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[Prospero]

Because, really, this was the golden age of gaming, and the C64 was the supreme gaming system. Come back with me to a time when a crew of six or seven programmers (or sometimes just one, working alone) could write a game and expect to publish it; when game designers were forced by the limitations of the hardware to put the emphasis on gameplay, instead of polygon count and FMVs.

Recently I was just playing this on an emulator:

The Sentinel: Still one of the most original games I've ever played. A spooky, surreal atmosphere that's unique to this game alone. Ten thousand levels--even now I'm only up to level 1,200 or so. (And 3D graphics rendered in real time--in 1986.)

Other C64 personal favorites:

Marble Madness: A surprisingly close port of the arcade version.

Karateka: Jordan Mechner's storytelling skills were evident even then.

Raid on Bungeling Bay: Will Wright's fast and difficult shooter.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Where the Way of the Exploding Fist love? Wasteland? The Bard's Tale series? Raid Over Moscow?

 

[Prospero]

Where the Way of the Exploding Fist love? Wasteland? The Bard's Tale series? Raid Over Moscow?

I spent hours and hours and hours playing Bard's Tale 1. When people these days talk about forty hours being a long time for an RPG... no. (Granted, most of that playing time was consumed by carefully drawing annotated maps on graph paper.)

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Yep. Old-school CRPG's, generally, are better overall experiences than the modern ones, IMO...especially console ones. The lack of overall detail (visual and otherwise) left your imagination to do the rest, making it a more powerfully personal experience, IMO.

Just remembered how much I loved games like, Realm of Impossibility, Boulder Dash, and World Games...

 

[Ghost]

ive been trying to find a C64 game for years that i played when i was a kid but havent managed, it was a top down racer, you raced in F1 (but they werent licensed) cars and it had the actual tracks (or it might have just been monaco im not sure), it kicked ass, cant find what it was called though...HELP



Anyway my other favourite C64 games were Last Ninja (first c64 cart game i owned, i was amazed at the lack of loading, and yet missed the pretty colours at the same time), Gauntlet, Speedball 2, and loads loads more that i can no longer remember the name of.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

ive been trying to find a C64 game for years that i played when i was a kid but havent managed, it was a top down racer, you raced in F1 (but they werent licensed) cars and it had the actual tracks (or it might have just been monaco im not sure), it kicked ass, cant find what it was called though...HELP

Hmmm...WarmUp, SuperCars, NitroCars, or maybe even Micro Machines? Was there a MM on C64? And yeah, Last Ninja was kick butt.

 

[Ghost]

It looked like warmup but it wasnt, you started in a shitty car and you challenged the drivers in the better cars to take their seats, when you got up to the maclaren and williams (maybe it was licensed...) they were so fast down the straights there was virtually no way to control them.

 

[Apharmd Battler]

God I could name countless games for hours. Nemesis the Warlock, M.U.L.E., Way of the Exploding Fist, Leaderboard Golf, are some that bring back college memories. But my all time favorite game on the platform, and still one of my top five video games today has to be.....AirBorne Ranger by Microprose!!

Before Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, and Rainbow Six, here was a game that put an elite ranger into enemy territory to accomplish various missions. This game was awesome, innovative and WAY ahead of it's time. I loved how you could be captured and your profile was put into POW status, then someone with another profile could take the free POW mission and free your profile for use again. I also loved how you could have profiles that were KIA (killed in action). God, this game brings back memories. You started by have to drop 3 packs of supplies on the map and then parchute in. Supplies were limited to you had to fight/sneak your way to each supply pack and engage the enemy (so it required a little thinking and forethought as well). Not to mention that some missions had a time limit and you had to be at your evac point at a certain time or you were killed or captured. WHY THE HELL HASN'T ANY DEVELOPER DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR THE PAST 3 GENERATIONS?! Oh my goodness could you imagine an online PC or XBL game with 3.0 features with this type of immersive element?! But I digress....

AirBorne Ranger is right up there with System Shock 2, Deus Ex, as one of my all time favorite gaming experiences. Now I feel the urge to pull one of my C-64 out of the closet and play this game (It's been over 15 years, I wonder if it will still boot?).

 

[Blackbird]

Java Jim was still the best. And Boulderdash... And MULE... And H.E.R.O.

