Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Freeware, Time-Wasters
Online C64 emulator with games - Time Waster
by Jason Clarke Feb 12th 2008 at 11:00AM
Ahh, the good old Commodore-64. Many of us here at Download Squad count the C-64 as one of their first computers. While the Apple IIc was arguably more important, nobody would dispute the fact that the C-64 had what kids want: games, and lots of them. It was also pretty cool that the operating system was also a BASIC interpreter. How many young programmers learned GOTO and LOOP commands in those days, only to have to unlearn them later on?But even with the educational value that the C-64 could provide, its place in our collective heart was cemented by all of the great games that were available for the platform.
While C-64 emulators are available for every platform from XBox and PSP to Windows, Mac, and Linux, many of them can be finicky to set up. If you're looking for a quick hit of C-64 goodness but don't want to commit to a hackathon to get things working right, check out Commodore Gaming's Play Classic Games page.
The list of games that are available is not as long as we might like, but you'll almost certainly find an old friend in there. For us it was Jupiter Lander; this game has been made and remade seemingly a million times, but none have the charm and addictive game play that can be found in the original.
To play, simply click on the screenshot of the game you'd like to try in the scrolling marquee on the left. Click the Stick 1 button, then remember to click inside the game window before resorting to your number pad for controlling the game. We forgot that at first, and were frustrated at not being able to control anything.
What's your favorite old C-64 game? Anybody remember M.U.L.E.?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
marc said 11:45AM on 2-12-2008
you guys need to add a how-long-will-it-last tag.
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Royal8 said 1:04PM on 2-12-2008
Space Taxi!
Forbidden Forest?
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Jason Clarke said 1:32PM on 2-12-2008
Space Taxi! Wow, blast from the past. I loved that game!!
Anyone remember Below the Root?
Grimes said 2:04PM on 2-12-2008
My favorite, hands down, was "Below the Root", a 2d, free-roaming, open-world, action-adventure-rpg set in a world based on a novel that was apparently set in a world of people who live i massive, world-spanning trees.
As you progressed you gained and improved various physical, technological, and psychic skills. You had to get food and feed yourself periodically or you'd get weaker and weaker and eventually starve to death. You'd buy special garments that would allow you to glide like a flying squirrel.
In the classic tradition of such games, it did no hand-holding. You had to figure out where to go next based on the clues they gave you, which were sufficient but not idiotically obvious. Also in the classic tradition, it came with a printed map in the box, which was instrumental in finding your way around the world. (At least until you'd beaten the game four or fie times and could repeat it by memory. Which you would, of course, dozens of times more...)
It had a great story and real exploration.
Hooray for memory lane!
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Jeff D said 3:05PM on 2-12-2008
M.U.L.E. was a blast, but I have to say that Elite was my favorite, although it could be a pain in the ass until you got the docking computer.
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Eric Blackey said 8:01PM on 2-18-2008
Oh yeah. C64 sucked up a lot of my time. My favorite game was Lords of Conquest, A Risk-like strategy game. But I also liked the Temple of Apshai games,the Dungeons and Dragons games they put out,Ghostbusters,Summer Games,Leaderboard,and One-on-One with Dr. J and Larry Bird. There are a lot more, but too many too list/remember
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kevjohn said 4:04PM on 2-12-2008
Echelon here I come!
That was the most time I ever spent on a single game. And I never did finish it.
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art l said 12:13AM on 2-13-2008
ELITE was always number one
Neuromancer number two
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Richard in Asia said 7:36AM on 2-13-2008
C'mon people, let's be honest.... The best game ever for the C=64 is undoubtedly Modem Wars. The first action/strategy online game (that I remember) and simply put: Brilliant, yes, the best! Varying terrain, drones and missiles, heavies, grunts, and riders (and spies!), fortification, blitzing, etc.... And all done on...? Was it 4 color or 16? I've forgotten now. Feel like it was 4..... Regardless I easily deem it one of the most innovative games in the history of computers.
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