By Rob Bricken in
Video Games
Thursday, Oct. 2 2008 @ 5:04AM
10. Impossible Mission (Epyx, 1984)
“Stay awhile…staaay forever!!!!” Anyone who played this game remembers the voice of the evil Professor, taunting them while they race to find the passwords to allow them entrance into his lab. Pretty basic and repetitive gameplay hampered this game in its initial release, but the digitized voice (much clarified and otherwise improved from the guttural German of Castle Wolfenstein) made this legendary. I knew players who’d suicide their guy off a ledge over and over, just to hear him scream. (Okay, it was me.)
9. Sword of Fargoal (Epyx, 1983)
An early graphic dungeon-bashing adventure, and one that inspired many to come, Sword of Fargoal was both simple and very, very tough. Delve down in a dungeon, gaining levels, in order to find the titular blade—and then escape with your life. Not easy to do when the dungeon is falling around you, and monsters are on your heels. This is one of those games that almost everyone played—but few finished.
8. Bruce Lee (Datasoft, 1984)
One of the first platform jumper/fighting combo games on the market, Bruce Lee is important for one other reason: the Green Yamo. A big Kermit-colored fat sumo-type, Yamo wasn’t just a game obstacle; he was also playable by a second player. So what’s a Yamo, and why is he green? I don’t know, but his tubby ass is kicking yours, Bruce.
7. Barbarian (Palace/Epyx, 1987)
One word describes the draw of this two-person fighting game: decapitation. Yes, in true head-to-head fashion (sorry), one mighty 360-degree cleave of your Conan-like broadsword can cut your friend’s head clean off. Sweet! Add to that the buxom chicks in the background (and on the box cover), and man, no one cared that this was a game you could only play about ten minutes. That was a good ten minutes, man.
6. Telengard (Avalon Hill, 1982)
A deserved classic in the fantasy genre, this game gave devoted D&D players a reason to skip gaming night in favor of their Commodore 64 now and then—mainly because you could find rad swag like Swords +56 and Rings of Protection +89. Insane! And insanely tough, too, since early versions of the game wouldn’t let you save a character---if you died, you died for good. It didn’t make for long campaigns, but it was still fun to venture out from the Worthy Meade Inn, find a glowing misty cube, teleport down to the 50th level of the dungeon, and hope to find something cool before you were killed by one swat from a 99th level gnoll.
5. Pirates! (Microprose, 1987)
Officially, Sid Meiers’ Pirates!, but the pirates were the thing here—and pirating you would gladly go. Like most of Sid Meiers’ games, this one had deceptive depth—easy to learn, tough to master—but the combination of broadsides combat, on-deck swordplay, romance in every port, and letters of marque to excuse your every act of piracy was unparalleled. Pirates was cool long before pirates were cool—we didn’t need no stinkin’ Johnny Depp.
4. Wasteland (Electronic Arts, 1988)
One of the best C64 RPGs wasn’t of the fantasy genre. Wasteland was a post-apocalyptic romp from beginning to (if you could get there) end. It’s said to be the “spiritual predecessor” to the much-later game Fallout (and its sequels—with another in the near future). Wasteland had mature situations, violent descriptions of combat, and a pretty bleak outlook on the future—and managed not to rip off Mad Max in the process. And for all this, it earned an unofficial “PG-13” warning on its packaging. Mmmm…mature rating goodness.
3. Jumpman (Epyx, 1983)
One of the true Commodore classics, Jumpman was one of those games that everyone had, and everyone played. It wasn’t ground-breaking in any way, but it did have a certain charm to it, especially given the grace of its movement and the creativity and variation from level to level. In some levels, Jumpman just jumped; in others, he was a dragonslayer chucking spears, or trying to avoid hailstones or chickens or gunfighters. It was crazy, and never boring, even when some levels were pretty tough. Even today, Jumpman could make Sonic the Hedgehog his bitch.
