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Pocket Gamer celebrates 30 years of Commodore 64

A celebration of creative excellence

Pocket Gamer celebrates 30 years of Commodore 64
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Can it really be 30 years since the Commodore 64 (C64) came into being? Well, yes, of course it can, oldster.

Curiously, despite the unfettered global jubilation, no one appears to be entirely sure of the exact date it went on sale. That's what happens when you get old: the memory isn't quite what it was...

No matter, because what's important is that the lovable beige bread bin definitely did go on sale at some point in August 1982, which was otherwise memorable for being the month in which the first Compact Discs went on sale (in Germany, no less), and in which the Steve Miller Band hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with the perennially hummable ditty 'Abracadabra'. Exciting stuff.

Unlike the endearingly eccentric (and, yes, equally lovable) Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the C64 was an ideal home games system from the word go, with its twin joystick ports, hardware scrolling capabilities, and ludicrously versatile three-channel SID sound chip.

It even had a cartridge slot, optional floppy disk drive and, yes, sound that was outputted from your telly.

Despite the C64 being tailor-made for gaming greatness, the first year or so of its lifespan resulted in generally hilarious levels of amateurism. In truth, it barely improved upon the Atari 2600's graphical standard, and few gamers outside of America took much notice of it.

A year or so down the line, however, people started to pay attention, thanks to a software library that boasted versions of Archon, Lode Runner, Ultima III, International Soccer, Jumpman, Miner 2049er, Beach Head, and Boulder Dash.

In the absence of any decent games mags at the time, it was left to independent retailers to show the C64 off. Few gamers could have failed to notice what this American rival had to offer.

But, it mattered little, because Speccy owners knew they had plenty to shout about. With UK-developed gems like Manic Miner, Chuckie Egg, Jet Set Willy, Pyjamarama, Jet Pac, Atic Atac, Skooldaze, Starstrike, Knight Lore, Lords Of Midnight, and dozens more available on the ZX Spectrum, the transatlantic battle lines were drawn.

If it were as simple as national preference, the rivalry might have been easier to justify, but dozens of ludicrously talented British developers started to tinker with the C64's innards and tap into its potential in the same way that they had with the Speccy.

By 1985 / early 1986, you not only had the new wave of US-developed games like Summer Games II, Impossible Mission, Ballblazer, Beach Head II, Raid Over Moscow, Pitstop II, Koronis Rift, The Eidolon, Winter Games, and Little Computer People surfacing on the C64, but also a host of breakthrough British titles.

Alongside the likes of Thing On A Spring and Cauldron II, we were suddenly treated to two Andrew Braybrook masterpieces in quick succession in the shape of Paradroid and Uridium.

And if that wasn't enough, you had Archer MacLean's Dropzone, Geoff Crammond's Revs, Novagen's Mercenary, and all manner of acid-fried Llama strangeness from the inimitable Jeff Minter. These genre-defining classics were turning up every few weeks. It's just the way it was.

In the right hands, the C64 was also more than capable of replicating most of the Spectrum's finest titles - a point that's routinely overlooked by blindly partisan followers in both camps.

Games like Jet Set Willy, Pyjamarama, Nodes Of Yesod, Sabre Wulf, Monty On The Run, Starquake, Dynamite Dan, Fairlight, Skooldaze, Underwurlde, Head Over Heels, The Great Escape, Spellbound, and Knight Tyme emulated the Spectrum's trademark crisp graphical style remarkably faithfully.

While the C64 ports could, admittedly, never hope to match the vibrant colour palette of the Spectrum originals, they more than made up for it through some outstanding 'chiptune' soundtracks (and, lest we forget, a complete absence of the Spectrum's often horrific colour clash).

On balance, though, C64 owners generally enjoyed the best of both worlds. As a result, they had an utterly ridiculous number of quality games from which to choose - many of which have stood the test of time incredibly well.

The system even catered for the margins in every way imaginable. If you were into strategy war games, there seemed to be dozens of them. Thanks to the likes of Interplay and Origin, RPG fans couldn't have been better served, either.

And if you were into the interactive fiction of the day (as I was, heavily), then the C64 was positively a dream machine. It probably sounds like a lame thing to mention now, but at the time the machine's proper keyboard dramatically improved the experience, and enjoyment levels, for would-be adventurers everywhere.

As time wore on, this cult sub-genre simply got better and better, with Activision and Infocom churning out a stream of brilliance from the US, while the British contingent of Level 9, Magnetic Scrolls, Rod Pike, and numerous others kept teenage adventure heads engrossed for years.

