ChinnyVision - Ep 131 - Six Mastertronic C16 Games

I've had these six Mastertronic games sitting in my in-tray for a while, so what better place to take a look at them than in a video. Prospector Pete, On Cue, Mr Puniverse, Squirm, Street Olympics and Hektik are the games. All played on a real Commodore Plus/4 and loaded from the real tapes.

[MarkTheMorose]

4 good games out of 6 isn't bad for any system, let alone the C16. I had Hektik on the C64, it was one of Mastertronic's few good early games. When I started collecting retro systems, I was underwhelmed by the C16 and Plus 4, and while I sold the C16, I kept the two Plus 4's when I saw how active the scene still is, with new games coming out quite frequently. Then I too started getting a few of the better original titles, and Prospector Pete was one of them.

[battmann]

I am a massive C16 fan having got into it a while back, it is a superb little machine that is criminally underrated and has some nice titles for it. Great to see it getting some coverage here, top work.

[CVRJM]

It's a pleasure to see the Commodore 16 get some much-needed attention here on YouTube Chinny so thanks for posting this.

I do recall as a kid that most of Mastertronic's output for the machine was great for the most part. And what was more impressive is that when their less loved titles such as "Storm", "Molecule Man" or "Vegas Jackpot" appeared on the machine, they really shone brighter on the format.

As a child who's father had the more superior Spectrum 48k and bemoaned at the quality of Mastertronic's games for his computer. I was happy as anything that my "Inferior" 16k computer delivered much better games using less ram at £1.99 each. And when every visit to a Forbouys newsagents, was an adventure in itself.

[frishnit]

I absolutely loved Mr Puniverse on my C+4 when I was very young. I have fond memories of it... having seen it here, I am wondering what young me was thinking!

[rayforceaddict]

Wow, I'd never heard of Big Mack or the Roland games. I'm an avid C64 fan, but I'm in the States. Thanks for introducing me to these \o/

[d_rrr_vince]

Damn Pete is amazing!!!
Someone must port it to CPC :-)

[GazzJ]

A friend gave me his C16 in the early 90's and despite owning a Mega Drive by this time I got a lot of enjoyment out of Squirm (the only game that came with it) and the exercise book "C16 An Introduction to basic" which my friend had never done.

[Consoletronix]

I was one of the unfortunate kids to own a Plus 4 back in the mid 80's so i remember most of those titles, i had Mr puniverse its really good but hard as old boots.

[chrispreston]

Prospector Pete looks quite good. The mechanic of the fluid filling the mine looks like it creates an interesting puzzle for the player, so you have to think about the path you take to all those treasures. I"m quite impressed.

[BeyondTheScanlines]

Prospector Pete is easily the best of that bunch. Really need to go hunt a copy of that one down I think.

I have a bit of fondness for the C16 & Plus/4 - surprised at how many nice games there are there, plus plenty of good modern stuff on those systems too (some of which I *really* need to go cover… *cough* Majesty of Sprites *cough* and its sequel for starters…)

[jamesarmstrong]

Prospector Pete, we had that on the C64 yet it was known as 'O'reilly's Mine'

[thefurthestmanfromhome]

Wow, not seen C16 Mr Puniverse in what.. nearly 40 years?

Only knew 1 person who had the machine shared with his younger brother and only a handful of games, rest of us had C64's and a few others had things like a 48K spectrum and an Acorn Electron.

They rarely got used

[bit-ishbulldog]

Squirm is the game I remember well, I played it a lot on my brothers C16..

[Popmetalj]

Squirm rang a bell with me. I never had a C16 but I'm sure something very similar came out for the Vic20....

[dartsma]

Thumbs up for the C16. Nice sharp hires graphics and smooth scrolling. Did it use a proprietary joystick? Would love to see some VIC20, ZX81, Memotech, Sharp MZ 700 or Spectravideo games later if you have any of those machines.

[RodHull_TFWb]

Looks good on the C16. But it plays far better on the VIC20. I expect a ChinnyVision VIC20 Hekik special. ;D

[itsnathandivino]

Cheers for the info Chinny, I'm not a huge fan of the C16 but there are some good games for it.

[stunthumb]

In pool, you only get another shot if the opponent fouls - really got to sink a ball with the break in pool.

[smalon]

Could you review some of the Plus/4 only games like Mercenary and Saboteur? Would be nice to show off what the machine was capable of in the right hands.

[TMR]

The C16 has UDGs, in fact all of the games in your video are using them!