*continues talking like this for over an hour*

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Racing Destruction Set


Did anybody else chew on the joystick covers? I went through about one a month

 

[epmode]

SPACE TAXI!!!

and to a lesser extent, beamrider

are two of my favorite games on the system.
SID 4 life.
(speaking of which, i tried to get a keyboard modded with the SID synth chip, but the damn chips don't exist anymore. they're going for astronomical prices these days..)

 

[Blackbird]

SPACE TAXI!!!

"HEY TAXI!"

I gotta go connect those C64's again..

 

[jett]

Best. Computer. Ever.

 

[Eggo]

C64 > any console

Pirates!, Defender of the Crown, M.U.L.E., Airborne Ranger, Racing Destruction Set, Archon, Psi-5 Trading Company, etc.

 

[speedpop]

Street Sports Baseball = BEST

 

[pilonv1]

Impossible Mission was my drug. I also remember some game where you had to walk around a city and there was a burger place, some business, a city hall and some other stuff. Can't remember the name of it but I played it to death.

 

[Baron Aloha]

You better recognize:

THE LAST NINJA !!!!!

 

[bishoptl]

God I could name countless games for hours. Nemesis the Warlock, M.U.L.E., Way of the Exploding Fist, Leaderboard Golf, are some that bring back college memories. But my all time favorite game on the platform, and still one of my top five video games today has to be.....AirBorne Ranger by Microprose!!

Before Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, and Rainbow Six, here was a game that put an elite ranger into enemy territory to accomplish various missions. This game was awesome, innovative and WAY ahead of it's time. I loved how you could be captured and your profile was put into POW status, then someone with another profile could take the free POW mission and free your profile for use again. I also loved how you could have profiles that were KIA (killed in action). God, this game brings back memories. You started by have to drop 3 packs of supplies on the map and then parchute in. Supplies were limited to you had to fight/sneak your way to each supply pack and engage the enemy (so it required a little thinking and forethought as well). Not to mention that some missions had a time limit and you had to be at your evac point at a certain time or you were killed or captured. WHY THE HELL HASN'T ANY DEVELOPER DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR THE PAST 3 GENERATIONS?! Oh my goodness could you imagine an online PC or XBL game with 3.0 features with this type of immersive element?! But I digress....

AirBorne Ranger is right up there with System Shock 2, Deus Ex, as one of my all time favorite gaming experiences. Now I feel the urge to pull one of my C-64 out of the closet and play this game (It's been over 15 years, I wonder if it will still boot?).

Of all the posters here, I love you the most.

 

[AstroLad]

Wasteland is the greatest game ever. I think it was developed for the Apple II, but there was obviously a C64 release.

 

[bishoptl]

The C-64 is home to more great games than any system released since - even my beloved Amiga didn't enjoy the plethora of goodness that the grey brick had.

- Playing HES games like Retro Ball (my first C-64 game ever) or Gridrunner
- The insane "do-do-do-doodle-do-do" repeating soundtrack of Radar Rat Race
- Temple of Apshai, Summer Games, Winter Games, Impossible Mission, California Games
- Law of the West, TKO, 4th and Inches, Hacker, Transformers, Hardball!
- Skate or Die, Bard's Tale (which got me in trouble with my Christian fundamentalist parents), Operation: Firestarter
- Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Maniac Mansion, SkyFox (it took 9 years to load! at least it seemed), Archon
- Pinball Construction Set, Night Mission Pinball (I've played this pinball game more than any other)
- Gamestar Baseball and Football (the FIRST to employ a first person perspective, screw you Sega!)
- Operation Wolf, Gryzor (Contra)
- Gunship, Floyd of the Jungle, Pirates!, Airborne Ranger (hi-fives Apharmd)
- playing Sea Wolf with my sister...but neither of us had a paddle, so our subs would stay in the lower left corner and we'd just click the stick back and forth until ships bombed us

and that's just barely scratching the surface of the thousands of awesome titles this computer introduced me to. God Bless Commodore and those crazy Tramiels.

