A Bee Cs
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The cartridge will not work without being attached to the Magic Voice speech module, so not many people probably bought due to this extra cost. The program itself is designed to teach little kids the alphabet and how to recognise each letter. Fly the bee around the screen as it asks for each letter is quite simply how it works.

Adventure Creator
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1984
Author  : Dale Disharoon
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Make your own adventure. Of sorts. Let the computer design one, or you can build your own. Wander round the mazes, fighting creatures, collecting treasure and surviving, that's the name of the game. Not bad for a play every now and again.

Aegean Voyage
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: This is a fun little game where you must sail your ship from Athens across the Aegean sea and discover new islands to pillage. Some contain monsters that will sink your ship however, and it seems half the fun is in guessing which islands yield prizes or enemies. Nice graphics if a little blocky, and tuneful music complement the searching.

After the War
Company : Dinamic
Year    : 1990
Author  : Luis Garcia
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Ultra Rare
Comments: Like all Dinamic carts out there discovered so far, they are all transitions from tape/disc media. You wonder why they bothered when most of the games weren't that great to begin with. Still it allows instant loading and that can't be a bad thing. Nothing really to recommend this apart from it being so damn hard to find (like all the rest of them!).

Alf in the Color Caves
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A rather simple, basic avoiding game for children to play. Control Alf through the various coloured pipes, avoiding the nasties (only visible by their eyes) to reach the bottom of the screen. Nothing really taxing to be done, though the graphics are big and colourful and would attract a child's attention easily.

Alien Sidestep
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: It's based on Space Invaders, but something a little bit different. There is no mass of aliens to shoot, instead they scroll left to right across the screen instead, wrapping around at the edges. And you have to shoot them dead on target, otherwise they seem to "sidestep" out of the way and hold still. Tricky yet repetitive all the same.

Alpha Build
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Childware Corporation
Rating  : 3
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A basic match the letters game for children, featuring the adventures of Percy penguin, as you build a city from correctly completing rather monotonous matching tasks. Basic graphics and sound are not ingredients to keep attention long to the screen, so this effort is definitely below par.

Alphabet Zoo
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Dale Disharoon
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A game to teach your child the alphabet and recognising the similarity between objects and letters. As per so many of these, they look so old and out-dated in modern light, but were probably seen as cutting edge back then.

Amazing Maze
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Very much like a game of MicroMaze, you have to find the exit from the centre of the maze. The computer AI works on the same principle of always taking the same direction turn until it can get no further and then turns back.

Arcade Classic Pak
Company : HES Australia
Year    : 1984
Author  : n/a
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A compilation cartridge featuring one Parker Brothers game and three Activision games: Frogger, River Raid, Decathlon and Beamrider. See the separate reviews of each for my opinion on them. But overall a very good collection by the company.

Arnie Armchair's Howzat
Company : Armchair Entertainment
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A pretty poor attempt at a cricket game from some obscure company Down Under. What makes this even weirder is the fact they released it on cartridge. It also appears to be very much a 2-player only effort. Poor graphics and sound go together with a strange and hard to figure out control method.

Aspar GP Master
Company : Dinamic
Year    : 1989
Author  : Fernando Jimenez
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Ultra Rare
Comments: A motorcycle racing game, viewed from an overhead perspective. This would seem ideal if it wasn't for the fact the visible play area is rather small and driving round is pretty much a memory test rather than one of skill.

Astroblitz
Company : Creative
Year    : 1983
Author  : Tom Griner
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A Defender clone of sort, scroll the space landscape in either direction, protecting buildings instead of men and shooting all the aliens floating about causing havoc. Simple graphics and sound, plus the collision detection is a bit harsh for colliding your ship with the aliens.

Astromarine Corps
Company : Dinamic
Year    : 1990
Author  : Fernando Jimenez
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Ultra Rare
Comments: Another of the usual Dinamic scrolling left-to-right shooter games that seemed to be their trade during the late 80s. Nothing amazing about this game either, like many of them as well. And a bit tricky, never forget the difficulty level now.

Attack of the Mutant Camels
Company : HES
Year    : 1983
Author  : Jeff Minter
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Known as Matrix in the UK, HES decided to rename the game for the US market. Another fast shooter in the Centipede mould, the sequel to Gridrunner boasted more features and more things to try and kill you! Always quality coming from Minter now.

Avenger
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A pretty standard copy of Space Invaders by any accounts. Nothing really to write home about here. Graphics and sound are functional and it will keep you amused for 15 minites or so.

Avenger Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Avenger. A different program to the one released in the West though. The graphics actually are better, less expanded and better animated, which seems very strange to expect. And for this, it actually plays a lot better also.

Badlands
Company : Domark
Year    : 1990
Author  : Teque
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Not a bad conversion by the well known freelance group. Graphics are a bit muddy and brown influenced, but gameplay is good, being a clone of Super Sprint really. But far easier to obtain on tape, as with all the Domark cartridges.

Batman
Company : Ocean
Year    : 1990
Author  : Zack Townsend
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Common
Comments: After releasing this on tape late the previous year, Ocean decide to bring it out again for the all those lovely new 64GS owners. Like there were plenty of them now! Still the game is rather decent given the talent being used, a good mix of platform action and arcade type joystick dexterity.

Battle Command
Company : Ocean
Year    : 1991
Author  : Steve Caslin
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The Amiga game showed it could be translated for the mighty C64. See filled in vector graphics that actually move reasonably fast! See some proper strategy action in the only Ocean game I believe really does the cartridge format justice. Just make sure you pick up a copy with all the instructions.

Battlezone
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Eight years before Battle Command we get the conversion of the popular arcade. A favourite of mine despite the fact I had to stand on tiptoe to see the screen. A reasonable attempt, smoothish vectors and as usual with Atarisoft's conversions, good accuracy to the source material.

