Review: C64

Overview

It's in the App Store, it's pulled from the App Store, and now it's back...again. Finally the Commodore 64 app has been approved and this time it's for good. So what exactly is this thing? Well, it's based off the Commodore 64 computer from the 80's that was really nothing more than a very early gaming system. Sure, the computer had other functions, but anyone that had one used them mostly for the games. Now you can relive some of those games right from your phone. From the retro look and feel, to the joystick style controls, get ready to be transported back to an area of nostalgia and very basic gameplay.

Features

The app comes with eight reproduced games from the Commodore 64: Dragons Den, Le Mans, International Basketball, International Soccer, International Tennis, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck, and Jack Attack. The app also supports landscape and portrait mode depending on your style of gameplay as well as all of the classic sounds from each of these games. The app also has a built in auto-save function so you can always pick up where you left off if you need to exit a game on the fly.

Breakdown

The Good:

The devs have done an amazing job with the look and feel of this game. It really brings you back to the 80's when playing these games. The sounds and controls are spot on. The gameplay, while basic, is very smooth and the app performs very well. The load times are short and each game ran without any issues.

The Bad:

After all of the hype and "Is it in the App Store, isn't in the App Store," I was a little disappointed in how many games are included in this. Not to mention that I don't remember any of these games on the 64 other than Jupiter Lander. I mean of all the titles to choose from and they pick these ones? Just a little disappointing. This app is purely novelty. It looks great and you will have fun playing the games, but after one or two times, that novelty will wear off and your left with an app with a cool interface, but not much value too it. There are more games coming in an update, but most will cost money through in-app purchases so just be aware that these eight are basically it. They are giving us a Bruce Lee game for free, but the rest will cost you up to $1.99. After the five dollar price tag, is that worth it?

The Verdict

I owned an original Commodore 64 and had more games than I could play. Literally hundreds and I don't remember hardly any of these games that come included in the C64 app. Again, this app feels more like a cool novelty than a quality gaming app. Let's see what the new update does, but I wouldn't hold your breath.