2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

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VideoGameCritic
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 4th, 2014, 7:55 pm

Here's a new set of Commodore 64 reviews, as written by the C64 Critic.
What say you?

DaHeckIzDat1
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby DaHeckIzDat1 » March 5th, 2014, 12:39 am

I'm not someone who is usually interested in retro games, but Elite sounds intriguing. It sounds surprisingly complex to be on such an old console. What you said makes it sound like a more scifi-ish version of Sid Meier's Pirates, a game I enjoyed very much. Great review!

Teddybear1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby Teddybear1 » March 5th, 2014, 7:49 am

Having just recently acquired Winter Games I agree with the review 100%.  The snowy and winterish graphics are amazing!  The controls are difficult but this is a fun game to spend some time on during a winter's day.  An excellent (and humorous) review - I certainly find seeking C-64 "immortality" by getting your name saved as a high score very relatable.  The easiest game to achieve this?  I recommend playing the bobsled game over and over until your have the left-right joystick movements memorized to perfection. 

Thanks for some overdue Commodore love!

Den1
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby Den1 » March 5th, 2014, 11:49 am

There's a reason curling isn't in Winter Games... because it wasn't an Olympic sport until 1998! 

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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 5th, 2014, 5:29 pm

Good feedback.  Somebody on Facebook mentioned that there should have been more info about the graphics/audio.  I told the C64 Critic and he is going to give me an update.

C64_Critic1
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby C64_Critic1 » March 5th, 2014, 6:39 pm

[QUOTE=Den]There's a reason curling isn't in Winter Games... because it wasn't an Olympic sport until 1998! [/QUOTE]

Ahhh, but again - this isn't technically an "Olympic" game (despite actually playing the theme song from the opening ceremonies)!  Therefore they had license to do away with at least one (or, better, both) of the figure skating events and replace them with anything they deemed more exciting.  Which, to be honest, didn't have to be curling but could have been pretty much ANYTHING.

scotland171
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby scotland171 » March 5th, 2014, 6:52 pm

Thanks for doing this review.  Elite is one of those games you remember fondly decades later, having done all nighters on it when I should have been studying.   The B grade set me aback, as I thought "If this is a B, what in the world could be an A game?", but you did put in 20-30 *hours* of playtime, so I gotta say you gave it your all.  I guess its okay to ask 'to what end', but maybe its just an existential experience in that way.  What it suffers is the drawback of all trading games of just getting rich and powerful...but is that so bad?  After all, you are an awesome laser equipped pirate...in space!   After awhile, yeah, maybe its not enough to just be lord of the stars...and you wonder where is the giant space amoeba, or evil empire's death machine, or revived formerly frozen Ricardo Montelban seeking reeeeeveeeeeege or something to add some boss fights.  Like an RPG, without a big bad at the end.  

A B still breaks my heart though.  Where is the reference to the Blue Danube?  Its 2001, a C64 Space Odyssey up there docking your ship in the rotating station.  It really shows how that SID sound chip just puts the NES sound abilities to shame.  Music is also one of the reasons the game is so memorable. It deserves the awesome music harp icon.  The vector graphics are also amazing, since they are sharp and bright and just wonderful at 2am to immerse you in the icy blackness of space.   The evoke the golden age of the arcades, with Asteroids and Tail Gunner and Star Wars and other games that made vector graphics more serious than say, the bright cartoony worlds of Pac-Man or Outrun.

Elite is, well, an Elite game.  Yes, its a trading game, and it suffers from that in that its goal is not much different from getting a high score instead of saving the world or something, but other than that, its one for the history books.

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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 5th, 2014, 8:22 pm

The C64 Critic provided me with some blurbs about the graphics/audio which I incorporated into the reviews.  

Feel free to comment about any reviews - especially new ones - which you feel are lacking in some regard or another.  

FinalLapTwinkie1
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby FinalLapTwinkie1 » March 5th, 2014, 8:49 pm

Two very good reviews. I have a softer spot for Winter Games and would bump it up a letter grade. An A- if you add more then two human players.

Paul1231
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2014/3/4: Commodore 64: Elite, Winter Games

Postby Paul1231 » March 6th, 2014, 12:58 am

[QUOTE=scotland17]

 It really shows how that SID sound chip just puts the NES sound abilities to shame. [/QUOTE]


Hmmm.  I am a HUGE C64 fan, but I'll need to hear a little bit of evidence of this.  I love C64 music, (especially the music of the opening stage of Aliens, and the Title music of Bedlam) but I have never heard anything on the Commie that comes close to my favorites on the NES, namely Blaster Master, Journey to Silius, Mega Man 2, and Ninja Gaiden.  And I'm not talking about the songs themselves in this case, I mean the quality of the sound.  The C64 is good, but the NES has smoother sound with more layers (tracks, I suppose).  By all means if you can recommend a C64 game that demonstrates the difference, prove me wrong, because I'm the first to sign up when the C64 needs an apologist...


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