BC's Quest for Tires
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Chuck Benton
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Based on the well known American comic books, a passable attempt at a licensed game way back then. Graphics are the most immediate aspect, big, bold and colourful. Gameplay is not quite as good though, keep you amused for a while.

Beamrider
Company : Activision
Year    : 1984
Author  : Action Graphics
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: As with many of Activision's early C64 games, a conversion of a console program. The game had aged a bit since it was first released a couple of years before, and the simple shooting action was standard for that era.

Big Bird's Funhouse
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : CCW Inc
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Many of Big Bird's friends have been invited over, but they are playing a game of hide 'n seek. Your task is to identify which of those is still hiding away in a series of games. Simple fun for the kiddies once more.

Big Bird's Special Delivery
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : CCW Inc
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A simple delivery game for the kids to enjoy, where Little Bird brings on the gifts and Big Bird must decide which house each present should go to. Crap sound as usual, but the graphics are bold, bright and attractive for the eyes.

Block Hopper
Company : Fantasy Software Inc
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Ultra rare
Comments: I don't think you can get a more blatent clone of Q*Bert here if you tried. Sierra's Mr Cool was one thing, and Anirog's Hexpert, but this takes the biscuit. Hello lawsuit. Could be why it's impossibly hard to find (only two copies known to exist currently).

Blueprint
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Bill Hindorff
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Many of Commodore's early cartridges were conversions of Bally Midway arcade machines. This was one of the more obscure games, and also one of worse conversions. Murky graphics, slightly grating sound and run-of-the-mill gameplay do not a classic make.

Bowling Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: It's bowling time on the ten pin lanes. No joystick needed, all that is required is the F1 key to control hook and aim for each delivery. Not bad considering the limitation of the machine it was programmed for.

Bridge 64
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Not what you'd expect to find on a cartridge, though given this comes from Sweden, who knows what to expect? Sadly this is just a solo play game provided, but it does give a modest challenge and would be an ideal learning tool for new players to the game.

Bubble Burst
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: This is a game more aimed at the younger player now. It plays in the style of Missile Command, funny flying things are swooping down to steal soap bubbles and you must direct shots with a cursor to capture them. An interesting little program.

Bubble Busters
Company : Maxion
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Bubble Burst.

Buck Rogers
Company : Sega
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Yuck. A terrible conversion. Garish, blocky graphics coupled with monotone sound and insipid gameplay make this one of those cartridges to obtain only because it is there to collect.

Bug Crusher
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Peter Nissley
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A mildly entertaining game to say the least. You have to collect bugs with your ship, whilst avoiding the barriers scrolling across the screen, and the two alien ships out to stop you. Think Frogger crossed with Pacman. The usual standard from this company now!

C64GS cartridge
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1990
Author  : n/a
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Common
Comments: The cartridge packaged with the ill-fated 64GS console contained International Soccer, Flimbo's Quest, Klax and Fiendish Freddy. The latter certainly benefits from the immediate access format, and overall a good compilation. Certainly you will find more of these around than the actual console itself.

Calc Result
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A spreadsheet program for the C64, and a very good one at that. Comes in a curious cartridge/disc combination, the cartridge is a copy protect feature and you can only load the program whilst it is plugged in. Very customisable also, just about anything you want to calculate in cells.

Calc Result Easy
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A cartridge only version of Calc Result, with only a small part of the functionality cut down to make room on the cartridge. Works very much like the parent product but without the obvious customisation.

Castle Hassle
Company : Roklan
Year    : 1983
Author  : JV Software
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Plays a bit like the Exidy arcade machine Venture. Wander round rooms, solving puzzles and retrieving objects with a ghost as the main character. A game that grows on you the more you play it, despite the dodgy graphics and sound.

Centipede
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Gregg Tavares
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A good solid version of the popular arcade machine. Gameplay suffers slightly from having to use the joystick instead of a trackball, and this program is hard enough already without having to worry about that. Basic graphics and sound are no problem to reproduce, and the cartridge is a worthy purchase for someone who wants a challenge.

Chase HQ 2
Company : Ocean
Year    : 1990
Author  : Probe Software
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Another of the early Ocean conversion cartridges, this was done by the same team that later did Super Monaco GP. An average game at that, it had that unexplainable feel of being a little loose when playing.

Checkers
Company : Yu Can Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : R. Sonnenberg
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A curious little program, also available on disc, which lets you play Checkers (Draughts to those outside the US) against the computer. Graphics and sonics are basic, but the AI of the computer is pretty good and will give you a decent game for your money.

Choplifter
Company : Broderbund
Year    : 1982
Author  : Dane Bigham
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: One of the first cartridge games for the C64, and one of those unique games to later appear in the arcades. Graphics are pretty basic but with good animation and sound is sparse at best. But the gameplay is fairly addictive and challenging to keep you persevering at it.

Close Encounters of the Worst Kind
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 2
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: Possible the worst game I have ever played on the C64. A mediocre Space Invaders clone at best, coded in Basic, and the addition of a 2-player simulataneous option is the only reason it doesn't score a 1.

Clowns
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: One of the few games that required paddles for use, but you shouldn't buy them just for this. A pretty banal conversion attempt, another early Commodore cartridge. Nothing good to even mention about it except it's a different form of Breakout.

Clowns Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Clowns. Appears to be exactly the same program as the one released in the West apart from a slightly different title screen.

Clown 64
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A Swedish release of the clown jumping, balloon bursting game.

Coccinelle
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Computer Access Corporation/Ediciel
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A French regionalised version of "Delta Drawing". The title literally translates as "ladybird".

