I firmly believe that the C64 was the best of that generation of home computers, firstly because of the size of the catalogue, and secondly because of the number of titles exclusive to it. The graphics and sound were great, and there was enough hardware available to create some classic games. Fantastic video Jason 👍👍👍
My cousin and I spent hours during the summer playing Bruce Lee. Also I can’t remember but there were some story word games I got hooked on. I think one of them were caked Zork.
I remember waiting 30min or so to load a game on tape to found out it crashed when the tape stops. /Whimpers But when it worked I had so much fun until I hear dad or mom shouting "that's enough kids, stop messing with the tv !!!" /Whimpers again
I got a free "Montezuma's Revenge" from a contest in one of the computing magazines back in 1984(?). I remember filling out a postcard and sending it in. The game showed up about 8-10 months later, I believe. I had totally forgotten all about it by that point. It still is one of my favorite games to play on a 64. The disk also had a Atari computer version on the other side of it.
@Video games Bloke+ I was lucky enough to use A500,A600 and then the A1200. The games on the Amiga were amazing still remember the millions of disks me and my brother had so many classic games.
@@jamieprice8940 i agree and i miss it so very much!I its very expensive to buy og Amigas right now so a mini version is a great idea! Day 1 must buy for me :)
"Trainers" are a piracy thing, not a "computer version" thing. Tons of console games had trainers attached to the pirated versions too, which is why we have the "No-Intro" ROM sets.
@@MetalJesusRocks Though I grew up here in the USA, as a teen I used a Bung Doctor V64 to play downloaded N64 games before working N64 emulation on PC even existed. A lot of them would come pre-cracked with trainers and/or intros. I recall a scene war where Titanik included a PC virus inside a Turok II: Seeds of Evil N64 ROM. It would infect your computer using a buffer overflow exploit if you used another scener's PC utility that was meant for stripping off his intro/trainer. These guys really took it seriously!
@@MetalJesusRocks It isn't always obvious either. For many, many, many years the version of Super Mario All*Stars everyone had online was a hacked version that let you press Select to change your power up in Super Mario Bros 3. You could cycle between Mario, Super Mario, Raccoon Mario, and all the different suits (Tanooki, Frog, Hammer Bro). Many played through the whole game without noticing. :) I remember getting upset and dumping all my N64 games myself when I found out that the Starfox 64 ROM would not boot with an actual Starfox 64 cart inserted. Starfox 64 was the first title that used an alternate boot type/security chip (CIC). The ROM would not boot with the real cart because the crackers had changed the 6101 boot type to the one every previous N64 game used (6102). Thst makes sense because few pirates would have a real 6101 game to boot with, especially since Starfox 64 ended up being the only one ever with 6101. I recall there was little mention of this change in the readme file for the official scene release so I was pretty angry to find out it was modified without telling you. The least they could do was release both or include a patch.
Good timing. I recently picked up a Commodore 64 in excellent condition and got a PiDrive for it and just needed a starting point for some games to try out.
Lemon C64/Amiga is a good place to start or carry on. The link below is a decent C64 top 100 games list that should give you plenty to chew on before hunting down those 'gems' (: www.lemon64.com/games/votes_list.php
I totally forgot Mr. Robot and the Robot Factory! Hadn't seen it or thought of it over 30 years. The construction set was great. Also... not really a hidden gem, but I loved Raid on Bungeling Bay. Tons of other good games mentioned here in comments.
This system is so old I almost wasn't gonna give the vid a chance. But now I'm totally in agreement that this system was revolutionary and still holds up!
That was good timing, just got my commodore 64 maxi this week, amazon just got them back in stock here in the UK. The more of these videos the better, I only had a handful of commodore games as a kid so more recommendations are very welcome 😊
(Here are some recommendations in no particular order or prominence that should hit some spots) International Karate II (IK+) The Last Ninja II Commando Beach Head 1/2 Raid Over Moscow Action Biker Flying Shark GI Joe Impossible Mission 1/2 Epyx Games (Summer/Winter/California Games etc - more players the merrier) Wizball Aliens (Electric Dreams Software) Super Pipeline Seven Cities of Gold Dragon Ninja D&D Goldbox Series (probably better played with Dos version in Dosbox) Turrican II Pirates Elite Bruce Lee Pit Stop II (2p split screen) This is just a bare few of course. Many of these will turn up in a top 100 list but not all - there are so many gems to discover on the C64 if you're comfortable with the ol' beast (:
The original SSI games, especially the AD&D 2nd Ed. Gold box RPGs are amazing and still hold up today. There are several exclusives in the series that were never ported to other systems that are truly hidden gems.
Finally!! You did a c64 vid!! Loved this as a kid and used all my pocket money getting the big releases. Thanks for sharing some of these games it’s great to see the community still loving this system even after all these years. Great vid man!
Dude, I love finding these personal hidden gems! Can you imagine trying to play every C64 game ever released? So many, so little time. Tangled tales was one of my faves, along with legacy of the ancients.
When I was kid we usually loaded games from tape. Sometimes, after waiting for 15 minutes or so you just got a load error. We adjusted azimuth of the tape deck with screwdriver and tried again. Good times :) I now have original C64 with floppy drive and a tapecart. I love the system (nearly as much as my Amiga 3000, just dont tell it to my C64). Law of the West and Neutral Zone looked like really good games to try in this video.
