C64 Month

What is so significant about August? Well, if you are a Commodore 64 fan, you don’t need to ask. If you haven’t got the faintest idea why I am gushing over August, then let me tell you – this month back in 1982, Commodore Business Machines unleashed the little 8-bit home computer powerhouse we affectionately call, the C64. August will forever be remembered as, C64 month.

In its 32 year lifespan, the C64 has entertained millions of players around the world via an extensive library of games; some good, some bad, and some absolute rippers! Speaking of ripper games, for this article, we take a trip down nostalgia lane to a time long forgotten – August 1984. Take a look at the chart and see what the top 10 C64 games were in this month 30 years ago. The games may seem primitive, but there is no denying that there are some games in this list that still endure – Beach-Head anyone? Do you like anything you see in this chart? Let us know your pick of the bunch via Twitter.

We rounded up the illustrious RESET staff and asked them to pick one standout game from the top 10 C64 games list to give us their take on what that game meant to them.

Vinny Mainolfi: International Soccer
Back in 1982 when our beloved Commodore 64 hit the shelves, all I remember seeing was International Soccer on the screen in our local John Menzies, and young boys huddled around fighting over who was next to play. It was also the first game I ever played on the C64 because when I purchased my first C64 it didn’t come with a datasette! A fantastic retro game that’s still worth a kick-about.

Kevin Tilley: Space Pilot
I have very fond memories of playing Space Pilot as a youngster (seems like a long time ago now!). Back then, I had no idea what an arcade game was or the existence of Time Pilot. I played this game with an innocence that allowed me to have pure 100% fun with what was in front of me without any preconceptions. I remember flying through the first level, continuously upwards to see if I would hit space, or continuously downwards to see if I would ever hit the ground, shooting enemies as I went! Of course, I never did hit space or the ground but that didn’t matter. Curiously, I don’t ever remember making it past the second or third stage even though I loved the game and played it regularly. A classic unofficial conversion of Time Pilot that still plays well today!

Merman: Beach Head
I got this on the ‘They Sold A Million’ – a brilliant compilation with Beach Head, Staff of Karnath, Daley Thompson’s Decathlon and Jet Set Willy, offering great value for money. I loved all the different scenes in Beach Head – the onslaught of the air raid, the hidden passage filled with mines and torpedoes, the naval bombardment trying to hit the enemy ships and the tanks driving and exploding among the defenses on the beach. It took me several years to finally conquer the giant fortress by blasting the white squares (weak points that lit one by one) and took pride in seeing the white flag of surrender waving from the ruins. The sequel was a lot of fun too.

Frank Gasking: Trashman
Sadly I was too young to experience Trashman when it first hit the shelves, but was lucky enough to play it back in 1992 when Zzap! 64 put it on their cover mount. Although not quite as fast paced as other titles I played at the time, there was something oddly enduring about playing a game where the aim was to clear up trash from the street! The comments from the home owners were pretty amusing at the time, and I amassed many C64’s from parents trying to clear out their kid’s collections. Sometimes felt a bit harsh when a car appeared from nowhere as you tried to struggle across the road, but I still kept replaying.  Also I remember there being a neat cheat where if you got hit by a car and pressed a key, it would restart the game with frozen traffic (touching a car would still kill you though!).  Great conversion of a Speccy classic!

Craig Derbyshire/Babyduckgames:Hunchback
Back in those days I never owned a C64 as it was too expensive for us but my wealthier cousin owned one and I spent many an hour around his house as a spectator waiting for him and his friend (I was always made to go last !) to finish their turns on this game. I picked up a few swear words along the way as they struggled to get past the increasingly difficult levels. It didn’t bother me being a spectator for a while as when my turn arrived I had already learnt from their mistakes and usually managed to progress further than them which made me feel kinda chuffed. I find it a simple game compared to latter C64 games but to me it has that classic “one more go” feel. I’m sure that one day I will return to it with the aim of completing it.

Plume: Son of Blagger
Haha, games just seemed more sprawling and epic when you were younger and less jaded didn’t they? This was one of those games for me. I always loved the fact that I could see tantalising areas behind walls before I could get to them, which just added to the mystique. Having played it on a mates Spectrum first, I remember being significantly miffed that it was decidedly less colourful, but the fact it wasn’t a push scroller like its counterpart soon won me over. If only it would let me change direction when I jumped, I probably wouldn’t be the bitter curmudgeon I am today. Son of a bitch more like.

Cameron Davis: Blagger
Blagger was a bit of a mystery to me when I first found out about it. I had read about it in an early issue of Zzap! 64 and it (along with super-programmer Tony Crowther) was held in high reverence, but I never saw it on store shelves two years after its initial release. Being such an old game it wasn’t exactly a hot item on the schoolyard tape-swapping circuit, either. It wasn’t until five years after its debut that I managed to find a copy…and it did not age well. Finicky, pixel-perfect platform games were already old-hat by 1988 thanks to the advent of Great Giana Sisters and the like, and even the colourful visuals couldn’t save what was an exercise in frustrating rote learning of enemy movement patterns and item locations. I know Blagger has its fans, but I think it really was a case of “you had to have been there!”

As for myself, I struggled to pick one standout from the games chart. The decision proved all the more difficult as I still have vivid (and very fond) memories of playing International Soccer and Decathlon. At least I never broke any joysticks playing International Soccer!

My nostalgic senses lean towards International Soccer, as it was the pack-in cartridge in my C64 Family Pack (America’s Cup Edition). I remember playing it with my dad to a point of exhaustion. Once I had him beat, which was quite often, we went onto the wrist-snapping Decathlon. Many a C-1342 joysticks were broken while waggling the joystick to break an event record – but boy, was it fun!

I figured that the only way I could solve this stalemate was to toss a coin. I picked heads for Decathlon, tossed the coin and guess what – it landed on heads. Time to break another joystick and that 100m sprint record!

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DISCLAIMER: This article appears in issue #4 of Reset.