First of all, the Commodore 64 miniature version of the 80's gaming home computer needed two features: 1) having a working keyboard 2) a very good joystick.
Oh, her.
Obviously,
TheC64 Mini is a development of the popular Nintendo tendency to recreate the old gaming hardware on a smaller scale, with a lot of universal connectors and a bunch of firmware instead of annoying replacement of cartridges / disks, plus life-saving additions in the form of high download speeds and saved. Usually a nostalgic middle-aged gamer wants to join the relics of his childhood without messing around with a bunch of wires and not taking up too much space on the table.
Today we look at a small remake of Commodore 64, an important event in the world of personal computers from 1982 to 1994, both for games and for work, which was also used for home programming. Although what we call PC today has become one of the computing devices that eventually led to the death of the C64, Commodore eight-bit machines occupy one of the primary pages in the history of PC gaming.
It’s nice to look at the Mini, its brown hues bring back memories of the 80s, but, on the other hand, it feels like a physical object with an empty plastic brick. In terms of functionality, it mimics the basic ideas used in the popular NES and SNES Mini Classic. In addition to reducing the size, HDMI and USB ports have been added to the plastic twenty-centimeter case, that is, the C64 Mini can be connected to any modern TV or monitor without any configuration. He displays the picture “only” at 720p, which of course is much more than the maximum resolution of 320 × 200 pixels of the original C64; but the zoom is perfect even on a 4K screen.
The task of Nintendo was a bit simpler, and not only because this company could spend an endless amount of money on research and development. NES and SNES never demanded anything other than launching games, and their gamepads have much in common with the design basics still used in modern game controllers.
Unlike these consoles, the C64 was a real computer with an operating system, a huge and poorly adjustable software library, with much more functionality than the console. The form of the clumsy joystick of this computer has also become a symbolic one, but it is built on principles that are very different from the design of game controllers of the 21st century. In addition, the C64 was famous for its keyboard located above the computer itself. And it would have required much more than a few six-button controller micro switches.
This is probably why the C64 Mini keyboard is a single piece of Lithuanian brown plastic, which, alas, has purely decorative functions. If you want to make something simple, for example, enter your name in one of the many games, or do something more complicated, such as writing code on BASIC, then you have to either connect an external keyboard via USB or use a slow and annoying on-screen virtual keyboard (fu!).
The official position is that such a tiny keyboard could not be realized on this brown brick only 20 centimeters wide, however it never stopped Blackberry or Psion. I will not argue that a full-sized keyboard with Tic-Tac half-pea keys would be incredibly comfortable, but everyone I first showed this miracle tried to print on it first, after which a frown appeared on their face. Some things people just need, and this is just one of them.
The joystick could have been perfectly redeemed, but it became an even more critical failure on the part of C64 Mini developers from Retro Games Ltd. The black square / red grip / two huge buttons form factor may evoke memories of one of the most favorite gaming peripherals of the 1980s, but the appearance hints that the C64 joystick in 1985 was just as uncomfortable to use as in 2018 year
But it is not. Yes, of course, at that time a lot of attention was not paid to ergonomics, so we had to either try to embrace a cubic base, or try to press it to the table with a hand that pressed huge buttons, and from such an unnatural position hands begin to hurt. However, the handle of the original joystick was at least accurate, which is not the case with the black-and-red controller supplied with the C64 Mini, which, unfortunately, used a cheaper solution instead of microcontrollers.
Many of the games of that era had something in common: they did not forgive mistakes. Any mistake often ended with a Game Over penalty, so a controller with precise control was vital. The player must know that the character goes up, if you direct the handle up, diagonal directions must be without any hesitation, it is unacceptable that you had to press the button three times before the character jumps. In other words, game management from the C64 Mini controller is a pitiful sight.
I read the comments that the C64 Mini also suffers from a software input delay, which may be fixed in the next firmware versions; This may smooth impressions, but will not solve the main problem: the joystick is sucked. He is too hard and unresponsive, looks like a cheap one, and all the nostalgic feelings of holding him in his hands instantly drown in irritation. Even the choice of the game from the main menu turns out to be flour.
