Shot97 Retro

  Ghostbusters Commodore 64, 1984 Activision/David Crane $29.95 *My video review for Ghostbusters *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of all writings *Discord for updates *Shown/played as designed, 60hz NTSC, 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (CRT effect) Just as everything else, the life of a computer has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A long lived platform's three distinct phases start when nobody, including the people who designed the machine, have any clue as to what its real capabilities are. Merely numbers, specs mean little until artists are able to illustrate what those numbers mean. There were those who could see a potential for the Commodore 64 equaling the state of the art arcade titles of the time, such as Donkey Kong, but third parties didn't take chances on unproven technology. Generally the first to give off the inklings of the future were the names behind the machine; Avenger, Omega Race, and Gorf were all wonderful ex...

  Jumpman Commodore 64, 1983 Randy Glover/Epyx $39.95 *My video review for Jumpman *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game played/shown in its designed NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (CRT effect) There was a time long ago which you'd find not too dissimilar from today, when everyone making a game copied the one which had come before. Today it could be described as laziness, a lack of creative soul or integrity, the full throttle toward the tried and true; that which has already been proven financially successful. In the early 1980's however, the situation was more understandable, nobody really knew any better. There were entire consoles dedicated to thinly disguised ripoffs of Pong, and while the Atari 2600 put all of those to shame, how many alien invaders were we forced to endure through never ending yet ever faster waves?  Perhaps it's simply what the people wanted, or perceived limitations of the ...