The official Commodore Vic 20 thread

[vintagegamecrazy]

Well I've had several carts for a few years now and a while ago got a loose console for free. I just got a boxed console with all the hookups from another user here. I only had to pay for shipping and it was $12.00, the new console was broke but mine worked great. I got a boxed console for $12.00 total and I'm a happy fellow now.

I wanted to start a thread to discuss the console, I'm new to it. I jut played Q Bert which I liked and Radar Rat Race which I didn't like so much. What are some game recommendations?

Anyone have any good memories or stories?

Or just talk about the computer in general since this is probably the first thread about the Vic 20 in many years.

[namzep]

I picked one up awhile ago and have a little over a dozen games for it (plus six cassette tape based programs). I really haven't gotten a chance to play it much but like the port of Robotron on it. The Pac-Man port is definitely weak, though.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Most games are week as I've tryed most of mine, probably not quite as nice as 2600 versions or quality, mostly due to hardware limitations but they are still decent. The Q*Bert has boxes around the sprites and no animation but still plays well.

[appaws]

God, I loved that thing as a kid. My parents who wouldn't let me have a games system would let me have a computer and I got a Vic-20 as my first one. All I ever did with the thing is play games.

25 years later it's sort of hard to remember. I know I had 20 or more games for it. I do remember constantly going back to two games...a pac-man rip off called Cosmic Kruncher was good...but my all time favorite was Gorf. That game rocked my 1981 world!

I also have a vague memory of something where you had to bomb a city and if you didn't blow up the buildings you would crash into them. I think that one was a game that you had to load from the terrible tape drive that was a system accessory.

After this I moved on to a Commodore 64, which was an incredible gaming machine before going to the NES like everyone else. I remember friends who had Atari and Coleco machines playing more at my house with my Commodore computers than I ever did at theirs.

[Mayhem]

And Gamebase20 is coming sometime... when I finished v0.2

It does mean I've played every game in there (over 1,400 at current count) for testing purposes. Like most machines, the Vic worked best when people wrote games that used its abilities properly. Anything by Jeff Minter for starters is a safe bet. Most of the stuff by Tom Griner as well.

Of the arcade conversions I'd grab Jelly Monsters (the REAL Pac-man, at least in Japan), Omega Race and maybe Pole Position. The Imagic titles aren't bad either.

There is also a wealth of tape based software, but I'm not sure how well much of the PAL stuff would run in the US considering the screen pointer issue. At least this is where emulation comes in very handy (Vice) in being able to switch between NTSC and PAL just like that.

And there are some wonderful demos and games being written today, though mainly coming out of Europe. Jeff Daniels (who runs the Vic20 Denial forum, and occasional visitor here) is one guy in the US still putting out great little unexpanded games.

[Steve W]

I bought a box of commons a few years ago, thinking I'd find a working machine in the wild to play them (since I used to come across them occasionally but passed). I still haven't located one. I'm still waiting patiently for one to drift my way. I would rather find one in a thrift or flea market than buy one from someone else, since for me it's the thrill of the hunt. I might just break down and pick one up at the Oklahoma Videogame Expo on Saturday if anyone brings one, though. You can only sit on a box of cartridges for so long before you have to snap and play them, regardless of whether you have the system or not.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Just played a decent amount of Tooth Invaders, not a bad concept for a game but nothing incredible either. Anyone else have any good recommendations. There's a store close to me that has a copy of Congo Bongo for like 8.99 and I know it's a poor port but I like the game and want it in my collection.

[newcoleco]

I put back on top the vic20 thread.

The computer Commodore VIC-20 was my first computer. No sprite support, but a fair price.

During time, I had some games in cartridge format like Gorf and the double-ender artillery duel/chuck norris super kick.

Most of the games I played was on tape or was listings from magazines like Ahoy! and Compute!.

The game on tape I enjoyed the most was Galaxia by Romik Software Ltd; great sound effects, nice splited ship animation, and cool ennemy waves.

I also had a tape from the store Canadian Tire filled with games written in BASIC. Half of these games are boring or not fair, but interesting for a programmer to see how it's done and what to do to make it better. You can find informations about this Canadian Tire VIC-20 games compilation at Denial's Commodore web site forums.

Today, I replayed some classics like TANK-VS-UFO and ROCKET COMMAND, almost every Commodore VIC-20 owner know these games. They are not as fun to play now than before, but they bring some good memories for me.

I also played games I didn't know about like Mutant Herd where your aiming cross is there only to push the creatures rather than killing them and then you go in some tunnels and put dynamites... original concept, but a strange gameplay.

[willowmoon93]

In 7th grade, the Catholic school that I went to had a VIC-20 computer. I already owned a TI-99/4A but I programmed a little bit on the VIC-20 while at school. The manual for programming in BASIC which came with the VIC-20 was wonderful, very easy to understand. But I finally picked up a VIC-20 about a couple of years ago and have been steadily increasing my collection of games for the system.

As far as cartridge games go, I'd have to go with Serpentine, although the Apple II version was much better. But it was still pretty decent. I'd say for the most part most of the Atarisoft games were good as well, especially Defender.

[icbrkr]

If you're looking to get a bunch of quick games for it, consider picking up a multicart:

http://www.8bitcentral.com/behrbonz.htm

I've got to type up a review but for $30, it's a steal.

[diskoboy]

Our elementary school had a Vic-20, until 1983, when they finally bought a bunch of Apple ][ e's and C-64's.

Every friday, I was computer day, and one of our teachers would always bring in a cassette containing a port of Scramble.

I have not been able to find this version since 1983, and would love to play it again. The problem is, there were so many versions and variants of Scramble for the Vic-20, I wouldn't know where to begin looking. The only thing I remember about the game was the music that played when you started a game.

And I still love Turtle Graphics, to this day, because of my school's Vic.