10 Amazing Commodore VIC-20 Exclusives

[@UK_Cobra]

My 1st computer. Loved it to bits (all 8 of them), and wish I still had it. Think Gorf was my favourite game on it, plus the old text adventures on cartridge.

[@IsaacKuo]

Wow, what an epic effort! It's so tough to find interesting VIC-20 exclusives, since there was too much money to be made doing an easy port from VIC-20 to C64 (pretty easy to port given the similarities of the hardware and trivial ease of getting the data transfered over). And the C64 came out only a year after the VIC-20. So any particularly successful VIC-20 game would almost certainly get a C64 port at the least.

[@xxnoxx-xp5bl]

In all of my years of gaming I literally began emulating Vic 20 games for the first time yesterday - I was amazed at just how much fun they are. I'd been missing out for decades!

[@michaelturner4457]

"The object of the game is to flatten the city so that you can land your aeroplane" I'd love to read some back stories on that game idea.

[@WinrichNaujoks]

The very thing is happening elsewhere today.

[@raymitchell9736]

As a VIC-20 Game Developer in the early1980's, I look back at those games and see how these games look by today's standards, A lot of the synchronization of sound and keeping the action smooth was very hard. There were no bitmap screens, it was all characters that we redefined, it was hair-pulling! And we didn't have a lot of memory, about 3.5K that was loaded from Cassette tape. And because we were required to run on a stock VIC-20, so we could not require nor assume any memory expansions, ROMs such as the Super Expander. Still it was good times and I had a lot of fun with them. My games titles were "Muncher" (no mine wasn't a Pac-man ripoff) and "Search and Destroy" from the Silicon Valley's company, The Wizard's Magic Toybox.

[@Hologhoul]

Some of those are amazingly basic (looked like programmed in BASIC!) - which then makes the likes of Gorf and Gridrunner look even more special. Interesting set of games there.

[@BabaLee]

Nice video, it brought back a few memories of back in the day. I've still got my Vic 20 in the original box, the box is a bit tatty, and one if the F keys us broken off but it's still loved as much as my modern games machines.

[@dbranconnier1977]

Another game that is exclusive to the VIC-20 is 'Raid On Fort Knox'. It's a simple but fun maze game. I always wished it would have been ported to other systems/consoles.

[@TheLairdsLair]

I'll look it up thanks!

[@Dorelaxen]

I always loved the VIC. Really quirky games and while primitive, I grew up on the Atari 2600, so it's still appealing to me.

[@CastleKnight7]

The sound of the lumberjack climbing up the ladders in Log Run brought back the theme tune to Blankety Blank. 😅

[@exile220ify]

I love how that kid is playing VIC-20 games on a VIC that isn't actually plugged in :)

[@DarrenMcCowan280470]

It’s ‘Eugene Evans’ that programmed Wacky Waiters for Imagine. ‘Eugene Jarvis’ of course is the guy behind Defender, Robotron and other arcade classics. You corrected your slip with Imagine’s Frantic

[@TheLairdsLair]

Ah bugger! I didn't notice that or I would have fixed it - DOH!

[@Vargon7]

Yeah, and there's a 'tribute' to Eugene Evans in Manic Miner, a level called Eugene's Lair.

[@michaelmalak]

Re Log Run, the word "clone" is usually reserved for attempts at "100% compatibility" (e.g. clean-room design). In contrast, an attempt to mimic while skirting copyrightable elements is known as "knock-off", at least in the U.S.

[@jayme69]

Fantastic video and I remember playing the Jeff Minter and Eugene Evans games back in the day. Imagine's artwork was always fantastic and Jeff's was ... interesting :-) Keep up the awesome work!

[@_droid]

Curious to see the difference in the cover-art styles versus American style. Being American, the British artwork gives me a kind of uncanny valley feel. Very interesting!

[@JeremyLeePotocki]

I actually like the Rat Man game, and I would like to see the original creator reboot it. It may have been slow, but it had a whimsical charm to it. The Ultima game was impressive for a Vic game. I never got to mess around with a Vic due to only one person I ever knew that had one, and the owner never played it (he was way into his C64 by then.)

[@The_Real_DCT]

Ultima escape from Mt. Drash. Was a totally unofficial game made by Sierra when they had publishing rights to Ultima 1 and 2. According to Garriet he sued Sierra and they had to destroy the copies of the game.

[@julesccf6380]

Don't know if it was a VIC 20 exclusive but Bewitched from Imagine software was my favourite. You were a key in a maze and you had to open locks so you could continue downwards. The locks had 4 different colours and you had to change the colour of your key to open the corresponding lock colour. There were also ghosts getting in your way. Only ever completed it once I think.

[@TheLairdsLair]

I'll check it out, thanks!

[@The_Real_DCT]

The reason why Escape from Mt Drash is so rare is because Sierra illegally made it causing Richard Garriot to sue them and all copies were to have been destroyed. Or so the story goes according to Garriet, Ken and Roberta as far as i can tell never said much about it. Other than Ken nor caring for Garriet and the Ultima games personally.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Makes sense, thanks. Never cam across that story when I was researching it.

