Category: Retro Gaming

Any discussion about retro gaming is incomplete without mentioning the best Commodore 64 games. The period between 1980 and 1985 marked great advancement in gaming technology. The developers took it as an opportunity to begin innovating genres. It was at this time that we started to see RPGs, fighting, platform, and adventure genres replacing the pong style of gaming.

Sega and Nintendo were two major players in the gaming industry at this time. But, C64 quickly created a space for itself and came up with fascinating titles for its console. It had an 8-bit CPU, 64kb of RAM but the custom chip it used produced visuals way ahead of its time. This is why we get to see an impressive collection of game titles that drew so many gamers.

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Best Commodore 64 Games that Became Bestsellers

Compiling a list of top C64 games of that time is not an easy thing to do. The console was a major hit around that time and it released about 2000 titles for the console. A variety of new genres were being developed in this period. Here is a list of the best Commodore 64 games in different genres.

Maniac Mansion

The plot of the game is as bizarre as the name but it is one of the best C64 classics of the time. The game features a mad scientist whose brain has been enslaved by a sentient meteor. The narrative is quite interesting and the main mission is to save your girlfriend who is trapped in the mansion.

Dave Miller is the main character here, and the girlfriend’s name is Sandy Pantz. Yeah, they really named her that!

So, this is a non-linear game with multiple choices and different outcomes. Along with the main character, you can choose two more from six of your friends. Three of you will enter the mansion to rescue your girlfriend, but it won’t be so easy. You will encounter multiple traps and puzzles to hinder your progress.

Shadow of the Beast

Well, we can’t deny the fact that C64 developers have a way with names. They come up with such fascinating titles as well as exciting themes. So, what is this game title about?

The game is centered on a kidnapped boy placed under an evil curse by a dark beast. Warped by dark magic, the boy starts to act like a monster servant for the beast lord. However, he eventually starts regaining memories and starts battling everyone to break free from the curse. It’s a perfect example of side-scrolling gameplay with spectacular graphics.

A great theme and storyline require  befitting gameplay for it to really fascinate the players. Shadow of the Beast is a successful example of that.

Impossible Mission

Don’t take the name too literally, it’s a challenging game, nonetheless, it’s completely solvable. If you have watched the movie ‘Mission Impossible’ you will find that the theme of this aim matches well with the movie plot.

It turned out to be one of the best C64 platform games considering that platform games were still relatively new around that period. The game features a spy whose mission is to defeat an evil professor to save the day. To do this, your character must solve a series of puzzles to break-into high-security areas. You must avoid the evil robots too as you find passwords!

International Karate+

You must have seen or played many street fighting games by now, but this is one of the early fighting games that grew immensely popular.

In the US it was released by another name ‘Chop N Drop’ but globally it was known by the name ‘International Karate+’. If you are not a big fan of superpowers and prefer to use only kick-ass combat moves, this game is meant for you.

The impressive colorful graphics would make you forget that the game runs just on an 8-bit machine. Among the C64 classics, this one, though, being simple was still quite addictive. You must acquire 6 points to win, and the victorious player gets to play a ball-game at the end.

Some of the fun elements include humiliating the other player, changing the background and invoking Pac-Man just for fun. Read more about the Best Atari 5200 Games.

Spy vs. Spy

One thing we can say for sure is that the game titles for Commodore 64 ROMs never get dull. Likewise, the concept of these games intrigued the gamers and never bored them.

You can imagine how dirty it may get between two competing spies. The rules are simple, collect more items than your rival, plant traps to slow down your enemy, and you may even get into fistfights when it serves your interests.

The game is based on a comic strip. You get access to weapons that you may employ in your attempt to kill the other spy. Every time you or the other person dies, the timer goes down by 30 seconds. Whoever collects more items when the clock stops ticking would win!

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters isn’t just a game, it’s a job. The job is to ‘get rid of the ghosts’ and by doing so you make a profit in the game. In order to progress in the game, you must rid the town of enough ghosts to have at least $10k in your bank account. Of course, if you excel at the job and can make the town ghost-free, then you are paid an additional amount.

What do you do with the money? You buy faster cars and better weapons. All this so you can be that one Good Samaritan who saves the town. But to do so, at the final level you must battle the Marshmallow man and Zuul, yes the ones from the movie.

Conclusion

The Commodore 64 console came at a time when Nintendo and Sega were already competing with each other for supremacy in home-gaming consoles. These best Commodore 64 games landed the console among the top machines at the time.

Some of these rare Commodore 64 games even became top hits among the gamers. Now retro lovers look back at how some of the earliest adventure, platform, and combative games lead to the evolution of these genres. Modern games won’t be what they are without the developer’s creative contribution in this period.

Whether you like to revisit the past or are a fan of old school gaming, the desire to play again some of those best SEGA CD games is completely understandable and relatable. Though the gaming industry has come very far, there is a unique charm for retro gaming.

