Commodore 64 vs. Amstrad CPC - 8 games from 1990

[@Edgel-in6bs]

Was heading to an 8-0, but arguably Rick 2 is *slightly* better on the cpc

[@MartinJSUK]

Comparing UK-developed titles will rarely show the Amstrad in its best light, as most UK developers just reused the Spectrum code (and sometimes the graphics, yes Load Of Total Utter Suffering we mean you!). Look at Gremlins 2, Pinball Magic, Prince of Persia, AMC, Iron Lord (French only, sadly) and Dick Tracy (major mitigating circumstances with the C64 version of that, mind) from 1990 to see the Amstrad's capabilities

[@Peter-MH]

Can’t believe I never had the Dan Dare games back in the day! They look excellent!

[@solo1870]

Damn. Flimbos quest on the amstrad. All it was missing was a tumble weed 😂

[@DjPoke]

Superbes jeux sur de superbes machines

[@kamilciura7953]

Haha this is the classic "framerate vs graphics" dilemma. Or maybe not. CPC wins in terms of color palette, but it will always win against C64 on that front. But back then I would certainly be happier with C64 to play games on. However, this is sad reality of CPC not gaining much market share and C64 having a headstart. It is clear that studios hired to code Amstrad versions did rushed, barely acceptable job. And that version of Lotus, ouch! This is a spit to customer's face considering that CPC used well could deliver games running and looking close to A500.

[@jssonstevens59]

CPC could not run games close to the A500. Its not just the frame rate. Parallax scrolling. Some of the C 64 games smash the CPC out of the park here graphically as well as game play. I was surprised by the scrolling on Dan Dare though. That looked great.

[@renaudg]

⁠@@jssonstevens59Search "eerie forest demo" if you want to see parallax scrolling on the Amstrad (Plus, admittedly) 🙂

[@renaudg]

You have to look towards French and Spanish studios for games that were Amstrad-first (sometimes 8bit exclusives even) and certainly not rushed. In the UK, Ocean or any game by Rafaelle Cecco

[@jssonstevens59]

Maybe on a still screenshot

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Amstrad made better use of the colour palette in some of thosae games but i still prefer the c64 as a whole.

[@willrobinson7599]

The amstrad had some cracking games when the hardware was utilised but for me all these ones where better on c64, mayby rick dangerous very close to being amstrad. Generally scrolling was better on the c64

[@Nevidimka0]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@mashk]

no way is it a 8 - 0 to C64. Dan Dare 3, Rick Dangerous and Golden Axe are better on CPC. You only have 1 enemy at a time on Golden Axe on C64

[@jssonstevens59]

I agree, 9, Dan Dare, Rick Dangerous and Golden Axe are better on the Amstrad. Flimbos Quest on a still screen looks better until it moves. That parallax scrolling is jaw dropping. Something the Amstrad just could not do.

[@tofik5939]

👍👍

[@davidfernandezsabio3844]

Dan Dare 3: The Rescue Amstrad CPC Lotus Turbo Sprit C64 Golden Axe Amstrad CPC Turrican C64 Crackdown C64 Flimbo's Quest C64 Ivan 'Iroman' Stewart's Super Off Road C64 Rick Dangerous 2 Amstrad CPC.Happy new year!!

[@Edgel-in6bs]

You're kidding with Dan Dare and Golden Axe mate - the c64 Dan dare plays way better. The cpc uses the engine from a number of games where collision detection is half the screen. As for Golden axe, the c64 version is dull, but the cpc version is unplayable. Plus the SID Golden axe tunes are arguably better than the arcade!

[@madd20]

personally for me - C64 beats amstrad in every game. I like amstrad colors but resolution is terrible. Please remember that amstrad was 2 years younger than C64

[@drg5352]

Frames per second as well; Flimbo and Lotus just seem lightning fast on the C64 compared to CPC. Especially noticeable on Turrican. Super Off Road even has the FPS in the corner, showing nearly double the frames on the C64. Sounds not as good either; CPC sounds like a slightly better PC speaker to me, verses the SID.

[@renaudg]

The resolution of Amstrad mode 0 (most games) is 160x200 just like the C64. The CPC could also do 320x200 in 4 colours and even 640x200 in monochrome. All without any tricks or colour restrictions.

[@renaudg]

@@drg5352It's an AY sound chip just like the 128K Spectrum and similar to the Atari ST (which had the YM variant). 3 voices of square/noise. The SID is leagues ahead but comparing the AY to PC speaker is ridiculous. There are some fantastic tunes on this chip : Saboteur 2, Cybernoid 2 (funny because the C64 tune is completely different but also legendary), Hydrofool. Robocop ...

[@drg5352]

@@renaudg Maybe so, but most of the games here weren't showcasing much better than PC Speaker. Especially the engine sounds in Lotus.

[@iXien]

Just remember me the price of a C64 + a tape drive + a colour monitor back in 1985? In 1985, just after the arrival of the 6128, you could have a CPC 464 with its colour monitor and integrated tape corder for £309.00 (according to Wikipedia and magazines information). That was not the same deal. It will be always a reality that the CPC lacks hardware sprites and scrolling, a problem accentuated by the rushed development time on lot of conversions. But if games were usually smoother on C64, it wasn't the promise of systematically more playable games, depending on the developer skill on Z80 😉

[@christianleger2100]

I can't understand how so many C64 games had a really washed-out color scheme, especially of the main characters/objects. The Flimbo example is stark - the CPC Flimbo is nice to look at while the C64 one makes me feel like my eyes are bugging out.

[@talideon]

The palette for the C64 was tuned for NTSC and never looked quite right on PAL. PAL always looks more washed out than NTSC.

[@arkadiuszk.3898]

Amstrad has no sound.

[@Alianger]

Pretty embarassing Lotus and Super Off-Road ports on CPC There's also Prince of Persia and Rainbow Islands on CPC this year

[@iXien]

OMG, you're so right. Our poor CPC was near the end and while some developers offered it its best gems, others clearly didn't want to make more effort.

[@pablo_p_art]

I prefer Amstrad colour palette, but Z80 in Amstrad is clearly struggling. Lotus games is KO for Amstrad. C64 is obviously more capable.

[@yvsmad1]

The Lotus game on CPC was a lazy port from ZX.

[@pablo_p_art]

⁠@@yvsmad1that explains a lot. Amstrad colour palette reminds more Amiga-style graphics. In sound comparison C64 with his SID is obvious winner.

[@iXien]

@@pablo_p_art Not so obviously, but it's clear that the AY chip wasn't rightly used in lot of game. Nowaday demos and homebrew games let you ear what this sound chip is capable of.

[@pablo_p_art]

@@iXien interesting. Need to look for it. Thank you.