THEC64 Collection 1 for the Evercade

C64 gaming on the Evercade, finally...

I purchased an Evercade Handheld shortly after release, and whilst this console is pretty good, there hasn't been much for me personally. I do like the Atari 2600 and Lynx collections, though many of the 2600 games have been repackaged in various iterations over the years, and all of the good games still worth playing are available on several devices I own already. The only other enticing cartridge was the Oliver Twins collection, however the games featured seem to be from the Nintendo Entertainment System, a console that I never really owned nor have much time for. I would have preferred original ZX Spectrum games especially for those Dizzy titles, but I guess the graphics wouldn't have looked as good as those from Nintendo versions. An issue with games from 8-bit computers being played on consoles is that some of those will require reworking to accommodate the lack of a keyboard on the host hardware, which is why THEC64 Mini has a way of mapping keyboard inputs to a multi-button joystick, and an on-screen keyboard. These features have persisted though to later THEC64 classic models even though the classic edition has a properly mapped keyboard.

It perked my interest when I heard about THEC64 collection 1 pending release for the Evercade Handheld. This was announced just after the 40th anniversary of the original Commodore C64's launch to retail (it was launched in January 1982 in the same sense that the ZX Spectrum was launched in April 1982, though no one could buy either 8-bit computer at that time). At least it's retail launch in North America; most European consumers had to wait until 1983 to get their hands on Commodore's mainstay 8-bit machine.

Included in the 14 titles of this release are some well remembered classics, although when you have a back catalogue of at least 5,000 commercial titles, and many thousands of public domain releases, you'll never please everybody. And of course, with the C64 lasting so long commercially - 10 years in the UK if you count it's [UK] launch date - there are, to my mind, several eras for the technology during the 1980s and 1990s and people will remember those games by the releases around the time they first owned the C64. No one would forget their first game on such a machine, even if it wasn't very good.

Briefly, the games included on THEC64 Collection 1 for the Evercade are as follows:

1. Alleykey, by Hewson, published in 1986;
2. Battle Valley, by Rack It/Hewson in 1988;
3. "Lee", by Datasoft, 1984 (more on this later);
4. Gateway to Apshai, by Epyx, 1983;
5. Impossible Mission, by Expy, 1984;
6. Iridis Alpha, by Llamasoft, 1986;
7. Jumpman, by Expy, 1983;
8. Marauder, by Hewson, 1988;
9. The Monster Movie Game, by Epyx, 1986;
10. Street Sports Baseball, by Epyx, 1987;
11. Stormlord, by Hewson, 1989;
12. Subterranea, by Hewson, 1988;
13. Summer Games, by Epyx, 1984, and
14. Winter Games, by Epyx, 1985.

It's fair to say then that there's a good mix of early and mid-era C64 games from its first commercial era, before 16-bit platforms like the Commodore Amiga became established (at least in the UK and Germany anyway, North American users may have a different experience), and way before everyone wanted a games console for their main home entertainment system (again, this may differ for North American readers) rather than a personal or home computer. Early adopters of the C64 may well be drawn to Jumpman, or Lee (Bruce Lee), and even those who first got their Commodore later in the 1980s will recognise either Winter or Summer games. Hewson made its name with Paradroid, Uridium and Nebulus though sadly none of these classics are included. And Lee is interesting. Whilst this is version 2 of Bruce Lee, the rights to use the Bruce Lee name would have been either not possible, or prohibitively expensive, and may have made this sub-£20 cartridge well over £25, so it's credited to Psytronik Software and Code Digital, at least on the game art on the Evercade's carousel. It's definitely version 2 of Bruce Lee by Datasoft, something that you can discover by using the onscreen keyboard during play. I suspect Code Digital own the game code, and Psytronik Software did the cover art, and maybe made some code changes to the title screen so it reads "Lee" rather than "Bruce Lee™" - this, along with Impossible Mission and Gateway to Apshai are my favourites of the collection.

I mentioned the onscreen keyboard, this is available in any of the included games by pressing the Select button in game. And although the keyboard covers the game screen, it's not too distracting as it is either semi-opaque or completely opaque at your control. But it does mean that any future releases in this range will need to be carefully chosen, or require work to map any in-game key presses to the various buttons on the Evercade. But that does make me wonder what's happening in terms of the emulation. Is it using the same bespoke version of Vice that THEC64 range uses? If so, mapping the controller buttons is as easy as a simple text file - or a "Commodore Joystick Map" (CJM) in THEC64 speak.

