Mayhem in Monsterland Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]

[@GKitz211]

This is not just a normal C64-platformer, it's a miracle of programming.

[@joaofaleiro8297]

and also a miracle of pixel art

[@2PeteShakur]

"We poured so much love and attention into every aspect of its design that this is the game we're most proud of. We pushed the VIC chip to its limit with the user interface, gameplay and graphics. And, although awarded 100% by Commodore Format, which caused many to discuss whether any game could indeed be perfect, it was the perfect swansong for us." -- John Rowlands, co-designer and programmer (Mayhem in Monsterland, C64)

[@soltaylor685]

How did you do this. As a c64 owner in childhood it begs the question when considering some of the garbage the software houses released. Most notable the c64 versions of Chase HQ and Hard Driving.

[@seraphinberktold7087]

@@soltaylor685 Ah well, Hard Driving is impossible to do on a 1 MHz machine without custom hardware for 3D routines. Even the ZX Spectrum with its 3,5 MHz CPU struggles and fails to produce a good version of this game. Chase HQ, however, is just a another case of sluggish conversion from another platform, in this case the ZX Spectrum IIRC. Software houses often did not care or even try to do exploit the hardware of different computer systems when porting games from another platform. Frequently there was just not enough money and/or time available for a proper port.

[@vinnylovesretro]

Still own a C64, somehow never saw this game until recently, and I am blown away!

[@SteveFusionX]

this was on C64?!? incredible accomplishment

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

It most certainly was :) I think it's available on the Wii Virtual Console - a testament to the fact that the game is still worth buying.

[@metalcoola]

Sadly, emulation on Wii VC is not perfect, some effects are gone.

[@ACanOfBakedBeans]

Rainbow Islands was a pretty good one too for what it's worth, although I still preferred the Amiga version of the game

[@tarstarkusz]

+Milo.. Rainbow Islands on the C64 was an incredible accomplishment AND it is in a single load (IIRC, it was only about 50K). I wish it would have had a larger cartridge release or even a multi-load (each level has its own theme and enemies) disk release.

[@benek7625]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqDEqIB-aNV0l5o kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6arqqZti9dgfLs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWOraHqoj7OFmaM kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2XHpn5-pNqah7M kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJOsoYusqZWqrtE etc.

[@CitroenC407]

It's hard to believe that this game was even possible on C64 but credit to John and Steve Rowlands, they nailed it! I remember ordering this from mail order when it came out (through Commodore Format, who advertised this game quite well back then) and I was able to beat it "nearly" every time I played it, such was the commitment I put into it over a period of weeks and months. Last year, I dusted off my C64 for the first time in years and had another go. I was completely ruined by both Cherryland and Rockland. You correctly mentioned those difficulty spikes in your review - it gets VERY hard near the end. One hell of a game, though!

[@Adie_Brown]

AJC_24 I remember saving pocket money to buy this game based on the hype Commodore Format gave this game. Never did work out why they kept on calling one of their writers “The Stain” though 😂😂

[@clyderadcliffe1536]

what an amazing game and proof that the c64 remains one the greatest gaming machines ever

[@doomniel]

What an incredible feat of engineering. I wonder how even greater other games like Turrican would have become in C64 using this code.

[@henrikhyrup3995]

Imagine this coming out 10 years earlier - people would think the C64 was a supercomputer.

[@Platschu]

I like the graphic style as it feels like part of the Creatures 2 universe.

[@basicallysnake]

They WERE done by the same guys

[@AchtungBaby77]

I remember playing this game and being gobsmacked by the graphics on the "happy" levels - stunning colours and beautiful smooth scrolling. Without a doubt, this game is nothing short of a miracle when you consider the hardware it was released on. Unfortunately, by the time 1993 came around, the C64 was well past its use by date and most people had moved onto consoles and PC's. This game missed the C64 bandwagon. Looking back on it now, I do agree with other commenters that the "sad" levels drag the game down - they really aren't that fun to play and the music is tedious as well.

[@jmp01a24]

Simply the BEST programmed and executed computer game on the C64 - period. Until the last 4-5 years they held that record. The two bros in Apex Computers.

[@hashimotokobayashi2244]

The game is pure joy & happiness 🎉

[@earthsteward70]

Anyone who's even researched c64 programming is giggling at how many tricks were used to make this work! THAT DOUBLE-SPRITE REGISTER IS GETTING WORKED UP.