The release of SEGA CD ROMs was a huge thing back then. It not only introduced a great number of new exciting titles but also revived some of the old classics with enhanced graphics. Remembering those top classics sure feels nostalgic to any game lover, even today.

The poor business strategy and the higher prices lead to the winding up of the company but not before they had released some incredible FMV titles owing to the boosted storage and upgraded CPU.

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Best SEGA CD ROMs of All Time

Lunar Eternal Blue

Eternal Blue is a sequel of the first Lunar game. It’s a turn-based RPG game with a dramatic storyline, magic system, and a really impressive fantasy setting. Despite the limited color palette, the color scheme used in the game looks really vivid and the CD format enables good use of music tracks, voice acting, and animated cut-scenes.

This fantasy RPG involves travelling from town to town, exploring different caves and dungeons along the journey. The true charm of the game is in its compelling story and the engaging characters. You will come across some of the same areas as the first Lunar if you have played the first part. The characters’ personalities and their inner struggles give the game a realistic touch.

Earthworm Jim: Special Edition

This cartoon based game turned out to be a real hit after the launch of its newest edition. With additional animation, remix soundtrack, and several new levels, the game was just so addictive. The array of cool superpowers that the main character had owing to his super suit, which the villains wanted to steal, made the game all the more fun.

The alternate endings in the game kept on the excitement and revealed some strange made-up facts about the worms. With improved animation and extended levels, this game became a favorite for a large number of gamers. It’s worth playing even today!

Sonic CD

The new Sonic CD had to deal with heavy expectations owing to the high popularity of its Genesis predecessors. But it turned out that the Sonic CD managed to satisfy the fans of the original while still managing to introduce several new elements in the game.

Like the previous Sonic game, it features the main character, Sonic, running and jumping through various themed levels, trying to protect the little planet from Doctor Robotnik. Few of the changes in the new version include time travel, pseudo 3-D bonus levels, and the ability to save progress.

The time travel aspect turned out to be the most significant addition, and it allowed you to travel to the past or future of each level. You can either end up in a ‘good future’ or a ‘bad’ one. The gameplay became much more interesting with this new addition. The superior soundtrack and some minor modifications make this already loved game gain enormous popularity.

Robo Aleste (1992)

If you like those addictive, 2D shooting games, Robo Aleste will surely manage to pique your interest. Though the storyline doesn’t win any extra points, the real magic of the game is in the fast-paced, intense gameplay, where your character has to shoot the assorted range of oncoming enemies with different attack patterns.

You get to arm yourself with throwing knives, bombs, ninja stars, and electricity bolts as you get the chance, and use them to destroy your diverse enemies. The two hovering discs in front of you will act as a defense shield against enemy attacks but can absorb only so much damage.

The Secret of Monkey Island

Do you like the idea of setting out in search of fame, love, and fortune in the quest of becoming a pirate? This point-and-click adventure game will let you experience just that, as you are offered to choose one of nine commands to explore, chat, and complete quests.

The game has been acclaimed as the ‘best game of all time’ not without a reason. The epic storyline, the game format, and the peculiar characters keep you entertained throughout the time. In this game, you can expect to come across eerie ghosts, hidden treasures, strange-looking men, and more enigmatic objects as you make your way through the Island.

Snatcher (1994)

This cyberpunk adventure was inspired by sci-fi movies like BladeRunner. The game is visually stunning as the programmers seem to have taken the maximum advantage of the available colors. Snatcher game has a mature and meaningful storyline, a graphic novel like display, and impressive audio. The game had already become hugely popular before it arrived in America. The compelling characters and the perfectly logical scenarios make it quite a memorable game.

Final Fight CD (1989)

This game was released as a sequel to the first Street Fighter game. In the fictional Metro City, you can control three characters through six rounds as you fight the opponent, throwing punches and using combo moves, to destroy your enemy.

The game is fairly simple and has some nice features. It’s a good game for distressing and you start playing anytime you like. The game has some animation cut scenes to keep up with the trend of SEGA CD ROMs. The game is still available for some modern consoles. Check out some of the Best Atari 5200 Games.

Road Avenger

As the name says, this game features a car driver all set to avenge his wife who had died because of a biker gang. With a ‘Need-for-Speed’ like FMV, SEGA CD graphics, and the revenge-racing storyline, this can easily become your favorite.

We decided it would be unfair to exclude a racing game in this list of the best SEGA CD games. No doubt, Road Avenger deserves to be in this list of top SEGA classics. So, unleash your fury on the road and take revenge from the bikers in this 9 stages game.

Conclusion

The SEGA CD games will draw you into a different world of gaming, where despite the graphical limitations, you not only get to relive the nostalgia but also enjoy the thrilling, enigmatic SEGA games of those times. Those lost flavors of the gaming world can make you addicted again!