2. Archon (FreeFall/Electronic Arts, 1983)
Remember when I said that Jumpman was one of the true Commodore classics that everyone had? Yeah, this is the other one. Archon was a variation on chess, of course, but with a difference; the pieces actually duked it out. Anyone who’s ever played chess and thought that there’s no fucking way that a little bishop should be able to take out a knight on horseback can appreciate this. Add to that the light and dark pieces, the switch from black pawns and white rooks to goblins and valkyries (and the different attacks for each piece in the game), and this is an excellent strategy game that could easily survive a direct port—with some graphic upgrades, of course—to current platforms.
1. Ultima IV (Origin, 1985)
Richard Garriot’s Ultima series was one of the standbys of the gaming industry in the 1980s, and Ultima IV was the one that was most perfectly realized. Far from being just the traditional hack and slash fantasy game (of which its immediate predecessor Ultima III was a fantastic example), Ultima IV actually made being an ethical hero part of the victory conditions. This is something of a radical notion, even today—maybe especially today, given that grim ‘n’ gritty antiheroes are still standard for many FPS, and even role-playing games don’t always reward you for doing the “right” thing. But Ultima IV did—and it did it without boring the player to tears. Of course, in your quest to reach Avatar status and master the eight virtues, you still get to collect loot and kill stuff, but you also have to meditate at shrines, give to the poor, and show humility in your interactions with the world around you. Pretty heavy stuff, but pulled off well, and in a world that at this point in the series was so well-rendered that it spawned several future (and lesser) installments. In terms of Ultimas, this is the pinnacle. And if you disagree, well then to hell with you. (See there? I just lost an eighth.)
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39 comments
Comments
Michael said:
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. You neglected to mention, however, "Sid Meier's Pirates!", and the almighty "M.U.L.E." But there are too many for just 10 anyway.
I MISS Impossible Mission. Why hasn't someone re-popped that for (modern-day) PCs?
Dan said:
Great list. I would add Airborne Ranger to the list. I wasted way too much time with that game. Between that and Pirates!, I don't think I saw the sun freshman year of high school.
Gleeman replied to Dan:
Airborne Ranger was pretty much the whole reason I visited the neighbor's house in high school. We had a Ti-99 and a Colecovision, he had a C64 and the guy across the street had an Atari, so we were pretty well set for 80's nerdiness.
Red Gamer replied to Dan:
For sure, Airborne Ranger ruled! Crawling along a trench and then setting a bomb inside a plane's hanger was awesome. Even better was friend who blew himself up inside said hanger and threw his Hotshot joystick out the window and into his pool in a fit of anger.
Jangles said:
Man, we had a Commaodre 64, how come I don't know any of these games? I feel cheated. Of course my dad did take a sledge hammer to the 64 when it wouldn't work right.
Quilty said:
I am sorry that Valhalla is on the list, but it really was a boring text game when you think about it.
There's a PC version of the Bruce Lee game at http://www.planetflibble.com/blitz/ .
juicebaux said:
What about Maniac Mansion?
Chuxmix said:
Wow, fantastic list! I totally forgot about Sword Of Fargoal, that was a great one. I remember nabbing all of these titles from an old school BBS running at 300 Baud! Of course, there's a ton of the less memorable (yet nostalgia-inpsiring) titles you can play via flash at http://www.c64s.com
I need to get a sample of that evil voice from the beginning of Impossible Mission, what a classic!
Shawn said:
Have you ever played Heart of Africa?
It was an EA title based on exploration (Seven Cities of Gold sequel). Some of the features I'd liken to very early sandbox gameplay, later popularized by Grand Theft Auto. If you went in a village and needed supplies, you could pull out your gun and take them instead of paying for them, the only caveat being you'd have to dodge poison darts on your escape from the village afterwards. Great game.
Craig said:
Sword of Fargoal was awesome! The best part was that the graphics were all re-imaged text characters, so you could beat the game by - I kid you not - hitting the Break key, moving the cursor up onto the game window, and inserting the keypress for the Sword graphic. You could grab the sword on level one and win! Sure it was cheating, but after getting my butt kicked so many times by this game, it somehow seemed justified...