[@00Skyfox]

This is about the best looking platformer I've ever seen for the C64. Excellent graphics, excellent animation, great sound and music, and super smooth scrolling motion. And the character graphics are adorable! If only this came out many years earlier to help boost the popularity and sales of the C64 even more.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

00Skyfox yeah it's better than many comparable games for the NES and the graphics easily amongst the best on the system 😀

[@KGRAMR]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays This game is on its own league. Looks better than any of the most graphically intensive games released for either NES, Master System and 7800.

[@RMoocher]

@@KGRAMR Don't be ridiculous!! it doesn't come near any master system game, graphically speaking. Might resemble an average NES game, but with less colours. Maybe better than 7800 games. Don't know that machine.

[@satan3959]

Preferred Creatures and Creatures II to this. This pushed the system's hardware to the limits, but the gameplay was meh to me And in my opinion, Sam's Journey has surpassed this

[@RMoocher]

@@satan3959 Sam's Journey is incredible! I really enjoyed playing it.

[@Right_Said_Brett]

Mayhem is a more appealingly designed character than Sonic. Fight me!

[@litjellyfish]

No need to fight. It would just be a rigged match ;)

[@GordonanddarrenTalbotandjarvis]

This game remind me of the good old days

[@ShadyHitchhiker]

Great game. Ever since I was a kid, I thought that intro music was a chiptune copy of Tiny Tune Adventures.

[@jeffrey44]

@Thomoht The Locomotive Please add me to this list.

[@satan3959]

Preferred Creatures and Creatures II to this. This pushed the system's hardware to the limits, but the gameplay was meh to me

[@jonahabenhaim1223]

Why didn’t you like the gameplay?

[@sunekoo]

Yeah this music was a step down from the great tunes in creatures 1 and 2

[@AustinApologue]

Looks like a Super Nintendo quality release, long live the C64!

[@andrewdupuis1151]

this game looks so much fun to play

[@ssdravidian]

Nintendo has Mario Sega has Sonic Commodore had Mayhem.....

[@playnvanilla5176]

I would argue that the C64 has the Giana Sisters.

[@axelgear666]

Turrican 1,2,3

[@YOARTHFU]

@@playnvanilla5176 I would argue that, since Giana is not a C64 exclusive game like Mayhem in Monsterland.

[@basicallysnake]

@@YOARTHFUit was planned to have a GBC port, though!

[@YOARTHFU]

@@basicallysnake that doesn't change the fact, but it was a really cool plan

[@JustJamie1983]

A superb game from a superb system. I uploaded mine earlier today. You play this well compared with mine!

[@krisszalai]

Very hard game with unique vibe. This piece is of one of the last games on C-64 and probably the best platformer. I always lost on the last level 🥵 Colorful candy grafix, and good mood music makes You happy when You play with it 🌄

[@ruisilva5758]

Just realized that the title music is a modified version of the Tiny Toons Adventures title 😎

[@TheCodedtestament]

As with every Apex production, this game was made with much love from the Rowlands brothers. You can see the determination with which they have implemented every single detail, and how well they tested it. Back at the time, I applauded Steve at what he had done with the graphics and music, and John for how he pushed the hardware. On top, this game is quite a challenge - the last levels are tricky devils.

[@BobbyCharlz]

Such a great game, any way you look at it. Never mind the incredible design and development feat of making one of the most awesome games for the Commodore 64, this is an awesome game in its own right; such great attention to detail. Out of curiosity, does this play on an unexpanded C64, or must one have an REU to play this 8-bit miracle?

[@GregDaniel78]

A bit of a late reply, but this plays on an unexpanded C64. The amazing ports of Super Mario and Sonic DO need an REU, but this is OG specs.

[@BobbyCharlz]

@@GregDaniel78 Got it, understood and appreciated. Thank you for the answer and insight, I greatly appreciate it.

[@danieldutch8621]

Take a seat Sega. This is Blast Processing.

[@markmeric8580]

The thumbs down on this video must be from a Speccy or CPC fan. These machines, even their several enhanced versions, had absolutely no chance of running anything near this awesome. And let's not forget - this is running on a stock C64! This game still easily competes with platformers running on modern hardware thousands of times more powerful than the C64.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

I think the only game to come close is Sam's Journey, and that was released only last year!

