Best VIC-20 Games?

[carlsson]

Yes, a little. I even owned it on original tape. It is sleek and minimalistic. Since I begun logging my times in July 2013, I've only spent 5 mins with that game though.

[Mayhem]

Yeah, I've played Blue Star a fair bit. It's meant to be a Jet Set Willy clone (go look that up) but stored in just 3.5k. It works by using inflated characters as the basis for the room designs, if you pay close attention to the layouts.

[RobertB]

BassGuitari wrote:

 

> what are some good games a little more off the beaten path? Any VIC-20 exclusives?

I like the more recent, "spacey" games, like Super Starship Space Attack and Pulse.

 

Happy New Year,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[CrazyBoss]

Vic20 had one of the best chess games (compared to what the Vic could do). I like play it evne today I think it was cartridge VIC1919. A quite strong chess game.

Radar Rat (Rally-X clone) was quite funny, but drives your crazy with the music

[carlsson]

The chess game would be Sargon II. Actually I think Grandmaster for 16K expanded VIC-20 is a bit stronger in gameplay, but I'm no chess player so I could be wrong.

[The Evener]

Bump! I recently set up my VIC-20 as part of my 8-bit console "library" after sitting in a container for about 20 years -- I picked it up years earlier when I was gathering classic consoles and computers at flea markets or thrift stores. I set out my classic consoles about two years ago, but finally decided to make room for some of my computers.

The VIC-20 definitely holds a special place in my video game "up-bringing" - I used to visit a video store (VHS and Beta) and they had a computer section devoted to the VIC and the Atari 400/800 -- I had forgotten how many game cartridges were released for the VIC, not to mention the tight fit a lot of carts had! I've just started cycling through some of the games in the library; a favourite of mine is Cosmic Cruncher, complete with the Commodore "C" you control -- it always seemed to be the demo game at the video store. And I just tried Garden Wars last night -- that game is crazy stuff! The VIC-20 is definitely an under-appreciated system - I should know

[Chris++]

My favorite is the VIC-exclusive Scorpion, by Dragonfly / Tronix. I even wrote a Bookcast chapter about it. It's astonishing how smooth the scrolling is, and how fast (and accurate) the player and enemy movements are -- considering that everything is composed of redefined characters! Jimmy Huey did an amazing job.

 

I'm not sure how to find a physical copy of the game; I use an emulator. It's possible that it was only released on cassette.

 

The object, apart from blasting everything that gets in your way, is to drag the frog eggs back to your lair. The eggs hatch quickly, however, and the newborn frogs are lethal to the touch. They skip right over the tadpole phase, and start hopping around the maze right away.

 

Each frog can be stunned with just one shot, so you can drag him to your scorpion house instead of his egg. If you don't reach your lair before he wakes up, he'll escape, so you'll have to turn around and stun him again (or get out of his way!). It's an immensely fun game. I was hooked pretty quickly after figuring out how to play it.

 

This guy did a decent job of demonstrating it:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXnkx27NyY

[Guest LiqMat]

My favorite is the VIC-exclusive Scorpion, by Dragonfly / Tronix. I even wrote a Bookcast chapter about it. It's astonishing how smooth the scrolling is, and how fast (and accurate) the player and enemy movements are -- considering that everything is composed of redefined characters! Jimmy Huey did an amazing job.

 

I'm not sure how to find a physical copy of the game; I use an emulator. It's possible that it was only released on cassette.

 

The object, apart from blasting everything that gets in your way, is to drag the frog eggs back to your lair. The eggs hatch quickly, however, and the newborn frogs are lethal to the touch. They skip right over the tadpole phase, and start hopping around the maze right away.

 

Each frog can be stunned with just one shot, so you can drag him to your scorpion house instead of his egg. If you don't reach your lair before he wakes up, he'll escape, so you'll have to turn around and stun him again (or get out of his way!). It's an immensely fun game. I was hooked pretty quickly after figuring out how to play it.

 

This guy did a decent job of demonstrating it:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXnkx27NyY

 

Wow. That looks great. It looks like an early version of the TurboGrafx-16 game Dungeon Explorer. Pretty cool!

 

There is a cheap cassette copy on Ebay right now. Unfortunately it is PAL.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMMODORE-VIC-20-SCORPION-GAME-/291696229603?hash=item43ea733ce3:g:zlcAAOSw6EhURsCo

Edited March 20, 2016 by LiqMat

[Mayhem]

No, that is not the same game. Scorpion by Livewire (on tape) is a Centipede clone. Scorpion by Tronix (cartridge ONLY) is completely different as the video shows.

 

If you're just after a way to play lots of games via multicart for the Vic20, then look up the Behr Bonz.

[BassGuitari]

I had forgotten...[snip]...the tight fit a lot of carts had!

 

No kidding! I actually broke my Defender cart in my VIC-20. :/

 

[Guest LiqMat]

No, that is not the same game. Scorpion by Livewire (on tape) is a Centipede clone. Scorpion by Tronix (cartridge ONLY) is completely different as the video shows.

 

If you're just after a way to play lots of games via multicart for the Vic20, then look up the Behr Bonz.

 

Thanks for clarifying.