The Atari 5200 gaming console made its debut in 1982, but this 8-bit console had quite a short–lived shelf life. This caused the Atari 5200 to have a slim collection of games; nonetheless, these were some of the coolest arcade conversions. If you are into retro-gaming, or if you just want to see how gaming has evolved leading to its present state, going through the list of the best Atari 5200 games will be worth your time.

Like Nintendo, games for this console were sold in cartridges form and joysticks were introduced with this new Atari console. Though the console failed to keep up with the high expectations of the Atari fans, it released some of the very memorable games and it played a vital role in bringing the gaming industry to where it is today.

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Best Selling Atari 5200 Games

Ms. Pac-Man

The original Pac-Man has been one of the most successful and timeless arcade games. The Atari 5200 recreation was a quantum leap over its predecessor version and this time they really did an excellent job. The maze layouts were more intricate, the intermission animation was really fun, and the ghosts really had eyes!

The actual eyes on the ghosts and the bouncing fruits did help make the recreation live up to the hype. Ms. Pac-Man is one of those games that have stood the test of time and it remains unbeaten. Its simplicity and the interesting concept have made it a personal favorite for many even today.

Miner 2049er

This is a strategy based ‘chutes and ladders’ game that is similar to Donkey Kong. Amidst the ‘quick-reflex’ types of games, this game is a little more strategy-based and therefore grew quite popular. The game features ladders and elevators and you have to walk and climb while avoiding the enemies.

In spite of the single screen, the game is rich with many fun elements. The challenge is not just to jump over your enemies to avoid them. You must decide when to climb and where to climb from. The game is longer and more complex than other games in this format.

Sinistar

At first, it may seem like a regular spacecraft shooting game, but it has a storyline and a really interesting gameplay. You pilot a lone-spacecraft and ride it through space with the end objective of destroying the demon, Sinistar.

You must collect drifting planetoids and catch crystals that are released when you correctly shoot a planetoid. The collected crystals turn into Sinibomb that you will later need to defeat the enemy, Sinistar. While you collect these crystals, the enemy worker ships also collect these to construct the game boss, Sinistar. A unique aspect of this game is that the enemy ships can guard the Sinistar as it is being built, mine crystals, as well as directly attack your ship.

Robotron

This is a 5200’s recreation of the classic arcade game featuring tiny characters controlled using two joysticks. One joystick would control the movement of the character and the other controlled the direction that the weapon would fire.

The storyline involves human-created robots that are now keen on destroying the human race. Your job is to kill the robots while defending and rescuing the surviving humans. This fast- paced, quick reaction game worked effectively with the new Atari 5200 controller due to the analog controller with joystick coupler.

Centipede

Enough about killing space robots, Centipede lets you shoot swarming insects in a garden theme. In this game, you encounter bouncing fleas, jumping spiders, and centipedes coming downwards at you. You need to kill them all in an extremely fast paced shooting.

Relative to the original arcade version of this game, the Atari version has a more squashed down display instead of the fully vertical orientation like in the original one. Also, the Centipede moves down a bit slower than in the arcade version.

The critics of Atari 5200 talk about how inefficient and horrible the joysticks worked, however, with this game, they turned out to be a boon. It was really fun moving with the joysticks and firing at those ugly enemies coming maliciously at you.

Pitfall 2: Lost Caverns

For those who have been waiting for the most technically impressive Atari 5200 game, Pitfall II is the answer. The original Pitfall game was a huge disaster with the Atari 5200 controller, but the new version addressed all the major issues and came up with a very successful game.

This game turned out to be quite interactive and featured sprawling landscapes, dangerous water bodies, and balloons that you can grab to ascend to new locations. The new version added a few newer areas and creatures. This adventure game requires you to jump across deadly chasms, swim through dangerous waters, swing on vines, and jump on crocodile heads and pass through the checkpoints. There was plenty of additional content in this new version of Pitfall than the predecessor.

Qix

If you are a fan of Tetris like puzzle games you will definitely find Qix very interesting. It’s a puzzle game with simplistic graphics but quite a nice concept that keeps you glued and addicted.

In this game, you are supposed to uncover a playing field by drawing multiple rectangular boxes. So what’s the catch? There are roaming “Qix” spikes that you must avoid to continue the game. You also earn points as you draw the rectangles at a faster pace and you can draw larger rectangles but that would involve a greater risk of collision with the spikes.

You must be attentive and careful as you draw larger rectangles faster while avoiding the threat of randomly moving spikes. After playing this game for a while, you would discover who fun geometry could be!

Conclusion

It’s always fun to revisit the best Atari 5200 games and to learn about how the current gaming industry has evolved over the decades. Each of these games has played a key role in contributing to the gaming industry.

No doubt, some of these games are so ingenious that they are still being loved and played on the PCs. If you feel drawn to any of the games we have mentioned do try searching for them online, some of the titles may still be available!