Coconotes
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : The Dovetail Group
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The Scats are stranded on a desert isle, so in the meantime of being rescued, they are making tunes from the notes in the sea. You can form your own melody to the backing tracks, or compete in a game against the note-eating crab on the beach. Simple musical fun.

Comal 80
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1985
Author  : Unicomal
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Useful programming language cartridge which is 32k, at the time quite unusual. Comes with a good program packed demo disc and detailed instructions.

Congo Bongo
Company : Sega
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The game was released in the US on cartridge and disc with 2 different programs. Whilst the disc version had all 4 screens, this only had 2. And suffers because of it, whether due to lazy programming or lack of memory on the cartridge. Plays okay otherwise.

Cosmic Combat
Company : Maxion
Year    : 1983
Author  : Ken Madell
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Cosmic Life.

Cosmic Life
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Ken Madell
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Looks rather simple on the outside, but actually is rather a fun, yet unchallenging game that everyone could play. Based on the rules of "Life", you must get your colony of cells to grow more than your opponent within the time allowed. You can play fair, or play dirty, it is up to you!

Crisis Mountain
Company : Creative
Year    : 1983
Author  : Lloyd Ollman Jr
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A quiet little game where you must jump around caverns, diffusing the bombs you come across there and avoiding the rocks and lava. Good gameplay design and reasonable graphics are hampered by the fact there are only 2 screens to play on before trying again at a higher difficulty.

Cup Final 64
Company : Handic/Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Andrew Spencer
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A Swedish release of the Commodore football classic. No idea why the name was changed, but nothing appears to be different about the program itself on the cartridge.

Cyberball
Company : Domark
Year    : 1990
Author  : Quixel
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: The Tengen arcade where 2 players could play robotic American football didn't really take off here for obvious reasons. Still, the conversion is decent enough to play and you can have the same competitive or co-operative 2 player action as well. Released on cartridge, presumably, for the benefit of 64GS owners.

Dance Fantasy
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : WCI Labs
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Choreograph your dance routines a la ballet with this curious little cartridge. You have the choice of male and female performers and a range of moves and music. If only it could have been pulled off a bit better, drab graphics and sound would not really keep the attention of the little ones.

Dancing Feats
Company : Romox
Year    : 1983
Author  : Softsync
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A music creation tool with the emphasis more on allowing the user to control the direction and sound rather than actually composing. Consider it an early version of a DJ tool. I believe this was released in the UK by Anirog at some point.

Decathlon
Company : Activision
Year    : 1984
Author  : Action Graphics
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The original joystick waggler accurately translated over to the C64. Plenty of sweat and co-ordination required to achieve more than 10,000 points and that important Activision gold medal patch. Definitely one to just slot in and play to relieve tension and frustration! And I was lucky enough not to break any controllers either.

Defender
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A none too shabby conversion of the classic Williams arcade machine. Not wanting to burden players with all those buttons, the programmer has tried to fit as much as possible into the joystick. Difficulty is nothing like the original either, being a lot easier to shoot and avoid death as it passes you by. Then again, no conversion I played could hope to match the arcade.

Delta Drawing
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Computer Access Corporation
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A very detailed, highly adaptive and comprehensive drawing package for kids. Despite its nature, it is very easy to learn all the commands and can produce some quite neat pictures. Works very much like Logo, only better, with the ability to colour in and paint the canvas also.

Der Rechenlowe Fit in Mathematik 1 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1984
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 1 students the initial steps of mathematics. All guided by the counting lion sprite...

Der Rechenlowe Addition/Subtraction 2/3 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1984
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 2 and 3 students the steps of addition and subtraction. All guided by the counting lion sprite...

Der Rechenlowe Multiplikation/Division 2/3 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1984
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 2 and 3 students the steps of multiplication and division. All guided by the counting lion sprite...

Der Rechenlowe Addition/Subtraction 3/4 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 3 and 4 students the steps of addition and subtraction. Once again the ubiquitous counting lion sprite is present to guide children through all the bits.

Der Rechenlowe Multiplikation/Division 3/4 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 3 and 4 students the steps of multiplication and division. Once again the ubiquitous counting lion sprite is present to guide children through all the bits.

Der Rechenlowe Fit in Geometrie 3/4 schuljahr
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Basic learning cartridge for teaching grade 3 and 4 students the steps of geometry. All guided by the counting lion sprite...

Der Rechtschreiblowe
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Westermann
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A typing game for German students. Like a couple of other packages at the time, the main program is on the cartridge and the lessons themselves are loaded from tape or disc, making a complete set hard to find.

Designer's Pencil
Company : Activision
Year    : 1984
Author  : Gary Kitchen
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: An easy to use graphical designing package, where you can either draw or program your own graphical masterpieces. Control is via keyboard and joystick with menus and buttons to achieve the desired results. The limit is merely what your brain can design now!

Diamond Mine
Company : Roklan
Year    : 1983
Author  : IDSI
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A curious, sadly hard to find game that is actually rather playable. Control your little minecart and go digging through the dirt picking up diamonds and avoiding the nasties. The problem lies in the fact the diamonds follow you about and contact with the nasties removes them. A little (excuse the pun) gem of a game.

Diary 64
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: As the name says, it is a diary program to keep track of all those important dates, functions, meetings and the so on that busy C64 owners must have attended back then. And pigs might fly. At least you could make it comprehensive and save it all out too.

Dig Dug
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A semipopular arcade machine translated rather effictively for the C64. Graphics are reasonable, as is the sound, but the game is playable enough to keep you at the joystick for a while. Dig through the tunnels and blow the critters up, always a good concept to me!

Donkey Kong
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Could have been much better sadly. The graphics are reasonably accurate, but Mario is a little fat now as he waddles along the platforms. Sound is pretty much on cue though. Certainly a good cartridge to pick up, but probably not quite as good as the Ocean version a few years later.

