I always love seeing your videos. I grew up with the C64, but I still missed out on so much. Seeing these lists give me ideas on games I need to play. As always, thank you for the great content.
I grew up with a 64, too, and I had no idea how many great games were available at the time. There was just no way to know back then, apart from the odd magazine review.
aw thanks mate...i know ive not been releasing loads of videos lately but im gonna get back on top of it in the future...just had loads on in my real day job
My favorite System 3 game is also Last Ninja 2, I'll put IK ahead of IK+, maybe only because it was my first C64 game ever, whenever I heard that music it gives me chills on my spine, but I have to admit IK+ got better gameplay, probably the best fighting game on the C64.
I always admired Last Ninja, great graphics and audio, but i never really got the hang of it, so i could never master it, it was/is a hard game. Flimbo's Quest was and is one of my all time favs. Good Times
System 3 knocked out some mint games back in the day. Surely everyone had a copy of tha last Ninja? spent ages on that game and as you stated the fiddly controls could be a right pain in the arse but it didn't put you off, just needed to see the next level and the top notch graphics. Great vid m8 :)
The last ninja series will always be classic, but the music is what I remember the most. There where a couple of really needlessly hard parts of the game ninja 1 the stepping stones, swamp and Dragon, ninja 2 the boat, but once mastered it was sheer class.
I like how the earth keeps palate swapping itself in the first game. Somebody had to say "You know what would be cool? If the land was green and the water was blue, but then the land was blue then the water was green, and then they just keep switching back and forth the whole game!" Stellar idea yeah?
Apologies if it’s been said but the fights don’t just take place in Australia and Egypt. Depending on whether you loaded side 1 or 2 of the cassette gave you different settings. There were four locations per side they included Australia and Egypt, Beijing, Mount Fuji Japan, Rio De Janeiro, London, New York, Athens.
I recently bought a c64 again because of these lists:-) Did you know IK+ supports the multiplayer adapter, allowing you to play with 3 players toghter? I like that about the c64 also bought some paddles and a lightgun, pure fun haha. Great video again, thanks!!
I had IK+ and Last Ninja 2 on the C64, loved both games, I actually had the big box version of Last Ninja 2 with the rubber shuriken and fake ninja mask lol
My favorite for me is ik+. It might not be a technical achievement, but doesn't have any flaw. Perfect controls and clear objectives. I fell that with some polish tusker could be easy number 2. Contrary to last ninja it has good controls. I think the main problem of system3 games is that most of them suffer from "what to do next?" syndrome. It is almost impossible to progress without guides
The Amiga 500 was where my fascination with computer games first started. I can still remember being 3 or 4 and being allowed to stay and watch my eldest brother play with his friend as long as I didn't say a word, it was like R-Type but vertical scrolling. Any ideas what game that might have been? I just remember H.R. Giger style graphics. I think it might have been 'XENON 2 - MEGABLAST'.
They should give us those games for ps 4 even with the same graphics. Archon was great. And there was so many games for two players when you could play with your kid
Always loved The Last Ninja. I didn't get LN2 when it came out because my local computer store only had it on disk (we only had cassette), but I got Last Ninja Remix for my 9th birthday and loved it. Got to play LN2 when I finally got a disk drive and loved it too. However, I only got to play LN3 a few years ago and while the intro is awesome and the music is great, they over complicated it with that Bushido system and the jumping in it feels so off. Loved Turbocharge (played the hell out of the Commodore Format demo, back in the day), not a fan of Vendetta though. Must be Stan Schembri games.....
@@pw1169 I absolutely loved the music on Turbocharge! And, the Arnie demo got played to death too! I always seem to like Commodore Format more than Zzap 64 (I know, I am the devil, lol), the demos and games seemed so much better.
So if they only released 16 games, seems I had half of them. Myth, LN2 and suicide strike make my top 3 although if I had played Tusker that might be different (looks very good). Intro for LN3 was also a highlight.
