Because of the way all this hardware was packed together, handling the machine meant knowing its memory map and registers by heart, and dominating quite a collection of tricks, some of which weren’t documented at all. Programming the C64 was more than a lot of fun, it was a form of art. This was impressive in the 80s, for a relatevily cheap mass-market personal computer. Chips would have to be turned on or off, or instructed to look for data at specific RAM/ROM locations all the time to make the most of the machine as a whole. For instance the $D000-$DFFF block could be used for RAM, I/O or access to Character ROM, by the CPU, depending on a $0001 setting. To cope with all these chips inside 64Kbytes of addressable memory, the C64 had something called memory overlay, in which different chips would access different physical data locations for the same memory address. The CPU and the other chips also shared common data and memory BUSes. For instance, the VIC-II could generate interrupts on automatic sprite collisions. These chips were not only powerful for the time, but they could perform their tasks autonomously, independently of what the main CPU, a MOS technology 6510 microprocessor, was doing. Unlike most of the others, the C64 had dedicated advanced MOS chips for graphics and sprites (the VIC-II), sound (the SID), I/O (the CIA), and many others. Its hardware and architecture set it appart from other 8-bit personal computers at the time. The C64 was a famous 8-bit machine in the 80s and the highest-selling single computer model ever. Even with games I was suddenly really looking forward to playing again, such as Uridium, Skool Daze or Everyone’s a Wally, I’m glad I experienced them, but I can’t quite imagine devoting time to playing through them now.This is a pure 6510 assembly program for the Commodore 64 made by Bright Pixel in 2019, because why not. But I wonder a little about the longevity of it in the household, and whether that justifies the price. For the more adventurous, the USB port can be used to load other software onto it, potentially expanding the number of vintage games available. In particular, I was surprised at just how evocative the faithfully reproduced sound was. If you had a Commodore 64 when you were growing up you will definitely enjoy the nostalgic blast from this mini console. I was also concerned about the robustness of the supplied joystick controller, and I didn’t feel it always delivered the pixel-perfect control that many of these games rely on. On many of the games, though, my kids found the learning curve very steep, the attrition rate of losing lives high, and some of the action quite baffling. The joystick supplied with the unit features eight buttons Photograph: Retro Games Ltd I also experienced more than one complete system freeze. That doesn’t mimic a qwerty layout, instead appearing as a strip down the right-hand side, which significantly reduces typing speed. Unless you plug in an additional USB keyboard your text entry is via a visual interface on screen. It works fine using the phone charger you almost certainly have lying around, and there is a lead supplied, but it does mean it’s not quite out-of-the-box ready.Īnd while the build faithfully replicates the C64, the keyboard isn’t functional. The C64 Mini doesn’t come with its own mains adaptor. You can’t help but feel impressed by the creativity of the descriptions for games that, particularly for the shoot-em-up genre, are very often not much more than “move a sprite across the screen to fire a dot at some other sprites”. Games are accessed via a carousel menu, which gives you a brief oversight of the title and a screenshot. The C64 mini packaging Photograph: Retro Games Ltd
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