The Video Game Critic

Bandits is a go to game for me on my VIC-20. It starts out as a clone of the arcade game Stratovox, but adds shields and new enemy types.

https://youtu.be/hejD_RHsWls

From a technical standpoint, the VIC-20 does not have the ability to draw sprites on screen. There are some clever workarounds but this does tend to limit the graphical capabilities of the system.

That being said, graphics aren't everything and there are some great VIC-20 games out there and yes - I do believe Zork is available.

C64_Critic wrote:

newmodelarmy wrote:I was a big C-64 guy back in the day (as I have pointed out about 100 times here) but never knew the difference between that machine and the Vic-20. Was the Vic-20 the predecessor?

Yes, the Vic-20 was the predecessor to the C-64. It wasn't a bad machine I suppose, but it was the difference (generically, not literally) between the NES and SNES in terms of capabilities. If you went straight to the C-64, you didn't miss much I assure you.

Got it. Thanks! I have been looking on Ebay for a C-64 and related items, prices are out of control!

nesfan wrote:A friend of mine gave me a VIC-20 when we were hanging out a couple nights ago. It's cool but I really don't know much about these old computers. What would you guys say are some must-have games for it? I know the C64 had Zork and I'd love to play that. Is Zork on VIC-20 as well?

the VIC 20 was the very 1st computer i ever went online with
back in 1984 i had quite a big Intellivision collection but i had the system for about 3 years
and bought a Colecovision and an Atari 5200 so i wasn't playing the Intellivision much
so a friend of mine came to the door and asked if i wanted to trade all my Intellivision stuff
for all his Vic 20 stuff and since i wasn't playing the Intellivision much i said ok
(didn't know at the time my boxed Intellivision Congo Bongo would be worth a lot of money someday lol)
but anyway when i was at his house i noticed this attachment in his room and i ask what it was?
and he said it was a VIC Modem and that i could go online with it and said here take it

so anyway i brought the Vic 20 home and played the games for a couple weeks and enjoyed it
then one night i was bored and remembered the modem i got with the VIC 20 and thought i would try it
well that changed my life because i was amazed how cool it was to go online and i made a bunch of friends on a local DDIAL
chat that i still have to this day and i haven't been offline since lol

then about a year later i bought an Atari 800xl then the C64...etc

but i will always have fond memories of the Vic 20