SILENT SERVICE | Commodore 64 (1985)

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

What's your favourite Microprose simulation game ? 😇🕹👌 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= More from 1985: tinyurl.com/1985-C64-GAMES My Top Picks: tinyurl.com/CCGS-BEST-GAMES

[@vidarlystadjohansen9829]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer airborne ranger

[@Alpha_Omega_1541]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer that’s a thought question, not sure they made a bad game. I’d have to say Gunship or F-19 Stealth Fighter

[@markadshead4214]

The only game my Dad ever played. Thanks for the memories. 😁

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Ahhh nice memories. Pure nostalgia 😇🕹️👌

[@Enfors]

1:24 "Essentially, founding a whole new SUB-genre". Yeah, you got that right. 🙂

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Cant beat a good ole pun every now and then 😇🕹️👌

[@m0nde]

This was one of my favorites on the C64.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

I love a good simulator game and this was one of the very best 😇🕹️👌

[@PaoloD2R2]

Golden times of Microprose Simulations on 8bit, and this 12 yrs old italian kid learning english reading all those gorgeous user manuals, and enjoying those great games

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Superb to hear you played these amazing simulations - pure class for such an early C64 title 😇🕹️👌

[@ArttuTheCat]

MicroProse Software inspired me to play the old classic games on the Commodore 64 and Amiga 500 😺👍. I was even lucky to find SOLO FLIGHT (loose, tape) for the Commodore 64 from a thrift market in Koivukylä, Vantaa (Finland 🇫🇮) in the spring 2022 😺👍. And it cost only 2€ 😹😺👍🕹️. Also, i still have MICROPROSE SOCCER for the Commodore 64 in a compilation called SOCCER STARS (CiB, disk) 😺👍🕹️. I still want to look for both of the SILENT SERVICE I & II for both of my Commodore 64 and Amiga 500 😹😺👍🕹️.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Microprose games, along with many times from Accolade, were superb for their simulation style and great depth. A 'manual reader' lovers dream! Some of which were 50+ pages long! I still have my Pirates manual in pristine condition. A great read! 😇🕹️👌

[@cdldriver2348]

I just checked Ebay, there are almost (70) Silent Service & (11) Silent Service II for C64 & Amiga for sale now.

[@Syragar]

I really like some simulation games, but I didn't really understand this one back in the day because I didn't have a manual. LOL I should give it a whirl now that the manual is easily available.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Yeah, it's a BIG read... but once you've read through it, you'll get an understanding of the game and will definitely have a completely different experience when you play it again 😇🕹️👌

[@Alpha_Omega_1541]

If you lost that manual you had to guess at authentication.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

If you lost the manual, you was pretty much goosed! Thank god for emulators as now we can play these absolute classics once more 😇🕹️👌

[@cdldriver2348]

I still own the 5 1/4" floppy of this game for my C64 and when I was in high school in 1988-1989, I made it to Fleet Admiral. I joined the U.S. Navy, partly to this game and retired after 21 years in 2011.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Fair play to you! It's amazing to learn how some games may have inspired people - but the Microprose games were superbly made and very addictive. I can see how you could have wanted to be in the Navy from playing this great submarine sim 😇🕹️👌

[@MrLondonGo]

Great post! You never tempted to become a Submariner during your service?

[@cdldriver2348]

@@MrLondonGo I had the chance in April 1990, at the time, I was told is you go subs you can never go to a surface ship. Then in 1996, I found out that was not true. Then in 2004 I was stationed on the Emory S Land and there part of the crew were submariners who, it was considered shore duty for them.

[@gamingtonight1526]

Put 100s of hours into this game! Was one of the minority of British kids that had a 1541 floppy back in the day!

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

You certainly was!! I'd have given one of my kidneys for the 1541 back in the day 😇🕹️👌

[@exidy-yt]

My friends and I spent WAY too much time playing this! Even without the manual we put in the effort to figure everything out, and the satisfaction of ambushing and wiping out an escort destroyer with torpedoes, then surfacing in the middle of the helpless convoy and sending all those troop transports to Davy Jones' Locker with the deck gun is not to be forgotten. The blocky graphics vanished and your mind's eye took over. ABSOLUTELY a BIG thumbs up.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Has to be a big thumbs up this one definitely, such a classic game 😇🕹️👌

[@desgilroy1357]

Used to love torpedoeing battleships from behind shallow draft skiffs.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

That was always a great tactic - sounds like you had the tactics for this game nailed down 😇🕹️👌

[@caeserromero3013]

My dad bought this in '85 but I was really too young for it then. I remember loading it up a few times and not really doing much with it. Christmas eve '90 I picked it up again and played it and actually got into it and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, Christmas day, we got the Megadrive and the C64 was put away for many years. Ironically, one of the first games I got for the Megadrive (it was bundled with Sonic) was 688 Attack Sub (which I'd played on PC). That game was graphically similar to SS II.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Always good to revisit classics such as this, it's still a great game after all these years - 688 Attack Sub was a decent game too! I had that for my Mega Drive too 😇🕹️👌

