This page shouldn't need any other introduction than the header, because
it's quite obvious what its contents are. I guess I have to add the
usual disclaimer though: these games are some of my absolute favourites,
and you don't have to agree with me. I really like all these games,
and I've played them all a lot. If you've played these games, and
don't like all of them, why don't you download them again and try to
find out what I like so much about them?
Of course there are other games that are really great too, but I
decided to have only a top 10 list. It wasn't easy to pick just
10 C-64 games, and some of the other games that I was considering
putting on this page were Beach Head, Bandits, Way of the Exploding
Fist, Matchpoint, Voidrunner and Magical Formula. Here's the list (in
no particular order, all these games are great):
This really is an amazingly well done game. It really is good, every little detail seems to have been given special care by the programmers. It's one of those cute little games, with cartoon-like graphics, where you don't run around and kill people, but rather try to avoid the meanies (and after you've finished the game, you can sit down and have some tea with them, and talk about their problematic childhoods... that's not the way you go about it in Barbarian). This game isn't only exceptionally well worked through, it also has quite a big portion of originality. Basically, it's a platform game, but you don't just run around in one or two directions, you climb a tower (or several, if you're good at it). The tower scrolls around, as you walk (or jump) around it, and you get upwards by means of elevators. This game is very addicting. It seems so very easy to get to the top of that tower, but someone always seems to be pushing you down... so you'll just have to play it again and again and again. It can get frustrating now and then, but I'm quite certain you'll return to this game. By the way, after you've completed a tower (and ruined it, that's not very nice), there's a bonus round, where you go fishing with your little submarine... (Doesn't that sound as if Jeff Minter would have been involved in the production?) (34 kB)
This was a very popular game back in the eighties, and it's still very playable. There are lots of great graphics and music in it, and I think Cinemaware were the first ones to talk about turning computer games into interactive films. Defender of the Crown is still very far from really being an interactive film, but it really shows that you don't need one of these modern "multimedia computers" to make this kind of games. Basically, it's a strategy game, but it has arcade parts, as well, where you fence, attack castles and joust (was this inspired by the jousting simulator for the VIC-20, Medieval Joust?). All in all this game is very funny. I much rather play Defender of the Crown than Civilization II. (215 kB)
This was one of the first games I played on the C-64. Just as in Blood Money, which was probably heavily inspired by Fort Apocalypse, you fly around with a helicopter in tunnels. As always, there are enemies, and there are also people that you have to save. Of course this moves quite slowly, it's not very well animated and the sound effects aren't the best, but it was made in 1982, and exploring those tunnels is actually quite exciting. The graphics change a bit as you move from one level to another in the tunnel system. If I ever get the time, I'll spend a couple of hours and see how far I can get in this great game. (15 kB)
If you feel up to some classical violence, you definitely ought to have a go at Commando. This is one of those old games that's so packed with action that you don't get any time to think about what you're actually doing. I used to play this game a lot with my friends back in the eighties. This is one of the few games where the C-64 version is actually better than the original arcade version. And as if that wasn't enough for you, the title tune (composed by Rob Hubbard) is the most well known of all C-64 songs. Unfortunately it's a bit too easy (I've been told that the Amstrad version was much more difficult), but you'll at least have some great fun until you finish the game.
This game used to be very popular, which is quite easy to understand. It's a very good platform game. Actually, if you've ever played Super Mario on the NES, you know exactly what kind of game this is... They had to stop selling this one, as it resembled Super Mario too much. There was also a sequel, called Hard'n'Heavy, which was dropped by the game company, but was completed by some cracking group (they didn't just code demos and crack games!). Anyway, download this and have lots of fun, you can play this for a long time before you get bored by it. (41 kB)
Uridium is a fast, smoothly moving, side-scrolling shoot 'em up game with excellent graphics. Actually, those graphics are quite unnecessary, because the game is a bit too fast for you to sit and watch the graphics. All you have to do is to shoot the aliens, and shoot some stationary targets as well (if you feel like it) and then land when the computer tells you to. The speed at which you move makes me think of Defender, and then you know that it's terribly fast, so you'll really need to concentrate to complete even the first level. (29 kB)
This used to be one of my absolute favourites back in the eighties, and it still is. It's really simple and straightforward, you fly around in tunnels, try to avoid spiders, bats and other nasty creatures, and save the people that have for some reason got stuck in the tunnels. Sometimes you even have to do a little thinking, but don't worry about that, just download the game! There's really not a lot to see in these dark tunnels, but somehow you really feel interested to see what the next level looks like. I think the graphics fit the game perfectly, and it gives it a certain mood, doesn't it? I've reached level 19, how far can you go? (12 kB)
I think this game was meant as the sequel to Space Invaders. There's not really a big difference between the two games. You still have to shoot a lot of aliens that come swirling down towards you, and when you've shot them all down, there is always a new attack wave. The main difference between this one and Space Invaders is in the actual swirling; in Space Invaders they just move back and forth and a little bit down. In Galaxian the aliens break away from the main formation, charging down towards you, and turning purple with excitement (or something) they spray you with bullets. I definitely prefer Galaxians. If you like this kind of games, you should take a look at my VIC-20 page too, for lots of more games filled with demented action (why didn't they make a C-64 version of Cloudburst?). (6 kB)
Have you ever found yourself wondering what Sid Meier did before he created Civilization? I haven't, because I'm not particularly fond of Civilization. Actually, I'm not very interested in strategy games at all. I used to like games like that in the eighties, though, when they were something new, when this multimedia thing still had a fresh feel to it. I don't know very much about Sid Meier, but he did create Pirates! back in 1987, and it's a fabulous game. I know that a lot of people like this game, which is easy to understand. Games that take weeks to play often lack something, you just don't feel like keeping on playing it. Pirates! seems to have everything. It may not look very impressive, if you're used to the modern games, but it does keep you coming back, to play it again. Basically, you sail around, attack other ships and towns, take the money and leave. If the country you're from is at war with another country, they may give you nice titles, if you plunder the enemy's towns and ships. If the governors like you, you can marry their daughters. There are quite a lot of things to do in this game, and the map is big, there are lots of towns to visit and an endless number of ships to attack. Of course there are also buried treasures, pirate hunters and everything else you'd expect from a pirate game. This game is a must, so download it now and have lots of fun, for a long, long time. (138 kB)
When you start playing this game, you may think that it's a bit strange that it's actually a Jeff Minter game without camels, llamas and other animals. Well, as soon as you reach the fourth level the evil camels show up, and you'd better shoot them as fast as you can... There's just you in your little space craft and all the bad guys. And of course there's the fire button on your joystick... Basically it's a clone of Centipede, but Mr. Minter probably considered Centipede to be lacking in action, so he added a couple of extras, like the two annoying alien ships that move around the borders of the screen and shoot at you. When this game was released in U.S.A. it was called Attack of the Mutant Camels (the same goes for the VIC-20 versions of the same game). Then Jeff Minter coded a game for the C-64 where you shoot at enormous camels (probably inspired by the empire walkers in Star Wars), which was released as Attack of the Mutant Camels... I played this a lot back in '83. There is a port of this game for the Plus 4, which is almost identical to this version. The original VIC-20 version is also very good, and even a bit more difficult than this one. (7 kB)