@@MetalJesusRocks It truly was! Kids these days have it SO easy ;) After experiencing that, the load times in consoles like PSX are a breeze. Later, one of us got a Load-it tapedeck that made adjustments easy. It was a little before Amiga 500s became popular here in Europe.
Never owned the C64 but had a ZX Spectrum instead, I then jumped to the mighty Amiga and was blown away by the graphics and sound that the machine could produce.
I had the ZX Spectrum 48k with the rubber keyboard and then eventually updraded to the 128 with the built in cassette deck haha, I always prefered the 48 though over the 128 for some reason
Grew up with Commodore the Amiga was a big part of my early teens and teenage life, I’m 42 now yikes. Would really love to see an Amiga mini released think that would do really well!
Parallax was the last retail game I ever bought for the C64 back shortly after it was released in the US. Great list, I had and played a bunch of these when I was a kid. I loved Hard Hat Mack and Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory. Some others that don't get a ton of attention are Apple Cider Spider, Penetrator (love the music, scramble clone), Toy Bizzare, Spare Change, Snokie and so many others.
I love the fact that you picked Law of the West. It was one of my favorite games on the C64, because I loved the conversation trees. Nowadays we take that sort of stuff for granted in RPGs thanks stuff like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Jade Empire, KOTOR, etc., but it blew me away when I first played it on the C64. The fact that there was a game that was largely about social interaction, and picking the right conversation options. Almost kind of like a very early TellTale game. Definitely a game you should give a try if you're interested in seeing some of the more unusual games the C64 has to offer. And I think it's pretty accessible and easy to get into to boot, and it's tons of fun to replay to see how you can get the optimal outcome in each encounter.
I used to love the Infocom series like "The hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy", "Zork" and "The lurking Horror". I mean they were just text-based games but very enjoyable. As far as action goes, "Airborne Ranger" by Activision was very fun too.
@Video games Bloke I was so young when I had a c64 that I never knew exactly what to do besides bombing cars and eating butterflies. I think I built a nest like once
Finally! I found your channel again! TH-cam stupidly disabled post notifs and I lost your channel. I got hooked every since you explained why we should buy a vita. I have one coming in the mail and it makes me happy to find your channel again.
How crazy the world's going and how crazy downtown Seattle's going I'm glad to see that you're doing content and that you're doing perfectly well brother keep it up in these negative times with the positivity common
Wow. C64! I remembered having to shuffle all those multi 5.25 inch floppy disks between 2 disk drives. I thought I was ahead of the times with getting 2 disk drives for the C128. I was envious of my neighbor who had the C128D, which was much more speedier than my regular C128.
First time I saw a C64 was around the mid-80s, before the NES. I was still playing on Atari 2600 at the time, and the C64 amazed me as a kid. The C64 and the Apple II is why I became a PC gamer in the 90s and early 2000s. Of course now I'm back to mostly a console gamer.
Ultimate Wizard is hard, but fun. Kind of like a cross between Jumpman and Jet Set Willy in terms of difficulty. Mail Order Monsters was class. Wish someone would make a modern version...Keep it 2D but just up the graphics to like SNES quality.
@@scottbreon9448 I got "Mail Order Monsters" through the mail...ordered from one of those computing magazines. Pretty cool game. Another one was "Home Box Office Monsters," I think.
@@the_gilded_age_phoenix8717 I think you're thinking about Movie Monster, which was actually an updated version of an earlier game called Crush, Crumble, Chomp
All those games were my favorites when we had a Commodore 64 in the 80s. I got to have a C64... Need to play those games again. Thanks for a trip down memory Lane.
I loved Mr. Robot. I would spend hours making my own levels filled with the bombs you walked on. Battle through time was fun, it’s just the levels there too long.
My older brother owned a commodore 64, but it used music cassettes instead of floppydisks. Remember playing a lot of HERO and Platoon, also barbarian. Oh yeah and Thing on a Spring was also a good game. We also owned a game about a bird that had to take a pill ones in a while or he got a heart attack ... but I can't remember the name.
I remember ads for Montezuma's Revenge (I think), I never played it. I think I played Jet Set Willy. This has filled me with nostalgia. I had a 64 before my Nes. (Also had a Vic 20 and an Amiga 2000 in my time but I have fondest memories of the 64). So difficult to think of my top five games. Bruce Lee, Spy versus Spy, Forbidden Forest would be in there. Great video.
Flimbo's quest is a beautiful hidden gem. It was a European release, but if you can get a copy it is well worth it. look it up you won't be disappointed
I loved this game! It came on the cartridge with my C64. I played it for years. And the music from it is my ringtone now! I`m always sad when someone talks about C64 and never mentions it.
Funny you mentioned Park Patrol. I always think about that game whenever the C64 is mentioned. I remember me and a friend was playing though a tape with games when we found Park Patrol, and we loved it right away.
I can imagine that Parallax game would've been the source of some intense playground chit chat back in the day, looks pretty cool. I'm a 1989 kid so its abit before my time to be fair, the Master system was where it all started for me but it was the Playstation that won my heart lol.
