Retro Gaming Showdown: C64 vs Atari 800XL - 8 Classic 'F' Games Compared

👉 Don’t forget to check out the complete playlist for more Commodore 64 vs. Atari 800XL comparisons: • C64 vs. Atari
Dive into a retro gaming showdown as we compare classic games on the Commodore 64 and Atari 800XL, side by side! In this video, we break down iconic games starting with the letter F-Frogger, F-15 Strike Eagle, Forbidden Forest, Fort Apocalypse, Frogger II, Fight Night, Flip and Flop, and Floyd of the Jungle. Discover which system delivers the best graphics, sound, and gameplay for each title.
🎮 Key Highlights:
Visual and Audio Comparisons: See how each game looks and sounds on the Commodore 64 vs. the Atari 800XL.
Detailed Game Analysis: Insights into gameplay mechanics and personal preferences for each platform.
Sid Meier's Early Work: Explore one of the first games from the legendary game designer.
Whether you're a retro gaming enthusiast or new to the world of classic games, this video will provide you with a comprehensive look at some of the most beloved titles from the 80s. See which console reigns supreme in the battle of the 8-bits and share your thoughts and favorites in the comments!
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Check out the article about Floppy Deep Dive on Gamepressure.com
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Follow us on www.floppydeepdive.com for updates and behind-the-scenes content.
📌 Tags: #RetroGaming #Commodore64 #Atari800XL #ClassicGames #GamingComparison #8bitEra #VintageGaming #GameReviews #RetroCommunity

[@MONSTERGABhorror]

Wow, I won the Tshirt. I'm so grateful man as I genuinely love your channel. I think the Commodore has slightly sharper graphics overall but of course that all depends on the games. Still it's great to see the comparisons between the systems and how much they differ, or I guess not so much in some cases. Truly fantastic content as always

[@FloppyDeepDive]

T-shirt is on it way! Enjoy and thanks for Supporting the channel.

[@patsk8872]

I had an A800 XL. C64 had so many more great games, but I still loved my Atari and some of the great unique games it had.

[@AudioGuyBrian]

Star Raiders. That one alone made the Atari worth having.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Both great systems from our past. Thanks for Watching!

[@ClassicGameSessions]

Some very fun games in this episode. I'm not going to touch on differences in this round except to say that both look and sound awesome for that time, and always! Great commentary as always Tom!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks, buddy!!

[@technischemaschinenfabrik5882]

I know that the Atari XL was the competitor of the Commodore 64 in the early 80s. Many Lucasfilm Games were better on the Atari because of its faster cpu. But in 1987 there were no games available to buy in Germany in the stores for Atari XL. For 8bit computers only Commodore 64 and Amstrad/Schneider CPC software and hardware. Unfortunately i haven't seen any ZX Spectrum games in German stores. But for the 16bit market the Atari ST was a strong competitor for the Commodore Amiga. Software and Hardware were very long available for both systems. I always prefer the Commodore 64 because every average kid had it. There was no escape from Commodore in Germany because all the schools had Commodore 64. In the fifth class i learned Logo programming in school.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Great story, thanks for sharing! I wish my school had the C64.

[@1MartinD28]

Loved the show content, really good audio and video quality.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

I appreciate the feedback! Thanks for Watching!

[@astroprotector]

I am a diehard for life c64 owner but the Atari's version of graphics for Frogger is richer than Commodore's.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

both machines could do much better at this game but still the result is equally good. I am an Atari 8bit user for life but I know when a game is limited by the programmers not the hardware.

[@alexanderwingeskog758]

Was about to say exactly this until I found your comment! Frogger looked nicer on the Atari for sure. Would be cool for kicks to remake the game today on C64 with all the tricks in the book which has been found/used... Then again you could probably do some fancy stuff on the Atari 800XL also...

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@RandomBitzzz]

Good stuff as always. This round looks like an overall tie, IMHO. Keep 'em coming my friend. 👍

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Will do!! Thanks for Watching!

[@siturl5834]

It wasn’t a competition back in the day though. In the uk, it was so hard to get software for the 400/800xl… I had both…. And we ended up actually playing so many type-in games. The C64 had all the games.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yep! Thanks for Watching!