[@markmeric8580]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays Agreed :)

[@trocoloco]

you should check Pinball Dreams on stock CPC then

[@markmeric8580]

@@trocoloco Pinball Dreams (PD) is not stock CPC - it requires 128K RAM. The stock CPC is 64K. Even with expanded memory, PD is nothing more than a small play/scroll area with ball. It's certainly nothing special by C64 standards. Mayhem, on the other hand, is a vast play area with full screen scrolling, incredibly detailed and animated backdrops with multiple parallax layers, multiple, beautifully animated sprites, all moving at jaw dropping speeds. These are just a few factors that make Mayhem vastly superior to PD. And all this on a genuine stock C64! I'm sorry, but it's a laughable to compare PD to Mayhem.

[@ACanOfBakedBeans]

Technically Sam's was released in December of 2017

[@Corsa15DT]

I don't think the ST has a game of this caliber. This is extraordinary!

[@jammerc64]

Putting gorgeous technical aspect aside - why does Mayhem kill residents of happy lands after all? :D It makes no sense! :D

[@sethbloom1540]

Wow, so many particle effects look like they were taken off the SNES. I can't believe they were able to do this on a 1Mhz CPU with 64KBs of RAM.

[@kommissar.murphy]

"game complete, now fuck off"

[@GordonanddarrenTalbotandjarvis]

Best game ever

[@sammylane21]

You can see the influence of the ole Wild E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons had on this game, huh? When can I emu this from?

[@bighairydel]

great graphics for c64

[@HojoNorem]

Nicely done. It does get difficult near the end... but why didn't you go for any skid bonuses? (Hold the opposite direction while charging over the finish line)

[@Jayce_Alexander]

They sure loved using a lot of gray in the stages. xD

[@ollllj]

got some of that "magic dust"?

[@HarhaMedia]

How does that waterfall effect work?

[@noobahoi]

Is that FLI graphics in the extro?

[@Imgema]

Imagine if they did this earlier in C64's life. Like in 1984 or something.

[@Clystron426]

Imgema -- That would have been insane. The government would have locked them up and studied their brains lol.

[@inphanta]

The games that inspired this would not have been made then. ;)

[@HummelJaeger]

IIRC, in either the C64 User Guide or Programmers' Reference Guide there is a BASIC program that demonstrates smooth scrolling. It also, at least on PAL machines, glitches and momentarily shows the occasional (lucky) VSP screen shift for a 30th of a second. So it was likely encountered since 1982 by many people, including programmers, but nobody back then realised how important the glitch was. Unfortunately, VSP doesn't work on all C64s due to hardware tolerances.

[@satan3959]

Rooflesoft Games Parallax as well (which came out in '86) Uridium was from 86 as well.

[@Frisenette]

A huge part of the appeal and impressiveness of this game is in the art design. Smooth scrolling and multiple sprites is fine, but it would all fall terribly flat without someone who knew how to work with the limitations of the C64 colour restrictions and characters.

[@pnvgordinho]

The graphics reminds me of bubble and squeak on the Amiga.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

did something go wrong with the grabbing of the video? what's wrong with the colors?

[@AllenJeremy]

I have this game stored on my SD card & I find it a bit tricky to play.

[@calippo80]

Incredible...

[@HopeHunterX]

Incredible!

[@HypercatZ]

8:31 Baby Yoshi??

[@CJWarlock]

Great game! :) Funny though how on a past PC with a powerful GPU the scrolling is jerky, while on the C64 the scrolling was 100% smooth. ;)

[@beatblock149]

Bubble bobble, super mario & sonic mixed

[@davistalhone9482]

Question to anyone who can help - I no longer have an original Commodore 64 but I do habe the C64 Mini - is it possible to buy a copy og the game for sideload onto the Mini via USB?

[@RMoocher]

Next month, get yourself a full sized new "THEC64" which will be able to load games from USB.

[@ThomasvonWelt]

I love it.

[@cedrio1027]

so good

[@mnxnm]

Game uses the same luma-based color mixing technique extensively, but it's only visible on original C64 and composite/s-vhs output. In short, it's like C64 has brand new colours. Emulators like VICE can do some PAL emulation, but it's not as good as on the real C64.