[@fuzzybad]

I was involved in "rediscovering" Escape from Mt Drash in the early 2000's. A friend found a copy of the game in a dump in Canada, recorded the tape to a WAV, and sent it to me

[@TheLairdsLair]

Great work!

[@glenrichards5366]

Someone already mentioned Raid on Fort Knox, so I will add 'Motor Mouse' as my favourite Vic exclusive. I think Crazy Cavey might also be exclusive. Both tapes for unexpanded Vic

[@TheLairdsLair]

Great stuff, more games to check out, thanks!

[@GarryGri]

I think Villain could be a contender. And possible the only 'Joystick Wiggler' game for the VIC.

[@LeChave]

I could be wrong, and often am, but wasn't "Emmet Attack" a VIC20 exclusive also? It was the only game I remember having, apart from an awful flight sim that I returned.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Not sure, I've never heard of it, but I'll look it up and add to my list for a follow up video if it is!

[@FadkinsDiet]

What was that horizontally scrolling shooter where you had to dock at stations that came up on the top and bottom side? River something?

[@TheLairdsLair]

River Patrol

[@richardhatton7128]

Surely The Perils of Willy should make it onto this list?

[@TheLairdsLair]

Another I didn't know about, I am very much a newbie when it comes to the VIC, but I will add it to my list for the follow-up video!

[@groupexman]

where was raid on fort knox?!?!? such a great game and i’ve not seen it on any other system

[@TheLairdsLair]

A few other people mentioned that, I have it noted down for a follow up video.

[@pauledwards2817]

On the subject of odd Jeff Minter games. I had a UK cassette version of Gridrunner for Atari when It first came out. On the reverse was another game, written in BASIC perhaps. Anyone know what it was?

[@TheLairdsLair]

Probably Turboflex

[@pauledwards2817]

@@TheLairdsLair fabulous, thank you I had a feeling that was the best match. When I can I will fire it up and see if it revs up my memories

[@MarkTheMorose]

I believe another Imagine game, Catch-A-Snatcha, is a VIC exclusive, unexpanded. Something like you playing a store detective, trying to stop shoplifters escaping the building. Amok is a clone of Berzerk for the unexpanded machine, there is also Super Amok for an 8k VIC. Stretching the concept of 'exclusive' a little, Alien Blitz was a good (unexpanded) Space Invaders clone. I hated Frantic, didn't care at all for Wacky Waiters, and wasn't that much impressed by C-A-S either. (Couldn't get the hang of Arcadia at the time, but grew to appreciate it somewhat in more recent years.) The low RAM really hurt the VIC; in a portent of the C16/Plus 4, companies mainly wrote games for the lowest-spec system: C16 for the TED machines, and unexpanded machine for the VIC. That said, I really liked Choplifter, Omega Race, Radar Rat Race, and Commodore's Galaxian clone, and had a brief fascination with Adventureland, all cartridges. On tape, Snake Pit (Postern) and Amok, both unexpanded games. I briefly had a RAM expander, before getting a C64, the only expanded games I recall playing are Bonzo, a platformer, and a Donkey Kong clone by Anirog I think.

[@TheLairdsLair]

More great suggestions for a follow-up video - thanks!

[@MarkTheMorose]

@@TheLairdsLair Somehow I forgot about Jelly Monsters, Commodore's clone of Pac-Man, far better than Atari's effort on the VCS. It had to be withdrawn and replaced by the rather less good Cosmic Cruncher.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Jelly Monsters was Pac-Man, it was an officially licensed port but Commodore could only use the license in Japan so it had to be renamed for the west. Also see Radar Rat Race, which was Rally-X, and Star Battle/Galaxian.

[@errollleggo447]

No spiders of mars?

[@TheLairdsLair]

I'd never heard of it until now, looks like a good candidate for a follow-up video!

[@brucethen]

My favourite Jeff Minter game was Hellgate

[@TheLairdsLair]

That only just missed out on the Top 20

[@Hologhoul]

I played that on the recent Jeff Minter compilation (via PS4/5) certainly miles ahead of many on this list, but I think this list focuses on quirky character rather than quality some of the time!

[@virtuafighter3]

You could do Archon for the Vic20 I think.

[@TheLairdsLair]

The same Archon that is on the Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64?

[@virtuafighter3]

@@TheLairdsLair Yes - it is an icon driven 2d board game with 2D action. That is not hard. The Atari 800 graphics are effective but functional (same for the other versions).

[@TheLairdsLair]

I'm very familiar with it, I was checking you were talking about the same game, because obviously Archon wouldn't be an exclusive as its on other systems too.

[@virtuafighter3]

@@TheLairdsLair Oh - yes I missed the 'exclusives' idea in the post.

[@FadkinsDiet]

What about the scott afams text adventures?

[@TheLairdsLair]

Not exclusives

[@GandaMelgao]

It's hard to believe that, at some point, we played these awful games. Never had a Vic20 myself. I Had a Philips Videopack. Wouldn't waste my time playing those games now. Having said that, there were some text adventures for the Vic20 that I could probably still play today. Unfortunately they were not available for the Videopac.

[@dbranconnier1977]

K.C. Muchkin and K.C.'s Crazy Chase are still fun Videopack games to play.