There is this C64 game called Planet X2. It was made by a TH-camr named The8bitGuy. It’s a strategy game and it’s very good. He made a video about the making of it on his channel.
Just got the Mini! You have awesome taste I remember lots of these. Thank you so much for highlighting Killer Watt by Alligator. I’ve been trying to remember that title for years. It has a killer soundtrack too
Great to see Heavenbound mentioned, this was a great game, but fairly unknown due to its release late in the C64's life, so never gets any love. It would actually work really well as a mobile game too. And before anyone says anything, no I am not saying just because it was my company that released it, that really means nothing in 2020, I genuinely loved that game. :-)
Oh man, I had totally forgotten Mr. Robot's level editor. It was such a fun feature. I used to make tons of my own levels with it. Well done video, more of these C64 features, please!
Speaking of Time Pilot, there's also a pretty good clone of Time Pilot on the C64 called Space-Pilot. Also, the best version of Defender on the C64 is a game called Guardian. Also Eagle Empire is a pretty damn good Phoenix clone...which was also made by the same dude that made Guardian Oh and I have two words for you: FORT APOCALYPSE
I can distinctly remember all the games from Park Patrol onwards on the 64, as some of them were on tape, which was a popular format in the UK for the c64. They were also reviewed in zzap! 64, which was one of the best ganes review magazines of the time. Park Patrol, parallax & montezuma's revenge were my favourites. I think montezuma's was originally a cartridge game. Activision was usually a label that produced quality software, as was parker brothers, whom produced many arcade conversions, which made their way over to the UK eirher in cartridge form, or ended up on turbo tape, which was lightning fast. Thank you for sharing this great slab of nostalgic goodness. P.S. battle through time was one i didn't complete. It took ages to load on cassette so decisions about what to play were also governed by load wait times; early games would take up to 15 minutes , which remarkably you'd sit through whilst reading or whatever, occasionally glancing at the screen to make sure loading progress was being made.
I thought I had a better than average grasp on the C64 library but the only two off this list I've heard of and played are Parallax and Park Patrol which I both loved so now I've got to track down and try all the rest of these. More C64 hidden gems please.
It's so hard to find good Commodore game recommendations. I got a commodore and floppy drive for $50 but a lot of people didn't get it for games. At least in my area.
Have you ever played Wizball? One of the coolest C64 games. Where you shoot your enemies, then pick up the power-ups they leave behind so you can get yourself horizontal and vertical anti-grav and the Cat that picks up colour from the paint enemies.
A few that come to mind for me are: Rocketball (basically the sport played in the movie Rollerball), Castles of Dr. Creep, and Agent USA. Some of my favorites that weren't exactly hidden gems are: Star League Baseball, Raid on Bungeling Bay, Bruce Lee, Lode Runner, and Jumpman (+Jr).
I always enjoy your hidden gems videos for all systems. It really helps to keep me going back to old consoles & breath a little more life into them. Most of these games were also on the Atari 800 computer as well. 🤘
My original c64 still works today. My childhood gaming was on the c64. My dad bought mw me one in 8th grade cause I helped him paint the living room. He died 10 years ago, but I am still greatful for this gift he bought me. I will never sell or get rid of it. I still play some old school arcade games on it once in a while. Thanks, dad.
I miss my c64 and 128. I used them to make music. I had the sci max and tons of software and carts from korg and dr t and more. I played california games and superman and did dug and more. I programmed on it. Damn those were great machines. The sid chip was a 3 voice synth that was a blast. They had these A.I. games that almost felt like you were conversing with your comp. My yamaha cx5m's and c64s and c128s. I was making music on them way into the 2000s Everything i owned was stolen in 2012 so alas i am without. They sure were more fun then humans sould really be allowed. Great video
Disk drives were available in the UK, but sadly, they were very expensive...even more expensive than the C64 itself, so not a lot of games were ported to disk in the Uk...they were very popular in other countries in Europe though
The US lucked out...as basically all those with a C-64 here had a disk drive. There were only a couple of games that required the cassette...and they were often a nightmare to get to work. I think Cosmi's "Forbidden Forest" was one of them.
I grew up using the Commodore 64! Although over here in the UK, most of our games were on cassettes! So I had to wait a long time for them to load! But I did get to enjoy awesome loading games like Invade-A-Load! (A Space Invaders clone with awesome music!)
Funny thing about the C-64 library: I grew up with one and had all sorts of favourites, but I haven't tried a SINGLE ONE of these games. They aren't all necessarily "hidden gems" but there's just so much out there. A lot of it is total crap (Radar Rat Race, Jawbreaker, thousands of indie titles) but some are incredible (Below The Root, Maniac Mansion, Spy VS Spy, Beach Head II, Bruce Lee, The Castles of Doctor Creep, Jumpman, the Epyx "-Games" series). I'd say even though modern C-64 platforms allow you to skip the loading sequence, you still need a certain patience to learn what each game is about. To be honest, I think there's a certain zen in listening to the drive whir for several minutes and watching for changes in the screen that's more similar to building a campfire than anything current gaming has to offer. It's totally obsolete and I don't expect modern audiences to share this sentiment because it was borne of inconvenience, but it's definitely got some nostalgia value for me at least.
