Rescue on Fractalus for the commodore 64

[TheSwanies]

That game is hacked(the intro at the beginning is a hacker group's signature)

Those signatures are the start of todays demos

[Steve10578]

The thick atmosphere is sufficiently acidic that downed pilots' craft were being slowly disintegrated. An exposed pilot's survival time outside his craft is less than a minute, due to his flight suit and helmet literally dissolving. This makes it imperative that the player rescue pilots as quickly and efficiently as possible.

[rikard1414]

Mohahahahah best game ever lol i did play it on my C64 when i was a kidd

[HardWarUK]

You need to do more C64 reviews because 1985 is the 25th anniversary for games made in 1985 and next year will be the 25th anniversary of all the great 1986 C64 games, and so on!

[JonPanganiban]

2:49 Lol the pilot is getting mad.

P.S. I love the commentary, haha.

[2ndhandlion]

The game looks really good. I never had that on any of my old computers.

The commentary is awful, one of the worst I've heard on here.

[satarimar]

well the Atari version was faster, of course. they used a special lowres mode where one byte holds 4 pixels (4 distinct colours chosen from atari palette), while I think the C64 version had to write 4 bytes to render 4 pixels. (understand: one atari lowres mode pixel = 4 C64 pixels?). C64 and Atari had essentially the same processors: 6502 vs 6510. I think Z80 was a much more powerful CPU in terms of programming flexibility (register count).

[thorgallpl]

@satarimar atrai 2mhz, c64 1mhz. thats why its so slow.

[AtariAndre42]

@thorgallpl Nope Atari was 1,79 Mhz, C64 1 Mhz. It does make a difference though. That plus the dedicated Atari graphics chips...

[HardWarUK]

This 'Atari was best' is just jealousy on the part of Atari gamers because the Commodore 64 is the biggest selling console in the world and these LucasArts games sold about 120 times more on C64, given that the C64 was a worldwide hit and the Atari machines were mostly only hits in the U,S.

So please can we just get over it?! It was TWENTY FIVE years ago, for God's sake!

[AllPro777]

"the Commodore 64 is the biggest selling console in the world"

Do you mean in comparison to the Atari? Because I believe the PS2 is the highest selling console of all time. Last numbers I heard were somewhere between 120 and 150 million. The C64 didn't sell anywhere near that.

[HardWarUK]

@AllPro777 nearly 100 million sales in Europe and 80 million in North America. Add sales in other parts of the world and the number is said to be 300+ million sales worldwide.

[HardWarUK]

@AllPro777 Commodore 64 has sold over 300 million units worldwide. Doubtful any console will match it due to the competition out there now.

Be aware of hype over reality, for example, how many 'best selling games have there been? surely, you can only have one 'best selling' game, and that's the best selling game!!! We get much more hype now, so wouldn't be surprise if you have read 100 times on the web that the PS2 is the best selling console. Bear in mind, Sony might see C64 as a computer..!

[AllPro777]

@HardWarUK, in response to the comment you erased...

Like you said, the fact that it was considered a compu (for legitimate reasons) probably has more to do with it.

I understand perception vs. reality, but 300Million units is too large to not notice, and incredibly large for its time, especially considering the price. Playerschoice says it sold 17 Million. The numbers I've heard for it were much lower than that even. But if you have something to the contrary I can see, I'd be open to it.

[SarahKreuz31]

one of my fave Game back in the C64 days. :)

[russkinruss]

yes. if you cross fade 1percent over 123.747 you will be able get poke 1.888554..This does make it run faster..Depending on the new chip controller you will over compensate the gui on 222.74639..It's common sense really...

[whohungthemonkey]

Think you could have shown the part where the big green alien jumps up at the screen. That scared the S*it outta me when I first saw that!

[flexlex12]

omg please just shut up... :/

[taksravenlive]

Yes. Don't fucking talk over the brilliant soundtrack and action. You sound like shit and add nothing but annoyance!!

[OneEyePI]

Lol, you dont want to open your airlock as soon as you land - some of those pilots arent quite what they seem ;)

[sahkoaasi]

i never had Atari800, and none of my friends did at the time, so i haven't been able to experience what the game was on that machine. According to what is said here, it was better, and i already loved the C64 version! IMO it was fast considering c64's performance and the way game looked. But SID wasn't definitely pushed even near its limits, and this is obvious if, according to comments, even Atari800 had better sound.

Still love this, perhaps i'll try it on real C64 when i visit home:)

[RoderickStrong]

The Atari version had crisper graphics, but I thought the gameplay was better on the C64

[paskuctfo]

Atari managed the game ways better, it was a torture to play it on c64...

[bwc1976]

Having experienced Flight Simulator II and F-15 Strike Eagle on the 64, I'd say RoF is pretty fast for how it looks, or pretty good looking for how fast it is. Not as fast as Skyfox of course, but Skyfox didn't have fancy terrain to fly over like that.

