Year 10: February Update

The blog reached its 10th year! I don't update often, but I'll try to keep it going for as long as I can. Since my last update I built a new computer, as my video card was more than seven years old and I think the rest of my PC was at least 12 years old. Unfortunately, RAM prices took off just as I was beginning my parts research, so it wasn't a great time to build a new one, but necessary. Although I'm not doing too many videos here of late, the upgrades will definitely help with the speed of video and photo editing. Now I have this great computer for games and instead of putting it to the test, the first gaming I did was stream Indiana Jones and the Great Circle through Amazon Prime. I don't normally subscribe to anything, but I had an offer for a year of Amazon Prime and signed up primarily for TV streaming without even realizing it included games. The only graphics option when streaming Indiana Jones was 720p or 1080p, and I expect the game would look better if played locally. Still, it was more or less free, and it ran well, only freezing one time. Most of the levels are open areas to explore, and I enjoyed the story, as well as playing as Indiana Jones. Surprisingly, the puzzles are all rather simple, especially compared to the Uncharted and Tomb Raider games. It's not as action-oriented as those games either; Indy can whip, shoot, and use his fists, but he can also wear disguises to avoid conflict and most of the game plays like a first-person adventure.

One game I was hoping to play on this new PC eventually was Ghost of Yōtei. Now I'm uncertain that will ever happen, as recent news reports have stated that Sony is moving away from porting its PlayStation exclusives to PC and I don't want to purchase a PlayStation 5. Maybe Sony will change its mind when console sales slow due to the higher hardware costs, a result of the data centers buying up electronics parts and driving up prices, like the aforementioned RAM. In other gaming news, Sonic the Hedgehog turns 35 this year, a new C64 system is on the way, new Star Wars games were unveiled in December, and a new Masters of the Universe game is coming soon. The $349.99 (more for Starlight and Founders editions) Commodore 64 Ultimate is like an original C64 rebuilt and can connect to old C64 hardware, while running games from a USB drive. 

At The Game Awards back in December we got a look at Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Fate of the Old Republic. From developer Fuse Games, Galactic Racer features pod racing and speeder bikes. Fate of the Old Republic is a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic in development at Arcanaut Studios. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction is a side-scrolling combat game coming April 28, 2026 from Bitmap Bureau and Limited Run Games.

Of course, I cannot write a blog update without LEGO news. In January, LEGO unveiled its SMART Play System, which adds technology to bricks and minifigures to create sound effects when users move objects. Star Wars sets featuring SMART Play actually release tomorrow and because you are paying for the tech, you get less pieces than traditional LEGO sets at a higher price. Thus far seven sets have been announced, ranging from $39.99 for Luke's Landspeeder to $159.99 for Throne Room Duel & A-wing.

Thanks for visiting,

Jonathan

The Commodore Games That Live On and On (Compute!'s Gazette - December 1987)

This is an article scanned from the December 1987 issue of Compute!'s Gazette that details the top three best-selling Commodore 64 games from 13 major publishers: Access Software, Accolade, Activision, Avalon Hill, Broderbund, Electronic Arts, Epyx, Firebird, Infocom, MicroProse Software, Mindscape, SubLogic, and Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). That's 39 games covered across only four pages, of which I've played a dozen on C64 and one on another platform.

[YouTube] SimCity

https://youtu.be/JbX2OwG9FzQ

Above is a "Let's Play" video for SimCity on the Commodore 64 (C64) that includes an intro with an unboxing. I decided to do a blog post to go with the video since it is a significant game and this way I can also include magazine reviews. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any reviews of the C64 version. While the review from Video Games & Computer Entertainment (VG&CE) doesn't actually state the platform being reviewed, it clearly is not for the C64 version. That review mentions adjusting taxes, building police and fire stations, constructing a sports stadium, starting funds that vary by difficulty level, and multiple windows with graphs onscreen while playing. In the Amiga review from Commodore Magazine, the writer also mentions flooding, air, and nuclear meltdown disasters, multiple game speeds, a traffic helicopter, ships, railways, and how the zones change, such as houses transforming into apartment buildings. None of these things are in the C64 version. It's normal for games available on multiple computers to be of the lowest quality on the C64 but typically that is in regards to graphics. With SimCity there is a lot missing in the C64 release, though it does include a terrain editor which is a separate purchase on other platforms. At least it also retailed for $20 less than the others (the VG&CE review states the Amiga version was $44.95 but the Maxis newsletter I posted earlier has it at $49.95).

              VG & CE - November 1989                 Commodore Magazine - October 1989

The box and its contents are scanned below. I only included a few pages of the 44-page manual.

Taito: The Arcade Leader Brings it Home (Commodore Magazine - May 1989)

This is an article from the May 1989 issue of Commodore Magazine that focuses on Taito's arcade to home game ports. There aren't a lot of images in these scans, unfortunately, but plenty of text, the majority of which is of the writer comparing the arcade games to the Commodore 64 versions. Early in the article it is interesting to hear how Taito held off on Amiga conversions at the same time because the quality would have been high enough to draw business away from the arcade games. While founded in Japan, Taito was actually started by a Ukrainian businessman and you can read a bit more about the company history in the Taito America ads post. 

89's Best Games! (Compute's Gazette for C64/128 Users - December 1989)

This is the first article I've scanned from Compute's Gazette as I don't have too many issues. It is fairly short and the last two pages don't have much color because that's how it was printed in the magazine. I may have stated previously that 1989 is a great year in gaming, certainly one of my favorites as that's when the Sega Genesis released in North America, as did the Game Boy and quite a few great games. Of course, being a Commodore magazine this best of list is all C64 games. From what I've played of Compute's Gazette's choices, my favorites include Kings of the Beach, Omni-Play Basketball, SimCity (FYI: Will Wright is 61 today), and Curse of the Azure Bonds (I played the DOS version rather than C64). At some point I'll definitely do a "Let's Play" video for SimCity as long as the disk still works. Commodore's version is limited compared to the features found on other platforms but I still had a lot of fun with it.

Actually, I've only played one other game here and it's an odd one to include. Sharing the spotlight with Curse of the Azure Bonds is Hillsfar, a game that disappointed me quite a bit when I was younger. It's a companion to the excellent Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" games from SSI of which Curse of the Azure Bonds is a part of. You basically import and export characters from the role-playing titles to gain some extra experience. If I recall correctly, there are four activities: ride a horse (side-scrolling action), rob homes (overhead view), shoot archery targets (move a crosshair), and fight in an arena (stand in place blocking and attacking). 

Gaming Ads: Game Magazines

This ads post is a bit different than most of the others in that it's not about the games but rather the magazines most of the game ads are from. Magazines were a significant part of gaming in the late '80s and early '90s because without the Internet this was the way to learn about a game outside of a brief television commercial or reading a game box while at the store. Not all of them are only about video games though, as some are computer/tech related too. I've got more than 200 ads of this type and just over half of those are from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) as I opted to scan the contest pages it ran each month. If you've been reading the blog since it launched then you've probably noticed I read a lot of EGM and Video Games & Computer Entertainment, plus a fair amount of GamePro in the early '90s. I also have a handful of old issues of Game Player's, Game Informer, and Commodore Magazine. In the late '90s I primarily stuck with Next Generation and some magazines dedicated to specific consoles.

Game Magazines albums: Facebook - Google Photos