Neutral Zone, that's what it's called! :-O I couldn't remember the name for ages, thank you. Montezuma's Revenge is quite awesome. I don't know about the mini/maxi, but there are hundreds of incredible games on the C-64. To name only a few: Archon, BC's Quest for Tires, Beachhead I & II, Forbidden Forest, Beyond Forbidden Forest, Ghostbusters, Gorf, Hero, Impossible Mission, Karateka, Master of Magic, Master of the Lamps, Oils Well, Paradroid, Phantasie, Popeye, Raid over Moscow, Space Taxi, Spy vs. Spy, Spy Hunter, Tapper, The Three Stooges, and Xenophobe. It was the system that I played on the longest growing up and had the most games, but I've got to say Amiga games were better :-)
my first computer back in the day was a C64. Equipped with a cassette deck, floppy disk drive and dot matrix printer. Oh yeah and the dial up modem. Didn't seem that long ago? Now my cell phone has more computing power than what got us to the moon. Crazy.
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I firmly believe that the C64 was the best of that generation of home computers, firstly because of the size of the catalogue, and secondly because of the number of titles exclusive to it. The graphics and sound were great, and there was enough hardware available to create some classic games. Fantastic video Jason 👍👍👍
To me it's close, it would be the C64 first and then the Atari 8-Bit line of computers in second
A number of intriguing titles I've never heard of, gotta plop them onto the ol' SD2IEC 🤘
Thanks for stopping by LGR!🤘
Brilliant another C64 Video - more of these please!
My cousin and I spent hours during the summer playing Bruce Lee.
Also I can’t remember but there were some story word games I got hooked on. I think one of them were caked Zork.
Nine Princes in Amber?
I remember waiting 30min or so to load a game on tape to found out it crashed when the tape stops.
/Whimpers
But when it worked I had so much fun until I hear dad or mom shouting "that's enough kids, stop messing with the tv !!!"
/Whimpers again
There is also an unofficial sequel to Bruce Lee that plays and looks very similar. You can find the rom for it online...
Bruce Lee is in my top five 64 games.
montezuma's revenge is such a well done platformer. feels like it was ahead of its time.
THIS 👆
Absolutely....played this game endlessly as a kid...same with Mr. Robot...
It ist one of the first platformers ever made. Totally agree!
@@niko8570 I played a lot but the game was called "Predatore", don't know why
@@MetalJesusRocks Kind of surprised that the C64 port of HERO never made your list
I got a free "Montezuma's Revenge" from a contest in one of the computing magazines back in 1984(?). I remember filling out a postcard and sending it in. The game showed up about 8-10 months later, I believe. I had totally forgotten all about it by that point. It still is one of my favorite games to play on a 64. The disk also had a Atari computer version on the other side of it.
The Atari 2600 version of it is pretty solid too!
Uhh, dude, Eaglesoft was a piracy group. And all those trainers were inserted by pirates, they weren't present in the original games.
Wish some company would make a Amiga mini that was affordable.
@Video games Bloke + A1200 was a great machine them were the days.
Yes!!!!! Im 40 and Amiga 500 was my first computer as a teenager and i loved it so much!
@Video games Bloke+ I was lucky enough to use A500,A600 and then the A1200. The games on the Amiga were amazing still remember the millions of disks me and my brother had so many classic games.
@@Brylant1980 + great machine and timeless games beats any console hands down.
@@jamieprice8940 i agree and i miss it so very much!I its very expensive to buy og Amigas right now so a mini version is a great idea! Day 1 must buy for me :)
"Trainers" are a piracy thing, not a "computer version" thing. Tons of console games had trainers attached to the pirated versions too, which is why we have the "No-Intro" ROM sets.
Yes, naughty, naughty as they say in the UK.
I know trainers are added by crackers. Never played a NES or console rom with them added though...
@@MetalJesusRocks Though I grew up here in the USA, as a teen I used a Bung Doctor V64 to play downloaded N64 games before working N64 emulation on PC even existed. A lot of them would come pre-cracked with trainers and/or intros. I recall a scene war where Titanik included a PC virus inside a Turok II: Seeds of Evil N64 ROM. It would infect your computer using a buffer overflow exploit if you used another scener's PC utility that was meant for stripping off his intro/trainer. These guys really took it seriously!
@@MetalJesusRocks It isn't always obvious either. For many, many, many years the version of Super Mario All*Stars everyone had online was a hacked version that let you press Select to change your power up in Super Mario Bros 3. You could cycle between Mario, Super Mario, Raccoon Mario, and all the different suits (Tanooki, Frog, Hammer Bro). Many played through the whole game without noticing. :)
I remember getting upset and dumping all my N64 games myself when I found out that the Starfox 64 ROM would not boot with an actual Starfox 64 cart inserted. Starfox 64 was the first title that used an alternate boot type/security chip (CIC). The ROM would not boot with the real cart because the crackers had changed the 6101 boot type to the one every previous N64 game used (6102). Thst makes sense because few pirates would have a real 6101 game to boot with, especially since Starfox 64 ended up being the only one ever with 6101.
