The TV Boy and its successors TV Boy II and Super TV Boy are 1990s

handheld TV game A handheld TV game or plug and play game is an integrated home video game console and game controller, usually battery powered, which connects directly to a television. The game software is built directly into the unit, which is typically designe ...

s sold by many different companies, including Systema, Akor, and NICS, based upon an unlicensed clone of

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

hardware. They were widely available across Europe. In the UK, they were most visibly available through

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

. They were released around 1992 and three years later, an improved version of the TV Boy 2, the Super TV Boy, was also made by Akor.Akor Super TV Boy system information
old-computers.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011. Users can play any one of 127 built-in games. In the UK, they were marketed with 126 games included, while the Super TV Boy has 127.Akor TV Boy system information
old-computers.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011.

Hardware

Resembling a large handheld pad, the systems plug into a TV and operate on either four AA batteries or a 6V power supply (centre negative). The only difference between a TV Boy and TV Boy II is that the former has two 9-pin Atari-type joystick connectors for the optional use of external joysticks. This is true for the Systema and NICS TV Boys, but not for the Akor version, which does not have such external ports at all.Akor TV Boy hardware information
old-computers.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011. As the TV Boy II has no capacity for external joysticks, only a single player may play using a built-in pad.
Atari History. Retrieved 14 September 2011. Some versions of the TV Boy, but not all, have a jumper labeled

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

on its motherboard. There is no cartridge slot for additional games.

Games

The system contains a single 512KB ROM, housing 128 programs. One is the program that enables the others to be selected so only 127 games are included. None of them use any sort of paged ROM scheme.Akor TV Boy
museo8bits.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011. All 127 are original

games by companies such as Atari,

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

, and

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

, hacked to remove copyright notices and other assets demonstrating ownership. The colored bars to the left of the ''A'' in the Activision logo remain in some games but the company name is excised. False and ambiguous names – such as ''Mad Kong'' (''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

'') and ''The Flying Man'' (''Superman'') – are printed on the packing box and in the instruction manual. For the UK versions, one game originally included with the TV Boy was removed from the TV Boy II: game #91: ''Protection'' ('' Defender''). No replacement game takes its place (it was left non-operational) making the TV Boy II a 126-game handheld console. This space was filled in the Super TV Boy with ''Winter Adventure'' (''Mountain Man''). Also, three games were exchanged in the UK: ''Maze Town'' (''Maze Craze'') with ''Full Attack'', ''Football'' (''Pele's Soccer'') with ''Besieged'' (''Z-Tack''), and ''Duel'' (''Outlaw'') with ''Laser Attack'' (''Laser Blast''). Some of the games slightly alter the graphics of the originals. All play with altered colors — for example, ''Pitfall!'' (retitled as ''The Jungle'') is set in a blue forest — because the game ROMs are NTSC versions played on a PAL console.

List of included games

The following is a complete list of the Atari 2600 games modified for inclusion in the TV Boy, according to the game number on that device, with the original game name listed beside: # Desert Strike – '' Chopper Command'' (

) – 1982 (001) # River Raid – ''

River Raid ''River Raid'' is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Activision later ported the title to th ...

'' (Activision) – 1982 (002) # PacmaniaNot to be confused with the arcade game with the same name produced by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...

in 1987. – '' Pac-Man'' ( Atari) – 1981 (003) # Wolf Fight – ''

Pooyan is a fixed shooter arcade game released by Konami in Japan in 1982. It was manufactured in North America by Stern Electronics. The player controls "Mama", a pig whose babies have been kidnapped by a group of wolves. Gameplay The player contr ...

'' (

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

) – 1983 (004) # Star Force – ''Earth Dies Screaming'' (20th Century Fox) – 1983 (005) # Asteroid – ''Mission 3000'' (Puzzy/Bit) – previously PAL only – 1983 (006) # Space 2010 – '' Demon Attack'' (Imagic) – 1982 (007) # Invasion – ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter an ...