[@litjellyfish]

True still I mean it mixes the colors optically anyway not just producing as “clean flat” color. I mean almost all forms of dither on old tv looked pretty good. And especially like dither. To make new color or even transparency (like sonic waterfall) it don’t know why but it was only a bit into the 90s that it was used more than checkerboard dithering. Maybe because on paper checkerboard should mix it better but it added a texture often not wanted. Later Megadrive games used vertical line dithering a lot to make new colors

[@adammclaughlin845]

Hard to believe the same machine which had creaky, glitchy ports of Rastan, Ghouls n Ghosts and Great Escape also had Creatures and Mayhem in Monsterland.

[@iSuRRendeReDuK]

What a cracking game complete ending...

[@pasromano75]

Wow !! Its a REU game ?

[@pasromano75]

I checked.... no it'snt . Its a miracle!

[@triptothebeach]

that graphics on a C64

[@SirJonSoda]

This game looks very impressive, but its weird physics and level design make it harder than it needs to be. I lost interest before figuring it out. Nevertheless it's amusing to watch you play it, you do it like a pro and make it look almost like a Sonic game.

[@zaitarh]

Looks like you recorded this from an emulator, given how blocky the pixels looks. Since this is a game relying heavily on the PAL-signal to generate new colors, you probably should have enabled PAL-emulation :) (Also just to make it look more like on a real C64 :))

[@ivanivanic3259]

That was awesome game :)

[@WDeeGee1]

So this is where SEGA got their idea for SONIC?

[@Flo_Resolution]

This is 1993 Sonic came out 1991

[@FlorianGaming27]

I have the original floppy disk😎

[@AnthonyCassidy50]

Fastest scrolling sequence starts about here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/opXSY5itgaenabs

[@falkaseltza]

well played

[@satan3959]

Preferred Creatures and Creatures II to this. This pushed the system's hardware to the limits, but the gameplay was meh to me

[@Elbas_Tardo]

Is like Sonic.

[@СергейМоскалёв-с3ь]

Great!

[@PazuzuDarkVoid]

smooth!

[@richardslotboom9250]

Well after some hours of gaming with the maxi the crappy joystick wont turn right anymore pretty lame actually but it doesnt matter playing videogames with a joystick is crap anyway (thats why i plugged my megadrive controller into the old c64 works perfectly!

[@huberthans4312]

If you want to kill your SID, go for it. Hopefully youre using an adapter

[@kodiak64]

Such a pity you recorded it with CRT emulation turned off, thereby hiding the non-standard colours that formed such a huge part of the game's appeal.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

I didn't know about the differences in the VIC II lumas at the time I recorded this - if I do a new recording then I'll use the CRT filters.

[@kodiak64]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays Fair enough! That was an astounding play-through nonetheless...

[@ssg-eggunner]

The only problem i have with the game is the mixels

[@litjellyfish]

“Mixels”?

[@ssg-eggunner]

@@litjellyfish the enemies are streched and blockier compared to the player Basically there's some inconsistent scaling across stuff here

[@litjellyfish]

@@ssg-eggunner ah got it. Never heard the expression before. I hate pixel size mixing with inner fury. Same as in modern pixel art games when they have a higher result resolution and then objects of different resolutions mixed. Also not a fan when they use a restricted palette and then use soft glow and true coooe lighting effect in too of that. An abomination. On C64 I can get it more still as you say if it’s not done well why not keep all with fat pixels. Or mask it good. The tech demo “spooky” for C64 managed to use multicolor mode and still make it seems like all was hires

[@litjellyfish]

@@ssg-eggunner how do you feel about the background having some tiles using hires? I think that works a bit better as it’s more used for dithering and toned tone. But as you say having the main player in hires sprites makes the other ones look even blockier due to the contrast

[@MikeGTR1983]

Można?Można. Szkoda ,ze większość grafiki w grach to gniot.

[@Frisenette]

The “sad” B&W intro levels feels a bit too much like eating your vegetables. It’s something put in the game to stretch it out. Even the music is tedious. It works in Wizball because of the setting and the otherwise colourful sprites and hud. But here it just is a bad introduction to the real game. A remake/redux should really take these out and supplant them with something else, or just make them shorter and skippable on later play throughs.

[@alessandromarani6523]

The main sprite in hires is terrible and make look the enemies so...low res. It's a shame because it totally ruins an awesome game.