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According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Commodore 64 still
stands today as the best selling computer of all time. Its revolutionary
graphic and sound chips combined with an insanely affordable price
propelled the Commodore line of computers into the history books. Its
15,000+ game library didn’t hurt, either.
In the early 1980’s, three major companies competed for the exploding
home computer market. While IBM marketed their computers to businessmen
and Apple infiltrated the school system, the Commodore 64 shined in one
very specific area: games. With a video chip (VIC) that produced an
unmatched 320 x 240 resolution and 16 simultaneous colors and a sound chip
(SID) capable of 3 independent voices, Commodore games quickly surpassed
the games available for other computers. In fact, it was not uncommon for
Apple and IBM games to feature Commodore
screenshots in their marketing materials. Many people never got past the
image of the Commodore 64 as a "gaming console with a disk drive."
The Commodore 64 launched in 1982 for $595 and had dropped to $200 by
1983 (compare to the Apple IIe, which
sold for $1395 in 1983). The basic system came with 64k of RAM and had
BASIC and DOS built in. The Commodore 64 could be hooked to a monitor or
directly to your television through an RF adapter. Games were available
in three formats: cartridge, cassette tape (more prevalent in Europe),
or disk drive (more prevalent in the US). One of the handiest features
of the Commodore 64 was its compatibility with Atari
2600 joysticks.
The Commodore 64 wasn’t without problems. For one, Commodore systems
tended to run hot. Really hot. I personally owned two fans for my
system, one for the computer’s power supply and the other for my disk
drive. Another big complaint early in the system’s life was the slow disk
drive access times, a problem that was virtually eliminated with Epyx’s
Fast Load Cartridge (and several clones that followed).
The Commodore 64 appeared in several variations over the years. In
1985, Commodore released the Commodore 128 (which could be started
in either C64 or C128 mode). The Commodore 64 also appeared in a 25-pound
portable version (the SX-64), and in a sleeker case which resembled the
C128 and Amiga (called the Commodore 64C). Software and peripherals were
completely interchangeable between these models. Later computers in the
Commodore line, including the Commodore Plus 4 and the Commodore 16, would
not run most Commodore 64 programs - and their sales reflected this.
In 1985, Commodore released the Amiga 1000, a spiritual successor to
the Commodore 64. The Amiga contained even better graphics and sound
capabilities than the Commodore 64 did, but many loyal Commodore 64 owners
refused to give up their little beige boxes. 12 years after the launch of
the 64, Commodore closed its doors and was eventually sold off in 1995.
While my dad had both an Apple II
and an IBM XT in the living room, I had a Commodore 64 in my bedroom. I
spent many nights not only playing the latest games, but talking to friends
via BBSs and of course, trading games (which wasn’t nearly the big deal it
is today). From Archon to Zork, I set out to play every one
of those 15,000 titles. Throughout the 10 years I had my Commodore hooked
up, I got through about 4,000 of them.
In an age of gigabits and gigahertz, it’s amazing that a machine that
runs at 1 megahertz and holds 180k per floppy still has fans. Not
only is new Commodore 64 software constantly appearing, but new pieces of
hardware are appearing as well. Did you know you could connect a Commodore
1541 disk drive to your PC and transfer games back and forth? There are
also devices available that allow you to connect IDE hard drives to your
C64. There’s even a broadband adapter and new operating system that will
allow your Commodore 64 to run TCP/IP and access the Internet! Tulip
Computers, the current owners of the Commodore brand name, have even
released a "30-in-1" Joystick, with 30 classic Commodore 64 games in one
easy to play package. The popularity and legacy of the Commodore 64 is
undeniable.
The majority of this section of Phosphor Dot
Fossils will focus on what made the Commodore 64 so great and what
kept it alive all those years - the games. Whether you prefer emulation
or the real thing, you owe it to yourself to check out the games on this
list. For nearly a decade, the Commodore 64 was the gaming system
to which all other computer games were compared, many of which still
hold up today.
Rob O'Hara
theLogBook.com Staff Writer
Reviews
- Defender of the Crown
- Friday The 13th
- IK+
- Little Computer People
- Mail Order Monsters
- Park Patrol
- Skate Or Die
- Uridium
- Wonderboy
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