[@jasonbaxter7458]

I absolutely love all this retro.takes me back to my childhood and thinking these games cant any better lol.i thank you my man ❤

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Glad you enjoying it, that's why I do it! Thanks for Watching!

[@Great-Documentaries]

Commodore 64 > Atari 8-bit Amiga > Atari ST That's all you need to know.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@dazealex]

Fair assessment of the games. I'm an Atari boy, but appreciate C64 and all retro things!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@JustMe99999]

Another great comparison between two fantastic systems. I had F15 Strike Eagle on DOS and played it a lot... great game. I wonder how many of these games were taking advantage of the 800XL's extra features, and how many were maintaining compatibility with the 400.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

The only difference between those two systems is memory. The custom chipset is identical. Some difference can be found in the logic.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@pitfalljerry]

I played many hours of F-15 Strike Eagle on my Atari 800.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

👍

[@AudioGuyBrian]

I owned and programed assembly language on the Atari 8bit computers (I had a 400, 800, 600XL and 800XL.). Always wanted a 130XE and 1250XL but they were pretty much going out of business by the time I had the money to buy those. I always loved my Atari computers and their games, but I must say... I have recently started using a Commodore 64/128 Emulator and have thousands of tape and disk images and was blown away by not only the number of games that system had, but the quality in many games was higher than what I had on the Atari. I wish I had at least one '64 back then. I could have got into that just as much as my beloved Ataris.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Both are great systems! Thanks for Watching!

[@RacerX-]

LOL at the end there. haha. Well once again I pretty much agree with your picks 100%. We had such similar retro backgrounds it is really funny and no surprise. Floyd of the jungle! I have not played that in years. Time to dig through my disks. Love the shirt too! It is in my closet as we speak. 🙂

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks! It's my new favorite T-shirt. You stuck around until the end, appreciate it. I wondered if anyone would see it. Lol

[@gaminglazarus4343]

@@FloppyDeepDive hi good video and you are on my favorit youtuber list. nice to see c64 games vs atari xl games a-z .do you know the news there is the400 mini (atari400) console. i have question can you make video about amiga games, atari st games . my favorit are c64 games, atari st games, amiga games

[@FloppyDeepDive]

I'm glad I made your list my friend! Thanks for Watching!

[@gaminglazarus4343]

@@FloppyDeepDive i have question can you make video about amiga games and atari st games . my openion atari xl vs c64 , c64 games looks better

[@mrlodwick]

i had both, but I loved the 800 xl with its ten year load time lol.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Good pick

[@GDLarcade]

Great memories of playing F-15 Strike Eagle on the C-64. Having only seen an Atari 400 with the membrane keyboard BITD, I started really appreciating the 8 bit Ataris after I picked up an 800XL a few years ago. Very capable machine with an extensive software library. BITD, though, you couldn't beat the bang for the buck of the C-64.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@lurkerrekrul]

F-15 Strike Eagle - The C64 version of this game (at least the pirated copy I had) had an interesting bug: You could fly the plane off the map screen in the lower left and over parts of the console. If you then flew over the text at the bottom of the screen, each character would show up as a standard triangular target on the ground in the 3D view and you could bomb them. The text characters wouldn't disappear like the targets on the map screen, but there would be an explosion as you scored a hit.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Will have to try it!

[@buckeyechad1]

Haven’t thought of Fort Apocalypse in forever. Or Forbidden Forest either. C-64 of course. Thanks for the memories!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@Edgel-in6bs]

I'd never heard of frogger 2! Thanks!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

You are welcome!

[@sinemacanavari]

I was expecting such a video for a very long time. Atari 800XL was my first computer and I adore it. C64 is second and I love them both so much! ❤️❤️

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@sinemacanavari]

@@FloppyDeepDive No worries, but, mate, I wish you have picked games such as International Karate, Milk Race, Green Beret, Feud, Rescue on Fractalus (Behind Jaggi Lines) and Zybex. The games mentioned in this video are basic ones. Maybe next time? 🥰

[@FloppyDeepDive]

These are just games starting with the letter F that are on the C64 and Atari. I will get to more games as I go through the Alphabet.

[@sinemacanavari]

@@FloppyDeepDive Ah! I see. Thanks, mate. 😊👍🏻

[@IsaacKuo]

I think Fort Apocalypse is practically the same, but Forbidden Forest certainly suffers from being ported from the C64 when it was plainly designed for the C64's capabilities and limitations.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Also good insights! Thanks for Watching!

