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In Europe, CBS Electronics acted as the brand name and distribution channel for Coleco's videogame products. It seems they, like Mattel, didn't really pull their foreign market strategy together very well. Most of these titles were released in at least three languages, followed by multi-lingual packages as well. (Wow! We can save money by printing one thicker manual and one style of box instead of three versions! Eureka!) These were handled separately from the French-Canadian versions, which were released only in North America, by Coleco.

With the exception perhaps of the last titles released by Coleco for the Intellivision, the games were printed up and released in English (for the U.K. and other English-speaking foreign markets), German and French. Just as Mattel did with a few later titles, Coleco later released multi-lingual packages. These had game instructions in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the CBS and Coleco versions is that it appears that some of the early games having compatibility problems with the Intellivision II console were corrected for the CBS releases. This, despite Mattel's failure to deliver the Intellivision II to foreign markets. Of course, my assertion is based on only a few data points - plugging the CBS version of Mouse Trap into an Intellivision II console and finding that it worked. One irritating thing is that some of the CBS cartridge cases appear to have been modified slightly, making the game difficult, if not impossible, to insert into an NTSC console.

So far, with only a scant sampling of two people, it's been determined that the following CBS Electronics versions of Coleco games ARE compatible with the Intellivision II, while their Coleco counterparts are not. Once again, Hankster has lent a hand.

  • Mouse Trap
  • Venture

Of course, you didn't expect me to have a page about the Coleco games without ripping them in some fashion, did you? OK, here it is! Despite the frequent crappiness of Coleco's Intellivision games, these CBS releases had some of the coolest cover art! Not only that, but there are several completely different versions of the artwork! For example, check out Venture. The cartridge cases were also shaped differently.

Cartridge Count 7/8


Title Item No. Manual Overlays Rarity Notes
Carnival Box Carnival 7630-7 Yes

N/A

R3Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; English version does not work on Intellivision II; game review / info
Donkey Kong Box Donkey Kong 7625-7 Yes

N/A

R3Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; English version still shrinkwrapped; Hankster reports that the CBS ROM does work on the Intellivision II console; game review / info
Donkey Kong Jr. Box Donkey Kong Jr. 7637-6 Yes

N/A

R3Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; game review / info
Lady Bug Box Lady Bug 7632-3 Yes

N/A

R3Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; part number is from German CBS catalog, with the country-specific suffix removed; game review / info
Mouse Trap Box Mouse Trap 7629-9 Yes

Mouse Trap Overlay

2

R3Multiple box versions for various European locales exist; English edition confirmed to work with the Intellivision II, unlike the original Coleco version; game review / info
Venture Box Venture 7628-1 Yes

N/A

R3Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; have two different English boxes; still shrinkwrapped - should I open 'em?; Hankster reports that this version does work with the Intellivision II; game review / info
Zaxxon Box Zaxxon ICI 243503 Yes

N/A

R2Multiple boxes versions for various European locales exist; game review / info



The following items are still missing from the CBS Electronics part of my collection.

Title Comments
Carnival Need French, German, and multilingual versions
Donkey Kong Need French, German, and multilingual versions
Donkey Kong Jr. Need French, German, and multilingual versions
Lady Bug Need English, French, and multilingual versions
Mouse Trap Need French, German, and multilingual versions
Turbo Need English, French, German, and multilingual versions
Venture Need French, German, and multilingual versions
Zaxxon Need English, French and German versions as well as cart for multi-lingual version