Top 10 Commodore 64 games we want for the Wii Virtual Console
What’s that? You can’t buy C64 games through the Virtual Console? That’s exactly my point. It’s all very well to sign up ever-more niche consoles for the service – did you ever know anyone who owned a Neo Geo? – and I’ve ranted on here before about how the Virtual Console needs more original games.
But wouldn’t it be nice if Nintendo could turn its attention towards licensing some home computer games? I’m talking games from the days when Commodore’s grey box bestrode the 8-bit gaming world like a round-edged colossus (sorry, Spectrum and Amstrad owners, but it did).
Assuming Nintendo could bag the Commodore brand and untangle who owns the rights to various games, what titles would work best? My ten suggestions follow, but I’d love to hear yours too.
1. Creatures. Or, if we’re being strictly accurate, C.R.E.A.T.U.R.E.S. (it stood for Clyde Radcliffe Exterminates All The Unfriendly Repulsive Earth-ridden Slime). It mixed cutesy platform levels with frankly disturbing interludes featuring furry critters getting tortured.
2. Space Taxi. Another game with lots of platforms, although you played an air-taxi flying between them. Imagine the bastard child of Thrust and Crazy Taxi (ignore the age gap) and you get a sense of how fun it was, as you tried to pick up passengers and drop them at their desired platform to earn big tips.
3. Microprose Soccer. Forget the graphical realism of yer FIFAs and the gritty defensive battles of yer Pro Evos. What you want is a football game that lets you do ridiculous banana shots from the corner spot. Microprose Soccer was that game, featuring top-down teams from Oman to Brazil.
4. Paradroid. One of the C64 classics, with you rolling round a spaceship as a ball-shaped droid, taking over other droids via a circuit-switching mini-game and then… well, I never did quite figure out what you actually had to do then. But a VC re-release would let me rectify that.
5. The Last Ninja. Back in the day (and I realise I sound like a Grandad when I say this), isometric graphics were something to gawp at. The Last Ninja looked amazing for the time, and was also distinguished by absorbing level design, and bastard-hard difficulty. A classic. Now where are my Werther’s Originals…
6. Turrican. Another C64 game that appeared on other platforms, this was a mash-up of side-scrolling platform action and shoot’em up dynamics, with enormous bosses and – best of all – a title screen that ripped off a Manowar album cover (Kids, ask your codpiece-sporting metalhead uncle). You should need no further recommendation, frankly.
7. Treasure Island Dizzy. More platform action, with an ingenious mix of puzzles and object-collecting. Also ripe for a VC re-release just to remind modern gamers that there was once a time when an egg could be one of the most popular game characters around.
8. Barbarian. Mortal Kombat? Pah! Us C64-owners were tearing enemies’ heads off in beat’em ups years before it. AND we had the bonus of a little goblin booting their noggins off-screen afterwards.
9. Bruce Lee. Frankly baffling platformer that saw you legging it through levels as Bruce, chased by a ninja fella with a sword, and a big sumo wrestler. Drop-kicking them bought you time, while collecting lamps to progress. Genius.
10. Summer Games / Winter Games / World Games. The series of Epyx multi-event sports sims set the bar high (literally, in the high jump and pole vault events) in their genre. It wasn’t just frantic button-bashing either, timing was often crucial. Meanwhile, World Games’ weird mix of log-rolling, caber toss and barrel-jumping would still raise eyebrows.
So, that’s my ten. What do you think? Any classic C64 titles I’ve missed? Or would the very idea of C64 VC games be rubbish? Post your comments…
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April 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I never had any of them on the C64, I have to admit… the only ones I can even remember that I would want to see again are Slurpy and Gulligan’s Gold.
Didn’t I see ages ago that Nintendo had gotten the rights to publish games from the C64 onto the Virtual Console or was that just wishful thinking too?
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 pm
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11060
An interesting article on Gamasutra regarding certain C64 games on the Wii. Looks like we may see The Last Ninja (No. 5) at some point. Don’t know if anything’s changed since it was written last year though.
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:17 pm
[...] Original post by Stu and software by Elliott Back [...]
April 24th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I can’t believe you’d put Dizzy in there and miss out the entire Monty Mole collection?????
June 1st, 2007 at 6:31 pm
JUMPMAN and LOAD RUNNER.
I know they have battle load runner for the turbo grafx 16, already released, but it stinks compaired to the C64 version where you could see the entire playing field at once.
Imaging making your own boards and sharing them over the internet with your friends? Incorporating the multiplayer mode of battle load runner, but being able to play it live against your friends on the net.
There were so many good games for the C64, I would love to see he WII support them.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Yes, “Jumpman” was the Best, so was “7 Cities of Gold” and “Hitchhicker Guide to the Galaxy” and “Montezuma’s Revenge.”
August 29th, 2007 at 3:43 am
This sounds really awesome!! i grew up with the commodore, still play it today!
my top ten?
Jumpman / jumpman jr
superstar ice hockey
hardball
gfl championship football
montezuma’s revenge
boulderdash
impossible mission
the Epyx games ( summer, winter, world, california )
fort apocalypse
exploding fist
this will be awesome if WII does incorporate it in virtual console.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
How on gods earth did Wizball NOT appear on that list ?
Most addictive game ever for the c64
February 20th, 2008 at 4:30 am
i loved the music on the c-64 the most i didnt play many games i used to like the music in them though.
i remember one game i used to play was something to do with a castle and you had to swing over these guards or someting and sometimes u fell.
i cant even remember the name of it. and one im sure labyrinth.
or maybe that was it.
steve
April 13th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
There was a C64 game I remember that I’m trying to find the name of. In the game you were a ninja, fighting foes on different screens where you could also jump really high into holes in the ceiling to get to another foe to fight, or fall through holes to fight foes. You had shurikens to throw etc.
If anyone can email me with the name of the game or any links to screenshots to see if its the one I’m talking about, please help!
I found that yie ar kung fu game online with screenshots that I used to play all the time as a kid!
April 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
My Top 10 C64 games:
01. Delta
02. Sanxion
03. Uridium
04. Way of the Exploding Fist
05. Ghostbusters
06. Paradriod
07. Impossible Mission
08. Warhawk
09. I-Ball
10. Great Giani Sisters
Phew!
April 24th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
…….and Little Computer People!….sorry, makes that 11…and I didn’t even mention Rescue on Fractalus, Electraglide, Ballblazer, The Eidolon, Koronis Rift, Nebulus and Beamrider!!!
DOH…there I go!!!
September 13th, 2008 at 1:58 am
game is ninja dave here’s the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbBnFizvEY
September 30th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
what about the hardest game ever to grace consoles. how bout HOOK the mere name of this game strikes pain and anguish into my soul as i never got past the first 5 mins of gameplay and is the only game to challeng me beyond compare.
fingers crossed for its release.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:29 am
What.. M.U.L.E isn’t on the list?
BTW there is a really awesome Bruce Lee port for windows already.
I think a four player M.U.L.E. game with for the Wii would be awesome, especially with Wi-Fi connection.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:13 am
I love SPACE TAXI!!
Another game I really like is “LAW of the WEST”.