Against all expectations — and after one of the messiest chapters in modern retro hardware history — the Intellivision Sprint is now officially on sale in Europe.
Launched today by PLAION REPLAI in collaboration with Atari, the Intellivision Sprint arrives just in time for Christmas, positioning itself as a premium revival of one of the most unusual and intellectually ambitious consoles of the early 1980s.
If this all feels faintly surreal, that’s understandable. When we covered the initial announcement back in October, it was hard not to be incredulous that any Intellivision-branded hardware was making it to market after the Amico debacle. And yet, here it is — real, physical, and very much shipping.
A proper Intellivision revival, not a novelty box
PLAION is keen to stress that the Intellivision Sprint isn’t just another mini console. This is pitched as a full-blooded recreation of the original system, designed with collectors and enthusiasts in mind rather than casual plug-and-play buyers.
It brings together 45 built-in games, rebuilt for modern displays but designed to preserve the original console’s distinctive feel — especially its famously divisive disc controllers. Forty-five years after the so-called First Console War, Atari and Intellivision are now working together, delivering the first official Intellivision hardware revival in decades.
You can see the console in action in the launch trailer here:
45 games, including some genuine highlights
The built-in library leans hard into what Intellivision always did differently: sports simulations, strategy-heavy titles, and slightly oddball design experiments.
- Armour Battle
- Astrosmash
- Auto Racing
- B-17 Bomber
- Baseball
- Body Slam: Super Pro Wrestling
- Bomb Squad
- Boulder Dash
- Bowling
- Buzz Bombers
- Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf
- Deep Pockets: Super Pro Pool & Billiards
- Frog Bog
- Golf
- Hover Force
- King of the Mountain
- Motocross
- Mountain Madness: Super Pro Skiing
- Night Stalker
- Pinball
- Reversi
- Sea Battle
- Shark! Shark!
- Slam Dunk: Super Pro Basketball
- Slap Shot: Super Pro Hockey
- Snafu
- Soccer
- Space Armada
- Space Battle
- Space Spartans
- Spiker!: Super Pro Volleyball
- Stadium Mud Buggies
- Star Strike
- Sub Hunt
- Super Pro Decathlon
- Super Pro Football
- Takeover
- Tennis
- Thin Ice
- Thunder Castle
- Tower of Doom
- Triple Action (Racing Cars / Biplanes / Battle Tanks)
- Triple Challenge (Chess / Checkers / Backgammon)
- Utopia
- Vectron
Notably, the Sprint includes the first official Intellivision release of Boulder Dash, alongside staples such as Astrosmash, Utopia, Night Stalker, Shark! Shark!, and Baseball. It’s a line-up that reflects the console’s long-standing reputation as the “smarter” alternative to its rivals — for better and worse.
Every game includes newly designed controller overlays, recreating the physical interaction that was central to the original experience. The controllers themselves are full-size disc pads, now wireless and rechargeable, with HDMI output handling modern TVs without introducing noticeable lag.
Day one updates and modern conveniences
Alongside today’s launch, Atari has released a Day One firmware update, available via USB, which adds several quality-of-life improvements:
- High score saving for supported games
- QR-code access to online manuals for every title
- An improved game carousel that keeps descriptions and screenshots visible while browsing
While a small reminder that this is a modern product, I’ve got to confess, I am sick of release-day firmware updates. In my view, if you cannot issue the hardware ready to play, don’t release it. Wi-Fi over-the-air updates are one thing — expecting a customer to faff about with a USB stick right after unboxing is another thing entirely.
From impossible to improbable
The Intellivision Sprint’s arrival feels less like a triumphant comeback and more like the closing of an unresolved chapter. After years of broken promises, missed deadlines, and brand damage, seeing an Intellivision console actually launch — under entirely different stewardship — is still faintly hard to believe.
Whether it finds an audience beyond dedicated collectors remains to be seen. But unlike certain recent attempts to resurrect the name, the Sprint at least understands what the Intellivision was, why it mattered, and who might still care.
In a year full of questionable retro revivals, the Intellivision Sprint stands out for one simple reason: it actually exists. And given the history, that alone feels worth noting.
Buy the Intellivision Sprint now on Amazon, or visit the Atari website to learn more.
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Christian Cawley is the founder and editor of GamingRetro.co.uk, a website dedicated to classic and retro gaming. With over 20 years of experience writing for technology and gaming publications, he brings considerable expertise and a lifelong passion for interactive entertainment, particularly games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.
Christian has written for leading outlets including TechRadar, Computer Weekly, Linux Format, and MakeUseOf, where he also served as Deputy Editor.
When he’s not exploring vintage consoles or retro PCs, Christian enjoys building with LEGO, playing cigar box guitar, and experimenting in the kitchen.