I recall there was little mention of this change in the readme file for the official scene release so I was pretty angry to find out it was modified without telling you. The least they could do was release both or include a patch.
Good timing. I recently picked up a Commodore 64 in excellent condition and got a PiDrive for it and just needed a starting point for some games to try out.
Lemon C64/Amiga is a good place to start or carry on. The link below is a decent C64 top 100 games list that should give you plenty to chew on before hunting down those 'gems' (:
www.lemon64.com/games/votes_list.php
I totally forgot Mr. Robot and the Robot Factory! Hadn't seen it or thought of it over 30 years. The construction set was great.
Also... not really a hidden gem, but I loved Raid on Bungeling Bay. Tons of other good games mentioned here in comments.
This system is so old I almost wasn't gonna give the vid a chance. But now I'm totally in agreement that this system was revolutionary and still holds up!
The spider web game reminded me of Zolyx for C64. addictive and fun game.
Also loved 'Spore' Another budget title but addictive.
That was good timing, just got my commodore 64 maxi this week, amazon just got them back in stock here in the UK. The more of these videos the better, I only had a handful of commodore games as a kid so more recommendations are very welcome 😊
(Here are some recommendations in no particular order or prominence that should hit some spots)
International Karate II (IK+)
The Last Ninja II
Commando
Beach Head 1/2
Raid Over Moscow
Action Biker
Flying Shark
GI Joe
Impossible Mission 1/2
Epyx Games (Summer/Winter/California Games etc - more players the merrier)
Wizball
Aliens (Electric Dreams Software)
Super Pipeline
Seven Cities of Gold
Dragon Ninja
D&D Goldbox Series (probably better played with Dos version in Dosbox)
Turrican II
Pirates
Elite
Bruce Lee
Pit Stop II (2p split screen)
This is just a bare few of course. Many of these will turn up in a top 100 list but not all - there are so many gems to discover on the C64 if you're comfortable with the ol' beast (:
The original SSI games, especially the AD&D 2nd Ed. Gold box RPGs are amazing and still hold up today. There are several exclusives in the series that were never ported to other systems that are truly hidden gems.
Finally!! You did a c64 vid!! Loved this as a kid and used all my pocket money getting the big releases. Thanks for sharing some of these games it’s great to see the community still loving this system even after all these years. Great vid man!
Dude, I love finding these personal hidden gems! Can you imagine trying to play every C64 game ever released? So many, so little time. Tangled tales was one of my faves, along with legacy of the ancients.
When I was kid we usually loaded games from tape. Sometimes, after waiting for 15 minutes or so you just got a load error. We adjusted azimuth of the tape deck with screwdriver and tried again. Good times :) I now have original C64 with floppy drive and a tapecart. I love the system (nearly as much as my Amiga 3000, just dont tell it to my C64). Law of the West and Neutral Zone looked like really good games to try in this video.
When I first got my C64 all I had was a tape drive...that was ROUGH! Got a floppy drive as soon as I could
@@MetalJesusRocks It truly was! Kids these days have it SO easy ;) After experiencing that, the load times in consoles like PSX are a breeze. Later, one of us got a Load-it tapedeck that made adjustments easy. It was a little before Amiga 500s became popular here in Europe.
Never owned the C64 but had a ZX Spectrum instead, I then jumped to the mighty Amiga and was blown away by the graphics and sound that the machine could produce.
I had the ZX Spectrum 48k with the rubber keyboard and then eventually updraded to the 128 with the built in cassette deck haha, I always prefered the 48 though over the 128 for some reason
I did have a C64, but I had it rather late in its life. I first started on on Atari 800
@@MakoyUnggoy I agree with you, I used the rubber key version at school and to me it was the trademark of the ZX Spectrum.
I had all from Spectrum to PC including consoles and Speccy has a soul while PC is an empty box with no soul whatsoever.
@Video games Bloke No.
I always recommend Law of the West when people ask me about the C64. Great choice - it's a true classic, even if it is very short and repetitive.
Totally agree!
You could probably due a whole video on "trainers" since a lot of new people to the hobby have no idea about what they are or how they were used.
The "messages" in Killer Watt were references to other games that were also coded by the game's coder: Anthony Crowther
It never matters what console, a hidden gems video is an instant watch and thumbs up.
They just make me feel good to watch
Here we go Steelers!
Last Mohican if the nfl has a season, it’s our year. All we needed last year was Ben and he’s back!
One of my favorite C64 games as a kid was Rock 'N' Bolt...tons of fun and amazing soundtrack...
Grew up with Commodore the Amiga was a big part of my early teens and teenage life, I’m 42 now yikes. Would really love to see an Amiga mini released think that would do really well!
Great video i love seeing these old games.
Showing some love for the Commodore64, Right On!.
Parallax was the last retail game I ever bought for the C64 back shortly after it was released in the US. Great list, I had and played a bunch of these when I was a kid. I loved Hard Hat Mack and Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory. Some others that don't get a ton of attention are Apple Cider Spider, Penetrator (love the music, scramble clone), Toy Bizzare, Spare Change, Snokie and so many others.
