• Tag Archives C64
  • Jumpman

    Jumpman

    Jumpman was an early action platform game released in 1983. It was released initially for the Atari 8-bit then ported to the Commodore 64 and a little later to the Apple II, PC (DOS) and ColecoVision (never released?). It was somewhat similar to and inspired by Donkey Kong which is even mentioned in the ad.

    Jumpman was written in an age where it was still common for some guy to write a game in his basement (or wherever) and take it to a publisher. This was the case with Jumpan. Epyx, at the time called Automated Simulations, was transitioning from publishing strategy games to more action oriented games. They were branding these action games under the Epyx label. With Jumpan’s success, the company changed its name to Epyx and published a number of awesome games over the years.


    Atari 8-bit

    The idea of the games is that you are progressing through various floors of a building diffusing bombs. Jumpman can jump (of course) and climb up and down ladders and ropes (though ropes are one-way). Hazards include bullets and other obstacles unique to each level. The biggest threat always seems to be falling though.

    Both the Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 versions of the game were very good. The Apple II version was inferior and that’s somewhat ironic given that the initial development of the Atari version was done on the Apple II. The PC version is somewhere in between. The ColecoVision version is supposedly based on the Commodore 64 version but I don’t think it was ever released. Instead it got the ‘lite’ version, Jumpan Jr.


    Commodore 64

    Jumpan was one of the best games of its type (far better than Donkey Kong in my opinion). If you are fan of classic games then this one is definitely a must play. Track down the Atari or Commodore 64 version. Original disks aren’t too hard to find but given the age you may want to stick with emulation. Make sure you have an appropriate controller though as its more fun with a proper classic style joystick.


  • Mean Streets (Commodore 64)

    Mean Streets

    Mean Streets was the first of a series of games featuring Tex Murphy as the protagonist. Mean Streets, which was released in 1989 by Access, was the only one in the series available on the Commodore 64. This was one of those games I always wanted but never got to play. What’s not appealing about a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk mystery? In addition to being available on the Commodore 64, it was also of course available on DOS based PCs where it was first developed. It was also ported to the Amiga and Atari ST but only in Europe for some reason.

    The game is essentially a graphic adventure but there are other elements, including even a 3D flight sim. You, as Tex Murphy are investigating the mysterious death of a college professor who was seen falling from a bridge and had previously been working on a secret project. The police think it was suicide but his daughter is convinced it was murder.

    The PC version was one of the first to support 256 color VGA graphics on the PC and also introduced a technique for creating digitized voices and other advanced sound using just the PC speaker without a sound card. The Commodore 64 version paled in comparison in these regards (though it seems they could have done better with the sound if they had wanted to). However, the consensus seems to be that the playability is nearly as good as the PC version and that’s what is most important. I’m not sure how the Amiga and Atari ST ports fared.

    Sequels included Martian Memorandum released in 1991, Under a Killing Moon released in 1994, The Pandora Directive released in 2009 and Tesla Effect in 2014. The original was also remade in 1998 as Tex Murphy: Overseer. None of these made it to the Commodore 64 though.