Is the C64 worth picking up for action games?

[Obiwanshinobi]

The only C64 game I recall ever missing is Boulder Dash, which has a pretty exact remake for the PC (as well as a number of vastly enhanced ones there), so there you have it. Comic Bakery port music is remarkable.

[BrianC]

The only C64 game I recall ever missing is Boulder Dash, which has a pretty exact remake for the PC (as well as a number of vastly enhanced ones there), so there you have it. Comic Bakery port music is remarkable.

Boulder Dash is an Atari 800 port and I usually hear about that version being the definitive one (it certainly is a nice version, though BD is not exactly lacking in good ports either). I even found the NES version to be very nice, though it lacks the option to choose the difficulty before beating the game (though there are passwords), unlike most other versions.

I was amazed by the music in the Alcon/Slap Fight c64 port. The gameplay doesn't come close to the MD version, but it seemed to be a decent port.

[Marc]

I definitely find Turrican to be an odd game, what I've seen has never impressed me and I've never had the urge to play it (to my eyes, it doesn't quite seem to stack up to what japanese gaming has to offer), although I wouldn't mind trying it in emulation for a bit. But your character having no i-frame is legit bizzare, the tinyest monster being on top of you for 2 full seconds will just drain your lifebar straight up. Wtf? The blocks you shoot and that release absolutely all of the available powerups is also some alien design to me... I just find that an odd design choice and it has me scratching my head. The collect-a-ton aspect also puzzles me in a run 'n gun game... Does Mega Turrican on MD fixes these issues? I might give it a shot down the line when I get around to picking up a flash cart, with what louisg said.

I agree that there are some unusual design choices, but IMO they do woek actually nicely in those games. You just have to unlearn what you have learned before. I actually never considered Turrican I+II as run'n'gun games, as the exploration aspect was always on the forefront for me. They are really easy, too. I used to finish each with 20-30 extra lives in stock.

Mega Turrican (in fact all of the Factor-5-designed console Turricans, as opposed to the Manfred-Trenz-designed parts I and II) almost completely ditches the exploration aspect in favour of very linear levels, and they are much worse games for it. The console Turricans are okay-ish run'n'guns on consoles that house much better examples of the genre. The home computer Turricans (I+II) are more or less their own genre. Whether that's something you appreciate is a matter of taste.

However, as much as I still enjoy them despite their apparent flaws, you don't really play any Turrican game for the game, you play it to listen to the fantastic music, which is why playing it on the C64 is probably not the best choice, as those versions don't have in-game music at all.

Back to the original topic, there really isn't very much on the C64 in regards to worthwhile action games except for the handful already mentioned.

I agree, the Turrican games are a funny mix that, while not excelling in any particular aspect, do come together to form an enjoyable enough whole. I'm fond of the C64 versions simply because they were a huge technical achievement at the time, but in reality there's almost no reason to not play the Amiga versions instead. The music in the second game is one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time IMO - the intro music is particularly stunning.

Funnily enough, back in the day I felt exactly the way you do about the console versions - they diluted the original to the point where they merely felt like average run & gun games. Having revisited Super Turrican lately though, I'm almost entirely of the opposite opinion. The originals feel a bit too sprawling for me now, whereas Super tightens it all up a bit so there aren't as many screens of nothingness to trudge through, and still has more freedom than traditional R&G. Super 2 on the other hand is a total mess, a complete embarrassment next to something like Contra III.

[MJR]

Some weird opinions here; all 80's kids knew that Commodore 64 was the go-to choice for action games or games of almost any genre. I was never much impressed with NES or master system compared to C64 (with the exception of few obvious classics), not enough to get myself one, so I always missed the nostalgia train with those.

Some of the best action games for c64 are:

Wizard of Wor
Impossible Mission
Monty on the run
Commando Arcade
Kung Fu Master (I like the c64 version a lot)
International Karate and IK+
Green Beret
Druid and Druid 2
Parallax
Terra Cresta
West Bank (unofficial conversion from Sega's Bank Panic, and damn good one!)
Bruce Lee
Mikie (I like this better than the arcade version)
Armalyte
Sanxion
Auf wiedersehen Monty
Barbarian 2
Hades Nebula
Wonder Boy (Great conversion!)
Mega Apocalypse
Quedex
Street Hassle
Nebulus
Cosmic Causeway
Skate or die
IO (Best graphics in any c64 or 8-bit game)
Samurai Warrior (Only known game about Usagi Yojimbo, and its great)
Delta
Salamander
Zamzara
Bubble Bobble
Phobia (great shmup once you get into it, slow paced though)
Buggy Boy
Myth (Amazing graphics from Bob Stevenson again)
Ghost'n'goblins (there is better version now, called ghost'n'goblins arcade)
Alien Syndrome
Katakis
Giana Sisters
X-Out
Wizball
Hawkeye
Nemesis the warlock
Uridium and Uridium+

And for curiosity's sake, you should check out arcade conversions of Toki and Dragon Breed, just to see how much this old machine was pushed in it's twilight years.. Mayhem in Monsterland being the absolute technical tour de force.

And Turrican 1 & 2.. these are underrated classics which I hold in very high regard these days. The problem I have with lots of games, especially today when everyone is "professonial" making them is the by-the-numbers level design that offers no surprises at all. Manfred Trenz was amateurish when designing levels for sure, but he also spent lots and lots of time on fine tuning them, and they ended up amateurish - in a good way! What this means that the levels play out in totally unexpected ways. The smallest tiny crack in the background can lead you into giant 'rabbit hole', revealing huge amount of play map, hidden bonuses, enemies, even hidden bosses. None of the things that I have learned to expect to see during the years hold true here, that's why Turrican, especially the original c64 versions, have the most uncommon property: they can surprise you. This being said, you might want to get a map somewhere before even attempting.