What would it be like for...

[KeroKero]

Someone whos first gaming system was the NES and never played the Commodore 64 to play it for the first time, what are usually the initial reactions for someone like me, I'm also wondering should I even consider buying some C64 games even if I never played/heard about them before?

[kelvingreen]

I can only imagine, as I'm a C64 owner who's never had a NES, but it might go something like...

"Jeez! This is taking ages to load! WTF?!? Huh? Hey, these graphics are pretty neat, and that music! Sweet Buddha on a bike! That music is coming from a machine built in 1983? And this gameplay isn't too bad either! Why don't I own one of these again?"

;)

[ICEknight]

I'd watch some videos before paying for any of these, seriously. Same with the MSX games when/if we get them, since they're also a bit overpriced...

[butane bob]

You'll probably hate c64 games... your loss really.

[kawaiipikachu]

I recken these games could easily coastin a bit more & still be making money .

But I never see them being at all overpriced .

I be willing to download certain game thru like Loco if any of you guys heard it as my father rants on & on about that game .

[RichWalker]

Do you get the flashing coloured loading screen borders still? I loved that on my amstrad... and the way the really early games would load pictures line by line... those were the days. Leaving your machine running to load while you went to have tea... Now I get bored waiting a minute for GTA IV to load

[Joxe]

Nah, it doesn't even load now, the game just pops up directly like a NES game.

[RichWalker]

Nah, it doesn't even load now, the game just pops up directly like a NES game.

awwww. the kids are missing out on a vital part of the experience :)

[Joxe]

So does I, I wasn't around at those times ;) Although for today's gamers I think it's an improvement since no one seems to have time nowadays.

[Tull]

what are usually the initial reactions for someone like me

You might feel the games as dodgy.

[coire]

"A Whatadore Sixty-what?"
"What's a Commodore?"
"I prefer Nintendo 64"
"Where are all the Blue Rays?"
"What? No Madden!"
"Why is there a keyboard on screen?"
"When's Super Mario RPG coming out!?!"

Ah, the youth of today.
I think any one of those would suffice.

As for those who's first console was the NES, I don't know.

[Fierce Deity]

awwww. the kids are missing out on a vital part of the experience :)

The kids will be bored ****less waiting on it lol :lolo:

[Tull]

The kids will be bored ****less waiting on it lol :lolo:

Many are used to loading look at the flash/PS1-3 games. But not as long tho ;)

[mike6581]

Compared to a NES, I'd hardly call the C64 dodgy. The C64 out-powers the NES both visually and sonically. Barring a couple of exceptions, there aren't too many VC games that show off the C64. If Turrican 2 or Creatures (not the same as the PC game) comes out, then you'd see what it's really capable of.

As for overall quality of software in terms of a back catalogue, I feel the C64 has an equal level of greatness as the NES, if not more. Alas, VC doesn't appear to be getting many of the crown jewels of the back catalogue. Imagine how mediocre the NES would seem without the Mario, Zelda and Castlevania games on VC?

[ZueriHB]

The C64 alone may certainly be better than a standalone NES (both released in 1983).
But I don't know about C64 games on carts, but NES carts had those little things called mappers. a Super Mario Bros. 3 or Punch-Out!! wouldn't be possible without those. In that regard, the C64 is inferior.

To answer the first posters question: "I had to wait ages for THIS?"

[mike6581]

Cartridges never really took off on the C64 and even then they lacked a mapper chip. Though to be honest, a machine like the C64 didn't really need one. If you bear in mind that the C64 had over 32 times more RAM available to it than the NES, it wouldn't really be necessary. Mappers were common in the early consoles as the design ethos was to use as little internal memory as humanly possible partly to cut down cost as 16 kB in 1983 was about £50 (which would make 1GB cost £3,276,800!!!) and also possibly due to inspiration from the Atari VCS.

A game like Super Mario Brothers 3 would be more than possible on the C64, albiet with fractionally reduced palette of colours. Compare the size of the levels in Turrican 2 to those in SMB3, as well as the number of items and enemies within them. None of the games that have been released yet really push the C64 to its limits yet, so until then you'll never see what it was capable of. It's a shame as I can't see games like Turrican 2 coming out for it.

On the downside, you had to put up with either 5 1/4" disk (ages) or tape (absolutely ages). As someone else pointed out, there was actually a charm to loading off tape! Not only were you presented with a wonderful psychedelic pattern in the background, C64 games often had fantastic loading screens, many even had brilliant loading music and in some cases a little game to play whilst the main game loaded! Oh and you had time to put the kettle on and make a cup of tea to settle down before the game loaded. Check out .tap files on C64 emulator sites to relive the experience!

Retro hardware debates are crazy! It's like being back in the playground in 1989!

[Joxe]

Speaking of loaders, I don't really know but from my view it seems like the music from the loader to Sanxion got more fameous than the game itself. Whenever you search for "sanxion c64" or something like that on YouTube it's always Rob's wonderful tune that pops up...actually there isn't even a gameplay video of it ;)

[merman]

Just a quick correction... the C64 could bank switch and page in extra memory from the cartridge. One of the few games to do this was Battle Command, using the cart's memory to provide a huge look-up table for the 3D graphics. Ocean's version of Double Dragon also loaded different types of opponent from cart as separate sprites.

A good example of a C64 cartridge game to compare with the NES would be Fiendish Freddie's Big Top O' Fun, included on the 4-game cartridge with the C64 GS (console-style version of the C64 without a keyboard). On tape it is a horrendous multiload. On cart it loads in a split second and is very playable. Graphically intensive, multiple gameplay styles and a very impressive conversion from the Amiga game.

[mike6581]

I'm not sure if C64 carts used true bank-switching. I'm not sure if they actually loaded bits stored on ROM into RAM, hence at some points in cart games you get the occasional blank screen for a couple of seconds. Bankswitching wouldn't be too beneficial to carts on the C64 as it had the maximum amount of RAM that could be addressed by a 65xx CPU (i.e. 64k).

The C128 on the otherhand could truly bank-switch and it had special hardware to do that, a slightly different CPU amongst other things - but then it shipped with 128k - though even with bank switching it could only ever see 64k of that at any one time.