I love the fact that you picked Law of the West. It was one of my favorite games on the C64, because I loved the conversation trees. Nowadays we take that sort of stuff for granted in RPGs thanks stuff like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Jade Empire, KOTOR, etc., but it blew me away when I first played it on the C64. The fact that there was a game that was largely about social interaction, and picking the right conversation options. Almost kind of like a very early TellTale game. Definitely a game you should give a try if you're interested in seeing some of the more unusual games the C64 has to offer. And I think it's pretty accessible and easy to get into to boot, and it's tons of fun to replay to see how you can get the optimal outcome in each encounter.
I used to love the Infocom series like "The hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy", "Zork" and "The lurking Horror". I mean they were just text-based games but very enjoyable. As far as action goes, "Airborne Ranger" by Activision was very fun too.
Trainers where build in by the people / groups who cracked the games in those days. People like me ;)
Sceners...as they call them these days, LOL
@@scottbreon9448 cracktro's is something we never said in those these either. it was just an intro 😆
Anybody else ever play "Potty Pigeon"? Loved it as a kid
@Video games Bloke I was so young when I had a c64 that I never knew exactly what to do besides bombing cars and eating butterflies. I think I built a nest like once
I was just about to post "two words. Potty Pigeon."
I remember it too!!
Have you played Bird Mother?
Super cool game! I also never figured out how to really play it until a few years ago.
Finally! I found your channel again! TH-cam stupidly disabled post notifs and I lost your channel. I got hooked every since you explained why we should buy a vita. I have one coming in the mail and it makes me happy to find your channel again.
How crazy the world's going and how crazy downtown Seattle's going I'm glad to see that you're doing content and that you're doing perfectly well brother keep it up in these negative times with the positivity common
Park Patrol, I’d forgotten all about that. Used to play it loads as a kid. Thanks for jogging my memory MJ.
Wow. C64! I remembered having to shuffle all those multi 5.25 inch floppy disks between 2 disk drives. I thought I was ahead of the times with getting 2 disk drives for the C128. I was envious of my neighbor who had the C128D, which was much more speedier than my regular C128.
I've never been a big Pc person but the C64 is awesome
First time I saw a C64 was around the mid-80s, before the NES. I was still playing on Atari 2600 at the time, and the C64 amazed me as a kid. The C64 and the Apple II is why I became a PC gamer in the 90s and early 2000s. Of course now I'm back to mostly a console gamer.
Loved me some Ultimate Wizard and Mail Order Monsters!
Ultimate Wizard is hard, but fun. Kind of like a cross between Jumpman and Jet Set Willy in terms of difficulty.
Mail Order Monsters was class. Wish someone would make a modern version...Keep it 2D but just up the graphics to like SNES quality.
@@scottbreon9448 I got "Mail Order Monsters" through the mail...ordered from one of those computing magazines. Pretty cool game. Another one was "Home Box Office Monsters," I think.
@@the_gilded_age_phoenix8717 I think you're thinking about Movie Monster, which was actually an updated version of an earlier game called Crush, Crumble, Chomp
@@scottbreon9448 Yup, I think you're right. "Movie Monsters" by Epyx.
All those games were my favorites when we had a Commodore 64 in the 80s. I got to have a C64... Need to play those games again. Thanks for a trip down memory Lane.
Yes!!! Battle Through Time is one of my all time favourites! First game I ever completed!
Impressive video capture, the graphics look really great. Wow!
Seconded!
Glad you enjoyed it
I loved Mr. Robot. I would spend hours making my own levels filled with the bombs you walked on.
Battle through time was fun, it’s just the levels there too long.
My older brother owned a commodore 64, but it used music cassettes instead of floppydisks. Remember playing a lot of HERO and Platoon, also barbarian. Oh yeah and Thing on a Spring was also a good game. We also owned a game about a bird that had to take a pill ones in a while or he got a heart attack ... but I can't remember the name.
I remember ads for Montezuma's Revenge (I think), I never played it. I think I played Jet Set Willy. This has filled me with nostalgia. I had a 64 before my Nes. (Also had a Vic 20 and an Amiga 2000 in my time but I have fondest memories of the 64). So difficult to think of my top five games. Bruce Lee, Spy versus Spy, Forbidden Forest would be in there. Great video.
Flimbo's quest is a beautiful hidden gem. It was a European release, but if you can get a copy it is well worth it. look it up you won't be disappointed
I loved this game! It came on the cartridge with my C64. I played it for years. And the music from it is my ringtone now! I`m always sad when someone talks about C64 and never mentions it.
I had to pause this purely to say I've probably pumped more hours into Battle Through Time than I have many many other games. Love it.
My favorite C64 games are Jumpman, Space Taxi, HERO, Lode Runner, Archon and Fort Apocalypse. I still play Jumpman on my Vita.
Funny you mentioned Park Patrol. I always think about that game whenever the C64 is mentioned. I remember me and a friend was playing though a tape with games when we found Park Patrol, and we loved it right away.
I can imagine that Parallax game would've been the source of some intense playground chit chat back in the day, looks pretty cool. I'm a 1989 kid so its abit before my time to be fair, the Master system was where it all started for me but it was the Playstation that won my heart lol.
Parallax was awesome, very original as well, I don't recall any other games quite like it.
