#C64 Disappointments No.6

Type-ins

I hated magazine listings. It’d take 10-year-old-me ages to type one in & EVERY TIME they failed (despite being entered correctly), my hard work rewarded with ‘ERROR IN LINE…’. Cue tears of frustration. 40 years later, the pain is still raw.

Big #C64 Disappointments - No.7

Fist 2

The epic Way of the Exploding Fist’s sequel was a real letdown. I admired the concept & wanted to like it, but its slow pace, repetitive gameplay, glitchy graphics & bugs that trapped you in parts of the map ruined any possible enjoyment.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.8

Imhotep

Ultimate’s early Speccy games were legendary & I’d loved Karnath & Entombed on the C64, so I was really looking forward to Imhotep... OMG! WTF happened here, guys? Utterly unplayable dross that's one of the 64's worst ever commercial games.

#C64 Disappointments No.9

Jaz Rignall leaves ZZAP!64

From 85-88 ZZAP! had more line-ups than the Sugarbabes & after 3 fantastic years, it was JR's time to move on. I was gutted. It was like your favourite member leaving your favourite band, and ZZAP! was never the same again.

Big #C64 Disappointments - No.10

Back to the Future

I’m still annoyed about this. One of my favourite films turned into an awful C64 game with blocky graphics & dreary gameplay. Martin Walker would go on to create several C64 classics, but this guff is better left in the past.

Big #C64 Disappointments – No.11

After Burner (Activision release)

Here we go again. All-singing-all-dancing arcade smash turned into a turgid C64 title. A cool big box with ace artwork & a free giant poster couldn’t cover up the fact that this is a pile of unplayable garbage.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.12

LCP on Tape

After reading Gary Penn’s awesome ZZAP! review, I excitedly blew my birthday cash on LCP. So, imagine my disappointment when I played it & discovered that many of its best features were disk-only & absent from the tape version! Gutted.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.13

V

I loved V, so was buzzing when Ocean announced a C64 game. However, what could’ve been brilliant (a la Project Firestart a few years later) is instead a dreary affair with stupidly hard, unfathomable gameplay. Should be fed to the lizard people.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.14

Cobra

Cobra is a great run & gunner on the Spectrum coded by ZX genius Joffa Smith. In contrast, the C64 version is a bug-riddled turkey that looks hideous & is horrible to play. Galway's soundtrack is superb but the rest of it is utterly woeful.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.15

Scooby Doo

Elite hyped up a groundbreaking ‘interactive cartoon’, the first ‘computer movie’ then released this lame platformer with ugly, p*ss yellow graphics & ultra-repetitive gameplay. Nearly as awful as Scooby's nauseating nephew Scrappy.

Big #C64 Disappointments - No.16

The Amulator

By 1988 I was older but not much wiser and yet again I fell for ZZAP!64's April Fool. The 'Amulator' was an Amiga emulator cartridge from ‘Blue Tec’ (ahem) that plugged into the back of your humble C64 and turned it into an Amiga.🤦‍♂️

New #C64 Ghostbusters game! ghostbustersnews.com/2024/05/16/gho…

Big #C64 Disappointments No.17

Enduro Racer

Converting a state-of-the-art arcade game to an 8bit computer was obviously tough but Spectrum ER is excellent. In contrast, the C64 version is dire. Bad graphics, poor controls & awful gameplay that’s nothing like the original game.

Big #C64 Disappointments – No.18

Judge Dredd

Turning one of the greatest comic-book characters of the 80s into this hunk of junk is pure vandalism. Grating sound, garish graphics, a main sprite that looks nothing like Dredd & ultra-tedious gameplay. Criminal.

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Big #C64 Disappointments – No.19

Inspector Gadget

Like Superman, Inspector Gadget had great gaming potential, but Melbourne House screwed it up big time. A bug-filled, unplayable, pile of crap, it's incredible that it got a commercial release. Go-Go-Gadget, and never come back.

The surprising story of the teenager and his dad who made C64 Out Run is told brilliantly by Martyn Carroll here - eurogamer.net/the-boy-behind….

Big #C64 Disappointments No.20

Out Run

Out Run was my No.1 arcade game in the 80s, & I couldn’t wait to be able to play it at home whenever I wanted. This isn’t an awful conversion, but with blocky graphics, ropey controls & the absence of road forks, it was a bit of a letdown.

Big #C64 Disappointments No.21

Space Harrier

With its hydraulic cab, gobsmacking graphics & stunning speech, arcade Space Harrier is an exhilarating experience. Sadly, all of this (and more) is missing from the C64 version, leaving behind a fast but shallow & repetitive game.