Don't know if you'll know, or even know the game but... I remember a karate game that was graphically the same as IK and IK+, but perhaps predated them but I loved it. It was called The Way Of The Exploding Fist, but I can't remember if it was Sys3 or not. There was a point during loading the title screen would appear with a loud karate scream. Tried to remember the number on the tape deck to try avoid coronaries, but it seemed to change constantly
Was Fist 2 the version where they tried to add a progressive storyline where you effectively had to walk to your next fight? I had completely forgotten there was a sequel, and I usually remember this stuff more than I remember I need to breathe
When you talk about great in-game music, The Way Of The Exploding Fist is right up there too. I had Fist before IK+ so it holds a special place in my heart
The Fist series is from Melbourne House. Both WOTEF and International Karate are heavily inspired by Data East's arcade game Karate Champ, but in my opinion are better than that. :)
i did not know what a commodore was until me and a friend found one in his parents attic, but i cant figure out how to work it, and im left handed so all the games are for right handed people...
I never knew that Juice!, Suicide Strike and Bangkok Knights were made by System 3....they must not have had their iconic logo plastered all over them!.. There's a couple of games listed in the retro section of their website you didn't include here!?.. not that I remember either of them. I'm still hopeful that the occasional rumor over the years about Last Ninja 4 will eventually mount to something. Also considering the similarities between IK and Way of the Exploding Fist.. I wonder who were inspired by who..
@@oldstylegaming well if you look on their website in the "retro" section.. I saw at least two games listed as released by them that I didn't see in this video.... Motocross from 1985 and Super Putty from 1992 that are tagged as C64 releases
@@oldstylegaming and if you could be bothered to get off your ass and go look in the retro section of their page yourself you will find that there are a couple of versions of super putty.. one that is listed as amiga and bundled with the machine.. and one that is listed as a SNES and C64 release.. Motocross is also listed as a C64 game.
their not the last surviving British Independent publisher, Nucliesoft are and they are a year older, although i only ever published at fairs and car boot sales until around 5 years ago when i finally registered the company with companies house
Well I surmise you mean hewson and no I haven't done a video on that by itself but you should look at my video on TheC64 console games ...that's packed full of hewson
@@oldstylegaming I always get those two confused, sorry. I'll definitely check that out out though. Sorry if I annoyed you, I just got my names mixed up.
Quite interesting video, as usual, though I'm not a fan of scanlines. Well, sorry, but the Last Ninja series have never been my cup of tea (as well as Myth). I prefer the vanilla IK over IK+ (and the Fist series over them, but we're talking about System 3 here). I find Turbo Charge very nice looking and smooth, though I barely remember about it and that's too bad. To conclude, Flimbo's Quest is basically somehow a proof that Jim Power could have been ported on C64.
yeah it is very Jim Power like now that you say that...LN games are an acquired taste you are right but there is something about those games that had me shouting and swearing...but keep on playing...just to see what the end is like, the satisfaction I got when i completed LN, LN2 and Myth were right up there with when i complete some new games like GTA5, and the Batman games ...and thats saying something of a 30 odd year old game
@@oldstylegaming Haha, I don't like much GTA nor Batman (especially him) games either (though I own almost all of those series and played them now and then). Also I find the modern ones too much repetitive and "trial, error and repeat all over again". I would have liked a lot the first Mafia, but it was often too much based on timing. About LN besides the difficulty it's also the fact I can't stand isometric visuals. I'm a huge fan of Sonic and yet I can't even play Sonic 3D Blast for a minute without getting nervous... I enjoyed watching other people while they played Marble Madness with trackball in the '80s arcades, though (little youth perversion hehehe).
Never got around playing Tusker back in the day. Hence never have heard the soundtrack before. Holy fuck 😲 7:46 This is one amazing tune ! th-cam.com/video/qxL1I0Hw-b8/w-d-xo.html
The Last Ninja 2 was always a major letdown for me. Present time in a city? cmon, that was a really bad decision that took away all the ambience and mistique of the previous game
i listen to the last ninja 2 ost when im trying to sleep its unreal its the best music of al time and i dont just mean on the 64
me to but at work when im coding...LN2 and Monty on the Run are the ones that get most productivity out of me lol
The Stereo mix is awesome!
Without a doubt a well deserved first place...anyone disagreeing never felt the real spirit of this game...i think i'll put my REFORMATION CD in 😘
I always love seeing your videos. I grew up with the C64, but I still missed out on so much. Seeing these lists give me ideas on games I need to play. As always, thank you for the great content.
and i always thankyou for watching ;-)
I grew up with a 64, too, and I had no idea how many great games were available at the time. There was just no way to know back then, apart from the odd magazine review.
Oh man, that intro melody for this channel is so great! Every time I hear it I know I'm in for a great time. This channel is sooooo darn good.
