Category: C64

Categories
4 out of 5 Arcade Adventure C64 Maze

Cops & Robbers

Publisher: Atlantis

Designer: Mike Davis

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: Maze

Release Date: 1985

Rating: undefined

This is another one of those awesome games that I remember from back in the days of the commodore 64. In fact, this game was also available on the Vic 20, and there was pretty much no difference between the two. Actually, come to think of it, I believe that there was a cartridge version of the game, which sort of works because it means that the cartridge could actually beef up the computer’s memory, giving the developers more space to be able to play with.

Well, you are a robber, and your job is to basically steal diamonds while avoiding the police. First of all, you have a limited number of bullets so you really need to be careful when you fire willy nilly around the place. There are also a number of locations that you can visit, including the diamond mine and the diamond store (which also have multiple levels).

However, where this game shines is that it is more than just a simple maze game where you avoid nasties and collect diamonds – otherwise, it would just be Pacman with a different skin. No, there are problems that you need to solve, such as getting the combination for the safe, and that certainly is quite tricky. The other thing is that in the mine you have ghosts, and not surprisingly your gun is completely useless against the ghost.

I do remember playing this for hours, and yeah, it is a pretty tricky game, but not as tricky as some. As I suggested, it probably falls into the category of arcade adventure because it is more than just a simple arcade game. There a problems to be solved, as well as numerous rooms that you can explore. Also, as I mentioned, there are the cops, and if they grab you (ditto with the helicopter) you are sent off to prison. However, if the ghosts nab you, then it is off to the morgue. Yeah, this is pretty cool.

Anyway, this game does have an entry in Wikipedia, but that shouldn’t surprise anybody due to its popularity. Also, you can find further details about it on Lemon64.

Categories
3 out of 5 C64 RPG

Ultima 3

Publisher: Origin Systems

Designer: Richard Garriott

Type: Roleplaying

Platform: Various

Release Date: 1983

Rating:

Once again, the Ultima series takes a slightly different turn. Well, first of all, the game has moved away from a single character to where you now have to create a party of characters so be able to solve the game. Also, combat moves into a specific combat screen where you fight against your opponents, which makes it somewhat better than the previous games where you would run around the world trying to escape all of the nasties. Also, one really interesting thing is that you can choose one of three genders, that being male, female, or other (though the choice doesn’t do much). Oh, and there happens to be this race called a Fuzzy, but I have no idea what it is supposed to be.

So, it looks like you haven’t quite finished your job yet because even though Mondain and Minax have both been killed, it seems as if they have left their computer, Exodus, running. Okay, this isn’t quite like the computer that you happen to be using to read this review, but other it is some sort of supercomputer with some hugely impressive AI component that is controlling a world full of nasty monsters. Anyway, your job is to turn it off, and if you think that it just involves pulling the plug, well, it is a little more difficult than that.

I did eventually manage to complete this game, but I can’t say that it was one of my favourites. I guess it is sort of that type of game that straddles the earlier releases, which are sort of a breakthrough, and the really outstanding games that are to come. Though, another interesting thing is seeing what they took, and what they happened to have left behind when they moved onto the next project. For instance, it seems as if creating a party yourself was eventually dropped in the next iteration.

Still, this was a fun game, even if it didn’t quite reach the accolades of some of the others. It was difficult, but not too difficult, but then again that seemed to be the case with a lot of these roleplaying games, where the early part is really hard, but once your characters reach a certain point, then things start to get a little easier. Still, it was fun when I played it, especially with the fact that the whole purpose of the game is to turn off a computer.

Anyway, you can find details about this game on Wikipedia (which shouldn’t surprise anybody), but there are also entries on this game on the Ultima fandom page, as well as on the c64 wiki page. Oh, and if you want a walkthrough, there is one on the Ultima codex.

Categories
3 out of 5 C64 RPG

Pool of Radiance

Publisher: Strategic Simulations Inc.

Designer: Chuck Kroegel

Type: Roleplaying

Platform: Various

Release Date: 1988

Rating:

I believe that this was basically the first of the official Dungeons and Dragons games, and it certainly showed it. Mind you, I do remember when it was first released, and it was all the rage, namely because my friends and I loved Dungeons and Dragons, so when an official game was released, we all wanted a copy of it so we could not only play it but see who the first to complete it world be (spoiler – it wasn’t me).

