Commodore VIC-20 Games Round Up 2022

[@Bob_Beaky]

It's so nice to see the Vic in the spotlight. It's such a great little machine. :)

[@1ChilledDude]

These homebrew games are honestly pretty mind blowing. Hard to believe they're VIC 20 games - I mean sure, some of these need RAM expansion. But they're no less impressive. I had an original VIC 20 and the only game that ever came close to any of these was Konami's port of Tutankham by Parker Brothers - it came on a ROM cartridge and it was super expensive at the time! Very cool to see there's a community that's still creating games for the ol' VIC. 😎

[@RetroGamerNation]

Like you I was amazed with the quality. I honestly had some of the best gaming sessions that I have had in a while going through these games.

[@litjellyfish]

What do you mean with “Konami’s port” I mean the game was made by Konami and ported by Parker Bros

[@1ChilledDude]

@@litjellyfish My bad. Yes, that's correct. It was a Parker Brother's port of the Konami title.

[@canalRetro269]

Games and apps...

[@Gansteeth]

Thanks for featuring my Super Monza GP game. I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge of the game! Yes, it's certainly possible to have more tracks and gameplay features. I would have to use more memory but it's certainly something I might work on after my current project.

[@RetroGamerNation]

That is so great to hear. If you are able to include a championship mode with at least 4 tracks then that would be a spectacular release. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with when you get around to it.

[@garycarlucci1890]

Super Monza looked great! You should be very proud of yourself!

[@Gansteeth]

@@garycarlucci1890 Thanks!

[@shieladixon]

I want to thank you for dealing with the Vic, it's the computer that's closest to my heart, the one I used for several years as a teenager. It's a little odd to see these games with clear emulated pixels as I'm so used to the usual slightly janky display! This is a great round-up, there are some there that I hadn't seen but will definitely be playing. I had tried Jovian Lander - you didn't mention the speech sample which I wasn't expecting and blew me away! I think it's the first speech sample I've heard from the Vic.

[@therobyouknowtv]

❤ Really enjoyed this! Well made video. Great to see folks writing new games for this machine which makes for a thriving retro movement. What makes a retro/vintage machine like the VIC20 special is its limitations and simplicity and it had its own unique set of those. Particularly enjoyable to watch was the smooth sprite movements on the VIC20 which had no conventional graphics modes, all done with clever continuous character set redefinition. And the vibrant multicolour mode, with the machine's esoteric pallette: not just the usual binary 3 bit RGB colour set.

[@ITGuyinaction]

💪😁🔥🔥🔥 Memories, memories, memories... I also started my "computer story" with 8-bit devices...

[@rolfedrengen]

Great video! H.E.R.O. is the most overlooked puzzle game ever, and this V20 conversion looks great (and really smooth!). The graphics in H3LP BODG3 and Flood are next level stuff! The SFX in Jovian Moonlander are out of this world!

[@braillynn]

Didn't expect to see a Vic-20 Round Up. Very interesting and fun!

[@RetroGamerNation]

I've been keen to provide VIC20 coverage for a while so while the C64 scene is in a static state at the moment, it gives me a chance to 'annual' type round up for the other Commodore machines. I haven't forgotten your request for Amiga, just been waiting for a couple more substantial titles to arrive (which they now have) to be able to produce a meaningful round up.

[@braillynn]

@@RetroGamerNation Thank you so much!

[@kodiak64]

You saved the best for last! Looks a sweet little game.

[@RetroGamerNation]

Derek (the coder) has been quite prolific on the Vic20 of late. Just a pity that I hear that H3LP B0DG3 appears to be his last title for the system.

[@merman1974]

Great round-up, been enjoying the games myself and H.E.R.O. is really well done.

[@bugbloke1975]

What a fantastic collection of games!! Only aware of a couple of these, so thank you so much!!😎👍

[@TheStuffMade]

Very cool, the VIC-20 was my first real computer, however RAM expansions were expensive back then, I remember a 16k expansion cost the same as a whole new VIC-20 back in the early 80s.

[@PedroCalamardo]

Thanks for including my version of 'Crash' in this round up! (and for mentioning me in the credits 🙂). Cheers

[@PedroCalamardo]

By the way, you can change foreground color to white by pressing ‘c’ key in the presentation screen. I left blue by default because tha was the colour in original Exidy’s game, but blue on black is not a good combination in the VIC-20, so, I added the option to switch it to white on black.

[@boulderdashc6425]

Thanks for talking about the Vic 20. I must stat playing mine again.