Dot Gobbler
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: You can probably guess this game is Pacman by some other moniker. Except you can choose the speed at which you wish to play, making it harder or easier throughout. There are even two different versions of the game made, each with a different maze layout, but there is the same dot and powerpill gobbling as usual.

Double Dragon
Company : Melbourne House
Year    : 1989
Author  : Binary Design
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A cartridge version of the Melbourne House conversion. Both this and the Ocean version are equally bad, and as equally hard to find. And like its counterpart, apparently only available at one computer show in Australia. Worth getting if only for collecting sakes.

Double Dragon
Company : Ocean
Year    : 1992
Author  : Imagitec
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: It has now come to my attention that this is not the same game as released two years earlier by Melbourne House, but instead a reprogrammed effort. This was a strange choice for Ocean's last cartridge, and the game isn't any better or worse than the previous version. The only thing of note is due to the fact it was only available at a computer show, it isn't at all easy to find.

Dragon's Den
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Andy Finkel
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Go play Lazarian and then this, and attempt to spot the difference. The two games are even written by the same person, which probably explains the similarity. Still, this is a hell of a lot better than the conversion of said arcade game. Decent graphics and sound, plus a good difficulty gradient makes this one of the better Commodore cartridges to find.

Ducks Ahoy!
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Anyone who has played the later game Walkers will get the idea of this. Move your boat around the canals to pick up the ducks and take them to the harbour. You have to time your boat's arrival to match the ducks at the docks and then get to and from in time before any go splosh in the water. Interesting little game for the kids.

Ernie's Magic Shapes
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : CCW Inc
Rating  : 3
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A very simple game for very young children to teach them about shape recognition and colour matching. Help Ernie either match up individual shapes or build a picture in the sky. Probably keep a child's attention for a little while at least.

Espial
Company : Tigervision
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Very much a clone of Terra Cresta, this game is far more known for appearing on other console formats. Just as well, this version of the game is pretty dire. The graphics consist mainly of monochrome sprites and backdrops, with little animation or colour. Sound is a bit better, along with the challenge of the program, which does provide some tough resistance.

Facemaker
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Designware
Rating  : 3
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A cartridge designed to let children build and animate faces on screen with a variety of different parts. Graphics and sound are pretty basic to say the least, and I can't see this would have kept a child occupied for much length of time, let along myself!

Falconian Invaders
Company : Turbo Software Inc.
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: Looks and plays remarkably like a cutdown version of the Buck Rogers arcade machine. Except there is locking onto target ability and you lose fuel points if you let any of the aliens past.

Final Chesscard
Company : TASC
Year    : 1989
Author  : Mark Derksen
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A chess program manufactured in Holland. As can be seen from the accompanying scans, the item is slightly larger than the average cartridge now! It almost looks like there is the capacity for battery backup as well from trying to examine the inside. As for the program itself, it plays a good game of chess!

Financial Advisor
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Joseph McEnerney
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: A cartridge for doing your taxes, financial calculations and options into the stock market. Comprehensive and usable... as long as you have the instructions to go with it! Cartridge is very common to find (especially in Australia), but the packaging is incredible elusive and probably worth more.

Forth 64 Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Another programming language available from those dedicated Swedish developers, to accompany the other really popular programs such as Cobol, Pascal and Comal. Still, at least the manual gives enough depth to get you started.

Fraction Fever
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Tom Snyder
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Control your pogostick over the fraction plains, punching out incorrect fractions and going up to higher levels by hitting the correct fraction displayed above. Very simple graphics and sound hide a midly entertaining arcade challenge.

Frog Master
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Michael Crick
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Common
Comments: One game for which the instructions definitely are needed. Control your tadpoles and frogs to score touchdowns in what is essentially an amphibian version of American Football. A strange concept to say the least, but mildly amusing and involving until something better comes along. Graphics and sound are adequate, but a challenge is definitely there.

Frogger
Company : Parker Brothers
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Probably the best conversion of the popular arcade machine for the C64, though that's not too hard to achieve. Even then, it could be better still. Graphics are nothing spectacular, but are clear, defined and colourful. Sound is faithful to the original arcade, with most of the effects and tunes in there. The game is as playable as the parent, so that depends on whether you enjoyed it to begin with or not.

Frogger 2
Company : Parker Brothers
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Then there is the curious inspired sequel, which I am not sure was actually an arcade machine or not. It takes the concept further this time, by having more than one screen for your poor frogs to traverse. You can get them into the little home boxes as before, but they must also cross the wide ocean, and ascend all the way up to Heaven. A higher difficulty than previous coupled with some great graphics makes this an even better frog experience.

Funplay cartridge
Company : Codemasters
Year    : 1990
Author  : n/a
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A collection of three Codemasters budget games: Pro Skateboard, Pro Tennis and Fast Food. The immediate question originally was why bother with the cartridge when the games could be picked up individually for much less. The games themselves aren't great either, compounding the sales figures and the most likely reason the cartridge is somewhat hard to find.

Funplay/Powerplay cartridges
Company : Microprose
Year    : 1990
Author  : n/a
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: Both compilations in one box.

Galaxian
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1984
Author  : Bill Bogenreif
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: This could have been so much better than it actually was. The first problem is due to the arcade being a vertical monitor, you have to squash it down to fit on a TV screen. Consequently the graphics are flatter and wider than they should be. And secondly that number of enemies will cause some headaches. Still the programmer got around it, but the gameplay suffers as a result and it is easier than arcade to beat.

Galaxions/Munchman
Company : HES Australia
Year    : 1983
Author  : Solar Software
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Poor conversions of Pac-man and Galaxians are on this cartridge, both only taking 8K each. Not much playability in either.