So, the whole idea is that you create a party and then you have to go into this ruined city and clear it out of all of the monsters therein. The first level, for want of a better word, was the slums, and I remember that the final battle in the slums was really, really hard, namely because you were low-level characters and had to fight a bunch of ogres are trolls – gee, that was fun.

The interesting thing was that the next level you had to go and fight undead. Seriously, what is it with fighting undead on the second stage of the game – all of the games seemed to do that for some reason. In fact, I find undead overused, and rather boring

Pools of Radiance was a good game, and rather challenging, though of course being the first of a series certainly showed a lot. Obviously, they were still trying to tweak the game as the next ones were produced. I did manage to complete it, and it certainly did get easier one you managed to get through that really annoying battle with the trolls and the ogres (honestly, who thought that a bunch of first level characters could actually beat them). The game was also open to being mapped as well, though back in those days maps tended to be placed on pieces of papers, which meant that I had a huge graph book full of maps form the various games that I played.

Sure, this isn’t going to stand up to any of the modern games, and in hindsight, it really wasn’t all that great either, compared to the forerunners that really set the scene up. However, it was still fun, and does deserve its place in history.

Anyway, you can find out more about this game on Wikipedia, and of course it has an entry on the Forgotten Realms Fandom wiki. Oh, and you might also be looking for a walkthrough as well, and yes, there is one.

Categories
4 out of 5 C64 RPG

Ultima 2

Publisher: Origin Systems/Sierra On-Line

Designer: Richard Garriott

Type: Roleplaying Game

Platform: Various

Release Date: 1982

Rating: undefined

This is one of those games that requires a lot of imagination to appreciate how great it actually is. Initially, when I was playing it (and ironically I got if off a truckie that happened to live just down the road from me) I would just keep on dying, but after years of perseverance, I actually managed to kill Minax, who happens to be hiding in the realm known only as the Realm of Legends (though I suspect that in later versions it would become Britannia).

So, you start off in the modern world, and it appears that these gates have appeared and monsters are all pouring out. Yes, you play the game on Earth, and there are these gates (which also appear in later games as well) that allow you to travel to different time periods. The date of the game shows us the feeling at the time as we end up at a point where the Earth has been destroyed by Nuclear War. However, you can also travel to the distant past, the ancient world, and of course the land of legends.

If that isn’t enough, you can also go to outer space where you visit each of the planets in our solar system (actually, you have to do that to complete the game, though you will need fuel for the rocket which, not surprisingly, lies at the bottom of the dungeons). Yeah, there are dungeons as well, and you can complete the game without actually going into any of them, but as I mentioned in a side remark, you may need to to get fuel for your rocket.

Honestly, while the game, and the gameplay, really isn’t all that great (it was made in 1982), the story behind it, and the concept, is actually pretty awesome. In fact, I don’t think I have found any other games with a similar storyline, though they are probably out there.

Well, not surprisingly, Wikipedia has an entry for this game, since it is pretty popular, and quite well known. You can also find details of this game on one of the Ultima Wikis. Oh, and Moby Games also has an entry, though it isn’t anywhere near as detailed. If you are looking for a walkthrough, you can find one here.

Categories
2 out of 5 C64 Shoot-em Up

F1 Tornado

Publisher: Zepplin Games

Designer: Wahid Kahn, Neil Hislop

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release Date: 1991

Rating:

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I came to this game, that is whether it was a shootem-up or not. Well, it turned out that it isn’t a flight simulator, but rather a shootem-up, and a pretty hard one at that. You are basically flying a jet fighter and you have lots of enemies coming at you, as well as lots of ships firing stuff at you, and well, yeah, that is about it.

Actually, I found that the baddies pretty much come at you really thick and fast, which made it really, really hard to avoid getting blown up, when it was being hit by a missile (or rather a bullet) from one of the ships or being struck by one of the many planes that seem to come flying in your direction. The thing was that you really don’t seem to be given all that much breathing space, which meant that even if I managed to shoot down, or avoid, one of the many swarms that were coming towards me, then another lot would come. As it turned out, I spent more time dodging things than actually shooting any of the baddies down.

