Collecting classic videogames is a passion of mine. I don't so bonkers of picking up every piece of minutiae because that level of obsession can really kill both your pocketbook and your social life. When you're passing up dates and gatherings because you have to stay home and snipe eBay auctions, you're in trouble. But collecting for fun can be a real joy for both old-timers and gamers that merged into this industry as late as the PSone.

The big catch is that you cannot just grab these classic carts and just throw them on a shelf. Where's the fun in that? Games are meant to be played, so if you're starting a library of classics, be sure to seek out the games you'll have the most fun actually playing. Once you have those, then it's time to start filling in any gaps.I have great admiration for the Colecovision. The machine was a monster compared to the dominant Atari 2600 -- it simply out-gunned it on every front. The Colecovision was capable of replicating arcade games with remarkably accuracy, and so Coleco made sure that its library was full of quarter-munchers from the pack-in Donkey Kong to more obscure coin-ops like Pepper II , Space Panic, and Venture . Despite its superior visuals and sound, though, the Colecovision just never achieved the heights of the Atari 2600. Rough estimates shows the Colecovision sold over six million units to eager home gamers (many on the strength of that DK pack-in, to be sure) before it was felled by the great crash that nearly decimated the entire industry.Embarking on a Colecovision collection is enormously rewarding, chiefly because there are so many great game worth having. When drawing up this list, I placed fun above rarity and value -- that's why you won't see ultra-rare games like Wing War anywhere near this guide. Wing War is a fun talking point, but the game itself? Unplayable. After all, as I pointed out in our Atari 5200 Buyer's Guide , games are meant to be played. Unless you just have to have every single game for your collection, just zero in on the fun ones -- the games you'll get some actual enjoyment out of.

Sierra ported BC's Quest for Tires over to the Colecovision from personal computers (I played this game for hours on my Commodore 64) and nothing was lost in translation. BC zooms through several side-scrolling action scenes, jumping over pothole and stones, catching major air at the bottom of a ramp jump, and hopping across dinosaurs. The key to success is to adjust BC's speed as you roll through the stages. While going fast, for example, you can make extended jumps over obstacles. This game features some excellent graphics that include not only sizeable character sprites, but these sprites also feature multiple colors. That may sound like much ado, but consider that many ports like Popeye sported sprites of just a single color. Whether you are a fan of the comic strip or not, definitely add this worthy quest to your budding Colecovision collection.Burgertime is one of the rare Donkey Kong clones that's actually worth the plastic it's housed inside. Even better, this port of the game is amongst the best of the home releases. (It certainly outclasses the ridiculous Atari 2600 port. You could find more visual order in a Jackson Pollack painting.) Chef Peter Pepper rushes around a multi-tiered grill, walking across burger ingredients in order to make sammiches at the bottom of the screen -- all while avoiding fired eggs and wiggly wieners. It's an immensely playable game that works exceptionally well with the Colecovision controller. If you're looking for a good home edition of this arcade classic, this is the one to score.Donkey Kong was and remains one of the top five greatest arcade games... ever. The Colecovision edition, which came as the original pack-in game, looked outrageously close to the arcade (especially stacked against the bizarro Atari 2600 port). The game is not an exact port, though. The conveyor belt screen has been cut and the main girder screen is missing tiers. But save for these oversights, the Colecovision version of Donkey Kong is still one of the best for the system and should be amongst your first pick-ups when starting a collection.Donkey Kong Junior is one of my favorite games of all time and the Colecovision edition of this classic is one of the best home ports. In 1983, the game looked like a million bucks. Check out those multi-colored sprites -- especially little junior. In case you have somehow missed out on this Nintendo highlight, little Junior must jump across vines to rescue his pops from Mario. Snapjaws and other enemies rush the screen, dropping down vines and chains to knock Junior into the drink. It's a tough platformer, and maybe that's why it hasn't soared as high as regular Donkey Kong. But if you are building a Colecovision library, you would be remiss to skip this exquisite game.Imagic was one of the most intriguing developers of the generation, crafting some of the most imaginative games for the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Colecovision. Dragonfire is not one of Imagic's top hits, but it is one of its best releases for the CV. It's a two-screen action game. You rush a prince across a drawbridge, jumping over and ducking under fireballs. inside the castle, you scoop up treasure while avoiding more flame bursts from the now on-screen dragon. The bridge screen looks great and the treasure room features a nice touch of scaling. It's a fun little twitch game that's well worth an entry in your collection. And if you like what you see here, you definitely need to seek out Imagic's greats on other systems, such as Atlantis and Demon Attack.