Opening the box, I first got upset when I saw only one controller (unlike the Nintendo Mini) - it would be logical to put a pair in the kit for a convenient multiplayer on the couch; but now I think that two pieces of barely working garbage would be even more offensive. The C64 Mini USB ports hint that theoretically it can support a better range of controllers, including USB adapters for the C64 vintage joysticks, but in fact it causes mixed feelings.
Neither the Xbone controller nor the Switch Pro are working properly. PS4 gamepad works, but the actions are scattered on different buttons, so it becomes impossible to play. I have no doubt that you can find a working joystick, and I am sure that firmware updates can increase the set of supported devices, but it’s sad to be in a situation where you need to look for some kind of replacement for the original controller.
Now about the games. It is unlikely that those who are interested in them have not yet studied the possibilities of home computer games of the 80s, but, I think, it is worth mentioning that some expectations will have to be parted. Do not expect the quality or scale of NES games of the same era - Scene 64 was one of the first wild west of the gaming world: there were several unchanging concepts of what a video game should be, and this was reflected in the variation and non-systemism of Commodore 64 ROM gaming.
Via USB, you can download games downloaded from third-party sources, which have accumulated tens of thousands, but currently the Mini can recognize only one ROM at a time, so every time you want to try something new, you have to do a boring procedure of inserting and renaming files on a PC . Like the keyboard with a joystick, it became a clear sign of misunderstanding the desires of customers, but the creators of the device even say that in future software updates this problem will be solved.
Games for 64 are at least familiar with them, and several classic scene hits such as Paradroid, Speedball 2, School Daze, California Games and Boulder Dash are included. The lack of the legendary games: Turrican, The Great Giana Sisters, The Last Ninja, International Karate + and Bubble Bobble is annoying. It's easier to understand copyright issues in the case of games of large publishers: Maniac Mansion, Wasteland, Ultima, Elite and Pirates! Of course, they can be found on the Internet, but for convenient gaming you need a USB keyboard and the promised firmware with multi-ROM support.
From what comes in the kit, the most important for me were the California Games, the Winter Games and the Summer Games - a collection of unofficial Olympic games relating to their own strange but characteristic genre between a simulator and a rhythmic game, which has no analogues. They are so different from modern sports, but their relative simplicity, the mechanistic nature and the complete absence of generosity to the player in a strange way make them more appropriate than the condescending and smooth modern projects.
Take, for example, surfing from the California Games - a side discipline that does not tell you anything at all about how to play, and without the slightest hesitation drowns you two seconds after the start of the game. Smash a few times on the rocks, and you will gradually begin to adapt to its rhythm. Play a few more times, and you may even almost start to get something. This is similar to the gradual development of a craft and is completely different from the condescension we are used to in games. Despite the pain, this is true fascination.
I do not want to say that all the games on C64 are better than the modern ones, some of them are too unpolished to enjoy, only if you are not their megafanate; but it is definitely interesting to go back again in space and time, by the time when the rules of genres have not yet been laid down, the brilliant standards of Nintendo and Sega have not yet appeared.
Nevertheless, given the bad joystick and the keyboard that is not working, the C64 Mini as a whole feels like something alien, unlike the stunning SNES Mini. Out of curiosity and nostalgia, I can play a little of his games, but, to be honest, almost no one of them is drawn. The brown brick touches some strings of my soul, because in the late 80s I spent many happy hours with the original C64, but because of the terrible joystick, the need for a keyboard and messing with ROM, if I want to return to the retro atmosphere, I would prefer run the emulator on your PC. At the same time, adding BASIC for programming is a nice (and necessary) step, but with an external keyboard it feels very different.
When I put the C64 Mini next to my SNES Mini to take photos, the itch that was too familiar to me, the collector's passion, overtook me. I already have these two small boxes, and you can stop, but they occupy much less space on the shelf, and therefore they are tempted to create their own retro-museum in a quarter of the original size. Although simplicity and speed of use have become a huge relief for those who suffered from CRT monitors and tape recordings of that time, the C64 Mini is more suitable for the exhibition than for the game.
TheC64 Mini is now for sale in Europe for £ 70 / € 80, and will soon be available in the USA.