Hi and welcome to the second instalment of my C64 weekly roundup. All the latest C64 news compiled into one weekly article of news. This week we've got new game announcements, new game releases, new C64 music and utilities. There is so much going on on the C64 right now, we might have to start doing these daily!
A brand new "Sizzler" from the Zzap! 64 Annual team
Announced yesterday, the Zzap Annual 2019 Kickstarter will include perks for a brand new game from Stuart Collier (The Sky is Falling), Trevor Storey and Saul Cross. "It will be called 'Sizzler' and the premise of the game is to actually create a game by collecting the graphics, sound, code, packaging etc and getting it to 'Zzap! Towers' for Oliver Frey, Robin Hogg, Roger Kean and Jaz Rignall to review, hoping to get the 'Sizzler' rating." - Chris Wilkins.
Also confirmed is the final Zzap annual should include 30 "new" C64 game reviews. Which seems like a decent amount of content for new era C64 stuff, considering it must also share print space with the classic content. Join the Zzap Annual Facebook group for all the latest updates - Link below.
MAH by Retream
First of the new game releases this week is the crazily excellent looking MAH by Retream. It's due for release today (1st March). The game is a joint production from @RetroGamerCD for the Cartridge edition and Protovision for the C64 Disk versions, and there will also be a digital download version available on RGCD's Itch.io page.
Developed by the consistently great developers of Retream; this game looks like no other you've ever played. @RetroGamerCD also produced cart editions of one of the earlier games: Quod Init Exit back in 2012. And it's one of the few modern release cartridge games I missed out on getting (any help appreciated!). We also covered Quod Init Exit IIm, which was one of the first games I reviewed after joining Indie Retro News. If those games are anything to go by, we are in for a treat! Check out the press release and youtube videos linked below. MAH will be PAL only, so if you live across the pond play on VICE or get yourself a PAL C64... and a new president.
Developed by the consistently great developers of Retream; this game looks like no other you've ever played. @RetroGamerCD also produced cart editions of one of the earlier games: Quod Init Exit back in 2012. And it's one of the few modern release cartridge games I missed out on getting (any help appreciated!). We also covered Quod Init Exit IIm, which was one of the first games I reviewed after joining Indie Retro News. If those games are anything to go by, we are in for a treat! Check out the press release and youtube videos linked below. MAH will be PAL only, so if you live across the pond play on VICE or get yourself a PAL C64... and a new president.
Aviator Arcade II by Mark Hindsbo
3 years after we announced it, RGCD will be releasing Aviator Arcade 2. Aviator Arcade started life as a 2014 RGCD 16kb competition entry where it was placed a respectable 10th in a year where there were many fantastic entries. Antonio Savona's P0 Snake was the winner that year, and P0 Snake, Tiger Claw, C-2048, Honey Bee RX and Race have all seen updates and full C64 releases since then. This version of Aviator Arcade has added weapon power ups, homing missiles, improved graphics, end of level bosses and many useful features, such as autofire. There is a 3 level demo available to play now, and we should be looking at a release this Spring. Follow @RetroGamerCD for updates.
Psytronik start shipping
On 26th Feb I saw a tweet from Protovision with a link to pre-order two awesome new C64 games from Psytronik: "Steel Ranger", and "Pains & Aches - A Knight & Grail Adventure". This must have been a hint, because following the link now takes you to a "Psytronik's storefront is temporarily closed page". This can only mean one thing... if you were lucky enough to get in a pre-order for any of these awesome new C64 games, you'll shortly be getting them (snow permitting). The store will be back up and open for business when any outstanding orders have been shipped. I feel a little bad for putting in an order for $100 worth of Psytronik back orders two days ago now... nah not really!
A game from another dimension
One more new C64 game release to report from last week, and it's not from Psytronik or RGCD for once. This is "Star Toast" from T.N.D (The New Dimension) and it is a vertical scrolling shootemup. It's raw C64 assembly rather than SEUCK and it was released as a free download on 23rd Feb. Author Richard Bayliss has done a great job with the programming and music. It features a cool soundtrack, super fast movement and a variety of different enemy attack patterns. And that's not all, it looks like more games are being produced and released through March. Check it all out at The New Dimension website.
Honourable mentions:
This week Matt Gray has published a preview of his remake of Jonathan Dunn's classic Robocop Soundtrack, which you can hear now over at Soundcloud. Matt's working hard to produce tons of remasters of the music from classic C64 games.
Remake of Robocop C64 theme sounding like this so far.#RETROGAMING #gamedev #NewMusic #C64 #Retro https://t.co/mQsBdcT9oZ— Matt Gray (@mattgrayc64) February 27, 2018
Also music related, Jens-Christian Huus (@jchuus) has made a cool new webpage which compares the features of many C64 music editors released on a variety of platforms (Native to C64 as well as IOS, OSX, Windows and Linux. It lists all the different features available on each and compares them in an easy to view table. This is an essential guide to creating music on the C64, and if you know any more C64 music editors on any platform, get in touch with Jens-Christian.
I have made a web table that compares music editors on the Commodore 64. https://t.co/7Ns8VsBUxt #c64 #sid #commodore64 #chipmusic— Jens-Christian Huus (@jchuus) February 24, 2018
And finally, Commodore Format have opened a Patreon page, focusing C64's 1990s era when the original magazine was being published. It also has news, articles, interviews, and it is promising Patreon subscribers first access to all of these including the upcoming announcement of the return of another C64 legend!
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That's all for now, join me next week, and keep it C64!Is this worth 70p to you? Well, you get that and three other feature length articles a month on our website too. Support us and we'll keep doing 'em - https://t.co/PCXA8PqaPS— Commodore Format (@CommodoreFormat) February 28, 2018
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