'' (Atari) – Original release 1978 ported in 1980 (008) # Motocross – ''

Motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

'' (Suntek) – Year unknown (009) # The Frogs – '' Frogs and Flies'' (M Network) – 1982 (010) # Helicopter Squad – ''Time Warp'' (Funvision) – 1982 (011) # The Birds – ''Krieg Der Stern'' (Suntek) – Year unknown (012) # The Jungle – ''Mr. Postman'' (Puzzy/Bit) – 1983 (013) # Submarine – ''Katastrophen-Einsatz'' – (Quelle) the German version of M*A*S*H (014) # Pacmania (2) – ''Jawbreaker'' ( Tigervision) – 1982 (015) # River Crossing – ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'' ( Parker Bros.) – 1983 (016) # Tank Battle – ''Thunderground'' ( Sega) – 1983 (017) # Fire! – ''

Fire Fighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

'' (Imagic) – 1982 (018) # Forest Walk – ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world con ...

'' (Activision) – 1982 (019) # The Sharks – '' Seaquest'' (Activision) – 1983 (020) # Pin Ball – '' Video Pinball'' (Atari) – 1980 (021) # Sea Hunter – ''Sub Scan'' (Sega) – 1983 (022) # Dragon Treasure – '' Dragonfire'' (Imagic) – 1982 (023) # The Dentist – ''

Plaque Attack ''Plaque Attack'' is a 1983 video game for the Atari 2600 that was made by Activision. The player must shoot food to protect teeth inside a person's mouth. Steve Cartwright, who designed the game, said that game was meant to help people develop ...

'' (Activision) – 1983 (024) # Mad Kong – ''

'' (Coleco) – 1982 (025) # The Gardener – ''

Gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...

'' (

US Games U.S. Games Corporation was a video game company founded by Donald Yu, which originally produced handheld electronic sports games. It pivoted to focus exclusively on video game software in 1981, and was acquired by cereal company Quaker Oats in 19 ...

) – does not appear on the TV Boy – 1982 (026) # Forest Battle – ''Nuts'' (Technovision) – previously PAL only – 1983 (027) # Space Conquest – '' Flash Gordon'' (20th Century Fox) – 1983 (028) # F1 Race – ''

Enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...

'' (Activision) – 1983 (029) # Treasure – ''Criminal Pursuit'' (ZiMAG/Vidco/Emag) – Year unknown (030) # Symbols – ''I.Q. Memory Teaser'' (Suntek) – 1983 (031) # The Hen House – ''Farmyard Fun'' (Suntek) – previously PAL only – Year unknown (032) # Rescue – ''Zoo Fun'' (Suntek) – 1983 (033) # Duck Pass – ''Challenge'' (Funvision) – 1980 (034) # Thief! – '' Keystone Kapers'' (Activision) – 1983 (035) # Bowling – ''

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

'' (Atari) – 1978 (036) # Brick Wall – '' Circus Atari'' (Atari) – 1980 (037) # Rodeo – ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

'' (Activision) – 1981 (038) # Space Battle – ''M.A.D.'' (US Games) – 1982 (039) # Parachute – '' Parachute'' (Suntek) – 1983 (040) # Monsters – '' Berzerk'' (Atari) – 1982 (041) # Lost Ships – ''Worm War I'' (Sirius-Fox) – 1982 (042) # The Maze – '' Dodge 'Em'' (Atari) – 1980 (043) # Around The World – '' Bobby Is Going Home'' (Puzzy/Bit) – previously PAL only – 1983 (044) # The Ladder – ''Master Builder'' (Spectravision) – 1983 (045) # Rambler – ''Walker (A.K.A. Clown Down Town)'' (Suntek) – 1983 # Space Defence – ''UFO Patrol'' (Suntek) – 1983 (047) # Evil Fighter – ''Immies & Aggies (A.K.A. Spectracube Invasion)'' (ZiMAG/Vidco/Emag) – 1983 (048) # Flying saucers – ''Great Escape'' (Bomb) – 1983 (049) # Town Attack – Z-Tack (Bomb) – 1983 (050) # Fire Dragon – ''Dragon Defender'' (Suntek) – 1983 (051) # Chinese Plates – ''Dancing Plate'' (Puzzy/Bit) – 1983 (052) # Rivercross – ''

Frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...