Thanks mate :-)
Thanks for the upload mate. This is my favourite retro gaming channel
aw thanks mate...i know ive not been releasing loads of videos lately but im gonna get back on top of it in the future...just had loads on in my real day job
@@oldstylegaming real life has a habit of getting in the way lol. I look forward too the new videos
System 3 without Matt Gray is merely system 2.
My favorite System 3 game is also Last Ninja 2, I'll put IK ahead of IK+, maybe only because it was my first C64 game ever, whenever I heard that music it gives me chills on my spine, but I have to admit IK+ got better gameplay, probably the best fighting game on the C64.
Nostalgia always counts in these games mate that's why everyones list will be in a different order ;-)
I always admired Last Ninja, great graphics and audio, but i never really got the hang of it, so i could never master it, it was/is a hard game.
Flimbo's Quest was and is one of my all time favs.
Good Times
Give it another shot, your missing out on a classic !
System 3 knocked out some mint games back in the day. Surely everyone had a copy of tha last Ninja? spent ages on that game and as you stated the fiddly controls could be a right pain in the arse but it didn't put you off, just needed to see the next level and the top notch graphics. Great vid m8 :)
yeah mate LN was class..i actually played it through again when i made this...and LN2 as well...i think i might try and get more into Vendetta like
@@oldstylegaming I missed LN2 after upgrading. Think I'll boot it up :)
no way Lucas.... get it played now, its totally the best System 3 game in terms of experience wise ...like playing a film
I loved to just stroll about in the Palace Garden. It had such a beautiful and relaxing feel to it and the music is amazing. ❤️❤️❤️
The last ninja series will always be classic, but the music is what I remember the most. There where a couple of really needlessly hard parts of the game ninja 1 the stepping stones, swamp and Dragon, ninja 2 the boat, but once mastered it was sheer class.
Gran video cómo siempre saludos amista desde Uruguay 👍🇺🇾🤗 , adoro tus vídeos jajaja
I like how the earth keeps palate swapping itself in the first game. Somebody had to say "You know what would be cool? If the land was green and the water was blue, but then the land was blue then the water was green, and then they just keep switching back and forth the whole game!" Stellar idea yeah?
hahaha yeah...or more than likely "wtf is happening with the earth changing colour?" , "oh well who cares package it up and get it on the shelves" lol
They are trying to give the illusion of planetary rotation
Them top 3 games for me are deffo some of the best on the c64. Class video man as always keep up the good work 😊
Thanks man ;-)
I still have Flimbo’s Quest. One of the best C64 games ever. Brings back memories watching this video 😊
Juice! I could not for the life of me remember the name of that game, but I played it like crazy when I was kid.
Apologies if it’s been said but the fights don’t just take place in Australia and Egypt. Depending on whether you loaded side 1 or 2 of the cassette gave you different settings. There were four locations per side they included Australia and Egypt, Beijing, Mount Fuji Japan, Rio De Janeiro, London, New York, Athens.
System 3 were always my fave. Thanks for this excellent video.
I recently bought a c64 again because of these lists:-) Did you know IK+ supports the multiplayer adapter, allowing you to play with 3 players toghter? I like that about the c64 also bought some paddles and a lightgun, pure fun haha. Great video again, thanks!!
Yeah we used to play it but no one wanted to be on keys lol
Another great upload. Thx mate.
thanks for continuing to watch them ;-)
I totally agree ! :-) This video shows a handful of the best C64 games ever
Last Ninjas 1,2, IK and IK+ were outstanding i think...still love playing them today
Both 'Suicide Strike' and 'Juice' were originally by Tronix, not system 3. They re-released the Tronix games in the UK if I remember correctly.
I had IK+ and Last Ninja 2 on the C64, loved both games, I actually had the big box version of Last Ninja 2 with the rubber shuriken and fake ninja mask lol
Myth, What a classic! I never played it on C64 before, Looks a lot better than the Spectrum version
The C64 is the best version i think...the music is outstanding
Quite surprised they never ported Putty to the C64, would have fit the machine really well!
.........
All three Last Ninjas in there. Approved!
Wow that just took me back to my childhood
LN2 and Myth 1st and 2nd respectively for me. Never played Tusker but it looks great.
The Last Ninja series.
❤
Well, Turbo Charge WAS coded by Chris Butler. I don't think i've played a game by him that was honestly bad...
