When 64K Was Enough!

I recently bought a new PC, which came with 2 Gigabytes of RAM. 2 GIG!  The amount of memory and hard disk space on modern PCs is just ridiculous. At the same time I was setting up my new PC I was also playing games on my Commodore 64, so named because it had 64Kb of memory.

At the time of the system's release in 1982 this was an impressive amount compared to the 16K of the ZX Spectrum or the 32K of the BBC Micro, and that extra memory seemed well utilised in a vast number of arcade-style games boasting 16 colours compared to the rival systems' 8, and the legendary SID chip providing some of the best sound to ever come from a home computer.

My C64 setup consists of the C64C system, essentially the same as the original brown C64 but in a more stylish Amiga-esque case, with a massive original 1541 disk drive, which you may recall I brought back from the dead a few months ago. My time spent with the system was geared towards transferring a bunch of tape-based games to disk and also to spend some quality time playing C64 games that I never paid much attention to the first time around.

I started with a couple of games that were budget £1.99 releases back in the early 90's and were obtained for even less than that via Ebay. First up was Arnie from Zeppelin Games, a scrolling run and gun in the Commando mould, but using a slightly peculiar isometric perspective akin to games like Zaxxon. Graphically and sonically uninspiring, it is still decent enough gameplay-wise and provided some simple blast em up entertainment for half an hour or so.

Next was Mastertronic's Action Biker, an early example of licensing as it features Clumsy Colin, the 80's mascot of KP Skips, a snack that I believe still survives to this day. The idea of the game is to drive Colin around collecting parts to enhance his motorbike ready for a big race. I never got as far as the race itself but did enjoy trundling round this early example of a sandbox game, doing whatever I pleased. The graphics are functional but theme music is catchy – I was still humming it days later!

Next up were two games I did play the first time around and had fond memories of. Firebird's Booty proved to be a rose-tinted moment as what I remembered to be good turned out to be a pretty dire platformer with no redeeming qualities. On the other hand Fast Break, the basketball sim from Accolade (now Electronic Arts) was just an impressive interpretation of the game as I remembered, down to the squeak of the players shoes on the court! Sadly I rather got my ass handed to me by the computer opponent, but there's no denying that EA really knew how to make a sports game even before the endless FIFA iterations.

Moving on to a more cerebral challenge I tried a game that I'd always wanted when I was younger but never got around to playing, BombUzal from Imageworks. This fiendish puzzler sees you controlling a comical character that has to blow up a selection of bombs on a platform without killing himself. It's a little like Bomberman I suppose but with more of an emphasis on solving puzzles. There's two ways of viewing the action, an overhead 2D view and also an isometric 3D perspective that I found completely impossible to comprehend! The 2D view kept me interested for a couple of hours though, and I even wrote down the level passwords so I can go back to this one in the future.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, my next game was Alligata Software's Kettle, written by Tony Crowther who was known for his quirky offerings. The aim of the game is to control your kettle and shoot bubbles at a number of, um, chimneys (for want of a better description) until you find a can opener that is the key to escaping the level. Yes, it is as odd as it sounds, but not without merit and the inclusion of a simultaneous 2-player mode adds to the appeal.

Last but by no means least I played the most recent C64 release that I own, 1992's Nobby the Aardvark from Thalamus. Arriving at the end of the system's natural life, this platformer showed off a quality of graphics and audio that competed with the NES and Master System, with console-styled gameplay to match. As you guide Nobby from level to level you get to jump, swim and fly in both a balloon and a UFO. It's a bloody tough game but a rewarding one that I'll certainly spend a lot of time with, not least because Aardvarks are great!

If my maths is right then 64kb is 1/32000th of 2Gb, but having played on my C64 I can happily confirm that when it comes to great games, my new PC is nowhere near 32000 times better than Commodore's classic!