The games in breif

Alleykat is a pacey vertically scrolling racer and shoot-em up which oozes Andrew Braybrook's class and pedigree, although I do find this game quite difficult and can never get very far into it. I'm sure with practise it can be beaten, and it's not a bad addition. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Alleykat Trivia: when run on the Commodore C128 in C64 mode, the game utilises some of the additional processing power available during the screen blanking, making for a faster game (it's difficult enough already though).

Battle Valley is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em up in which you take control of either an all-terrain tank or helicopter to destroy all enemy military installations and stop the launch of intermediate range nuclear missiles. It has some very nice graphics and excellent parallax scrolling effects. My score: 6.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.1/10

"Lee" (Bruce Lee) is a game in which you must guide our hero through multiple locations in a screen-by-screen platformer with elements of a beat-em up, as you face two protagonists, the Green Yamo and a nifty Ninja. Collecting lanterns unlocks other areas of the game, which leads to a secret fortress protected by a powerful wizard. Once complete, the game loops and becomes more difficult, but it never becomes tiresome. A true classic in every sense. My score: 9/10. Lemon 64 rating: 8.7/10

Gateway to Aphsai is a multi-directional dungeon exploration game in which you must guide our hero to riches, find armaments and eliminate any roaming nasties found in those dank and eerie caverns, and if you get stuck, you may simply move onto the next level though sometimes at a cost, although the exploration of this game really is engrossing and skipping to the next level should generally be a last resort (for instance, when you have run out of keys to unlock other parts of the map). My score: 9.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 8.2/10

If the C64 ever had a killer app then Impossible Mission would be a strong candidate. The infamous speech "Another visitor... stay a while. STAY FOREVER!" greets you, and from there, you must stop the Professor Elvin Atombender from obtaining US military secrets by infiltrating Atombender's underground silo in a screen-by-screen platform and puzzle game. There are multiple rooms to access and search, all connected by various elevators. Crack the puzzle and stop Atombenders malevolent plot for world annihilation! My score: 9.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 8.7/10

Impossible Mission Trivia: In a review from a popular Commodore magazine, issue May 1987, it is stated that this game was originally released in 1983, whilst most sources state 1984. Side note: I always wondered why an evil genius would have candy machines in a secret underground bunker populated by robots.

Iridis Alpha is a well presented and somewhat psychedelic horizontally scrolling shoot-em up with two playing areas as each level has a mirror world. This game takes a while to learn and appreciate, so it's one where I recommend reading the game instructions, something that I never did as a child C64 owner. It may be off-putting to a new player, at least initially. But don't dismiss this too quickly, as some patients and a bit of background reading will help. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Another early C64 favourite is Jumpman which is a multi-level platform game with each level contained in a single screen. Simply traverse the ladders, platforms and ropes to collect tokens which affect certain aspects of the level as you go. To make things interesting, there are projectiles and other in-game objects such as robots to avoid. A note that this game requires the onscreen keyboard to start and to enter your name into the high score table. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 8.4/10

Marauder is a well presented scrolling arcade shoot-em up in which you may fire lethal projectiles from your mobile battle car in one of eight directions. Your task is to infiltrate enemy territories, each well protected by various armaments and other leethal defences. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

The Monster Movie Game does exactly what it says on the tin: you play an on-screen Monster in one of six Cities and various scenarios to enact for the viewing pleasure of the cinema audience. My score: 6.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Street Sport Baseball is a binary version of one of the most popular sports in North America, although it's simple enough for a non-Baseball fan to understand the rules of play, the computer player doesn't necessarily always provide the strongest of opponents. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Another polished and fun platform game in this collection is Stormlord, although I find this game very difficult. Explore the levels, find the keys, use the teleports and save the fairies. My score: 7.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Subterranea is a horizontally scrolling blaster with detailed graphics and silky smooth scrolling, though this is probably the weakest game of the collection. My rating: 5.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 6.1/10

Summer Games is a mutliplayer sports simulator with a total of up to eight events to compete in, or each event may be practised until perfected. Although these events by themselves aren't at all bad, I find that the D-Pad controller on the Evercade does not allow for fluid play, especially on the joystick-busting events like the 100m Dash, although there's a mix of events where a D-Pad is just as well suited as a joystick. All events not being playable does reflect on my rating. My score: 6.5/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.7/10