[@pennysteam]

Being in the UK i first had a spectrum, despite the C64 being strongly sold in the UK unlike the Atari, I got an Atari as it was better for programming and also had lot more wargames, SSI than the C64.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@8_Bit]

I was surprised by your claim about SSI supporting Atari better than C64. I looked, and AtariMania has 57 titles listed for Atari by SSI, while GameBase64 has 87 titles listed for C64 by SSI. Of course SSI published RPGs as well as war games, but I saw a lot of the same RPG names on the Atari as the C64, so I don't really see any evidence to support your position.

[@c6jones720]

Apart from frogger I don't think I've ever seen any of the other games.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@KabukiKid]

I think there was another version of Frogger for the C-64. The one you featured may be the superior version, though.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yep, there were two. Thanks for Watching!

[@AlexMitchell-sj4sb]

I had an Atari 800 XL but always wanted a C64 as it had more games, more games available in the stores here where I lived (Atari had a poor selection available) and games always came out before on C64.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yep, C64 had a lot of games!!

[@AlexMitchell-sj4sb]

@FloppyDeepDive Games Workshop was the only place that stocked Atari games in Sheffield. Back then they used to stock all sorts, including computer games. I got most of mine from there. They changed in the 90s, became mostly Warhammer stuff.

[@johneygd]

So,simply put, both systems and it’s showed games here are just similar in quality and capabilities wich is no surprise since both systems are 6502 cpu based along with similar graphical and audio capabilities.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@CaptainDangeax]

3 level parallax in Forbidden Forest for the C64 ? You must be kidding me ! Anyway C64 forever

[@KabukiKid]

I was just playing this game only a couple days ago! I was extra amused to see it featured here. :-) Dumb coincidence.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Nice how things work out like that.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

Frogger, the C64's scrolling of the "sea" creatures, logs and Frog is not fluid like on the Atari port. That's strange since the cars are scrolling really smooth. The f-15 Strike Eagle is equally good on both platforms. On PAL systems the horizon line is slightly faster on the 800XL but to be fair it doesn't add to the game-play. The forbidden forest is hands down better on the C64 even if in the PAL version the Atari port is colorful (not grey as shown). I never liked the graphics of this game. Fort Apocalypse is equally good on both platforms. I grew up with the Atari version but I could easily be happy playing the c64 version. Frogger ii ports are trading blows . C64's frog and roaming turtle are larger and have more colorful while on the 800xl the seabed and top two "fish" rows are more colorful plus there is a more detailed frog spite when reaching the goal (log). I prefer the Pal version of the Atari vs the Pal of the C64. Fight night looks better on the C64. I never played this game so I can't say anything about the gameplay. Flip and Flop and Floyd of the Jungle feel the same. I could play both versions and have the same experience.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Always great to get your insights!! Thanks for Watching!

[@rottmanthan]

i have frogger for my atari 2600. i wanted it for my apple iie but i didnt want to pay the price. maybe some day i will come across a good deal.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Or just download it. Thanks for Watching!

[@craigwise6374]

I think they are both great Computers and if the jungle had of been black i think it would be a tie

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@mondo8bit]

Another video to enjoy 🙂. I think that Frogger and Floyd of the Jungle are the perfect example: FOTJ looks way better on the Atari, Frogger also is more detailed than the C64 version. Both games came out when the C64 was a "new thing", while Atari was already known to all the games developers. Frogger II looks, and sound, better on the C64, indeed. Odd how are similar both versions of F15! Thank Tom 🙂👍- Tony

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Excellent points on both of those games. C64 was just getting started with many classics to come!

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

"while Atari was already known to all the games developers. " -That's not true. Atari, being a game company, sued most software houses that tried to write software for their machines. De Re Atari was published only 3-4 years after the first release of the Atari 8bit line, so no one (except Atari ) really knew how to program the custom chipset of the platform. Frogger II, pixel by pixel, is graphically better on the Atari platform (PAL) with more colors on the seabed, an additional "Frog" sprite in berths and more colors in top two "fish" rows. The C64 has a better frog and turtle spite. To be fair the PAL version is always against the C64 since most games appear as purple or grey.