'' (Activision) – 1983 (053) # Base Defenses – ''Commando Raid'' ( Vidtec) – 1982 (054) # Wolf! – '' Oink!'' (Activision) – 1983 (055) # The Mouse – ''Snail Against Squirrel'' (Puzzy/Bit) – previously PAL only – 1983 (056) # Maze Town – ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' (Tigervision) – 1982 (057) # Ice Polo – ''

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

'' (Activision) – 1981 (058) # Tennis – ''

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

'' (Activision) – 1981 (059) # Sea War – ''

Sea Monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

'' (Puzzy/Bit) – 1982 (060) # Volley Ball – ''

Realsports Volleyball ''Realsports Volleyball'' is a volleyball video game written by Bob Polaro and Jim Huether for the Atari 2600 and published by Atari, Inc. in 1982. Polaro also programmed the Atari 2600 port of '' Defender''. Development ''RealSports Volleybal ...

'' (Atari) – 1982 (061) # Evil Attack – ''

Spider Fighter ''Spider Fighter'' is a fixed shooter designed by Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1982. According to the manual, Miller was "the newest addition to the Activision design team." He went on to create the Atari 2600 ra ...

'' (Activision) – 1983 (062) # Rocket – ''Missile Control'' ( Video Gems) (Atari) – previously PAL only – 1983 (063) # Besieged – ''Wall Defender'' (Bomb) – does not appear on the TV Boy – 1983 (064) # The Spider – '' Amidar'' (Parker Bros.) – 1982 (065) # Fly in the Sky – ''

Barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in ...

'' (Activision) – 1982 (066) # Car Race – '' Grand Prix'' (Activision) – 1982 (067) # The Flying Man – '' Superman'' (Atari) – 1979 (068) # Robot Attack – ''Space Robot'' (Dimax) – previously PAL only – 1983 (069) # Robot City – '' Lock 'n' Chase'' (

M Network M Network was a video game division of Mattel that, in the 1980s, produced games in cartridge format for the Atari 2600 video game system. History In the early 1980s, Mattel's Intellivision video game console was a direct competitor to Atar ...

) – 1982 (070) # The Ghosts – ''

Venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

'' (

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game conso ...

) – 1982 (071) # Space Ship – '' Cosmic Ark'' (Imagic) – 1982 (072) # Tank Action – '' Strategy X'' (Konami) – 1983 (073) # Laser Ship – ''Cross Force'' (Spectravision) – 1982 (074) # One Against all – ''

Planet Patrol Planet Patrol is an American electro group originating in the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson (lead singer), Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and Melvin ...

'' (Spectravision) – 1982 (075) # Golf – ''

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

'' (Atari) – 1980 (076) # Robot Strike – '' Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' (Parker Bros.) – 1982 (077) # Street Battle – '' Dark Cavern'' (M Network) – 1982 (078) # Tunnel – '' Pharaoh's Curse'' (TechnoVision) – 1983 (079) # Operation Thunderstorm – ''Turmoil'' (

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

) – 1982 (080) # Sky Squadron – ''Tac-Scan'' (Sega) – 1983 (081) # Spiderman – '' Spider-Man'' (Parker Bros.) – 1982 (082) # Maze Craze – '' Bank Heist'' (20th Century Fox) – 1983 (083) # Earth 2010 – ''

Space Cavern ''Space Cavern'' is a 1982 fixed shooter video game for the Atari 2600 developed and released by Games by Apollo. Players control a spaceship commander who has landed on a planet and must defend the ship against its hostile creatures. Games by Apo ...

'' (Apollo) – 1981 (084) # The Shield – ''Spacemaster X-7'' (20th Century Fox) – 1983 (085) (?) # Sea Warp – ''

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

'' (

Imagic Imagic ( ) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''Atlantis'', ''Cosmic Ark'', and ''Demo ...