Then there are the ships. Well, there was just way, way too many of them. In fact, it felt as if I was flying over an entire fleet, and of course, you do have to avoid them because, well, planes and ships tend not to mix, especially if you slam into them at the speed that you are travelling. I did work out that you can actually shoot down the turrets, but of course you do have to pull up before, well, splatting against the bridge.

Yeah, this game was just way too hard for my liking, and I’m glad I never forked out any money for it when I was a kid, though I do suspect that maybe, just maybe, it was one of those el-cheapo games, which still doesn’t mean that it was value for money.

Well, not surprisingly, there is no Wikipedia page, but you can find some details (as scant as they are) on Lemon 64.

Categories
2 out of 5 Beatem Up C64

Express Raider

Publisher: Data East

Designer: Zoltán Kanizsai, Zoltan Czigler, Istvan Ratkai, Ferenc Frank

Type: Beat-em Up

Platform: C64

Release Date: 1986

Rating:

I’ve seen quite a few beatem-up games, though to be honest with you, pretty much all of them involve ninjas and the like, or street fighters, however in this one you happen to be a cowboy, and you are running along the top of the train beating up anybody who gets in your way. Furthermore, you also happen to have just robbed a bank, so it seems that you are trying to get away with as much money as possible (or simply just trying to get away because, well, I suspect the law of the West plays its role here and all that).

Okay, it is probably more than a beatem-up game because when I got to the second level it was more like a shooting gallery where you shoot people who are hiding in the train, while you are riding alongside on your horse. Mind you, I didn’t quite expect that horses would run as fast as trains, but then again this does happen to be a computer game, so I probably should give it a bit of leeway in that regards.

Look, it was okay, but like a lot of the games that I have been playing around with, I found that this one ended up getting particularly hard once I hit the second level – namely the shooting gallery and all that. The first level was pretty easy though, but I guess it had a lot more to do with trying to control your character, and also getting the shots to go where they are supposed to go. In the end though, while it was a nice game, it really isn’t worth spending all your time playing it, despite it being one of those games that the video game magazines back in the day would really hype about them.

Anyway, there doesn’t seem to actually be a Wikipedia page for the game, which sort of suggests that it really wasn’t all that groundbreaking, at least to be remembered. However, you can find an entry on Lemon64, which sort of does say something.

Categories
2 out of 5 C64 Shoot-em Up

Avenger

Publisher: Commodore

Designer: Commodore

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release Date: 1982

Rating:

For some reason, the file that this game happened to be in was called Avenger (which as it turns out, is the correct name). Okay, considering that this does happen to be an old C64 game, I wasn’t expecting it to have anything to do with those Marvel characters, or collecting pieces of the infinity stone to defeat Thanos. Rather, I wasn’t actually sure what this game was actually about. So, when I fired it up, you can probably imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was space invaders.

Look, I shouldn’t be too harsh on the game because it is actually one of the original arcade games, and I have played it a few times. I won’t necessarily say that it is easy though, especially since as you go up levels it does tend to get harder and harder. Then again, the more that you shoot, the faster they become. Apparently this started as a bug in the game, but because it worked so well, the original designers decided not to fix it.

However, I have to admit that the game is, well, boring. Like, yeah, its space invaders, and there is only so much of this game that I can play before I want to go and do something else, or even play something else. Still, it is certainly something to remember for posterities sake (and no doubt this isn’t the last time I’ll be writing a review of this game, though it will probably be on a different platform).

So, I guess the reason for the name change is that Commodore (who released the game) didn’t actually have the rights for the original title, so they ended up making their own. Anyway, there is a brief article about this game on Wikipedia, for what it’s worth.

Categories
1 out of 5 C64 Platform

Finders Keepers

Publisher: Mastertronic

Designer: David Jones

Type: Platform

Platform: C64

Release Date: 1985

Rating:

This game was actually rather annoying. You basically play knight and are given a mission by the king to, well, do something, and the next thing you know you are in a dungeon full of nasties. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not some role-playing game or anything, but rather a platform game, that in part also transforms into a maze game in sections.

Well, the story is that you have to go and get a present for the princess, and if you succeed, well, you can be admitted to the royal order of the knights of the polygon table. Yeah, it sounds pretty silly, and honestly, it really did seem to be pretty silly as far as I was concerned. Okay, it was pretty popular in its time, but that probably was because it happened to be an el-cheapo game. However, when I played it, well, I wasn’t all that impressed.