[@mondo8bit]

@@nickolasgaspar9660 Hi Nickolas 🙂! I understand , but indeed Atari went out years before the C64. So, developers knew it (Atari devs firsts) when the C64 became available. That, to explain the "quality growth" in the Commodore 64 games, so well shown in this video.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

@@mondo8bit The quality growth in the Atari games came years later (if not a decade) mainly in the early 90s in Eastern Europe which evolved in the modern Homebrew community we currently enjoy. Before that we can count games that use the special features of the custom silicon on the fingers of our two hands. Just knowing the machine or knowing how to program the 6502 did n't really give an edge to the Atari machine. We only know the true potential of the platform, not because of the contemporary games but from Jay Miner's talk and the later community which took advantage of the architecture.

[@mondo8bit]

@@nickolasgaspar9660 Yep, I agree with you. (Maybe we didn't understand each other, mine wasn't a point on "C64 is better than atari " 🙂 ). The same could be said about the Commodore Plus/4, look at what we have today , compared to 80's games.

[@EC5ABG]

Muy bueno!!👌

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Gracias!

[@dwaynelangerhr6985]

Had both. Loved the 64, Hated the Atari.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@gametimewithunclejer]

No t-shirt?!?!? I feel that I've been cheated! I'm suing!! I'm hiring Jim Adler - THE TEXAS HAMMER to represent me. You've been duly warned, Tom!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Lol, your obsession with Jim Adler is hilarious! Maybe next time you will be the winner

[@gametimewithunclejer]

Haha... he's just so over the top ridiculous. How could I not love ol' Jim? Honestly though, I had no idea who he was until a few days ago when I saw a video Jon Tron did on him. Look it up on here if you are interested.

[@jasonbaxter7458]

Would love a snes vs megadrive (genesis)

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@mrlodwick]

Content awesome.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@shlanawon4096]

atari

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@addisonscott7808]

I notice that Commodore 64 users never compare load time or how long it takes a commodore to load from a floppy disk as compared to the Atari. In our Atari group we used to say that by the time the Commodore has downloaded the same game, we've already finished it and gone on to another.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

I would be comparing Fujinet on the Atari vs the Ultimate II+ on the C64.

[@Retep4565]

At the time most C64 users used a speed loader cartridge and many games also had a speed loader build in. Loading times were not as a big issue as you might think.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Loved my FastLoad Cartridge!

[@addisonscott7808]

Atari didn't need this speed load cartridge. Our drives loaded very fast. And I'm taking about the old 810 drives. We also didn't have to rely on a speed driver built into the game. I had a buddy that had both the Atari 800 and a commodore 64. When we got together we played games on the Atari, so that we wouldn't be sitting around twirlingour thumbs waiting for a game to download.

[@addisonscott7808]

With a 64 I'm sure you did.

[@user-ui3qf2eb8v]

Before hosting the program, you should shave as a sign of respect to the viewers

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Nope, this is me, take it or leave it.

[@user-ui3qf2eb8v]

@@FloppyDeepDive Fair enough, I respect your choice. However, shaving might be advisable as it gives a more polished appearance.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Appreciate the feedback. My girlfriend would probably agree. Lol 😆

[@PrimeRibb69]

It’s almost unfair to compare a 70s era system to an 80s system.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

What year did the 800xl come out?

[@robanderson5673]

The Atari 800 and 400 were released in 1979, and are the basis for all Atari 8 bit computers including the XEGS game system which came out in in 1987. Between 90 and 95% of Atari software runs on the original Atari 800. The 800Xl came out in 1983. The Atari 8 bit line is considered by some to be the first gaming pc as it had hardware such as the Antic, Pokey, CTIA, and GTIA. Fun fact Jay Miner and Larry Kaplan cut their teeth designing the Atari 800 hardware and moved on to design the Amiga.

[@timecapsule5604]

The Atari 800xl and c64 came out same time it was the Atari 800 that came out in 79' at same time Intellevision came out

[@jimweil8879]

It was amazing how the Atari 800 was competitive with the C64 even though it came out years earlier.

[@Doug_in_NC]

It just shows how far ahead of its time the Atari 8 bit line really was. Sound is obviously not up to the 64’s level but a lot of other stuff was superior despite being a 5 year older basic design.