Gateway to Apshai
Company : Epyx
Year    : 1983
Author  : Connelly Group
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: An action game of Epyx's famous Apshai trilogy series. Plays very much like an arcade machine, you walk round killing enemies, finding treasure, avoiding traps and casting spells. Only design fault would be the need to endlessly cycle F5 to get the action command you wish to use. Shortcut keys would have been much better. Apart from that, a decent explore and kill game, partially removed from the action RPG games of the trilogy.

Ghostbusters
Company : Activision
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A cartridge version of the popular film-tie in licence.

Gold Record Race
Company : Maxion
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Jukebox.

Gorf
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Eric Cotton
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Common
Comments: See Galaxian. This suffers from exactly the same sort of problems, fitting a vertical arcade machine into a horizontal video display. The graphics aren't too bad, bit blocky and expanded sprites are common. And if the Atarisoft programmer could do Galaxians, then why couldn't the programmer here as that stage is completely missing from the proceedings.

Graf 64
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Plot, plot, plot away, we're going to plot some graphs today. And quite a neat little program it is, allowing BASIC scripts to be written to draw out the lines and curves.

Gridrunner
Company : HES
Year    : 1982
Author  : Jeff Minter
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The prequel to Matrix. Graphics are no big shakes, even in the sequel, but the basics for the gameplay and addiction are still very much present. Play this, then Matrix to try and get inside the head of Minter now. Centipede inspired, but a few new twists implemented to keep you on your toes.

Gridrunner 64
Company : HES
Year    : 1982
Author  : Jeff Minter
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A Swedish release of the Jeff Minter classic. Note how this version is the original English release, there's no HES rebranding on the title screen.

Guldkorn Expresson
Company : Silverrock
Year    : 1991
Author  : Thomas Villadsen and Uffe Jakobsen
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: An educational game of sorts, whereby you have to take the train and navigate it, Loco style, to the other end of the map, solving puzzles along the way.

Gyruss
Company : Parker Brothers
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: In my opinion, possibly the best arcade conversion available on cartridge. Captures all the feel of the arcade parent and manages to retain the essential playability within a single joystick controller. Great graphics and sound and all the features of the original combine to make a worthwhile addition to your collection. Only problem was when it originally came out, it was hard to find in the UK and cost a bundle!

Halftime Battlin' Bands
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : The Dovetail Group
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Play by yourself or against a rival to assemble your halftime marching band on the field and play out the tunes. Plenty of tricks and traps can be used to help yourself or hinder your opponent. Plus you get extra points for getting the proper tunes out of the musicians. Decent graphics and sound, and hard to get to grips with initially.

HERO
Company : Activision
Year    : 1984
Author  : The Softworks
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: John van Ryzin's classic cave exploration game made it over to the C64 pretty much intact and retained much of the class it had shown on the VCS parent. Easy to begin with, but gets very difficult soon after, this is an example of how to port a game without losing anything that made it a classic to begin with.

HESMon 64
Company : HES
Year    : 1983
Author  : Terry Peterson
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A good solid machine language monitor for the C64. Plenty of commands and flexibilty available for compilation, bug hunting and hacking.

HES Writer 64
Company : HES
Year    : 1982
Author  : Jerry Bailey
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A word processor program for the C64, in only 8k. Not bad functionality and features for a program in such a small size. Need the manual to get most of it though.

Hop Along Counting
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Pandasoft
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A basic numeracy and counting game designed for the kiddies to figure out how many bunnies are on screen and need to get to bed. Personally I go and boil the lot of them, but this is only a computer game now! Just passable enough to warrant a game now.

Human Skeleton Tutorial
Company : Unknown
Year    : 1984
Author  : S.M. Thorpe
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Want to learn what all the bones in the body are called? Well this program is for you! Nice skeleton graphic admitedly, though little else present in what turns out to be an 8k program. Only problem is that the program runs in the same order each time, meaning you can just learn by rote after a couple of goes!

International Football/Soccer
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Andrew Spencer
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: The original and, for quite a while afterwards, the best football game available on the C64. True, the sides only had 7 players each and this opened up the pitch a bit, but it was very difficult to score against the higher computer opponents and the goalkeepers were hard to fake out. Now probably third in the list after Emlyn and Microprose.

Jack Attack
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1984
Author  : Kevin Kieller
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Was this a dig at ex-Commodore boss Jack Tramiel? Certainly if the reports are to be believed, he did a lot of headsquashing as well. Guide Jack across 100 levels to wipe out the rotating heads, avoid being stepped on or drowning in the water. Not that easy to begin with and got harder, at least it had a progression system and even a high score save feature!

James Bond
Company : Parker Brothers
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: The hardest Parker Brothers cartridge to find is probably the least impressive of the, admittedly high standard, lot. Based upon scenes from 4 movies, you must guide various vehicles through landscapes surviving intact till the end. Rather unimpressive graphics and sound don't help the boring gameplay along. Ones for the collectors rather than gameplayers here.

Jawbreaker
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Doug Whittaker
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A variant on the theme of Pacman, where you control a set of teeth through a simple maze, avoiding the nasties rolling about and collecting the bonus lollipops for points. Simple graphics and sound, and none of the real challenge presented by the proper game at all. All comes in two labelling variations but they are the same game.

Juice
Company : Tronix
Year    : 1983
Author  : Arti Haroutunian
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: This turned up out of nowhere and I hadn't heard of it until trading for a copy. This is a Q-bert clone with a slight twist, it is viewed in 3D but is not a cube, instead a straight flat surface you must bounce over to lay a circuit line. Avoid the nasties and jump on special boards to lure the ever following mega nasty to its demise. Decent graphics and sound make this an interesting acquisition.

Jukebox
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: This is an interesting little dance game where you must control the feet to move over the flashing disco light squares. However you must avoid stepping on the same square too many times otherwise it is game over. More of a puzzle game aimed towards children, this is a good game in its own right for adults.