My favorite for me is ik+. It might not be a technical achievement, but doesn't have any flaw. Perfect controls and clear objectives. I fell that with some polish tusker could be easy number 2. Contrary to last ninja it has good controls. I think the main problem of system3 games is that most of them suffer from "what to do next?" syndrome. It is almost impossible to progress without guides
That's true ...nightmare back in the day
Great video OSG! I’m a big Last Ninja 2 fan too, unfortunately I played it on the Amstrad CPC and its a poor speccy port 😀
Sad times...the c64 is the only place to play LN2 really
My favourite games, of course.
As usual mate I'd happily argue with you for hours over a few of your placements in this list but good job :)
The Amiga 500 was where my fascination with computer games first started. I can still remember being 3 or 4 and being allowed to stay and watch my eldest brother play with his friend as long as I didn't say a word, it was like R-Type but vertical scrolling. Any ideas what game that might have been? I just remember H.R. Giger style graphics.
I think it might have been 'XENON 2 - MEGABLAST'.
I was gonna suggest xenon 2 from your description
@@oldstylegaming Thanks for your videos, we all get a lot of enjoyment out of them :)
They should give us those games for ps 4 even with the same graphics. Archon was great. And there was so many games for two players when you could play with your kid
Did you get Matt Grey's Kickstarter of the LN2 soundtrack? It was great. Took two years to get delivered but it was worth the wait!
No but Matt is taking the revenue from my Last Ninja 2 walkthrough video....
#2 IK+ disappointed you didn't show the fighters with their pants down lol
I may look into an Easter egg type video ... That could be in that
@@oldstylegaming great idea! 👍😳🤣
love IK+ but I prefer the music in the first game, much more relaxed
Always loved The Last Ninja. I didn't get LN2 when it came out because my local computer store only had it on disk (we only had cassette), but I got Last Ninja Remix for my 9th birthday and loved it. Got to play LN2 when I finally got a disk drive and loved it too. However, I only got to play LN3 a few years ago and while the intro is awesome and the music is great, they over complicated it with that Bushido system and the jumping in it feels so off. Loved Turbocharge (played the hell out of the Commodore Format demo, back in the day), not a fan of Vendetta though. Must be Stan Schembri games.....
I played that Turbocharge Commodore Format demo to death as well! The Creatures II Demo (Snow level) got some loving too.
@@pw1169 I absolutely loved the music on Turbocharge! And, the Arnie demo got played to death too! I always seem to like Commodore Format more than Zzap 64 (I know, I am the devil, lol), the demos and games seemed so much better.
Great vid.
So if they only released 16 games, seems I had half of them. Myth, LN2 and suicide strike make my top 3 although if I had played Tusker that might be different (looks very good). Intro for LN3 was also a highlight.
Tusker was a looker but lacked in the excitment of the ninja games
Together with Epyx and Thalamus, the best developers for Commodore 64.
Hope you do a video on Rainbow Arts in the future too (we all know what the obviously BUBBLY @1 will be....LOL
Don't know if you'll know, or even know the game but...
I remember a karate game that was graphically the same as IK and IK+, but perhaps predated them but I loved it. It was called The Way Of The Exploding Fist, but I can't remember if it was Sys3 or not.
There was a point during loading the title screen would appear with a loud karate scream. Tried to remember the number on the tape deck to try avoid coronaries, but it seemed to change constantly
If course I know wotef it was a great game I have it on original and fist 2...and that shriek also scared the life out of me
Was Fist 2 the version where they tried to add a progressive storyline where you effectively had to walk to your next fight?
I had completely forgotten there was a sequel, and I usually remember this stuff more than I remember I need to breathe
@@GioMarron Yeah it's not my favourite either but the fighting bit is ok
When you talk about great in-game music, The Way Of The Exploding Fist is right up there too.
I had Fist before IK+ so it holds a special place in my heart
The Fist series is from Melbourne House. Both WOTEF and International Karate are heavily inspired by Data East's arcade game Karate Champ, but in my opinion are better than that. :)
LN1,2,3 have the best soundtracks!
I had Last Ninja and Last Ninja 2, I recall preferring the first one more.
my favourite, system 3
edit: LN 2, had to be number 1
IK+, i always laughed at, white wins, blue could do better, come on red lol, oo er missus
i did not know what a commodore was until me and a friend found one in his parents attic, but i cant figure out how to work it, and im left handed so all the games are for right handed people...
