary film titled "Goal!," led some investors to believe that there was an untapped market for soccer in the United States. Thus, in 1968, the NASL was born. While the league had some highs, such as the overwhelming popularity of Pele, who even got his own game on the Atari 2600, it also had plenty of lows…like having issues with FIFA due to all of their changes to soccer rules in an effort to desperately get more fans to care about the league. Anyway, Mattel was trying to get licenses to use sports league names for its sports games, and I'm pretty sure that with the NASL dying just a few years later, they probably got this license for cheap. As one may expect from an early sports game, though, there's nothing about the NASL in this game, except for the name used in the title of the game. They COULD have made it so that you pick a team…other Intellivision games allowed players to pick their colors for boxers or cars, each with different stats. I don't see why that couldn't be done here…just give each team a color, add some crude team stats, and you're done. Instead, NASL Soccer is simply a game of the yellow team versus the purple team. It is impressive, however, how the soccer field takes up three screens instead of just one. It's also impressive that they managed to give each player computer-controlled teammates that will actually do a good job of helping out, rather than simply move around the field for aesthetic purposes. Unfortunately, they don't give you a single player option, so you can't battle against a fully computer-controlled team. You can also pass the ball, steal the ball, and as the goalie, lunge for the ball to prevent a goal. The game even has an overtime option if the score is tied…which will automatically go into a second overtime if the score is still tied….or third…or however many are needed until the tie is broken. While NASL Soccer has some mild disappointments to it, the good outweighs the bad here and this is a solid game of soccer, if you happen to have an Intellivision in your home.

Review added: 11/27/2025

NBA Basketball

Also known as: Basketball (Re-release)

Developer: APh Technical Consulting

NBA Basketball, like NASL Soccer, is a licensed sports game on the Intellivision without any real licensing beyond the title of the game. I'll use the same complaint that I used in the NASL Soccer review - they could have allowed players to choose different colors and said they were different teams. Instead, what we've got here is the red team against the green team. Anyway, NBA Basketball is a game of three-on-three basketball, unlike Atari's one-on-one rendition of the sport. The player controls one of the athletes on their team, while the computer controls the other two athletes. The computer does a good job of acting like a teammate…you can literally sit back and let them steal the ball away from your opponent, if you're lazy enough to do so. As soon as they steal the ball, you automatically take control of whichever teammate has the ball, allowing you to run towards the hoop at take a shot. Or, if you don't have a good shot at the hoop, you can always pass the ball to another teammate and shoot the ball from their part of the court. When you're on the defensive, you can also block shots and steal the ball, if you're not too lazy to let the computer do all the work. At the start of each period, there's a jump ball to determine who gains control to start that period. There's even a shot clock, so if you're playing against someone that simply wants to stand around and do nothing (the ball can't be stolen when you're standing still), they will eventually lose possession of the ball unless they move their hiney to the hoop. Like the other Intellivision sports games released in 1980, they have computer-controlled teammates and opponents, but no option for a single-player mode for some reason. It should also be noted, that there are no three-point shots here. At first I thought it was a hardware limitation, then realized that the NBA didn't adopt the 3-point shot until the 79-80 season. So, the lack of three-point buckets is accurate for the time. The simplicity of Atari's Basketball could be fun and charming, but if you were a basketball fanatic in 1979 looking for a more realistic simulation of the sport, then NBA Basketball had you covered.

Review added: 11/27/2025

NFL Football

Also known as: Football (Re-release)

Developer: APh Technical Consulting

The Intellivision took most simplistic sports games that companies like Atari had made, and made them a bit meatier and more complex. Their attempt at American football is no exception. In NFL Football, which is once again a licensed game with no use of the license other than stamping it on the box and using it in the title of the game, is seemingly the first game of the sport to have a playbook. In fact, the game came with a printed playbook to go along with the normal instruction manual. Like modern football games, at the start of each down, you pick your plays. Instead of having options on-screen, however, you need to reference the playbook and use the number pads on your controller to pick the play that you wish to go with. NFL Football is a slow, methodical game…it almost feels more like a strategy game than a sports game at times…but I honestly think that it's a better game because of that fact. In fact, my only real complaints about the game are the same complaints that I have about all of the early Intellivision sports games - I wish there were more "teams" that you could pick from, where the players were different colors to represent different teams. In this game, it's always the orange team versus the light blue team. The other complaint is that each team has five players on it…you control one on your team and a friend controls one on the other team. The other eight players are all controlled by the computer. The logic is seemingly there for the computer to control a full team, so why isn't there a single player option? Still, though, NFL Football is easily the best football game for its time. If you want a fast-paced, arcade-like game of football, then you won't find it here. But, if you're looking for a more strategic game, and one that I think most football fans would like, then NFL Football was the best choice for its time.