Jumpman Junior
Company : Epyx
Year    : 1983
Author  : Randy Glover
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A sequel to the successful Jumpman game released by Epyx earlier in the year. This time they released it on cartridge for instant access. Only twelve new levels to progress (hence the "Junior" tag), but they are quite a bit harder than before, and a few new surprises await those thinking this will be an easy task. A good solid, old fashioned platformer that gets you to think a bit on how to negotiate the levels properly.

Jungle Hunt
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Bill Bogenreif
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Another one of the slightly mediocre conversions courtesy of Atarisoft. Graphics are pretty murky and indistinct and the sound isn't much better than that. Gameplay wasn't that inspiring to begin with, so the whole package is one of averageness all round. For fans of the arcade machine only really.

Jupiter Lander
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: The first ever Commodore 64 game, released with the console back in August 1982. Wasn't too bad admittedly, just gets boring very quickly. Based upon the arcade machine Lunar Lander, the landing sites never change and the game could be played ad infinitum if you are good enough to land the box down well each time. Things got better after this fortunately.

Jupiter Lander Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Jupiter Lander. Exactly the same program as the one released in the West.

Kickman
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: The second ever Commodore 64 game, probably released at the same time as Jupiter Lander. And it is rather better than said game. A conversion of the Bally Midway arcade game, it combines aspects of Clowns and Pacman for an unusual game. Really just for fans I think, it can get rather hard rather quickly.

Kickman Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Kickman. Exactly the same program as the one released in the West.

Kickman 64
Company : Handic/Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A Swedish release of the balloon balancing, clown on a bike game.

Kids on Keys
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Frieda Lekkerkerker
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Another typing game this time from Spinnaker. No flashy graphics like "Wizard of Id" however. Different games provide different challenges trying to get your fingers round the keyboard.

Kindercomp
Company : Spinnaker
Year    : 1983
Author  : Doug Davis
Rating  : 3
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Some basic learning tools for children to, well learn from I guess. Hardly any notable graphics to speak of, mainly being words and simple sprites on screen. Slightly more entertaining than other Spinnaker products perhaps, but this is designed for very young children only.

Kung Fu Master
Company : US Gold
Year    : 1986
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A cartridge version of the arcade conversion.

Laser Cycles
Company : Turbo Software Inc.
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Like the other TSI releases, this game was based on an existing concept, and if you haven't guessed by now in this case it is Tron, then you aren't paying attention! Actually this is quite a decent version of the light cycles subplot, with 2 player combat possible due to the somewhat stupid nature of the computer AI.

Last Ninja Remix
Company : System 3
Year    : 1990
Author  : John Twiddy
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Got to hand it to System 3 to cash in on a good thing. As a present for the new 64GS owners, they rejigged the very successful Last Ninja 2 into a redone graphical and sonic package and made it instant access too. Due to the fact no regular C64 owner actually needed to buy this version, and the price tag at the time, sales weren't high and hence is not particularly easy to find.

Lazarian
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Andy Finkel
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Common
Comments: See Dragon's Den. The conversion pretty much left me cold, partially because I have no recollection of the arcade to begin with, plus the face the game itself isn't an enjoyable experience to play. Graphically and sonically mediocre, this is one of those games you play just to see if you can actually like it.

Lazer Zone
Company : HES
Year    : 1983
Author  : Jeff Minter
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Probably the least well known of the 3 Minter games released by HES, but that doesn't mean it is bad. Control two guns on X and Y axes to blast away the attacking invaders. Two player competition and co-operative mode makes it even better, coupled with the trademark Minter loud effects.

Leaderboard
Company : Access
Year    : 1987
Author  : Roger/Bruce Carver
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A cartridge version of the classic golf game.

Le Mans
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Simple but very enjoyable fun this game. Just requires you to have a set of paddles to play it though. Reminds me of a very old arcade game whose names escapes me for now. Guide your car up the screen avoiding all the others and plowing through many different road conditions. Good to just slot in and have a bash at for 15 minutes at a time.

Learning with Leeper
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Bobbit
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A rather basic learning package cartridge using the cute little Leeper character from their Lunar Leeper game. There are four activities to play: matching icons, maze chase, painting and number counting. Might keep a child occupied for a little while.

Letter-Go-Round
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : CCW Inc
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A simple match the letters game for the kiddies to understand. Words come up and you must pick the correct letters off the big wheel in the right order. Bright colourful graphics help keep their interest now!

Letter Scrambler
Company : Maxion
Year    : 1983
Author  : Ken Madell
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Up For Grabs.

Linking Logic
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Frieda Lekkerkerker
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A puzzle game at its heart here, where you must work out where to put certain items to make sure your friend can pick up all the pieces of the bridge they will reach at the bottom and not fall into the water. Actually provides a decent challenge for kiddies.

Lode Runner
Company : Broderbund
Year    : 1983
Author  : Dane Bigham
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The game itself was partially based upon Space Panic no doubt. But it took the concept to the next level by having you collect all the items on the screen whilst avoiding the guards. And some of the screen were real bad to try and negotiate. One of those classics a lot of people remember playing from days gone past.

Logic Levels
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Frieda Lekkerkerker
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Refer back to the review for Linking Logic, only this time it's aimed at older children, and you are preventing a ball from being destroyed. Same control method, same interface, much the same game. And much the same review and score!

Lunar Leeper
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Dr Bob
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Well, it's sort of like Defender, but then more like Dropzone in its execution (though this appeared before said classic). Fly across the landscape destroying the leepers and taking the men back to base. Very simple in nature, graphics and sound, another of those cartridges for just the collectors to get their hands on.