 

[Phoenix]

It has never ever gotten any better than this age of gaming:


Impossible Mission, Pirates, 7 cities of gold, Racing destruction set, Epyx ___ Games series, Movie Monstor, beach Head, GI Joe, Elite, Modem Wars (damn that game kicked so much ass), Autoduel, Rock n Wrestle, 4th & Inches, Barbarian, Gunship, and many many many others.

I shed a tear everytime I think about all the fun I had back then. I don't know how ANYONE made any money though as most games were pirated beyond reason... entire parties and conferences where people traded games.

 

[Phoenix]

Wasteland is the greatest game ever. I think it was developed for the Apple II, but there was obviously a C64 release.

Believe this news. Modern RPG developers should be required to bow down and pay homage to what is by far the greatest RPG ever made.

 

[Celicar]

I had a C64 also. Those were freakin great!

I loved that track and field game where you had to jiggle the joystick back and forth to run faster. I used to get blisters all the time, but it was worth beating my fat old dad.

 

[bishoptl]

Raid Over Moscow! how many times I crashed my ship trying to get out of the hangar is beyond me...

 

[fennec fox]

It was better in Europe where you got games like

And of course the world-class Mayhem in Monsterland

 

[BobbyRobby]

Heart of Africa:

Adventure Construction Set:

Mail Order Monsters:

EA used to kick ass.

World Games:

 

[speshylives]

Not a day goes by that I don't kick myself for giving all of my C64 away 10 years ago.

I remember finding it hidden in the boiler room for Christmas (probably not a good place for it, but anyway) and never looking back.

Hours of Impossible Mission, Bards Tale, Wasteland, Archon, Hardball, 4th and Inches (the only game besides 2600 Breakout that I was able to get my dad to play), anything by Epyx....

I remember being hopelessly addicted to barrel jumping in World Games. I was an odd kid.

The car select screen in Test Drive on the c64 alone trumps any current Test Drive game.

I remember finally getting out of the hangar in Raid Over Moscow and thinking.. "There's more?" I was absolutely lousy at that great game.

I was more a Beach Head type of guy.

 

[Phoenix]

Man, how could I forget Raid Over Moscow... that was an uber game - though getting out of the hanger was pain and suffering. Many American cities destroyed because I couldn't get out of that door.

 

[BojTrek]

Holy shit... Raid Over Moscow... I remember playing that... It was tougher than shit to fly out of that hanger.

I also had Mail Order Monsters, Incredible Hulk and Spiderman from the Questprobe series... I loved Impossible Mission and Bruce Lee...

 

[Cimarron]

Its all about escape from colditz baby.

 

[bishoptl]

I'm leaving work right now to go home and play some World Games!

 

[FnordChan]

Wasteland is the greatest game ever.

This man speaks God's truth.

Meanwhile, fuck Dance Dance Revolution:

FnordChan

 

[Pimpbaa]

How many of you actually bought you c64 games back in the day? I use to buy some, but mostly budget stuff. The one time I did buy a full priced game (test drive), the disk went bad!

 

[bishoptl]

I picked up the Mastertronic titles for cheap at K-Mart and Zellers.

 

[epmode]

re: raid over moscow

the best part of the game was fucking up the kremlin with a rocket launcher (or was it a mortar?) i loved how you could cause pieces of the building to fall on the tanks below.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Man I love my C-64.
Hell I even dug it up from my parents basement last year and have it in my apartment, but I couldn't find the disks, I'll have to go rummaging again.

Damn, I even learned to code BASIC on that bitch.

Maniac Mansion was by far my most played game.

Dragon World and Treasure Island were great fun, and Zork rocked my ass.

That and the day I found a few porn games while rummaging through a friends collection he bought off of some guy. Now that's a way to discover the naked female body.

 

[FnordChan]

FnordChan

 

[bishoptl]

SYS64738

 

[Prospero]

Bard's Tale (which got me in trouble with my Christian fundamentalist parents)

Dude! Bard's Tale got me in trouble with my parents, too! (They weren't fundamentalists, but anyway). My mother had a serious talk with me about my "addiction" (at the time I was spending fully eight hours a day trying to make my way through the dark areas of Kylearan's Tower). Maybe that movie Mazes and Monsters had been on TV recently--I don't know.

Also:

Impossible Mission

I think that was the first time I heard digitized speech in a game. ("Another visitor! Stay a while! STAY FOREVER!!") That was freaky.