LOKi said:
Remember how long it took to copy these games back in the day. I remember Pirates took hours to copy. Now there are emulators out there for the PC so you can play all these old school games(except Castle Wolfenstein, that one is hard to find). After finding and installing the emulator I downloaded some of the games. What took 2 or more hours as a kid literally takes about 1/2 a second now.
I have been looking for this game I used to love on the C64 but forgot the name. It was a helicopter game with a top camera view. What was nice is it was a fee flying game. No rules on where you go on the map just targets that needed to be taken out. Does anyone know the name of that game?
Eric replied to LOKi:
LOKi, that game was Choplifter.
deadbeatjones said:
I worshipped my Commodore 64, but you've actually stumped me with a good deal of these picks.
Impossible Mission and Zork were two of my favorites, but what about Choplifter? Raid on Bungeling Bay? Yie Ar Kung Fu? Ghostbusters? Starflight? Beach Head? Hacker? Seven Cities of Gold?
Or the all time greatest game ever made: Below the Root.
I spent days on end in front of our little monitor trying to conquer games like those. And I spent hours upon hours waiting for my Commodore tape deck to load the next part of the Apshai games. Boooooring.
Ah...the memories.
Grundle said:
Dude you so forgot below the root... Also the first commentor seems to have missed the second page with an additional 10 games.
Grundle "Fudge Rings"
Zuckervati said:
Agreement on the already posted M.U.L.E., Choplifter, Raid on Bungeling Bay, Seven Cities of Gold, and a special "yes" to Below the Root. These ate up much of my time when I was young.
How about: Fort Apocalypse, Broderbund’s Spelunker, Paradroid (now ported to Windows), and Archon II: Adept
Bruce Lee was a complete pain in two-player mode. The person playing Bruce could lay in that duck position forever, and you could never touch him.
neaux said:
Bard's Tale series: GREAT!
Zack MacKraken and the Alien Mind Benders
and I had Conan. It was awesome.
mxyzplk said:
Hell yes! Best article ever.
I had a C64 for many years and this is a great list.
Karateka was bad ass, I hated fighting that bird. I loved Elite. Pool of Radiance was lovely (the sequels less so). Played LodeRunner, and of course Zork (I must have had all of the Infocom games). And Jumpman was the Mario of the C64, I remember it so well (especially that damn load screen).
The scream in Impossible Mission scared the crap out of me the first time I heard it. The rest of the sounds are fairly low key - clanging footfalls, electrical buzzing, and AAIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE! And the "Destroy him, my robots!" guy. I loved that.
And kudos on Ultima IV being #1. It was the best. I spent one summer vacation doing nothing but playing Ultima. I'd come downstairs and sit at the computer desk early in the morning, and play with only mandatory parent-provoked breaks until forced to go to bed in the evening. "The raven sees, the raven saw, and in the corn, he sayeth KAH," bitches! Man, Teague, you know what the hell you're talking about. Props.
The only game that was missing from here was Gunship (well, and F-15 Strike Eagle slightly less so). I played Gunship until I went to college. I'd crank up Metallica and rain Hellfires on Warsaw Pact tanks till there was no one moving. I still have all of the damn challenge/countersigns memorized that they used as one of the most clever copy protection schemes ever. When you would come back in to base they'd radio you and give you a challenge and you'd have to provide a countersign to be recognized as friendly; one challenge/counter was at the bottom of each page of the manual. Yellow? Mazurka!!!
what said:
This is bull, where is Mail Order Monsters.
John said:
Awww, missing the first Might and Magic, SimCity and BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk Inception too =)
kmc said:
Larry Bird Vs Dr. J should have made the list.
sak500 said:
Nice list but i would also add LucasArt games, Paradroid, paralax, Alleykat, Ball Blazer, canon fodder etc.
oven_baked replied to sak500:
yes this is a weird list from a British point of view....No Wizball or Manic Miner or Armalyte or Creatures?!!
SilverSurfer2445 said:
this told you little to nothing about the games. this was a top 20 list made by someone who does not know what the hell they are talking about. this is nerdy but the truth. i have a commodore 128 sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME. i have ever single game on this list and half should not be here.