Unlike Summer Games, some of the events in Winter Games requires more precise and rhythmical joystick waggling, and the D-Pad is perfectly good for that. There are seven events to compete in, or to practise, my favourite being the Biathlon which has some beautiful Nordic-esque backdrops. My score: 7/10. Lemon 64 rating: 7.3/10

Overall, I think this first THEC64 cartridge is a very good value package with three real gems in the collection. Hopefully, this won't be the only release with C64 games for the Evercade, and with it being branded THEC64, and as I mentioned to earlier, I do wonder if this is running the bespoke Vice version found in THEC64 and Mini. I also hope that there will be a "THEVIC20" collection too? If there is to be a second release (no doubt Retro Games Ltd and those people paid royalties for their wares being included in this package will be keeping a keen eye on sales) then I hope it will include at least one or more recent C64 game such as anything from the Metal Warrior series. Now that would be awesome!

The CMD SuperCPU, separating fact from fiction, Part II

Although my first post on this subject is not yet even a few days old at the time of writing, it seems like I kind of drifted from my original point a little and missed out a few things that I should mention in passing. Hopefully, this will fill in some blanks. And for that, I may as well start at the beginning, and here's what I know.

Around the mid to late 1990s, I was in regular contact with a Croydon-based guy named Russ Michaels, who was the sole proprietor of a new Commodore C64 start up called Electric Boys Entertainment Software. Russ was quite patient and put up with my C64 obsession quite well really. I stayed at his place a couple of times and that was the first time that I saw the mythical Flash8. Russ had set this hardware expansion up to quickly and reliably copy disks for his Public Domain library and his commercial software. And he had developed a Red Dwarf inspired demo for it too. With Future Publishing's Commodore Format magazine still plodding along through 1994 and I think until around 1997 (someone will correct me on that), he naturally assumed that there'd be enough interest in new C64 software to make a living from producing and publishing it, and maybe he'd also be able to develop his own games for his Electric Boys label.

Russ spoke of a Flashback port and a Defender clone (I think called Defensive). His Scene handle was Ironfist and he was interested in and very impressed by what the demo scene was pumping out. I'm not sure what his big plan was, but he was the official importer for Creative Micro Designs (CMD) Inc. to the UK (which if you don't know by now made the best C64 upgrades and hardware, unsurpassed until quite recently really). I imagine that in his head he thought that the fast CMD FD drives coupled with JiffyDOS would allow for bigger and better games with no disk swapping or waiting around for cassette multiload (even then the datasette was still the medium of choice in the UK). And because of the storage capacity even at the lowest end (~790K per disk), that would be enough to have some great demo-scene like cut scenes and then quickly into the action.

Anyway, Russ and I loved the potential of the Flash8, and around 1995 or early 1996, I think shortly after CMD launched its magazine Commodore World, he sent over (or arranged for CMD to receive) a Flash8 unit. For those of you who don't know, this device is an 8Mhz upgrade for the C64 that plugged into the expansion port on the C64 or C128 (in C64 mode), and it was powered by a WDC 65c816s CPU. It came with up to 1MB of RAM and I think there was a 256K RAM version too. If this is sounding familiar, then I think you may already know where this is going.

The problem with the Flash8 was compatibility and some general bugs that would cause unpredictable crashes. When it did work, it was great. And obviously copying from the 1MB RAM (essentially disk images) to real magnetic media was fast, efficient and reliable (as I saw for myself). The Flash8 worked with geoPaint - or at least there was a hacked/fixed version of geoPaint that you could use; with geoPaint being a GEOS package, and CMD being the official distributor of GEOS, this sparked some interest. From there, the guys at CMD had a base to work from, and to iron out the bugs and compatibility issues [of the Flash8], and maybe even to make an accelerator of their own, being fully GEOS compatible and integrating with all other CMD devices. Well, that's what happened. You'll note that early versions of the SuperCPU were to be 10 or 20Mhz, but the price difference is unlikely to have been enough of a draw for CMD's loyal customer base to the slower unit. And afterall, why would you want a 10Mhz upgrade when the same hardware was offered at twice that speed but not twice the price?

So how good is the compatibility of the SCPU then? Well in a sense, it's very close to 100% compatible, as even with the computer switched on you can switch out the whole unit as required. Simply and gently depress the reset button on the SCPU whilst holding down the CTRL key on the C64 or C128 keyboard, and switch off the unit on the top of the SCPU, let the reset button go and you're back to your stock C64 or C128 without having to turn off the computer and remove the hardware at all. I've never known this to cause any issues with any software, but also I haven't yet tried every single release on both the C64 and C128 to confirm this for sure (has anybody?) - but even with the unit enabled, the two other switches enable and disable JiffyDOS (again, I've never known a single program to fail or crash with JiffyDOS enabled), and to switch in real time between 1Mhz and 20Mhz (or 2Mhz and 20Mhz if you're in fast mode on the C128).