IK+, oh yeah.
its a class game..cant believe that they made a fighting game that was soooooo good with only one button
This might be unpopular but i prefer last ninja remix to 2. Had them both, remix played better, i also like the music.
Nice list. I love last ninja 2 but still think the fighting is too hard
Aren’t there eight locations in International Karate, not two?
oh sorry my bad...its cos id just done the Epyx write up of Karate Championship where you get to choose from Egypt and Australia.....
@@oldstylegaming Those are only the two locations you can start from
I never knew that Juice!, Suicide Strike and Bangkok Knights were made by System 3....they must not have had their iconic logo plastered all over them!.. There's a couple of games listed in the retro section of their website you didn't include here!?.. not that I remember either of them. I'm still hopeful that the occasional rumor over the years about Last Ninja 4 will eventually mount to something. Also considering the similarities between IK and Way of the Exploding Fist.. I wonder who were inspired by who..
What games do you think I've missed ?
@@oldstylegaming well if you look on their website in the "retro" section.. I saw at least two games listed as released by them that I didn't see in this video.... Motocross from 1985 and Super Putty from 1992 that are tagged as C64 releases
@@philosoaper super putty is an Amiga game...in not sure about motocross
@@oldstylegaming and if you could be bothered to get off your ass and go look in the retro section of their page yourself you will find that there are a couple of versions of super putty.. one that is listed as amiga and bundled with the machine.. and one that is listed as a SNES and C64 release.. Motocross is also listed as a C64 game.
@@philosoaper Hahaha bothered to get off my ass haha .. To type into a computer...maybe I'll do that when I get in from football .. Hahaha
their not the last surviving British Independent publisher, Nucliesoft are and they are a year older, although i only ever published at fairs and car boot sales until around 5 years ago when i finally registered the company with companies house
Well....proper registered one then
Did you already do one on Hudson? I'd love to know how you feel about Paradroid
Well I surmise you mean hewson and no I haven't done a video on that by itself but you should look at my video on TheC64 console games ...that's packed full of hewson
@@oldstylegaming I always get those two confused, sorry. I'll definitely check that out out though. Sorry if I annoyed you, I just got my names mixed up.
@@Skaera75b you never annoyed me mate i knew who you meant straight away :-)
@@oldstylegaming :) That's a relief! I love your videos, looking forward to the next one.
Quite interesting video, as usual, though I'm not a fan of scanlines.
Well, sorry, but the Last Ninja series have never been my cup of tea (as well as Myth).
I prefer the vanilla IK over IK+ (and the Fist series over them, but we're talking about System 3 here).
I find Turbo Charge very nice looking and smooth, though I barely remember about it and that's too bad.
To conclude, Flimbo's Quest is basically somehow a proof that Jim Power could have been ported on C64.
yeah it is very Jim Power like now that you say that...LN games are an acquired taste you are right but there is something about those games that had me shouting and swearing...but keep on playing...just to see what the end is like, the satisfaction I got when i completed LN, LN2 and Myth were right up there with when i complete some new games like GTA5, and the Batman games ...and thats saying something of a 30 odd year old game
@@oldstylegaming Haha, I don't like much GTA nor Batman (especially him) games either (though I own almost all of those series and played them now and then). Also I find the modern ones too much repetitive and "trial, error and repeat all over again". I would have liked a lot the first Mafia, but it was often too much based on timing.
About LN besides the difficulty it's also the fact I can't stand isometric visuals. I'm a huge fan of Sonic and yet I can't even play Sonic 3D Blast for a minute without getting nervous... I enjoyed watching other people while they played Marble Madness with trackball in the '80s arcades, though (little youth perversion hehehe).
No 1 :)
Is that really you Matt?
Never got around playing Tusker back in the day. Hence never have heard the soundtrack before.
Holy fuck 😲 7:46 This is one amazing tune !
th-cam.com/video/qxL1I0Hw-b8/w-d-xo.html
Where is ninja remix?
in 10th place Last Ninja Remix @ 04:47
The Last Ninja 2 was always a major letdown for me. Present time in a city? cmon, that was a really bad decision that took away all the ambience and mistique of the previous game
Really ? LN2 is class...better than the others in every way
The first Last Ninja engine and early levels was stolen from Hungarian developers.
Really? Tell me more...sounds like a video idea