Magic Desk I
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: An introduction into the world of point and click menu systems, and also a basic word processor to get people to understand how to use their computer better. Needs a disc drive to save any work out though. And the planned sequels to introduce calculate, finance and so on never appeared.

Make-A-Face
Company : Learning Tree
Year    : 1983
Author  : Designware
Rating  : 3
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Facemaker. All that is different is the box.

Mario's Brewery
Company : Mr Computer Products
Year    : 1983
Author  : Jeremy Thorne
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: You see a pattern in this company's game releases, they are based upon other successful genres of the day. This one tries to be Donkey Kong, but falls very flat. The main sprite isn't even animated, that's how bad it actually is! Still you get some sadistic pleasure from trying to beat it, and it is quite a challenge to complete at least.

Mastertype
Company : Scarborough
Year    : 1983
Author  : Bruce Zweig
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A typing cum learning game similar to many produced in the early days of the Commodore 64. Eighteen detailed lesson plans to help you learn touch typing correctly, with a bit of humour thrown in. Impressive and detailed, if a little boring at times.

Math Mileage
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : Marcia Burrows
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A good mental arithmetic game spoiled by just about everything about the program being substandard. Drive your car along the number highway trying to get your score equalling the target set by running over numbers and operands. Fun up to a point.

MAX Basic Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A larger sized programming cartridge than its smaller cousin. It also allows for load/save operations using a datasette at least. Far more functionality and flexibility, and storage space for your masterpiece. Why they released the other one, I don't know.

Maze Man
Company : Turbo Software Inc.
Year    : 1983
Author  : Creative Equipment
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Yet another Pacman clone for the times (2 versions in fact), and yet another dismal attempt to give the gamesplayer anything new in the genre. The maze, whilst big, stays the same all the way through, and the powerpills merely send the "ghosts" back to their homes rather than allowing you to munch them up for bonus points. The one novel feature is a turbo boost allowing to escape but not eat at the same time. Still, pretty boring to play.

Maze Master
Company : HES
Year    : 1983
Author  : Michael Cranford
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Before The Bard's Tale came this game from the same author. You can see many of the ideas here that were later transported to said classic RPG, including roster of members, turn based combat, spells, review board grading and first person maze view. Not a bad little game all in all, just very difficult to begin with. Unless you are careful you will die quite often and lose all that you have done!

Megafun
Company : Entertainment Software
Year    : 2004
Author  : Scott Julian
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: And what's more fun that just having one game on a cartridge? Why three of course. All of these games were originally published in Ahoy magazine, and are fun for a while, and in the case of Vortex, actually offers a decent challenge.

Megapede
Company : Skyles Electric Works
Year    : 1983
Author  : Paul Andrus
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Ultra Rare
Comments: It's Centipede, what more is there to be said? The graphics aren't much to write home about either, but it plays well enough.

Memory Manor
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Frieda Lekkerkerker
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A window washing game with a difference. You have to remember only to wash certain windows that have things behind them, and you only have a limited amount of water to do it with. Bright graphics and the usual poor sound make this a slightly curious release to say the least.

Miner 2049er
Company : Big 5
Year    : 1983
Author  : Frank G
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: One of the very first computer platform games is still as challenging now as it was back then. Ignore the rather primitive graphics and sound, and get your head around trying to cover every single inch of every platform in each room. It is not easy to say the least. The only thing lacking was some sort of password system, of which they implemented something akin to that in the sequel.

Mini Basic Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A Basic programming cartridge for the MAX machine. Enables most of the easiest and simplest commands to be programmed and run. But without any load/save functionality there doesn't seem much point. And you get all of 600 bytes to use as well!

Minnesota Fat's Pool Challenge
Company : HES
Year    : 1983
Author  : N. Strange
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: The game is licensed from Bubble Bus in the UK and is called Hustler. One of the first pool games to appear, and like all of them at the time, not quite with it in terms of playability, accuracy or realistic ball movement. Least it has a 2 player option for some challenge and competitive action.

Mole Attack Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A version of the classic Whack-a-Mole game from the fairground. Hit the moles as they appear, but remember to only get the heads, not the tails. No joystick support either, it's all on the keys instead. Mildly entertaining for a while.

Money Wars Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : HAL Laboratory
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A simple game of money stealing where you must guide your thief from one side of the screen and back again avoiding the many obstacles. Graphics and setup remind me somewhat of Hunchback. Obviously the difficulty and speed of the game increase the better you do.

Monster Voyage
Company : Maxion
Year    : 1984
Author  : Joyce Hakansson
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: Licensed from the Spinnaker game Aegean Voyage.

Moon Patrol
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A firm favourite of mine in the arcade, and the official Atari conversion does the real machine proud. Just about everything is here, the aliens, the holes, the boulders and all the attack patterns and 26 waves that make up the jaunt across the Moon. Graphically accurate with some decent sound effects, this is a playable and challenging game in its own right, regardless of the fact it is also one of the best cartridge conversions you can obtain.

Moondust
Company : Creative
Year    : 1983
Author  : Jamon Lanier
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Well is it a game, or is it something completely different? Something I am still trying to decide! The object of the program is to guide your spaceman round the screen creating strange patterns and getting certain objects to pass through the trails that you create. Or something. You would think it was a Jeff Minter game upon first examination. One of those curious cartridges to collect out there.

Motor Mania
Company : Romox
Year    : 1982
Author  : John Fitzpatrick
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: A rather simple driving game that did get published in other forms later on, and by other companies. Drive your car up the road avoiding all the obstacles and other vehicles. Nothing much to it really, but a hard game to track down in cartridge form. Simple graphics and sound were standard for most 1982 early programs, and the challenge isn't all that great either.