On the difference between SCPU 1Mhz and C64 1Mhz, there is not difference that I can tell for most of my Commodore uses. When at 1Mhz, the SCPU is synchronised with the C64. The one thing that it won't do is undocumented op codes of the 6510, and this is just how the 65816 CPU works. Whilst in "6502" mode (or more accurately, 65c02 mode), it accepts all documented instructions of the 6510. So there will be some games and demos that will hang or crash because the 65816 doesn't know what to do with the instructions that would otherwise work on a C64 or C128 when using undocumented features. But as you can just switch the unit out easily, it's not a big issue, at least after you know something doesn't work with the SCPU enabled.

Finally, those games and other programs that do work at 20Mhz. Some of them are really responsive and fast. Sometimes too fast. Sometimes about right. But just because you have a piece of entertainment software running at 20Mhz doesn't always mean that it will play any different than it does at 1Mhz. In this case, it is to do with how the game is coded and timed, which isn't a topic I'm currently too clear on. I'm sure that there'll be C64 coders out there who will know why this is.

For now, I'll leave it there. But just before I go, you may be interested to know that @dsp8bit has been mulling over a SCPU compatible accelerator, as you can see here. That's one of my old spare SCPUs that I kept for parts. Well I figured that it was no good to me if everything failed, and so at the same price I paid for this spare (not the crazy price that someone might pay for it), I sold it and sent it over to North America to hopefully help bring about a modern days SCPU alike device for the masses. Unfortunately, this labour of love has been slightly stalled, but I've heard that developments will be restarting in the (Northern Hemisphere) Spring. So whilst Russ played a small part in making the original SCPU a reality, I hope to play a small part in making a compatible (though not a 1:1 clone) and new SCPU like device a reality too, and soon. And I'm as excited to see what may be as I was when I first heard about this mythical Flash8 device!

The CMD SuperCPU, separating fact from fiction, Part I

The SuperCPU (SCPU) device is a hardware expansion which plugs into the back of a Commodore C64 or C128 (or will plug into the top of a C64 GS if you can find cartridge games to work with it). It has a WDC 65c816s CPU (similar to the CPU found in Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System) which is clocked at the breakneck speed (for the C64/128 platform) of 20Mhz. It has 128K as standard (I think on both the C64 and C128 models, and both the V1 and V2 units) and allows you to add up to 16MB of RAM that can be seen by the CPU in the cartridge expansion. It was first launched by Creative Micro Designs Inc. (CMD), and there are two different sources for a release date. One states Sunday, 4th May 1997, and the other states Saturday, 4th May 1996. I suspect the 1997 date is correct (when I was exactly 20 years old), but either way, new C64 machines had not been manufactured since 1993 and in many regions it was a dead platform.

Consider that the "World Wide Web" was in its infancy, and networked computers and devices where not as common in the home or workplace, so whilst there was an Internet with web pages that one could browse (and at the time, I did my best to do this with my 1200 baud C64 modem), there wasn't a significant Internet community keeping the C64 alive. Most information back then was still spread by magazines and fanzines, and hearsay. In the UK, dial up Internet connectivity was still a luxury, and the cost of dial up Internet was still something that many households would not justify. Either way, launching such a piece of hardware in the mid to late 1990s was a bold move by CMD. And it could do so because CMD hardware was awesome, and kept the C64 or C128 a very usable platform, hence the end user had no immediate reason to "upgrade" to "better" computers, especially I would say those users who had heavily invested their time and efforts into the fabulous GEOS operating system (which CMD supported avidly, and held the rights to distribute). And even now, the RAMLink is one of the best mass storage drives for the C64 or C128, and that was launched in 1990. Maybe I'll tell you more about the RAMLink in another post, as this is another piece of CMD hardware that isn't well understood.

