Your 'Killer App' On The Vic?

[Pedro Lambrini]

Every machine has its merits and its must-have titles but what, for you, is the Vic 20's killer app?

I was thinking about this today and decided to pick one from 'back in the day' and one from the current generation of games.

My killer app of old would have to be Matrix (AMC to you North Americans!). That game is a stone cold classic and the best version of it is on the Vic. Big colourful graphics and mental arcade sounds. It's just relentless, fast and smooth. I love Gridrunner too but Matrix is Gridrunner turned up to 11.

My killer app from today's games would be Omega Fury. I just love that game. It's a masterpiece and would dearly love to see a sequel one day. It's got nice graphics, plays well, there are no unfair deaths or bugs that cheapen the experience. Imagine if the game came out in the early 80's!

Anyway, what are your games of choice?

[Boray]

Omega Race

[Pedro Lambrini]

Omega Race

The Vic version is definitely the best home version as far as I'm concerned. What makes it the killer game for you? Is it the graphics fidelity or that it doesn't flicker like the really bad VCS version? I'm curious.

[Kweepa]

I don't understand the love for Omega Race.
The player ship movement seems very artificial and hard to predict.

[Boray]

They have done a tremendous job with that game. I don't know of any other vic-20 game with that kind of complex smooth graphics and calculations of how the ship is moved based on speed, friction, angle of the ship, thrust etc. And all at a good action speed.

[Boray]

I don't understand the love for Omega Race.
The player ship movement seems very artificial and hard to predict.

What? I guess you're too slow! But I agree that it's a really hard game for beginners. I only bounced up and down, rotated to the side and fired for a long long time before I started to play it a bit more foolhardy. I guess you have seen me play, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpAwCZ6g290

[Kweepa]

I mean it doesn't seem like smooth physics (eg Asteroids). The speed increases and decreases in jarring steps.

Back on topic, my killer app is Arcadia. I loved that game as a kid, and I still get a real buzz from playing it now.

[rhurst]

I loved Omega Race, mostly because it was the first game cart I bought for VIC back in the day, and it was a real whoopie-wow-shit experience to see my home computer play such an advanced game. Loved the arcade game, and yes, I am no beginner, but the ship is too jerky.

IMO, I made Omega Fury's ship movement responsive, but took into account inertia for more fluid play. I am certain Mr. Andy Finkel would have done an even better job, if Jack given the time.

Really, a sequel? Not a prequel?

Shucks, didn't answer the question: it was always Star Trek: SOS for me. And I cannot stop playing Quikman+, from my first love in Pac-Man.

[orion70]

I didn't buy a VIC bacause I was fascinated by a game or wanted to use a particular utility. Much in the same way, today's hobby is driven by nostalgia and the will to keep it alive, experiment, maybe also program something by myself (which I didn't do back then), but well no, no killer app for the VIC.
There are plenty of must-have games... but when I was a kid playing the small BASIC game from the newsstand cassette for the unexpanded VIC was all I wanted from life .

[16KVIC20]

I like Tetris that's on the Mega Cart. Mainly because the music is pretty close to the nintendo original, but also because the VIC 20 never had its own version of Tetris in the 80s/early 90s, so it's great to see a version available now.

[Jeff-20]

Killer App? If the VIC were a game console, it would be Gridrunner. But as a computer, it was Omega Race.

Gridrunner was the most fun to play, but Omega Race fueled the imaginations of home programmers.

[TNT]

Omega Race & Planetfall

[Vic20-Ian]

I can't get it down to one choice

Probably would have to vote for :

1. Myriad - multiple alien types on screen each with their own sound "thread"

This amazed me that the aliens left on screen from one wave could be present with their signature sound while the next wave was on screen. Was this early multi-threaded programming? It impressed me as I had not seen that before. Anyone know of any other examples of something like this?

2. Laser Zone, then any of Jeff's wonders

3. Star Defence - Sound and graphics and speed of play

4. Skyhawk - Nice gameplay and ramp up of difficulty

5. Jetpac - nice physics and graphics

6. ACE - Jet combat on a Vic!

7. Jelly Monsters - such a good home version compared to e.g. Atari 2600

8. Omega Race - it just rocks

9. Doom - cannot believe that it is possible and recognisable.

10. Gorf - needs the speech though.

[Tetsuo_Usagi]

I would have to say Rockman. Rockman is just awesome and apart from a few bugs that sometimes occured (like only displaying 7 or the 8 rings that you needed to get to go to the next level) it still holds up today.

The music was good, playing Popcorn by Hot Butter and you really had to think good and hard about the strategy to complete some of the levels.

My only complaint with it apart from the ring bug was that the controls sometimes did what they wanted, and sometimes did nothing at all which was a little frustrating. But I still play it today on an emulator so it can't be that bad. Even the slugish controls are emulated perfectly!

[FD22]

My BUTI+ cartridge, plugged into my Stack 4-slot mobo with switchable RAM.

Because then I could write assembly code so, so easily. The BUTI was actually mainly a BASIC tools cartridge, but had the best assembler/disassembler I ever used on the real hardware. That was my killer app.

For relaxation, though, probably Matrix or JetPac, both of which really pushed the machine at that time.