My Vectrex 72-1 Multicart arrived yesterday and despite not having a lot of free time to use try it out, my initial thought is that this is a must have add-on for any Vectrex owner.
The 72-1 Multicart is basically a cartridge designed for the Vectrex that contains a custom rom chip containing not only the entire catalogue of Vectrex games but also includes prototype games that were never released, games created by fans well over 20 years since the Vectrex’s demise and also homebrew demo’s created by talented coders to show off this stunning vector based machine.
Here you can see the actual board and imitation Vectrex game label designed to stick on to a cartridge case once installed. A fully cased version is available to purchase however I chose this uncased version (about half the price) and will fit my own case at a later date.
The board is designed to fit an original Vectrex game cartridge and includes the same three mounting holes. Here’s another shot of the circuit board next to an original Vectrex game cart.
It looks simple enough, but considering that this is a home made board produced by hand, the quality is of very high standard.
After inserting the board in the Vectrex cartridge slot & switching on (no puff of smoke!) a simple menu system offers access to Original games, Unreleased games, Homebrew games, Modified original games and Homebrew GFX demos. Navigation is done via the joystick and fire buttons to launch the selected title.
..and here’s me trying to get pole position on..well Pole Position!
One of the many homebrew games – This ones appears to be a Frogger clone.
..another homebrew title which looks to be a clone of Discs of Tron. Two player version of this should be fun especially being a huge fan of the arcade original.
When i get chance i’ll post a few more pictures and maybe a few reviews on the homebrew games. Here’s a complete list of whats on the cartridge.
Games List
| ORIGINAL GAMES ARMOR ATTACK BEDLAM BERZERK BLITZ. CLEAN SWEEP COSMIC CHASM FORTRESS OF NARZOD HEADS UP ACTION SOCCER HYPERCHASE POLAR RESCUE POLE POSITION RIPOFF SCRAMBLE SOLAR QUEST SPACE WARS SPIKE SPINBALL STAR CASTLE STAR HAWK STAR TREK WEB WARS PROTOTYPES HACKED ORIGINAL GAMES 3D GAMES |
LIGHT PEN GAMES ART MASTER * MELODY MASTER * HOMEBREW GAMES HOMEBREW GAME DEMOS MISC DEMOS * REQUIRES LIGHT PEN ± BY JOHN DONDZILLA |
Did you manage to get the board into a cartridge? I can’t find one that fits it.
Not yet I’m afraid, empty carts seem to be a little illusive. Not wanting to destroy an original game case i’m looking at alternatives to house the Multi Cart. Currently I’m looking to use an old Atari 2600 cart were the game board no longer works.
Will post pictures when I’ve completed the mod.
Regards
Steve
I bought this same board, and it does NOT fit North American cart shells.
Also, I don’t know which way to insert it! Component side up or down???
Hi Arby,
Mine works with the component side up. I still haven’t found a suitable case for mine yet but to be honest, I’m quite happy with the bare bones look. Just have to make sure i don’t leave the circuit board plugged if i move the Vectrex…don’t want to accidentally damage it.
Thanks for the reply! I can finally try it out without fear of frying it.
I can understand likely the bare look, but dust WILL accumulate on it.
I’m sacrificing a Cosmic Chasm for the cart shell.