Cheap Commodore 64: 30 Games in One Joystick (Video Games) (Not Machine Specific) Price

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Customer Reviews of Commodore 64: 30 Games in One Joystick

It's almost like the 1980s never really ended!
After being appalled by the utter cr@ppiness of IntelliVision's 25-in-1 plug-and-play video game system, I found myself suspicious of any P&P console that contained more than a dozen games in it. Needless to say, I was a bit leery of the Commodore 30-in-I P&P, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. I found myself in for a pleasant surprise when I discovered that my game characters responded quite well to the joystick and fire button controls for the most part, which was something that IntelliVision's offering seldom delivered. There are a few games where the response is a little sluggish... but with a bit of practice, this "drawback" can be overcome. <
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>I found most of the games' graphics were surprisingly clear and sharp... well, surprisingly clear and sharp for the time they were released. Boy, were those the days: the Commodore 64 was touted as an inexpensive alternative to the Apple and IBM computers, but ended up being little more than a glorified video game console. Which, ultimately, is what my C64 was used for more than anything else. I musta played GridRunner (a Centipede clone that was better than the original) and O'Riley's Mine (a sorta Dig-Duggish adventure) for hours on end during those long, lonely, friend-free days of yore. Sadly, neither of these games were included in this particular release; fortunately, many of the ones that WERE present more than made up for the absence of my childhood faves... <
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>Bein' a major space-case, it's a given that my fave games on this system are the space-battle-themed ones, particularly Zynaps, Cybernoid 1 & 2, and Uridium. Unfortunately, they're also among the most difficult to master, as I've yet to pass the first level on any of these games! It's really maddening some times, ya know? And don't get me started on Tower Toppler... <
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>There are also several racing games, including a motocross and the futuristic dodge-`em race game, Eliminator (highly recommended, BTW). Then there are the sports-themed games, which I'm absolutely awful at. Which is kinda fittin', seeing as how I've always been pretty bad at playing sports in real life. I did manage to get up to level 3 on the Championship Karate game, which, controls-wise, is a forerunner to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. You know, you have your joystick pointed in one direction while hittin' the fire button, your guy does a certain fighting move, that sorta thing. <
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>Also included are several role-playing -type games, none of which I particularly care for, save one: Paradroid. I found this one a bit frustrating at first, but after I got the hang of having Paradroid quickly recover from bouncing off of other droids and going through the doors and going from deck to deck on the cargo ship, I really dug it. Sadly, I've never been able to complete the game, seein' as how I get destroyed before all the objectives have been met. Them's the breaks in the plug-&-play video gaming world... <
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>Then there's the ergonomics of the control stick itself, which is surprisingly good considering the control is molded in the form of a classic C64 control, which was made at a time before carpal-tunnel syndrome became epidemic amongst gamers. Its rounded edges and corners don't dig uncomfortably into my hands, and I can usually go about a half hour on the fire button before my left thumb cramps up. I'm not too keen on the stiffness of the joystick itself, though. <
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>Bottom line: several really good (albeit maddeningly difficult) games, combined with a reasonably comfortable control stick, makes the C64 plug-&-play console a fairly fun bit of 80s video-game nostalgia. Definitely recommended. <
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This thing is the worst!
I was so glad to get my C64.I read all of the instructions and I was ready to play. The graphics and music are horrible and half of the games don't work. It keeps freezing and now it doesn't even com on. I so wish I would of read some reviews before I begged my mom to buy it. I'm just a kid, but my advice is NOT to waste your cash.