Casino Slot Machine!

Also known as: Caça Níqueis! (South America), Las Vegas (Europe), Las Vegas Gambling (Europe). Machine À Sous! (Canada)

Developer: Magnavox

I don't like slot machine video games. At all. I find them to be worthless and useless UNLESS the slot machine is a mini game in a larger game. The reason I find them to be useless is because there is no skill required and there is no payout. At least if a slot machine is a mini game, you can benefit from in-game cash or extra lives or SOMETHING. In games like Casino Slot Machine! all you get out of a jackpot is a quiet moment of reflection to try to figure out why you had just wasted precious moments of your life with this game. Basically, in this game, you place a bet, pull the handle of the slot machine…and then watch the results pop up in painfully slow fashion. If you were lucky, you'll have a winning combination of symbols so that you get a jackpot…well, that's the case in real life. Here, I was placing high bets and hoping that I'd have no matching symbols so I could go bankrupt and not be able to play this game anymore. Though, a real sign of luck is if I never had to come across this game to begin with. If you enjoy sitting in front of a slot machine and doing nothing but watching symbols revolve around on screen, then you may find something to like here. If you're like me, and find this kind of game to be rather pointless, then Casino Slot Machine! is going to do absolutely nothing to change your mind.

Review added: 12/01/2025

Computer Golf!

Also known as: Golf (Europe), Golf Électronique! (Canada), Golfe! (South America), Konpyuutaa Gorufu (Japan)

Developer: Magnavox

Computer Golf! may look crude, but it's a surprisingly good game of golf for the time. Featuring nine different holes to play on, and a second, close-up screen for each of the holes for when you're putting, there's a bit of variety here. Basically, the way Computer Golf! works is that you control a person with a golf club…that golf club is essential to knowing where to place your golfer in order to hit the ball in your intended direction. As you move the golfer around the ball, you'll see the club angle change. This angle will help you figure out what direction you'll be hitting the ball in. When you're at the right angle, line the tip of the club up with the ball, then press the action button to start your back swing. The longer you hold the button down, the more powerful your swing will be and the further the ball will travel. If you're not sure how the backswing works, you can back your golfer away from the ball and try a few swings. There's no penalty for doing that, so it helps new players get a feel of what they need to do without having their swing count docked as a result. The only thing that may annoy some players is that after each swing, you need to walk your golfer over to the ball for your next swing…and the golfer isn't exactly a speedwalking champion. I, personally, liked this little aspect to the game since it made it stand out. I do wish the golfer was a bit faster, but otherwise, I like that my golfer needs to get their steps in to get to their ball. Anyway, while Computer Golf! is very basic by today's standards, back in 1978, this was a pretty solid experience. If you're looking for a solid sports game for your Odyssey 2 console, I happen to think that this is the best one off the bunch.

Review added: 12/01/2025

Conquest of the World

Also known as: A Conquista de Mundo (Brazil), Eroberung der Welt (Europe), Hegemonie (Europe), La Conquête du Monde (Europe), Spelet om Världsmakten (Europe), Verdens Erobring (Europe)

Developer: Magnavox

If you took the board game Risk! and put it put it in a blender with Combat from the Atari 2600, the end result would be a smoothie known as Conquest of the World. And I didn't just mean the concept of Risk!, either…Conquest of the World actually has players swap between their television screens and the board game layout in front of them. The concept of the game is that there are forty-three countries available to choose from, and they are all ranked with a "power base figure" that is based upon territory size, economic power, and military power. The manual actually shows you the formula used to calculate everything - Perceived Power = (Critical Mass (Population+Territory)+Economic Capability+Military Capability)x(Strategic Purpose_National Will)…shortened to Pp=(C+E+M)x(S+W). And I don't really like math, so that's enough of that. Anyway, the goal is to select one of these countries to play as, and then negotiate and/or battle your way towards dominating the whole globe. When participating in battles, players control vehicles like submarines, planes, and tanks. These battles play very much like Atari's VCS pack-in game, Combat. So, Conquest of the World basically plays like a board game, but rather than roll a pair of dice to see if your country wins battles, you actually play it all out on your television screen in a simplistic, but fun manner. This kind of outside-the-box thinking is what made games like this (and Quest of the Rings) so interesting in the Odyssey 2 library during the second half of that console's life. Conquest of the World showed that even when a game is made for one of the weaker-powered consoles of the time, a little creativity and innovation could go a long way.

Review added: 06/25/2026