Hope you do Amiga hidden gems in the future, dude
Grew up with the C64 and it's my all time favourite. All C64 content is greatly appreciated.
There is this C64 game called Planet X2. It was made by a TH-camr named The8bitGuy. It’s a strategy game and it’s very good. He made a video about the making of it on his channel.
Led Zelda, cool shirt
Get it here: www.etsy.com/listing/617021791/legend-of-zelda-shirt-led-zeppelin-shirt?ref=shop_home_feat_4
Just got the Mini! You have awesome taste I remember lots of these. Thank you so much for highlighting Killer Watt by Alligator. I’ve been trying to remember that title for years. It has a killer soundtrack too
Great to see Heavenbound mentioned, this was a great game, but fairly unknown due to its release late in the C64's life, so never gets any love.
It would actually work really well as a mobile game too.
And before anyone says anything, no I am not saying just because it was my company that released it, that really means nothing in 2020, I genuinely loved that game. :-)
I've got an Atari ST, but I've never got to play a C64. I'll definitely pick up a C64 Maxi.
I remember the C64 fondly. I would add Below the Root, Power at Sea, Project Spacestation, and Pool of Radiance to that list.
Don't even play any video games but love watching the videos
Oh man, I had totally forgotten Mr. Robot's level editor. It was such a fun feature. I used to make tons of my own levels with it. Well done video, more of these C64 features, please!
Speaking of Time Pilot, there's also a pretty good clone of Time Pilot on the C64 called Space-Pilot. Also, the best version of Defender on the C64 is a game called Guardian. Also Eagle Empire is a pretty damn good Phoenix clone...which was also made by the same dude that made Guardian
Oh and I have two words for you:
FORT APOCALYPSE
It makes sense. Space Pilot was also the name of an alternate arcade ROM for Time Pilot.
Never even saw Guardian before you mentioned it. Pretty much looks like the best Defender clone for the 64. You are also correct about Ft. Apocalypse.
I had montezuma’s revenge on the 2600 when I was little. My dad always laughed at the title, and I never understood why. 🧐
@Karl Burnett rest assured that you're not the only one. My partner and I had to Google it too. 😂
montezuma’s revenge... that's how mexican people says... when a tourist caught a severe diarrhea by eating and drinking some local food.
I completely forgot about Park Patrol - I played the hell out of that game as a kid! Great video!
You should try: KOKO, Dare Devil Dennis, Henrys House, CrossFire and Mr. Wino.
Thanks for the vid! I knew nothing of the Commodore 64, looks like they have some pretty good games I never heard of.
You bet!
C-64 probably had the most extensive game collection of any system. There are well over 200 official games for the system.
I can distinctly remember all the games from Park Patrol onwards on the 64, as some of them were on tape, which was a popular format in the UK for the c64. They were also reviewed in zzap! 64, which was one of the best ganes review magazines of the time. Park Patrol, parallax & montezuma's revenge were my favourites. I think montezuma's was originally a cartridge game.
Activision was usually a label that produced quality software, as was parker brothers, whom produced many arcade conversions, which made their way over to the UK eirher in cartridge form, or ended up on turbo tape, which was lightning fast.
Thank you for sharing this great slab of nostalgic goodness.
P.S. battle through time was one i didn't complete. It took ages to load on cassette so decisions about what to play were also governed by load wait times; early games would take up to 15 minutes , which remarkably you'd sit through whilst reading or whatever, occasionally glancing at the screen to make sure loading progress was being made.
My all time favourite C64 game is Alter Ego - i still go back most years to play it through, its a life simulator, Zzap gave it 98% at the time.
Just subbed . Owned a c64C back in 1987 with zillions of games & currently own a mini , great video.
Glad to see you did Mr. Robot, I loved that game when I was a kid. I have been thinking of doing a video on that game for a while :-)
Another MJR video. Sweeeeet. Nice vid!
Nice roundup, def a few that I didn't know of..and I have a very large collection. Park Patrol was one that I also loved as a kid!
I had forgotten about Hard Hat Mack and Montezuma's Revenge, both of which I played on the Apple II. Great games!
Fantastic Picks from my childhood. "Law of the West" was def. ahead of it´s time....Branching narrative...different outcomes...
I thought I had a better than average grasp on the C64 library but the only two off this list I've heard of and played are Parallax and Park Patrol which I both loved so now I've got to track down and try all the rest of these. More C64 hidden gems please.
It's so hard to find good Commodore game recommendations. I got a commodore and floppy drive for $50 but a lot of people didn't get it for games. At least in my area.
Montezumas Revenge. I remember it from childhood. I remember thinking it was magical how it looked and played.
Have you ever played Wizball? One of the coolest C64 games. Where you shoot your enemies, then pick up the power-ups they leave behind so you can get yourself horizontal and vertical anti-grav and the Cat that picks up colour from the paint enemies.
A few that come to mind for me are: Rocketball (basically the sport played in the movie Rollerball), Castles of Dr. Creep, and Agent USA. Some of my favorites that weren't exactly hidden gems are: Star League Baseball, Raid on Bungeling Bay, Bruce Lee, Lode Runner, and Jumpman (+Jr).
