Five Classic Commodore 64 Games I Want Remade

Written by John Yan on 2/12/2009 for PC   PS3   360  

As a youngen, I spent an enormous amount of time on the Commodore 64. It was such and incredible machine for its time and the gaming scene was gangbusters during it's run. I used to get up two hours before school to play and then right back onto it when I got home. Needless to say, I grew up playing games on the C64 rather than watching TV. Now at the age of 33, I look back and have very fond memories of those days and really miss some of those games I used to play. I sometimes do fire up the emulator and play a few though but I'd love to see what companies can do today with these IPs. With that here are five games I'd love to see remade for today. These aren't my top five Commodore 64 games but the top five I'd love to see utilizing today's technology.

1) Mail Order Monsters
I'm really surprised no one has redone this game but Mail Order Monsters lets you buy, build, and fight creatures of various creations. You start out choosing a monster type with each having their own unique abilities and weaknesses. From there you outfit your monster with various weapons and skills. Once done, take your monster creation and go against another in a game of capture the flag, battle the horde, or duel to the death. It's an early EA classic that I hope someone thinks about doing over again.


2) Jumpman
Before Mario, Jumpman was a classic action platform game where you would jump, climb, and fall defusing bombs. Robots, falling bombs, and bullets were some of the hazards that you had to avoid while doing this. With 30 levels, the game offered plenty of variety making you think and react fast to the various obstacles that were in the way. I can still remember the sounds and music to this day even without the video below.


3) Autoduel
Ah, Autoduel. I bought your pen and paper game, Car Wars, after I spent about 30 some hours on this classic. My car was always outfitted with a flamethrower on the back. Just line the enemies up and let the smoke and fire fly. I always made sure I had a clone ready to go in case I died as without a clone the game was indeed over. You couldn't reload a saved game so the clone was a precious commodity that you definitely need as the game gets harder. There is a main story to the game but like today's sandbox games Crackdown and Grand Theft Auto, you were free to do other things as well and travel to other cities either by driving there or by bus. Of all the games I have here, Autoduel maybe the one I long for the most.


4) Raid on Bungeling Bay
Take a helicopter, bomb some factories, take out turrets, fight against planes, and sink a battleship. Raid on Bungeling Bay was Will Wright's first game and while the objectives are simple, the gameplay was addicting. You can see a little bit of SimCity in the game by the design of the buildings. Islands relied on each other for supplies as you'll see boats traverse between them. I'd love to see this get a little spit and polish and put up on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store.


5) Beach Head I/II
I know I'm cheating a little bit here by putting both games in at number 5 but they were both fun and different. Beach Head consisted of several different mini games where you would take down a big gun at the end. The games were different and offered a nice variety back in the day to accomplish your goal. Bead Head II is similar in the fact there are different mini games finishing with a knife throwing fight between you and the end boss. What was cool about the second one was that another player could pick up a joystick and control the enemy making it a fun competitive game.