Mountain King
Company : Beyond
Year    : 1983
Author  : Douglas Dragin
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Curious game where you control someone digging through the mountain, collecting diamonds and trying to enter the Throne Room in order to take the crown and be proclaimed Mountain King. Certainly hard to understand what to do without instructions, and the graphics and sound are no big shakes. But the gameplay is solid and sent on a good difficulty curve for learning how to beat it.

Movie Musical Madness
Company : CBS Software
Year    : 1984
Author  : The Dovetail Group
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A way for children to "create" their own movies and animated set-ups, let down only by the fact the interface itself is rather complicated and convoluted to use. Apart from that, the graphics and sound have had attention paid to them and in itself, this is a curious little package to try out. But make sure you know what you are doing!

Mr Cool
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Peter Oliphant
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A version of the arcade game Q-bert, but the graphics are not a match on the conversion that Parker Brothers did. Same concept though, guide Mr Cool over the levels to colour them, avoiding the multitude of missiles being sent from either side to knock him off. Entertaining for a while, but doesn't have the appeal of the original game.

Mr TNT
Company : HES
Year    : 1984
Author  : Harley Puthuff Jr
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: The game is a bit like Qix in that you control some sort of cursor across the screen avoiding the nasties. The difference being instead of drawing a trail behind you, the object is to remove all the trails from the screen. Not easy. You must make sure you don't run into any dead ends for a start. So a bit of planning is required to even complete the first screen.

Ms Pacman
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 8
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A much better effort than the first Pac conversion that Atari did. Everything looks and seems a lot more polished and refined. All the elements from the arcade are present, from the correct maze layouts to the intermission screens. Graphics and sound are very faithful to the arcade parent and the game as a whole is rather playable.

Muistio 64
Company : Handic
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: Some sort of word processing cartridge. Not exactly easy to navigate if you have no sense of the Scandinavian languages!

Music Composer
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Andy Finkel
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: A good solid music composition program that is easy to understand and use (once the instructions have been assimilated) to get some simple tunes to play out. You can have all 3 voices going at once with different effects and instruments, and while it won't make you into Rob Hubbard, it will give good results.

Music Composer Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Andy Finkel
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Music Composer. Exactly the same program as the one released in the West.

Music Machine
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Abundant
Comments: Whereas Music Composer was a tune composition tool, this is more a real time playing keyboard program. You can change the number of voices playing at the same time, voice effects, instruments and octave. Yet again an entry level program, but one that gives some okay results if you are willing to persevere.

Myth
Company : System 3
Year    : 1990
Author  : Peter Baron
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: Probably the best game available in the cartridge format. Only pity is that fact it is damned hard to get hold of a copy. Terrific graphics immediately hit you, then the realistic sound effects such as sword clanging and bones crunching. Work your way through the 4 different time zones to defeat the evil demon with no loading worries!

Narco Police
Company : Dinamic
Year    : 1990
Author  : Iron Byte
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Ultra Rare
Comments: Unlike its counterpart, I had at least seen this for sale in mail-order lists and knew of its existence. Pity for not buying it then because it is incredibly hard to come by today. The game itself is quite enjoyable, kit out your police troops and go explore tunnels (in a similar fashion to part 2 of Platoon), killing stuff along the way.

Navy Seals
Company : Ocean
Year    : 1990
Author  : John Meegan
Rating  : 9
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: After working on Untouchables, John Meegan was assigned to create a game of the movie. Crap movie, great game. Some beautiful graphics and music hide a very high difficulty level, in that one shot kills your men. Work your way around defusing the Stinger missiles and then try to escape from Beirut. Great interlevel pictures compliment the package as a whole.

Novablast
Company : Imagic
Year    : 1984
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Scarce
Comments: A cartridge version of the scrolling shooter.

Number Nabber Shape Grabber
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 4
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A simple game of grab the number or shape to make up the equation listed at the top of the screen. Game plays very much like Dig Dug, you burrow through the dirt to reach the numbers and shapes, grab them with your tongue and then assemble them into the correct formula. Pretty boring stuff to be honest.

Number Tumblers
Company : Fisher Price
Year    : 1984
Author  : Childware Corporation
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A game of maths and calculation aimed at children, but I reckon it would give some adults problems trying to play it as well! Control your Wumbletum over the numbers and mathematical signs to produce a total that makes one of those listed at the top of the screen, whilst competing against another player. Simple, brain taxing fun.

Oil's Well
Company : Sierra Online
Year    : 1983
Author  : Thomas Mitchell
Rating  : 7
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: A clone of the obscure Stern arcade Anteater, this is not a bad little game. For those most likely not to have played said arcade, the object is to guide the oil pipe down a series of maze like corridors to pick up the required items and avoid the nasties roaming around. A lot harder than it sounds given you are vunerable at any part of the pipe you make in your travels. Worth a few plays at least.

Omega Race
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: Another of the early batch of Commodore cartridges, and sadly not all that good either. A conversion of the Bally Midway game, the graphics are decent vectors seemingly rendered in sprites though, and the sound is the usual sparse shooting effects. Gameplay isn't all that exciting either, roaming around trying to keep your ship under control (not easy) and shooting the bad guys. A bit like Asteroids in some ways.

Omega Race Max
Company : Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Rare
Comments: The Japanese MAX release of Omega Race. Almost exactly the same program as the one released in the West.

Omega Race 64
Company : Handic/Commodore
Year    : 1982
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 5
Rarity  : Common
Comments: A Swedish release of the space shooter classic.

Pacman
Company : Atarisoft
Year    : 1983
Author  : Unknown
Rating  : 6
Rarity  : Uncommon
Comments: Could have been better, this conversion of the classic Namco arcade is a disappointment. I think this is the game that US Gold released two years later in the UK. Just too late then. Graphics and sound are pretty faithful to the parent, but the intermission scenes appear to be missing.