Atomic Handball on the Commodore 64.
Atomic Handball (1985)
Behind the exciting name, we find a bog-standard but competent Breakout-clone written in BASIC. It uses sprites, and the ball can move in different angles based on where it hits the paddle, so that's good. But the paddle is too fast, making it hard to control. (1/2)
Ah, right. That's probably not unlikely (I tagged Toms in a reply, so maybe he'll tell us!) :)
Oh, and @kevintoms.bsky.social is apparently on Bluesky. :)
The game is mostly text based, which is fine. But it doesn't take very long before you start wishing for a few more options and a little more depth. In the end, Software Star never achieved the same popularity or status that Football Manager (recently resurrected as Football Star Manager) did. 3/3
ZX Spectrum cover from Mobygames.
In Software Star, you take control of a games publisher who's already got one finished game ready to go. From there on, you must keep developing and publishing hit games while keeping the board of directors happy. The result is a simple but somewhat addictive management game. 2/3
Software Star on the Commodore 64.
Software Star (1985)
With his game Football Manager, Kevin Toms basically created a new genre. The game became hugely popular, and turned Toms from solo developer to boss of his own successful games publisher. This might have been the inspiration for his next game, Software Star. 1/3
The game was designed by Steve Meretzky, and superhero Lane Mastodon was originally introduced in the documentation for his interactive fiction comedy Leather Goddesses of Phobos. There are also some nods to that game in Lane Mastodon. You can play all the Infocomics games on Invisiclues. 4/4
Cover image from Mobygames.
Like the rest of the Infocomics, it uses vector based graphics that look pretty basic compared to standard bitmap images, but the upside is that there's a whole lot of them and most of the scenes are animated in some way. Many of the animations are surprisingly complex. 3/4
This is an interactive comic book where you can see the story from a variety of viewpoints, and while there's nothing you can do to actually change the course of the story, the way it's structured means you can experience the "game" multiple times and see new stuff each time. 2/4
Lane Mastodon on the Commodore 64.
Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen (1988)
In this Infocomics release, we follow the adventures of accountant turned superhero, Lane Mastodon, as he saves humanity from the terrible blubbermen of Jupiter. They're using a space ray to enlarge our insects, and must be stopped before it's too late! 1/4
Dying in Impossible Mission on the Commodore 64.
Impossible Mission (1984)
If you've ever played Impossible Mission, this is probably a screenshot you can "hear". Our unfortunate spy is in the process of being disintegrated, after coming too close to one of the robot protectors of Dr. Elvin Atombender's secret underground lair. 1/3
Thanks, that was a fun read!
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo was developed by Beam Software from Australia and published by British publisher Firebird. The original plans for the game were quite ambitious, but for various reasons it was scaled back heavily before release. It's still well liked. 4/4
However, enemies will often disguise themselves as friendlies, so you must always be ready for a fight. The combat system is reasonably interesting, with different kinds of attacks and blocking. Each fight feels like a challenge, and has to be taken seriously. 3/4
Cover image from Mobygames.
As you wander through the environment, you'll meet peasants, monks and various enemies. It's important to keep your sword away when meeting friendlies, as otherwise they'll think you're hostile and fight you. Fighting them will lower your karma, and if it gets low enough you'll commit seppuku. 2/4
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo on the Commodore 64. Greeting a peasant, and showing I have no ill will towards him.
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo (1988)
A side-scrolling action adventure based on the comic book series by Stan Sakai. As Usagi Yojimbo, you have to set out on a journey through the Japanese countryside to save your friend Noriyuki who has been kidnapped by the evil Lord Hikiji. 1/4
The Cave on the Commodore 64.
The Cave (2010)
This is a text adventure in the style of the very early games in the genre. Two-word parser, simple puzzles, PETSCII graphics. It was created by Eckhard Borkiet (Eway10 Software), who created a whole bunch text based games from 2005 to 2017, and sold them through mail order. 1/2
The difficulty is very high, though, thanks to bullets that move super fast and are really hard to see. So while the game is quite addictive, it requires reflexes that I certainly do not possess, as well as fair bit of knowledge of what comes next. The US version is considered superior. 3/3
Cover image from Mobygames. Note the cool Firebird logo!
It's a vertically scrolling shoot'em up, but one that also scrolls from side to side as you move your plane across the screen. A nice touch. Technically everything is well done here, with smooth scrolling and fast action. The graphics are decent enough for the Commodore 64. 2/3
Flying Shark for the Commodore 64. Note that only the player's plane has an actual shadow, suggesting that the others are merely hallucinations. They aren't, though.
Flying Shark (1987)
This is one of two official C64 conversions of Taito's arcade game Flying Shark, the other being Sky Shark made for the American market. Both were made by European developers, but had different publishers – Firebird for this Euro one and Taito America for the US one. 1/3
Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun
Frightmare
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge.
Star Trader.
Here are some random Commodore 64 screenshots.
Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun (1990)
Frightmare (1988)
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (1990)
Star Trader (1984)
Beach Head on the Commodore 64.
Beach Head (1983)
This was the first big hit from Access Software, who'd later go on to make games like Leaderboard Golf, Links and the Tex Murphy-series. It's an action game where each level is a separate mini game. The goal is to lead a seaborne assault on the enemy's fortress. 1/3
The original version was not compatible with joysticks, but in 1995 a Polish company called Marex created a joystick version. I actually suspect it was a pirate release, and only available in Poland (or Central Europe). This is the version of the game that I tried. 3/3
It's pretty simple, both in terms of presentation and gameplay, and quite short as well. According to a comment made by a developer on Lemon64, they were only given a few weeks to do several games in time for the Christmas launch. 2/3
Gangster on the Commodore 64.
Gangster (1989)
This is a fairly simple shooting gallery game with three distinct levels – a prison escape, an overhead car chase (ish) and a shootout in the streets. It was created for the Defender 64 light gun, and included with the Light Fantastic pack released by Commodore. 1/3
Some of my C64 RPGs.
In the mood for an RPG. But which one...?
Loading screen for Hunter's Moon on the Commodore 64.
Hunter's Moon (1987)
A tricky one to describe, Hunter's Moon is an action game that's a tad more complex than your average arcade clone. The goal of each level is to grab a number of stars, but these are behind destructible barriers that are constantly being rebuilt. 1/3
Giana Sisters on the Commodore 64.
Happy Mario day!
Battle of the Planets on the Commodore 64.
Battle of the Planets (1986)
This is a first-person space "sim" based on the TV-show Battle of the Planets (which was in turn based on the anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman). You fly your spaceship around in an open universe, fighting off the forces of the evil Zoltar where needed. 1/2
The goal is then to remove the opponent completely from the board. I had actually some fun playing this in two player mode, but it gets very unpredictable towards the end. And it should have used different colours for the players.
A web version is available. 3/3
www.kongregate.com/games/ojorus...