Five years into the C64's lifespan, though, it was clear that the next generation of 16-bit systems was causing a fair bit of excitement. It was only to be expected that most of us looked enviously at the deliciously colourful high-res capabilities of the Amiga and Atari ST.

But, rather than spell the end of the once-proud C64, this post-1987 period actually coincided with a series of 8-bit development heroes really upping their game and fully tapping into the hidden potential of the creaking architecture.

On the European side, you had the likes of Sensible knocking it out of the park with Wizball, Parallax, and the majestic Microprose Soccer. Thalamus, meanwhile, came from nowhere to deliver the brilliant Delta, Quedex, Hunter's Moon, and Armalyte.

Elsewhere, you had Archer MacLean's IK+, System 3's The Last Ninja, John Phillips's wondrous Nebulus, Geoff Crammond's incomparable The Sentinel, and a long list of mini-classics like I Ball, Mega Apocalypse, Mutants, Trailblazer, Firefly, Kikstart II, Deflektor, the first version of Tetris, and the banned duo of The Great Giana Sisters and Katakis - both considered to be rather too close to their source material for comfort.

But, as impressive as the European output was, games emanating from the other side of the Atlantic were often even more ambitious, largely as a consequence of the widespread adoption of the (increasingly essential) disk drive add-on.

No self-respecting C64 owner would have wanted to miss out on The Bard's Tale trilogy, the Leaderboard titles, Ultima IV, Alter Ego, Wasteland, (Sid Meier's original) Pirates!, World Games, California Games, Defender Of The Crown, Rocket Ranger, or either of LucasArts's first point-and-click adventures (Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken).

Quite simply, these titles were among the best games that had ever been made on any system - and not playing them was tantamount to self-harm.

And as the decade wore on, developers even managed to turn around the long-established tradition of terrible arcade conversions.

In the latter C64 years, Bubble Bobble, Pac-Land, Ghosts & Goblins, Bionic Commandos, Buggy Boy, and Ikari Warriors were as close as you got to arcade perfect at the time.

Sure, the C64 also had its fair share of disgracefully bad titles stinking up the place, but what system didn't? As a result, reviews were perhaps more important then than at any stage since, such were the high chances of wasting your money. A subscription to the Rignall, Penn, and Liddon-penned Zzap 64! was utterly essential.

Even when the game seemed to be well and truly up for 8-bit systems at the turn of the decade, the C64 kept going right to the bitter end, with stunning achievements like Laser Squad, Creatures I & II, Project Firestart, Turrican I & II, and Mayhem In Monsterland to reward the faithful.

In 2011, the C64 even got a long overdue version of the original 1989 Prince Of Persia. How's that for persistence?

Misty-eyed nostalgia to one side, the Commodore 64 deserves the reverence it continues to receive. For over a decade, it was a platform that inspired fiendish technical prowess and fiendish creativity, and one that independent spirited developers took full advantage of.

In an era when the endurance of Nintendo has often resulted in the C64's achievements gradually being airbrushed from history, it's important to remind people how much of Commodore's DNA lives on throughout the gaming family tree.

Spiritually, its gaming back catalogue was not only inextricably linked to the equally beloved Spectrum and Amiga / ST canon, but it also served as a precursor to much of '90s PC gaming.

But, it's perhaps more recently that the creatively independent spirit of the C64 era has become more significant.

It's everywhere you look on the modern gaming landscape, and on every downloadable format: from the indie PC scene, Xbox Live Arcade, the PS Store, and eShop, to all the mobile, handheld, and tablet platforms. It's now even influencing Smart TVs and disruptive future formats like Ouya.

If you were lucky enough to grow up with gaming in the '80s, it's great to see that creative spirit return to gaming once again. And even if you were born long after the C64's flame died out, you might perhaps now have a greater appreciation for what these gaming relics represent, what they mean to people, and why they're perhaps even more relevant to understanding how we got (back) to where we are now.

So, the 30th anniversary of the Commodore 64 isn't just a wistful opportunity to remember a defunct retro format, but a chance to celebrate three decades of independent development. Happy birthday to yer.

And as is customary in these situations, let's dim the lights and run a video montage of the C64's greatest hits. Hush, please.

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Kristan Reed
Kristan Reed
There's no such thing as 'not enough time' in Kristan's world. Despite the former Eurogamer editor claiming the world record for the most number of game reviews written before going insane, he manages to continue to squeeze in parallel obsessions with obscure bands, Norwich City FC, and moody episodic TV shows. He might even read a book if threatened by his girlfriend.