Other kickass games:

Wizard, an awesome platformer.

Neuromancer, with music by Devo.

 

[Apharmd Battler]

Of all the posters here, I love you the most.

<Apharmd Battler blushes>

Seriously, the C-64 was the reaosn I never picked up an 8bit NES. I was having way too much fun and couldn't just be happy with Punch Out or Metroid. It wasn't until the Turbo Graphx and Sega Genesis that I started getting itno consoles. But the C-64 is right up there with the NeoGeo as one of the greatest machines in terms of a large selection of titles that I enjoyed. I still have a couple a crates of 5.25 disks in my garage...I wish I could rip the code onto CD/DVD, but you probably couldn't even FIND a 5.25 disk drive, and how would I get this stuff to work in my PC.

AirBorne Ranger>>>>>>Doom3 (just joking)

 

[golem]

"Another visitor! Stay a while! STAY FOREVER!!"

that line has been permanently scarred into my subconcious

ahh the good ole days.. still have my sx-64 "portable" in my closet.. will make a great museum piece someday

 

[DHGamer]

One of the very first games I ever played

Jumpman



the sweet memories of listening to the the tape drive load for 10 minutes..ahhh priceless

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

One of the very first games I ever played

Jumpman



the sweet memories of listening to the the tape drive load for 10 minutes..ahhh priceless

I remember seeing that on my cousin's computer WAY back and wondering why I could never find it. Guess it was because I didn't own a Commodore 64 lol

 

[bishoptl]

Anyone else use a hole punch to artifically "double-side" their floppies?

 

[DHGamer]

Anyone else use a hole punch to artifically "double-side" their floppies?

LMAO .... god Im old -sigh-

 

[RevenantKioku]

LMAO .... god Im old -sigh-

Haha, really? I'm only 21 but most of my childhood was spent with C-64 and NES.

 

[Lazy8s]

The adventure game Neuromancer had a lot of personality. There was satire everywhere, from the body shop where the player could hawk their organs for cheap plastic replacements to various context like banks offering "competitive" interests rates at 0.00002%. The game played on several different tiers: the game's physical world, its internet, and its cyberspace. The real enjoyment came from the involvement of these three tiers together - discovering a money making scheme while reading through internet message boards, putting it into effect by hacking into a company's payroll database online, entering cyberspace to break the site's security AI and reach classified access, and then collecting the other people's paychecks in the physical world.

Raid over Moscow was great. Took me a while to be able to fly my planes out of the hanger in the first scenario, and then I had fun outflanking that copycat fighter plane in the third scenario, and the reflective disc battles were classic.

Beach Head II, Ghostbusters!, Realm of Impossibility, all of the intelligent Infocom text games like the Zorks and Beyond Zork and Infidel and Deadline and The Hitchhiker's...

 

[Vennt]

I started with a Speccy, but found "The Light"* - Praise be to Commodore.

* (It was hiding behind one of the Spectrums monstrous bounding boxes)


Ahh man, Airbourne Ranger rocked, it was sad later on to find that the PC port was as lame as it was. (and it was, believe me.)

Couple more games to add to the list, responsible for disrupting and perverting my youth:

Bugaboo the Flea:

F-19 Stealth Fighter: (And just about all Microprose games of the time)

Origin's Autoduel: (Please Remake, Please EA, you own the damn property!, and Richard, who in the blue hell was Chuckles?)

Rainbow Islands: (The only 'Bobble' game worth a damn )

Alternate Reality - The City: (Great 'Bards Tale' style RPG)

I could go on, and on, and on, and on.

Gamesecks, unadulterated bliss, provided you had a disk drive, or the patience of a minor diety

 

[epmode]

One of the very first games I ever played

that's jumpman junior, actually. i know because i have that level burned into my brain. what a great game.

 

[Lord Error]

Creatures and Creatures 2 were so damn good that I find them absolutely enjoyable even to this day. So much detail went into those little animations and little critters

Also, let's not forget the awesomeness that was the VIC chip! There wasn't anything even remotely close to it, in home computers or consoles back then. Cybernoid had such a wonderfully complex and awesome music, Commando had such an addictive little tune