Computer Shopper - UK (2020-04)

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RETRO

IISSSUUEE 338866 |COMPUTER SHOPPER|AAPRRIILL 2200220

⬅Themicroswitchjoystickkisamajor

improooovementontheonethhatwasbundled

withTTTTHEC64Mini

E n o lo s irttttal

e ic t h r in

r o d ac g g fhhhhe

o o 6

impressive.Licensinngissues
meanitcarriesaTHEC64
logoratherthanthhefamiliar
Commodore 6 4onne,butit’s
otherwiseasfineareproduction
asyoucanimagine,allllbbbbeeeeiiiittttwwwwiiiitttthhhh
modernports.

GETCONNEECTED

Indeed,therearethreeUSB
socketsontheeright-hand
sideoftheuniit(enough
foracoupleoofjoysticks
andamemoryystick),
alongwithapowerbutton
thatalsocalllsupamenu.
AnotherUSBBsocket(foran
externalkeyyyyboard,perhaps)
residesonttheback,allllongssssiiiiddddeeee
HDMIandpowerports.
Gettinggeverythingupandrunningis
aseasyassconnectingthecomputertoa
monitoroorTVfor720pHDvisuals,pluggingit
in,hookinngupthejoystickandswitchingon.
Areassuuringredpowerlightcomesoninthe
right-hanndcornerofthemachine.You’rethen
askedtooindicateyourpreferredsettings.
Doinnnnggggso,hhhhowever,ffffeellllsallllittllllecllllumsy.
Toselectthelanguage,ffffoooorrrriiiinnnnssssttttance,youuse
thejoysticktoindicateyourchoicebefore
pressingfire,yettheselectionwillonlybe
confirmedifyouselecttheMenubutton,
thelocationofwhichisn’timmediately
obvious.Byreadingtheguide,you’llseethat
there’soneonthejoystickandanotheron
thesideofthemachinebutthen,whenbeing
askedtochoosebetweena50Hzor60Hz
display,you’reagainaskedtopressfireto

select,butthhhhiiiisttttiiiimmmmeeeeeettttaaaappppAonthejoystickor

thekeyboardtoconnnnfirm.

Thankfully,it’saaaaminorissue,andtheuser

interfacestartstofeelmuchmoreslickand

intuitivefromthatppppointonwards.Thisis

importantbecause,unliketheoriginal

Commodore64,theeeereproductioncomputer

hastwomodes:classsssicandcarousel.The

formmmmertakesyoutotheefamiliarstart

screeeeenofaC 64 ,whereyyoucanbeginto

programmmminBasicfromtheReadyprompt.

Thelatterrrrletsyouaccess 644 gameswithout

thehassleofloadingthemffromtapeordisk.

PPPPLLLLLLAYTHEMAGAAIN

THEC64Minialsohadbuilt-ingames,

butthelibraryisslightlydifferent.

SkoolDazeeandthose

publishhedbyThalmusare

notaablefortheirabsence,

buutthetitlesinclude

ttheshoot-’em-ups

Paradroidand

Uridium,puzzlers

suchasChip’s

Challenge,age-old

pllatformsfromMonty

onthheRuntoImpossible

Mission,andsports-based

offeringsbotthclassicandfuturistic

suchasWinterGGames,WorldGames,

CCCCaliforniaGames,SuummerGamesII,Skate

CrazyanddddSpeeddddbbbbaaaallll 2 –BrutallDelluxe.

There’salsorooooomforsomeoffbeat

inclusions(we’reloooookingatyou,JeffMinter,

andyoursplendiddddAttackoftheMutant

CamelsandHovverBovver).Abrandnew

offering,PPPPrrrroooottttoooovvvviiiissssion’sGalaga-cloneGalencia,

iswelcommmme,too.Someofthegamesare

showingttttheirage,asyoumightexpectof

titlesthatttthadtheirheydayinthe1980sand

1990s,buuuuttheworkingboardofTHEC64also

opensuppppfreshpossibilities:youcannow

enjoytextadventures

and,towhetyour

appetiteforsuch

interactivefiction,

PlanetofDeathbyArtic

Computing’sRichard

TTTTurnerandChrisThornton

l.

oooo

tttttttt

mmmm.

eeee

ssss

dddd

gggg

gggg.

AAAA oooo

tttt -

t eeee iiii

l fwwww eeeei

s tttt , cccc n g i

i ftttt r e

s aaaar tiiiial n e o b u a

a p ynnnng i ccccli t e r o

dw ile o c o ey n v t r o