) – 1982 (086) # Holy Ghost – ''Open, Sesame!'' (Puzzy/Bit) – 1982 (087) # Funfair Rifle Range – '' Carnival'' (Coleco) – 1982 (088) # Laser Tank – ''Threshold'' (Tigervision) – 1982 (089) # Luke and the Monsters – '' Fast Eddie'' (20th Century Fox) – graphics altered from original – 1982 (090) # Protection – '' Defender'' (Atari) – 1981 (091) # Tic-Tac-Toe – '' 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe'' (Atari) – 1980 (092) # UFO Ship – '' Assault'' (Bomb) – 1983 (093) # Birds of Prey – ''Condor Attack'' (Ultravision) – 1982 (094) # Deep-Sea Fishing – '' Name This Game'' (US Games) – 1982 (095) # Spider King – ''Pac-Kong'' (Funvision) – previously PAL only (096) # The Crabs – '' Crackpots'' (Activision) – 1983 (097) # Billiard – ''

Trick Shot A trick shot (also trickshot or trick-shot) is a shot played on a billiards table (most often a pool table, though snooker tables are also used), which seems unlikely or impossible or requires significant skill. Trick shots frequently involve ...

'' (Imagic) – 1982 (098) # Moon Driver – ''Gas Hog'' ( Spectravision) – 1983 (099) # Tank Battle in The Streets – ''Phantom Tank'' (Puzzy/Bit) – 1982 (100) # Squash – ''

Racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

'' (

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

) – 1981 (101) # Tunnel Battle – ''Laser Gates'' (Imagic) – 1983 (102) # Space Exploration – ''Cosmic Creeps'' (Telesys) – 1982 (103) # King Building – ''Robin Hood'' or ''Save Our Ship'' (Technovision) – previously PAL only – 1983 (104) # Galaxy 2 – ''Challenge of NEXAR'' (Spectravision) – 1982 (105) # Tom's Adventure – ''Panda Chase'' (Home Vision) – 1983 (106) # Moto Kid – ''Mega Force'' (20th Century Fox) – 1982 (107) # Karate – '' Karate'' (Ultravision) – 1982 (108) # Sky Destroyer – ''

Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game '' Temp ...

'' (Atari) – 1981 (109) # Fighter Pilot – '' Air Raiders'' (M Network) – 1982 (110) # Pacific War – ''Seahawk'' (Sancho / Tang's Electronic Co.) – 1982 (111) # Robot Alert! – ''Hey! Stop!'' (Suntek) (112) # The Vulture – ''Tuby Bird'' (Suntek) (113) # Submarine Fishing – ''Bi! Bi!'' (Rainbow Vision) (114) # River Fishing – '' Fishing Derby'' (Activision) – 1980 (115) # Traffic – ''

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

'' (Activision) – 1981 (116) # UFO Attack – ''Space Jockey'' (Vidtec) – 1982 (117) # Game of Draughts – ''

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

'' (Activision) – 1980 (118) # Duel – '' Outlaw'' (Atari) – 1978 (119) # Ottello – '' Othello'' (Atari) – 1980 (120) # Sidereal attack – ''Cosmic Swarm'' (CommaVid) – 1982 (121) # Ski – ''

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

'' (Activision) – 1980 (122) # Invaders – ''Astro War'' ( Dimax) – previously PAL only – Year unknown (123) # The Trap – ''Gangster Alley'' (Spectravision) – 1982 (124) # Elevator – ''Infiltrate'' (Apollo) – 1981 (125) # Hamburger – '' Fast Food'' ( Telesys) – 1982 (126) # Invader – ''

Megamania ''Megamania'' is an Atari 2600 game by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1982. Versions were released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit family in 1983. ''Megamania'' is similar to Sega's 1981 arcade title '' Astro Blaster''. Bo ...

'' (Activision) – 1982 (127)

References

{{Atari 2600 Atari 2600 hardware clones Dedicated consoles