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Blow The Cartridge #5

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Aug29
meh

C64 Month: Y is for THE YOUNG ONES!

by Cameron on August 29, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Posted In: Blog

To celebrate August being C64 Month, we’re writing about a different Commodore 64 game every day! Start from the beginning here!

Through this series of blog posts I’ve made a conscious effort to not write about licensed games – games that have their source material in another medium or format. Well, I’m breaking this a bit by writing about The Young Ones, which is a very original game about a TV show.

(And yes, the fact that there’s precious few other games that start with Y that are worth writing about is a big help, work with me here)

I loved The Young Ones on TV. That show was a revelation. It was loud, it was needlessly violent, and it was just plain odd. It introduced me to surrealism and slapstick and the sound of Madness. I adored Alexei Sayle. There was a fat guy on TV and people were laughing at his jokes. I was a fat kid not on TV and I wanted so very much for people to laugh at my jokes!

So then I found that there was a Young Ones game on the Commodore 64. Talk about a winning combination, right?

WRONG. The game is more boring than playing Monopoly and wondering what it would be like if you were playing with real money. It’s a game where the four main protagonist wander aimlessly around the house picking up, putting down and talking about all the objects they find. That’s pretty much it. I guess there was a thing you had to do with the items but I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. I didn’t want this! I wanted a game where you could smack Rick in the head with a cricket bat. Now that’s entertainment.

However, I learned a valuable lesson – never assume a game is good because you liked the license. Take that, fascists!

If you like posts like this, and want to help me make more, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Only $1 a month gets you comics, posts and behind the scenes goodies!

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Aug28
robot

C64 Month: X is for X-OUT!

by Cameron on August 28, 2016 at 1:54 pm
Posted In: Blog

To celebrate August being C64 Month, we’re writing about a different Commodore 64 game every day! Start from the beginning here!

The Commodore 64 plays host to a wide variety of great shooters that came in the wake of R-Type, such as Armalyte or Katakis, but X-Out will always hold a special place in my heart.

Not only was it a visual feast, with bullets and enemy ships whizzing about the (taller than what you can see) screen at a healthy pace, but the difficulty level was challenging enough to keep you coming back for more.

But what really got me hooked was the shop.

In between levels, you can spend money earned at a shop that upgrades your ship. What I really liked was that instead of just being presented a menu of available upgrades, in X-Out you could see the upgrades be applied to your ship in a little window. It was like having a dress up doll, but for spaceships!

…wait, where are you going?

If you like posts like this, and want to help me make more, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Only $1 a month gets you comics, posts and behind the scenes goodies!

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Aug27
gazunta

C64 Month: W is for WIZBALL!

by Cameron on August 27, 2016 at 11:06 pm
Posted In: Blog

To celebrate August being C64 Month, we’re writing about a different Commodore 64 game every day! Start from the beginning here!

There was no way I could write about the Commodore 64 games that I love the most and not write about Wizball. Wizball is my favourite video game of all time ever and forever amen.

I won’t bother describing the gameplay, you can watch the YouTube video or even better play the game yourself to really get it, but all you need to know is that this game represents everything I love about the Commodore 64.

Wizball is staggeringly original, completely odd and written by three people who just kind of made it all up as they went along. It’s the kind of game that represents the independent, irreverent spirit that makes the Commodore 64 great.

I’ve spent countless hours in Wizball, enjoying the fluid controls, the tense shooting, the relaxing colour collecting and the absolute nutso transition screen that throws enemies at you like no tomorrow and is backed with some of the best music the C64’s SID chip ever mustered. And straight up, 30 years on, the game simply doesn’t get old. It’s still a fresh, enticing experience.

I don’t know how else to put it – if there’s any title that demonstrates what a unique and fun hobby playing Commodore 64 games is, this is it. I truly do love it to bits and I hope you do too.

If you like posts like this, and want to help me make more, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Only $1 a month gets you comics, posts and behind the scenes goodies!

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Aug26
gazunta

C64 Month: V is for VISIBLE SOLAR SYSTEM!

by Cameron on August 26, 2016 at 1:46 pm
Posted In: Blog

To celebrate August being C64 Month, we’re writing about a different Commodore 64 game every day! Start from the beginning here!

Visible Solar System isn’t a game really. All it does is show you how the solar system looks from any vantage point at any time. That’s it.

Heck, there’s not even a YouTube video of the C64 version, just the poor man’s Vic 20 version! Yikes! No love for Visible Solar System in the world 🙁

You don’t really explore distant civilizations or shoot aliens or spend hours flying space ships into docking bays. You just enter in some data and see how the planets and moons line up. Imagine No Man’s Sky but without any content and you’re just about there.

And uh, that’s about all there is to say about Visible Solar System. I put it in the list because it’s different and you should experience it and it was a fantastic way to fool parents into thinking the Commodore 64 was for educational purposes.

Suckers!

If you like posts like this, and want to help me make more, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Only $1 a month gets you comics, posts and behind the scenes goodies!

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Aug25
knight

C64 Month: U is for USAGI YOJIMBO!

by Cameron on August 25, 2016 at 11:55 am
Posted In: Blog

To celebrate August being C64 Month, we’re writing about a different Commodore 64 game every day! Start from the beginning here!

I guess the full title of this game is Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo, but I already used the “S” spot on Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit and everyone just calls this game “Usagi Yojimbo” anyway AND this is my site AND you’re not my real dad anyway so NYAH.

Usagi Yojimbo, a Melbourne House-developed game based on the incredible comic by Stan Sakai (who is STILL MAKING NEW COMICS – the man is an absolute legend!) is an adventure game where you explore feudal Japan. As you would expect, there’s paths to choose, monsters to slay and ninjas to battle – but it’s the extra stuff that sets this game apart.

The game values Karma more than anything else. You earn Karma by respecting your elders, being polite to people and even giving money to the poor. Attack an innocent and Usagi is overcome with so much shame that he commits seppuku on screen.

It’s the little touches that I always remember Usagi for, like how you can stop at little villages and eat some rice to replenish your health, and just watch the innkeepers mill about the place. The game has such a solid sense of being in a world that I love exploring the game’s locations and just taking in the ambience.

It’s not a fast-paced hack ‘em up but that’s exactly why I think this game is worth your time. Go check it out now (and then head out to your local comic shop later) 🙂

If you like posts like this, and want to help me make more, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Only $1 a month gets you comics, posts and behind the scenes goodies!

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