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

As a kid I just didn't have the patience to learn this game, but as an adult I can appreciate it a lot more.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

I'm finding that with a lot of the games which had massive game manuals. I never had the patience to properly learn how to play the games back as a kid, but am very much enjoying revisiting them now... even after all these years later 😇🕹️👌

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer To be fair, people knew what they were getting into when they bought games like this, especially if they read the reviews for it which praised it (deservedly) but talked about the level of detail and knowledge required to play it. I think I downloaded it from a local BBS - without a manual - so I was 100% lost!

[@matslarsson5988]

I loved this one back in the days. This is one of those games that probably had an advantage from its by today's standards simple graphics. Another being Elite. Where your brain filled in the gaps and made the experience much more immersive. Got some really intense gaming moments from this one. Something you might not think from just seeing some screenshots.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Very true, there were some incredibly tense moments in gaming playing Silent Service. The absolute silence and almost claustrophobic atmosphere at times ensured that this game was brimming with pure addictiveness! Simple, yet very effective game - as was 'Elite'. Two absolute greats 😇🕹👌

[@viccruikshank2441]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer totally agree. The tension of avoiding a depth charge attack was some of the most intense in gaming. I loved this game. You weren’t bogged down in graphics which made it super playable and fun.

[@DirkDierickx]

Never played SS, but i did play SSII to death, also 688 Attack Sub (which was much simpler compared to SSII, but still a good sub-sim game).

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Had 688 on the Mega Drive and loved it... great simulator games 😇🕹️👌

[@defdc]

Spent plenty of time with this on the Atari 800. Why didn't I get SS2 on the C=. Software was just to be purchased around where I lived. They fed my Ultima, Bards Tale, and SSI D&D gold box addictions, but other games, were just not to be found! (Like Shinobi from the last vid! I would have bought that in a second!)

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Those RPG games were superb for the Commodore 64 - I really want to make some videos of them but they would take sooooo long to capture the footage. I will get around to them one day though, especially 'Bards Tale'... love that game 😇🕹️👌

[@agentmith]

I never had a C64; we grew up around IBM and Atari computers in the 80s, but I always look forward to your videos. I’ve wanted to get into C64 for a long time but the software library is so massive that it’s hard to single anything out that aren’t the same regurgitated cross-platform games or arcade ports on popular top # lists that you see everywhere. I’ve found quite a few new games thanks to your channel and I look forward to whenever I see a new video of yours popping up on my feed. I’ve wondered, do you always have some personal experience with the games you review? If not, how are they selected?

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Thankyou, much appreciated. As for personal experience... sure, it was thanks to my older brother who would 'procure' hundreds of games per month on Turbo Load or 'Copied' games... so we'd literally play new games daily, even back in the 80s! As for the selection process... well, it's purely random. Depends on what I want to revisit on that particular day - check out the discord or even Patreon where we discuss this in more detail 😇🕹️👌

[@roguerifter9724]

I have the PC ports digitally and owned the PC port and NES port when I was a kid. Silent Service II was probably my favorite of their sims. Unless Pirates counts as a sim

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Pirates is my favourite game of all time for the Commodore 64, superb game. This one however has to be right up there as one of the best 'sims' ever made for the C64 😇🕹️👌

[@adroharv5140]

excellent. Looks to be just as enthralling on the C64. I originally played this on the ST and then eventually for Amiga. I never did play the second game but vowed I would one day and it looks like I definitely should

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Yeah 100%, Silent Hunter II builds upon the original massively and puts polish to an already superb game 😇🕹️👌

[@MechaFenris]

This was a SUPERB game. I spent a long time playing it. I never got tired of it, even though I never made it to Admiral.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

All we needed back in the 80s was plenty of time on our hands and a great imagination... I was absolutely drawn in with this game and at times, the silence could be incredibly tense! Atmospheric brilliance 😇🕹️👌

[@The_Badseed]

Love the C64 and these early sub games were really cool. I had an Apple IIc and had a very similar game called Gato that I loved. Nothing like piling up that enemy tonnage

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Once you get your teeth into these Simulation games, they'd have you hooked for hours on end. Brilliant memories in gaming 😇🕹️👌

[@MammaApa]

I played very little of this game as I was 9 when we got our Commodore and did not have the patience for such games but watched as my 7 year older brother played for many more hours than I cared for, as we shared the computer. Isn't it my turn soon!?