Apparently one of the ideas was that you had to manipulate objects (though I couldn’t figure out how to do that) and of course avoid nasties (which I also couldn’t figure out how to do either). You could also sell the items to collect gold, which no doubt you needed to do to be able to get that present for the princess.

Yeah, with all the other quality games out there, this one is definitely missable.

Though, if you really want to know more about it, well, you can always go to Wikipedia, or just jump over to Lemon 64, which seems to have the heads up on pretty much all of the Commodore 64 games.

Categories
4 out of 5 C64 Shoot-em Up

Attack of the Mutant Camels

Publisher: Llamasoft

Designer: Jeff Minter

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Rating:

This is one of the classic games of the Commodore 64 and I have to admit that it is absolutely awesome. Oh, and it is pretty hard as well, not impossible, just pretty hard. Basically, you are flying a space ship (and honestly, what else would you be flying in a shoot-em-up) and there are these massively gigantic camels heading towards you that shoot bombs out of their eyes. Oh, and occasionally they also fire smart bombs, which means that they home in on you.

You have energy levels, which does actually make it somewhat easier (otherwise it would be massively impossible because avoiding those bombs, and those smart-bombs, is a challenge in and of itself). You also have three lives, which really helps as well, but the problem is that first of all, these camels aren’t easy to kill – by no means. You simply have to bombard them with bullets, and as they get weaker they change colours until you finally kill one. Yet, there is more than just one.

The other catch is that these camels are moving slowly across the screen, and when they reach the edge of the screen it is basically ‘game over man, game over’. Yeah, when that happens, it does not matter how many lives you have left, your base has been destroyed and you might as well start over again.

This game is full-on fast-paced and is honestly one of those amazing games that I remember from my youth. Oh, it also has a two-player mode, though I don’t believe you attack them at the same time (which would have been much, much easier mind you). Yeah, this game rocks.

Oh, it also appears that this game has made it into the Smithsonian as a museum piece, at least according to the games Wikipedia article. Another thing I discovered from this same article is that you can find the source code for the game up on Github, which is also pretty awesome (though it was written in assembly). In fact, the popularity of the game has warranted it an article all of its own in the Old School Gamer Magazine. Oh, and in case I forget, you call also find out more about it on Lemon 64.

Categories
3 out of 5 C64 RPG

Sword of Fargoal

Publisher: Epyx

Designer: Jeff McCord

Type: RPG – Rogue Like

Platform: C64

Rating: undefined

This is what is termed as a ‘rogue-like’ game, namely it is a rather simply constructed roleplaying game that involves you exploring a dungeon, killing monsters, and collecting treasure. This is one of those games that I played quite often back in the day, namely because it was quite simple, which compared to a lot of other rogue-like games, is certainly saying something. You basically start off on the first level of the dungeon, and make your way down as far as you can go before you happen to be killed off by one of the many monsters (or traps) that happen to populate the labyrinth.

It was fun, and as I mentioned, rather simple. The fact that you could play the game with a joystick (or controller) made it quite playable, and if you were lucky, you could certainly go quite far. Mind you, you only had a limited amount of space for gold, but you could also deposit gold into one of the temples, which happened to be on each of the levels, and it would be converted into experience. There were also magical items, such as potions and spells, that you could use, though there weren’t too many which meant that the keyboard interaction was limited.

The thing I don’t like about the game is that when you advance a level your hit points basically stay the same, and healing does take quite a while, unless of course you manage to find either a regeneration spell, or a healing potion. The other thing is that the game ends up being pretty repetitive, which meant that after a while I would end up losing interest in it.

One thing that I do remember though is that the game was written in BASIC, and my brother managed to not only discover that, but also hack into it so that the number of special squares that appeared per level increased by something like four. Mind you, these days, if I were to be able to break into the code, it might be possible to rewrite the code to make it even more beneficial, though once again, that sort of defeats the whole purpose.

If you are interesting in finding out more about this game, there is always Wikipedia, though you can also go to the C64-Wiki, or even Lemon 64. If worse comes to worse, well, you could simply type ‘Sword of Fargoal’ into your favourite search engine.

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