I should probably start all of this off by introducing myself. My name is Chip Chattingham, which isn't my real name, but it will work well enough for my presence on this blog. I started playing computer role-playing games (CRPGs) back in 1987, at the tender age of thirteen. I started with the Commodore 64, upgraded to an Amiga 500, then went into the world of DOS and Windows based machines. With that, you can probably guess my age and realize that I have been doing this gaming thing for a long time.
I have played a lot of CRPGs in that span, finishing a majority of them. I have never got tired of it, have never really gotten bored or jaded, and with each passing year I seem to become more passionate over my gaming hobby.
Recently, I have been thinking about the computer that started it all for me---the Commodore 64. Although I admit that the times have changed, and going back to playing games on 64k of memory and graphics built around 16 base colors is challenging, there is something special about RPGs on the C64 that keep me coming back to them. As a kid there were so many games I wanted to play, but never could afford, and now thanks to emulation I have been able to uncover so many gems I missed in my childhood.
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| This machine....oh yeah... |
Recently, I have been reading a lot from the blog of The CRPG Addict. If you have never visited his blog, and love CRPGs, do so now. Essentially, he is covering every CRPG ever made for personal computers, in chronological order. It is quite a daunting task, and at the time of this posting he is currently in the year of 1991.
I decided to do something similar, yet different at the same time. The Commodore 64 CRPG Project will focus on every role-playing game released for the C64---I will be playing, finishing, and then rating every title I play. Every RPG released for the C64 will be covered in great detail.
This "project" is the first of my 3 stage process to cover CRPGs. If I finally manage to cover every C64 role-playing game, I will then be moving on to the Commodore Amiga, then possibly to DOS based RPGs, but that is way down the road.
There is going to be some "ground rules" for the blog, which I will detail below:
- I will only be playing English versions of Commodore 64 RPGs. Unfortunately, I am not fluent in other languages, and trying to play these games would be way too much work, and frankly, not fun. For this reason, I will be covering North American releases only.
- No cheating. This means no trainers, hacks, or exploits. I will try to play each title as faithfully as I can, to re-create the experience of their initial release. If I get stuck, I may consult a hint guide, and in the worse case scenario a walkthrough, but I will do everything in my power to prevent this.
- Only Commodore 64 RPGs at this time, no exceptions.
- I am using this list to filter through the games for the C64. If there is an English based RPG not listed there, let me know. I will add it in.
- All games will be rated in my scoring system. To see how I will be doing my scoring, click here.
- For a game to be played, I must qualify it as an RPG. To see my qualifications, click here.
- I will be playing titles in chronological order, to the best of my ability.
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| The game that started it all for me. |
You are probably thinking : "Do we *really* need another CRPG blog?
My best answer is that I don't think we can ever have enough blogs about games, of any type. Hopefully, this blog will open some eyes to the wonderful world of C64 RPGs, and help some readers discover some hidden gems, re-live their gaming memories, or just get informed about retro gaming.
As for myself, I am very excited to get things going. There are so many games I missed that I cannot wait to try, and many others that I completed that I am excited to visit again, to see how they stack uo against the test of time.
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| I totally missed out on this one. With a great box like that, how could I? |
So with all that being said, I am done rambling. It's officially the beginning of the Commodore 64 CRPG Project. I hope you come with me on this journey!