[@8-BitRach]

I love the Vic20. Get More Diamonds looks great. Can recommend the Penultimate Cartridge

[@MephProduction]

cool seeing some vic 20 action, couple of really good games here.. maybe they''ll get c64 ports.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I never owned a Vic-20 (my first Commodore was the C64) but I still think it's great that new stuff continues to be developed for it. I was wondering: These new games seem to frequently require RAM expansion, but how common was this requirement back in the day? I know the Vic came with 5k, but did most games just run on that or did they require some level of expansion?

[@RetroGamerNation]

A majority of the Vic 20 games did not require a RAM expansion. If you go to www.6502dude.com/cbm/Vic20/Arma/0to9taps.html you can see a list of VIC 20 games and their memory requirements.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@RetroGamerNationThanks for the link! I have to hand it to those programmers for making anything useful with so little memory.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@RetroGamerNationIt's kind of a "catch 22" when it comes to making games that require an extra purchase: The game designers are not inclined to create games that require RAM expansion because it would be a much smaller market, and the RAM expansion makers are not inclined to create their products if there are not many games or programs that require it. And with RAM being very very expensive back then it makes the problem even worse.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

The little computer that could!

[@bobfromsoireegames4309]

Amazing games for an underrated computer.

[@JB.zero.zero.1]

Actually quite impressive, but I would have been keener if they were on a stock system without expansion. I love seeing base hardware pushed to it's limits.

[@Nikki.Penguin]

Cool, that you cover the VIC 20 now. What about making an Atari XL/XE round up, too? 😁

[@RetroGamerNation]

Hah! Well if the 8 bit Atari gaming scene continues with its current level of activity then why not..I am a fan of the platform.

[@defdac]

Never seen a Vic with ZX color clash. What's that about?

[@GarryGri]

It was done in two-colour 'character' mode in order to get a higher resolution at the expense of multicolour graphics.

[@defdac]

@@GarryGri thanks! Didn't know it had those 👍

[@InTheRedCornerBFC]

Does the VIC have colour clash ? Didn't realise it did

[@RetroGamerNation]

Well its not like the colour clash of the Spectrum where it is unavoidable but it appears that there is a graphic mode/style that can produce a similar effect.

[@biondi7063]

Fantastico... bellissimi giochi.

[@36Hansje]

nice, I thougt VIC20 was dead? - Please more. Thnx. Love it!

[@RetroGamerNation]

There have always been games produced for the Vic20 but in the past 2 years the quality of them has greatly improved. Let's hope there is plenty more to come.

[@SolarLantern424]

Why is "get more diamonds" singled out for colour clash when so many games in this video exhibit colour clash too? I was impressed by get more diamonds given the restrictions of the hardware.

[@RetroGamerNation]

I suppose we just have a different definition of what colour clash means. To me its very obvious. Regardless, it does not take anything away from the game play.

[@SolarLantern424]

@@RetroGamerNation So you mean this isn;t attribute clash: 06:33 or 08:34 for that matter. Not to diminish from the games which are i'm sure something special but isn't the colour clash even more obvious in those 2 games?

[@RetroGamerNation]

I would agree that 8:34 is but not so sure about 6:33 (though I see what you mean). Neither is as pronounced as Get the Diamonds but you need to remember that the colour clash comment was in the context of the game graphics strongly resembling a common ZX Spectrum style. So I think context is the key regarding colour clash comment. Had a session of Get the Diamonds today on the back of your comment, a real fun game.

[@kyma1999x]

how beautiful looking is HERO? seems to be a direct port from atari 2600 version with slightly improved graphics. programmed with care an expanded vic20 could be a good game machine capable of competing against first generation of consoles like atari 2600 or intellivision...

[@Evilnishi]

How can play this game on real vic 20 hardware?

[@RetroGamerNation]

Easiest way is to get a penultimate+ cartridge and a SD2IEC device. You can buy these from thefuturewas8bit.com. The penultimate+ comes with about 70 built in game as well.

[@solemare2628]

@@RetroGamerNation thank i have SD2IEC for c64 game i can use the same maybe reformating for vic20? where i can found file? instead you make a review for Devil’s Temple - Son of the Kung Fu Master amiga new game?

[@RetroGamerNation]

Yes the SD2IEC you use for C64 can be used with the VIC20. It does not need reformating, you simply need to use the VIC20 version of the file browser. Take a look here: www.thefuturewas8bit.com/sd2iec-info

[@alexandermirdzveli3200]

Thumbs up, but next time please use a pop filter.

[@jozinzbazin3818]

Mam taki kurwa 😊

[@oo0Spyder0oo]

My first computer, grabbed it for $50 when a newsagent was ridding themselves of stock, probably making way for the c64 soon to come. I didn’t have a cassette drive so all I could do was type in a game from the manual every time I wanted to play on it! Soon made way for the c64 however.