Review added: 11/27/2025

NHL Hockey

Also known as: Hockey (Re-release)

Developer: APh Technical Consulting

Hockey is my favorite sport to play when it comes to video games. With my high pain tolerance, if I had the ability to skate on ice without cracking my head open like I did the last time I tried, I feel like I would have been good at the sport with some practice. Honestly, the idea of being smashed into plexiglass right as I pass the puck sounds like a fun time to me. Anyway, NHL Hockey, like the other Intellivision sports games, has the goal of trying to be less like an arcade game and more like a simulation of the actual sport. As much as I love hockey, I do have to admit that this is the weak link of the Intellivision sports lineup…but not from a lack of trying. First, I'll start with my complaints…and the usual complaints are here. Mattel got the NHL license but failed to use it aside from plastering it on the box and using it in the game's title. Instead of having different colored players to choose from to signify teams, you've always got the same two teams to play as or compete against - the tan team versus the light green team. Another, common complaint is the lack of a single player mode. Like other Intellivision team sports games, there are computer-controlled teammates. Why not add in some logic for shooting the puck and such to allow a single-player mode? Unfortunately, this game has another big complaint…like how it seems impossible to score a goal unless you manage to knock down the goalie before taking a shot. I don't know if I've ever successfully scored without taking a goalie down first…I'm sure it's possible, but it seems overly difficult. You do not control the goalie at all in this game, so there's no chance of squeaking a goal past a novice player. The game also feels a bit more difficult to control the skaters than it should…it feels like you're controlling a bunch of novice skaters that don't quite know how to handle ice skates…and that's coming from someone that doesn't quite know how to handle ice skates. There are positives here, though. You can trip the opponent and steal the puck, and this also leaves them inactive on the ice for a few seconds while they recover. However, if you trip a player that doesn't have the puck, you may have a player sent to the penalty box. It's not guaranteed, though, so depending on how much time is on the clock, it may or may not be worth pressing your luck with it. While you can only have one player in the penalty box at a time, you're also unable to trip the opponent while you've got someone in the penalty box - so not only are you down a teammate, but it's much more difficult to gain control of the puck until they get back. Anyway, NHL Hockey is a passable hockey game, and it's the best game of its time for purists of the sport, but it's not quite as good as Intellivision's other sports titles.

Review added: 11/27/2025

Night Stalker

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Mattel

I like Night Stalker, but it definitely has its shortcomings. The concept of this game is to navigate a maze to obtain a gun to defend yourself. Using the gun, you then can shoot robots, bats, and spiders until your bullets run out…then you're back to hunting down the gun that should have respawned elsewhere in the maze. The robots do shoot back, too, so it's not as simple as just getting a gun, shooting some things, then getting another gun and repeating yourself. When the challenge starts to ramp up, the game is at its best and at that point, Night Stalker can be a really good, fun game. Unfortunately, there's just one teeny tiny problem…the speed. The gameplay moves at a glacial pace - I don't mind slow-paced games, but sometimes this feels like a better title for the game would have been Night Waiter, since you'll spend time waiting for enemies to get into a safe position you to shoot them, far enough away where you can dodge their return fire. The bullets, by the way, also move at the speed of dripping molasses. I will admit, though, running away, at the pace of a snail, from a bullet speeding towards you like an old lady in a walker did get some good reactions out of me as I would try to scurry to a part of the maze where I could avoid the incoming fire. Since it's slow, it gives you time to react and it does make you feel like you lucked out when you slide behind a wall just at the last second and successfully avoid that creeping bullet. When games are faster-paced, you don't really have time to react or reflect on moments like that since you're likely already in the process of avoiding the next bullet. However, despite that compliment, I do have to say that Night Stalker will likely be too slow for most folks that play it…and many may not stick around long enough to find out how enjoyable and challenging that the game can get. Night Stalker can be a solid game…but it simply takes a bit too long to get there.

Review added: 06/05/2026