My take on all of this is that CMD had a very loyal customer base because it kept the best computer platform of the 20th century very much alive. Most of the protagonists against CMD seemed to create a myth that it was not okay to upgrade the C64, and that all software must be compliant with the 1982 specification of the machine. Whilst this view is still prevalent today, there are always caveats to it, like "yeah but Sonic is allowed because [insert arbitrary reason]" or "Sam's Journey uses the REU for NTSC and that's okay because [some other arbitrary reason]". The point is that most personal or home computers worth owning (and even those not worth owning) had upgrades available. I mean, we don't religiously stick to the 1981 specification of the IBM PC, or the 1977 specification of the Apple ][, so why is the C64 different? Upgrades and addons tended to give a better user experience, that's why cartridges like the Action Replay from Datel Electronics, or the Super SnapShot by LMS Technologies were popular and remain popular today, especially given the slow drive access of the 1541 and the clunky way you performed disk drive commands in C64 BASIC. In my view, CMD made the very best and most compatible addons, expansions and upgrades for the C64 and C128. It was a sad day when it left the C64 market for pastures new.

You will note here that I've mentioned the C128. That's because CMD's hardware wasn't just C64 compatible, but worked with the C128 as well, not just in C64 mode either, but in its native modes (except for maybe the Z80 and CP/M, but I know nothing about this dark side of the C128 anyway, and it is perhaps the least used feature of the platform). So, if you think that the SCPU is only a C64 upgrade, you'll be wrong. There are two versions of it for the two machines, although the SCPU 128 does require an MMU Adapter which you carefully remove the MMU chip and place it into a new piece of electronics which allows the SCPU 128 to use the 40 and 80 columns mode natively. So if nothing else, any BASIC 7 programs will run faster, and your 80 columns screen will update more quickly. Although it's likely that your primary use would be GEOS or something like NovaTerm V2, or programming, as we know that the number of entertainment software titles available for the C128 is rather sparse though not completely unheard of.

As the SCPU supports both the C64 and C128 platform, the VICE emulation is only about half of the device, and I'm sure that the real hardware can do more tricks than the emulator does. So whilst the emulator is very cool, I don't think we'll see a full SCPU emulator anytime soon, and perhaps never. Firstly, the C64 scene doesn't really care about the SCPU. Secondly, it's a C64 scene, and the C128 is kind of like a forgotten relative that you don't see very often. And thirdly, I'm pretty sure that VICE is only emulating the SCPU V2 and not the V1. Okay, that latter point may be minor, but overall if you want to see everything that a SCPU can do, you'll need a C128 with MMU adapter and a SCPU 128. Then you'll have potentially at least everything that you'll need. But even with this, SCPU software is so sparse that I don't think we will see every trick that may be achieved with this hardware.

In any case, a short time ago, because of misinformation (or a common myth) that there are only three programs written for the SCPU, or only three programs worth loading, I started to create a list of all SuperCPU software that I could find. I began with CSDb.dk which currently shows 80 releases; many of these releases use the SuperRAM in place of the slower disk access (even with a fast loader, using the SuperRAM will be much quicker than the best 1541 speeds), so these releases may be enjoyed on an unexpanded system, just not these versions. I then started to look for the old sites I would pour over back in the late 1990s and early 2000s (those that I can still find at least). So far, I have 81 releases marked as "Games" (some of which actually for the C128 and even for 80 columns VDC display), 14 marked as "Demos" (no C128 stuff here), four GEOS releases (though I've not yet even scratched the surface), six under "Programming" and 44 other releases or software (including four "In Progress" and seven under the category "Cancelled or unknown"). In any case, there are definitely more than three programs for the SCPU. And of course, there are many different programs that benefit at 20Mhz. This latter category will take much longer to research and document, but I've at least made a start. You may view my research so far on on my Google Drive.

Aside from all of this software that is available, and that list is not just Metal Dust, Wolf 3D, and Doom, there is the question of how many SCPU devices were made by CMD. The total number by Maurice Randall would be easier to count, as this I suspect will be fewer than a couple of dozen. The highest serial number I've seen on CMD SCPUs for the 64 model is somewhere above 5k, and for the 128 model its around the 2700 mark. Now this may seem high, but it makes sense. CMD supported the Commodore platform until 2001. It could not have survived without selling its hardware in particular, as its software sales would not have sustained the company for so long. Its only a shame that more C64 users around that time who knew about CMD didn't support the company more, but then the hardware wasn't cheap. Cheaper than a new PC which be now would be completely obsolete and useless (unlike a C64 or C128 with a SCPU and RAMLink I might add, as although obsolete the very least new software is still being developed for the C64 and occasionally the C128).

Whilst you are reading this, I assume that you're also interested in the SCPU. If you are on Facebook, there is a group that was set up to discuss SCPU coding but is now widened its remit to include software as well. You may ask to join it here.