Glad to see Killerwatt made the list. My other C64 hidden gem picks would also be Zorro, Fort Apocalypse, Caverns of Kafka and Strider.
I always enjoy your hidden gems videos for all systems. It really helps to keep me going back to old consoles & breath a little more life into them. Most of these games were also on the Atari 800 computer as well. 🤘
Glad you like them!
So close to 800,000 subscribers. So happy for you. 😊
My original c64 still works today. My childhood gaming was on the c64. My dad bought mw me one in 8th grade cause I helped him paint the living room. He died 10 years ago, but I am still greatful for this gift he bought me. I will never sell or get rid of it. I still play some old school arcade games on it once in a while. Thanks, dad.
I miss my c64 and 128.
I used them to make music.
I had the sci max and tons of software and carts from korg and dr t and more.
I played california games and superman and did dug and more. I programmed on it.
Damn those were great machines.
The sid chip was a 3 voice synth that was a blast.
They had these A.I. games that almost felt like you were conversing with your comp.
My yamaha cx5m's and c64s and c128s.
I was making music on them way into the 2000s
Everything i owned was stolen in 2012 so alas i am without.
They sure were more fun then humans sould really be allowed.
Great video
Mr. Robot was one of my first games on the C64. Good memories from childhood
More of this! I know barely anything about the c64 so I like hearing about all the hidden gems.
I had an original C64 in the 80s, and never knew it came with a disc drive. UK version only had cassette load system, which was troublesome.
Disk drives were available in the UK, but sadly, they were very expensive...even more expensive than the C64 itself, so not a lot of games were ported to disk in the Uk...they were very popular in other countries in Europe though
The US lucked out...as basically all those with a C-64 here had a disk drive. There were only a couple of games that required the cassette...and they were often a nightmare to get to work. I think Cosmi's "Forbidden Forest" was one of them.
I grew up using the Commodore 64! Although over here in the UK, most of our games were on cassettes! So I had to wait a long time for them to load! But I did get to enjoy awesome loading games like Invade-A-Load! (A Space Invaders clone with awesome music!)
Funny thing about the C-64 library: I grew up with one and had all sorts of favourites, but I haven't tried a SINGLE ONE of these games. They aren't all necessarily "hidden gems" but there's just so much out there.
A lot of it is total crap (Radar Rat Race, Jawbreaker, thousands of indie titles) but some are incredible (Below The Root, Maniac Mansion, Spy VS Spy, Beach Head II, Bruce Lee, The Castles of Doctor Creep, Jumpman, the Epyx "-Games" series). I'd say even though modern C-64 platforms allow you to skip the loading sequence, you still need a certain patience to learn what each game is about. To be honest, I think there's a certain zen in listening to the drive whir for several minutes and watching for changes in the screen that's more similar to building a campfire than anything current gaming has to offer. It's totally obsolete and I don't expect modern audiences to share this sentiment because it was borne of inconvenience, but it's definitely got some nostalgia value for me at least.
JUDAS PRIEST = HEAVY METAL
THIS 👆
Neutral Zone, that's what it's called! :-O I couldn't remember the name for ages, thank you. Montezuma's Revenge is quite awesome. I don't know about the mini/maxi, but there are hundreds of incredible games on the C-64. To name only a few: Archon, BC's Quest for Tires, Beachhead I & II, Forbidden Forest, Beyond Forbidden Forest, Ghostbusters, Gorf, Hero, Impossible Mission, Karateka, Master of Magic, Master of the Lamps, Oils Well, Paradroid, Phantasie, Popeye, Raid over Moscow, Space Taxi, Spy vs. Spy, Spy Hunter, Tapper, The Three Stooges, and Xenophobe. It was the system that I played on the longest growing up and had the most games, but I've got to say Amiga games were better :-)
I love your videos and your personality
I loved my C64 growing up! I haven't thought about Park Patrol or Battle Through Time in ages.
loved the classics : Archon,Jumpman & Lode Runner. but also weird games like Space Taxi & all the EPYX games
OMG! I played Law Of The West religiously for hours!! I'll never forget the little kid who says "Up yours, sheriff!"
Battle Through Time: When you rip off Moon Patrol, at least have the bombs create craters. Let's get it together here!
I thought that was a miss too.
Love that twist at the end though. But I agree, needs the craters
Only the special bombs from the "molecule" enemies in Moon Patrol created craters/holes. Not the standard UFOs :)
Yess I've been waiting for this video!
Never been this early to a Metal Jesus video! Sweet!
A few other gems:
Future Knight
Rupert Ice Palace
Superstar Ice Hockey
Pharao's Curse
Law of the West (1985) was practically the first Third person shooter/ rpg. O>O wowza. GREAT STUFF!!!
Heavenbound looks to be heavily inspired by Creatures 1/2.
Ahh, MrRobot, I totally forgot about that! You have a level editor in the game too!
Ken Grant was a legendary game designer from the early 80s. I too have the Battle through Time original. US and EU.
my first computer back in the day was a C64. Equipped with a cassette deck, floppy disk drive and dot matrix printer. Oh yeah and the dial up modem. Didn't seem that long ago? Now my cell phone has more computing power than what got us to the moon. Crazy.
I loved Park Patrol SO MUCH. Man now I need to play it again.