[ggman3000]

loved this game from a car boot :)

[Thomsonicus]

SID programming was so poor here

[olynxmano]

Tghe C64 Version was not a game , it was an interactive slideshow..

[PrivatePenguin1]

The Atari version was so much better.

[gamein60seconds]

How slow is this? Knew the c64 was slower than the 8-bit but really....

[hbhzth]

A shitty C64 game - badly programmed, probably done by someone who not knew how to use the C64. The SID chip was not used at all, only beeps. Graphics sucked. And I could have managed without your comments on top - or if you must, please have something to tell - not muck about talking rubbish.

[gamein60seconds]

To be fair, the programming of Rescue On Fractulus was completed by very experienced programmers at Lucasfilm, but the original game was written on a workstation and then ported to the Atari and CBM machines. This highlighted the differences in speed of their respective architecture. The C64 version should run at half the speed of the Atari XL/XE, but thanks to a lot of work and clever programming it moves quite a bit faster, though nowhere near the speed of the Atari, which is unsurprising.

[nickmctrick]

Agreed. The Atari version is much smoother.

[olynxmano]

The A800 version runs almost 3 times faster, even by the fact that the C64 got speed optimized. Mostly by using the CPU at all resources while the Atari version runs vertical synced.

It's the same as with PC games. Using Vertical Sync, the game runs slower.

To make it short: If someone removes the vertical sync from the A800 version, it will run faster as it already does!

[waskoma]

hey emkay, stop spilling your idiotic bullshit over here. none of you write is true, you were already corrected on atariage you poor faggot.

[StaxX28]

@waskoma

Look at the comment left on my video by David Fox in person about the versions of this game on Atari 8-bit and C64  ...

Emkay said the truth about this game!

[telemetry9]

much slower than the atari version.

[MindFlyer37]

I don't understand a fucking word! What's that, Scottish?

[MCshlthead]

not scottish. hes just got a funny accent.

[oxfordbiker]

Brummie

[jbaudrand]

Totally agree to ninelivecat: I still don't understand why nobody add rescue mission in MMO

It's definitely a great game

[ninelivecat]

Lucas Arts should remake this for next gen console and give it the treatment it deserves It was an excellent game design as was it's successor Koronis Rift

[mistapaul]

this shows how piss poor the c64 was compared to atari xl.slow as hell, where's SID?

[Foebane72]

My god, I always heard the C64 version was slower than the Atari, but I had no idea!

[ninelivecat]

Yes I see what you mean The Atari 800 version is obviously the one to own.

[Grassy1977]

Yes I think both Atari owners bought copies.

[ninelivecat]

I don't know what you mean The Atari 800 was a great home computer with high quality software. I wish I had, owned one instead of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum with it's non existent sounds and tiny colour pallette

[discostew1983]

doo de doo de doo de doo de doooooo...

lol :D

[iou0]

hehe at :55 that graphic is exiting the mother ship :)

[Fawltykog]

The Atari one was better (smoother better sound (well to my ears at least) just wish the would update the game (like the recent Tomb Raider remake) for the new consoles.

[paulisthebest3uk]

yeah mate i know what you mean imagine todays graphics with a game like this flying your craft on an alien planet and rescuing broken down pilots from the world, it would be amazing with todays technology - we should get a rally round and send it to lucasarts for a game suggestion lol

[HardWarUK]

@Fawltykog Whatever machine anyone has they think it's the best. But the best games were on C64 for sure. Why? Because C64 games outsold Atari 800 games by a factor of 80 to 1 worldwide during the mid 80's! It not opinions that decide - it's sales! Atari 800 was a U.S. experience. C64 for a worldwide one.

[paulisthebest3uk]

sure thing mate not a problem - will be done tomorrow.. thanks for suggesting it!

[madderscientist23]

Hey Paul, Great video! Is there any chance that you could also review the Atari800xl?65XE version of Fractalus and compare the two, as i believe that it was allegedly superior. I have not played on either but intend to obtain both at some point as i heard about them when i was younger! Cheers

[ninelivecat]

It is superior overall but the if you listen the music and sound effects are better on the C64 version

I don't want to see the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version

I can imagine how poor it was

[Foebane72]

Fractalus' music BETTER on the C64!?! HAHAHAHA!!!

You obviously haven't heard the Atari music, the C64 music is all stuttery and beepy by comparison.

[Fawltykog]

Excellent :) thanks for the review of my own personnal fave game of the 8 bit era.

[ukmarkh]

Good game... I remember somtimes the alien would try and enter your ship... lol

[paulisthebest3uk]

lol yeah would happen on the later levels lol was scary

[CulturalMyths]

@paulisthebest3uk yea, would slap you around the ship