THE COMMODORE HAD 15,000 games/apps/junk ect...
there is no chance this list could ever be accurate.\
and if one of you retards. say to me. this is a commodore 64 list and you have a commodore 128.. blow your head off.
tracerv said:
this is a commodore 64 list and you have a commodore 128.
tracerv said:
btw, dr. j vs. larry bird was the balls! my favorite c64 title.
Steve said:
Great, you have a 128 right next to you. It doesn't make your opinion any more valid than another's opinion. Making grand pronouncements doesn't make you seem to be an authority. It makes you seem to be a jerk.
The list was ok. I didn't agree with or play at least half of the games, and several great games were mentioned in earlier posts.
Pollux said:
Looking at the comments, I have one response: Sure, we can all think of games that we played that were favorites. I know I can. Questron. Temple of Apshai. GATEWAY to Apshai (that was like the first scroller game ever, wasn't it)? Regardless, this is a great list. Bravo!
Now build me a time machine so I can go back and play it all again as an adolescent.
Donovan said:
Loki,
The game you're thinking of is Raid On Bungeling Bay, by Broderbund. It was quite good.
benjor said:
Did this guy really have a C64? How could anyone forget NEBULUS?
korg20000bc said:
Wow. Obviously I missed out. I had none of those games.
I loved:
Paradroid
Koronis Rift
Master of Magic
Bards Tale
Crush Crumble and Chomp
A.C.E. (Air Combat Emulator)
Spy vs Spy
korg20000bc said:
Dragons of Pern was great too.
Kaitain said:
This is:
a) Heavily US-centric
b) RPG-centric.
A very odd, skewed list. Very unrepresentative of what I would expect a poll of C64 owners to come up with. Paradroid? Boulder Dash? Thrust? Ballblazer? Spindizzy? Mercenary - Escape From Targ? The Sentinel? Head over Heels? Dropzone? IK+? Hawkeye? Wizball? Nebulus?
It's like the OP mainly played RPGs up until 1986 then moved onto a different machine.
Big Fish Games said:
Arrggh!!! Raid on Bungeling Bay and Hacker were left off. Other than that, this is a killer list. Yes, Ultima IV is #1.
Anonymous said:
Some needed additions:
1. 4th & Inches (Accolade)
2. Beach Head 1 & 2
3. Aztec Challenge
4. Questprobe Hulk (who can forget "bite lip")
5. Defender of the Crown
Poindexter McCommodore said:
What about SWAT and that insanely catchy music as you walked down the street gunning people down?
::Doot, doot. Doot, doot, doot. repeat::
I'd add Winter Games and I think they had another one with Scottish Highlander type events (Caber toss)
How about Marble Madness or Legacy of the Ancients or Lemmings.
D.J. said:
I think Wasteland is the best Commodore game ever. I rank it slightly ahead of Ultima IV. Elite should have been rated higher. I played that game for years. (Although, I hated it for the first 200 times I played trying to dock, that sucked. When I finally bought a docking computer it became one of my fav games ever.) To whoevr suggested 4th N inches I would agree only if you had the team construction disk. Micro League Baseball was also the first great game for the sports stat geeks (like me) who didnt wanna play arcade game sports, but compile stats instead!
xdr said:
Number 1 should've been Boulderdash! It's the most recognizable game for c64! Also my favorite: Creatures! Who can forget those scenes between levels?!
Red Gamer said:
I have very fond memories of Summer Games and Barbarian - the head chop is one of the great fight moves in video game history.
Too many RPG and platform games here though.
My personal favourites (in play time) were Airborne Ranger and Emlyn Hughes International Football - best scrolling graphics on the C64 ever. I also loved Nebulus, Akari Warriors, Microsoft Football, Operation Wolf (best coin-op conversion ever), Defender of the Crown and World Games.
My regular gmaing buddy would add in R-Type, Street Warriors and Winter Games to this list.
Although such a list it is very much a personal taste, surely the one game EVERYONE loved was Pitstop II? No better game 2 player and the reason I was so obsessed about getting a C64.
Funnily enough a lot of the games here were shocking when translated to the Amiga (my next computer).
Sinan said:
Where is The Last Ninja?
