They make new carts for the Commodore 64…who knew???

I’ve been aware of the ‘homebrew’ cartridge scene for classic consoles since the early proof-of-concept releases on the Atari 2600 and Vectrex, and I’ve seen it continue on other retro machines like the Colecovison and the NES.  Yet, I guess I have been out of the loop, since it looks like RGCD has been offering various new games on cartridges for the Commodore 64 for over a year now!

Why this is big news, at least to me, is that I do most of my Commodore gaming via emulation.  I’ve long since lost my cable to my trusty 1541 disk drive, and floppy disks just do not last as long as cartridges.  I’ve looked into the 1541 Ultimate project, which allows you to run various disk ‘images’ from custom hardware containing an SD card.  From what I’ve heard and read, it sounds like an ingenious device if you are serious about the C64, yet the hardware isn’t cheap by any means.

So new C64 carts seem like just the ticket to playing new games on real hardware. I’ve looked over the various offerings at RGCD, reading the descriptions and perusing the youtube videos, and the games seem to vary from novelty titles and games of acquired taste to some genuine winners that would have been hits back in the C64’s heyday.

I haven’t picked one out to order quite yet, but I’m leaning towards Soulless.  It looks a little like Shadow of the Beast, but seems to play more like Impossible Mission.

Many of the games’ disk images are available for free, or at a modest price, and I plan on trying them all out shortly before finalizing my choice.  And who knows…this could lead to saving up and splurging on a 1541 Ultimate, but either way I am excited about the C64 in a way I haven’t been in a long, long time.