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

My brother seldom let me play single player games as he had no patience to sit around and wait for his turn haha. But, with this and also another MIcroprose game 'Pirates', we'd sit and plot out our adventures together, playing as a team. Brilliant memories 😇🕹️👌

[@delsydsoftware]

This is another game that I played on the NES instead of the C64, but it was one of my favorite games. The lack of music and minimal sounds made some encounters so tense.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

A supremely atmospheric game in places wasn't it... the isolation and the intense battles was a lovely contrast of gaming moments 😇🕹️👌

[@orangespy]

SS Looks amazing, sad I missed it! Though, I think my first uboat sim was aces of the deep on PC! What a time!

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Simulation games were very engrossing and took a lot of patience... but once you get into them, they're brilliant aren't they 😇🕹️👌

[@MrLondonGo]

This used a keyboard overlay like Gunship and Airbourne Ranger no?

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Didn't come with my copy of the game, but I'm not certain if it was supplied with one in the US... doubt it though. It just had a very large fold out sheet with a quick reference guide to keyboard commands 😇🕹️👌

[@pjcnet]

I remember this, it was an excellent simulator for it's time, all crammed into 64K, incredible.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Amazing just what the guys at Microprose could produce for the Commodore 64 😇🕹️👌

[@suucat]

Oh man, i spent so many hours clearing all those war patrols, this game is so much fun, and yeah, i really miss a lot those game manuals...

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

The game manuals were very well designed and concise.... I wish I would have kept the majority of my originals now 😇🕹️👌

[@beanburritos6393]

A SId Meier classic! What a great game. I sank so many Japanese convoys.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Good man! Always a great achievement to become good at this game - a steep learning curve, but superb once mastered 😇🕹️👌

[@grumsproduktion4083]

O God such memories... Dad loved this game, and whenever he had a BBQ we were out and "played" Silent Service...

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Good memories, some games will bring back instant nostalgia and I'm glad this is one of them. Classic 😇🕹️👌

[@Eirath]

Microprose always delivered on the manuals.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

They were a great read - and so comprehensive 😇🕹️👌

[@azmodanpc]

My dad played the Amiga version and was very fond of it

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Superb memories 😇🕹️👌

[@vidarlystadjohansen9829]

I almost never got into simulator games, but always admired them

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

What would have put many off was the extra large game manuals and back when we were 5,6,7 or 8 years old... this was a big ask to read through them from to back 😇🕹️👌

[@aleksazunjic9672]

Back in the day, I won this game in a competition of a local computer magazine. 😁 They had certain number of "surplus" games, and were giving them up to lucky readers who wrote them a letter (regular snail mail back in the day 😁) . Of course, you had better chance if your letter was somehow motivated, and I decorated mine with drawings of subs, torpedoes and burning ships 😁 I guess other kids went for regular, flashier games (usual assortment of action, combat, platformers, racing games ...) and I didn't have much competition on this. So they printed the names of the winners in their next number, and at the bottom of the list I was there with Silent Service. Game arrived few days later, and after that hours of me playing it until I managed to master it (always on top difficulty 😀) . Anyway, later I had the chance to play these other games, and I still consider that Silent Service was best of them.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Ahhh cool! Thanks for sharing this - I too applied for many competitions in magazines with the regular snail-mail letters... alas, never heard anything back haha. I was also one of those who applied to be on the TV show 'Knightmare' pretty much every week but to no avail! Haha. Silent Service, one of the best for sure 😇🕹️👌

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer Looks like the key was to be strategic 😁It was the tail end of the competition (they did run it trough several monthly issues) and for the game that nobody wanted😁 I actually had a feeling I will win it, thus was not surprised. As for Knightmare, they supposedly used child actors for this, not just regular kids.

[@brantsemallory726]

I spent so many hours playing this as a teenager. Brilliant game!

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Superb isn't it, such an addictive and atmospheric classic 😇🕹️👌

[@Charles_Bro-son]

German here, we played the hell out of this xD

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Haha awesome! It was a shame they banned SO MANY games in Germany! Usually, they were the best games too! Glad you managed to get a copy of this game as it was definitely too good to miss out on 😇🕹️👌

[@Charles_Bro-son]

@@CheekyCommodoreGamer Nothing better than a ban to make copies go around on the school yard!

[@petercortens6019]

@@Charles_Bro-son I imagine. The first cracked games I saw, like in '84, came from Germany, "German Cracking Service" or something

[@themadmoderator8465]

played so many hours on the amiga version

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Classic game isn't it, Silent Hunter II for the Amiga was pure bliss 😇🕹️👌

[@cubes123]

I spent sooooo long playing this!

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Me too, Microprose games had the ability to keep me glued to the screen for hours on end 😇🕹️👌

[@Steve_UK77]

Lol 'Water bombs' 😄

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Haha well... could be! 😁🕹️👌

[@sergiogabbiani1614]

Beatifull game!!

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

Smashing game, such an immersive classic 😇🕹️👌