So it's that time again.
A new, retro relevant product has arrived, and I suppose I'd best take a look at it.
As you already know it's the C64 Mini.
Apparently I pre-ordered one from Amazon back in October, so why the hell not?....
Right where do we start with these, oh yes, of course, the unboxing.
Here's the box.
Quite pleasing actually, as it's the same shape as the original packaging, just much
smaller.
64 games included, here's some of the better ones shown on the back.
A Pegi 7 rating, which is hilarious, given we're dabbling with Commodore 64 software
here.
But apparently, there's violence that a 6 year old just wouldn't be able to handle within.
This is all actually a very nice package.
We've got an inner box which looks beautiful, and opening that reveals the perfectly laid
out kit.
Usually I couldn't give a crap about unboxing something, but this was a genuinely nice experience.
Anyway, let's get all this out, here's the little weany C64, the rather hefty joystick
- in comparison, some leads underneath, and the manual, again in the original style.
Apparently this is a 50% scale replica, which I'll just take their word on.
Unfortunately the mini keyboard doesn't work, which is a shame.
That would have been a nice touch, regardless of the fact it would be unusable.
Maybe they could have just made the Run/Stop key work.
BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER, it's a product, made for a price, sacrifices are part of the course.
Another sacrifice being the lack of graphical characters on the key fronts, but like I said,
it's not usable, so it doesn't matter.
It still looks the part.
But here's the question I have... why do we even have a mini?
When this project started on indiegogo as "The 64" the idea was for a computer version
(with proper keys) and a handheld version.
Somewhere along the line, the C was added to the name and a mini version popped out.
Now there was a time when I was miffed at all these Minis popping out of crevices.
But I've slowly become accustomed to them, and I see them for their worth.
Most people can't be arsed haul out a full sized computer every time they want some retro
gaming fun, and so popping a mini console in the lounge solves that issue, whilst offering
just enough reference to the original aesthetic to transport you back to the 80s.
So I understand why Retro Games Ltd (not to be confused with Retro Computers Ltd, although
it has ties with Chris Smith & Paul Andrews, who were originally behind the ZX Vega) opted
to make a Mini, and I actually quite like it... so far anyway.
Reportedly, the larger versions will follow this year for the backers who wanted one.
Not sure about the handhelds however....
So, here's the joystick, which plugs into one of the two USB ports on the Mini.
Now, I don't know about you, but the moment I saw this stick I thought...
wait a cotton picking minute.
This looks the same as the C64DTV joystick released in 2004, which was essentially a
full C64 on a chip, in a joystick.
So maybe the C64 Mini is really an shell with a few connectors, and this whole thing is
just based around that joystick...
so rather than plugging this in, the first thing I did was TEAR IT APART.
Like the C64DTV, this stick is modelled around an elevated Competition Pro stick.
It's a bit more waggly and lacks the satisfaction of the original - you won't find any micro
switches here - but the buttons feel nice.
Anyway, it turns out that internally, the joystick is actually very sparse, apart from
a couple of weights and the switch board... which means the guts are indeed in the C64
Mini.
A few screws here and there, and there we go, a dinky board wedged in the corner...
along with this wire, which actually turned out to be a reset/firmware flashing button
craftily hidden under the bottom sticker - quite a nice place to put it really.
The main bulk of the board itself is taken up with the Dual Core A20.
It's a 1GHz Cortex-A7 ARM processor which works with the Mali-400 MP2 Dual-Core GPU
to run it's menu system and emulate the C64 functionality from a stripped down Linux installation,
as far as I'm aware at least.
So it's not an ASIC based simulation like the C64DTV, but as long as it does the job,
it doesn't really matter.
Actually, this setup makes it pretty hackable, so I'm sure we'll see many interesting homebrew
projects to come.
Anyway, now we know the truth, I'd best put this all back together.
Really, you could do without this part entirely, and put everything in the joystick, just like
the C64DTV really.
But I think that aesthetic is really crucial to a lot of people, plus it gives a nice base
station to plug two joysticks in, if you've got some friends, or even swap the joystick
for a controller of your choice... although compatibility is reportedly a bit flaky at
this point.
Actually, talking about aesthetic.
The paint job on those keys is a little thin on the ground.
During the course of reassembly, a fair bit seemed to have scraped off onto my table.
You can see from the corner keys, where the paint has been worn off leaving the white
plastic exposed.
Anyway, most people won't be sliding theirs about upside down on a desk, but it does indicate
that over time, those keys will deteriorate, a somewhat more serious issue than yellowing.
Anyway, I digress, let's stop being a miserable bastard and have some FUN...
You know how to plug a console in, so I'm not showing you that.
Like most of these minis, power is provided by USB, so hopefully your TV has a spare one.
The joystick can plug either into USB socket 1 or, and then you're ready to go.
Here you get a conveyor belt of titles, along with screen shots and a blurb for the highlighted
selection.
Among those titles is C64 Basic mode, if you do fancy dabbling in some BASIC, then you
can use the Virtual Keyboard to type.
BUT YOU'D HAVE TO BE OUT OF YOUR MIND... waggling the wobbly stick about and picking characters.
No.
You're much better off plugging a USB keyboard in like this beauty.
The problem then is that, the C64 keys aren't always mapped to where you might expect.
But still, you can tap away and create wondrous programs...
if you so desire.
When you're bored of that, you can work through the catalogue of built in games.
Now there are some classics here.
Titles worthy of both your time, and the memory they consume on this little device.
There are also some lesser games, but overall it's not a bad selection.
Oh, and you can thankfully turn off that bloomin' music.
It might sound nice to start with, but trust me, it grates 2 hours into a review.
So, notable titles include Boulder Dash, Impossible Mission, Highway Encounter, Paradroid, Skool
Daze, Speedball 2, Temple of Apshai, Uridium, Who Dares Wins II, C64 Basic.
C64 Basic.
You get the idea.
I played a fair few titles, and in my opinion, input delay is negligible, and you'd be hard
pushed to notice a screen response slower than the original kit.
Now, given the C64 Mini has far more games than the SNES Mini, you'd think its £65 price
tag was stupendous value for money.
But then, C64 games aren't always the epic titles that you'd find on cartridge platforms.
Still, there are options, like changing the screen mode to keep you happy.
As demonstrated with my particular favourite from this library, Creatures.
God damn this is hard.
Each game has 4 save slots, which saves the entire memory state, and this works both within
games, and BASIC, allowing you to save programs you've typed out.
You can even load your own games via.
USB, but this isn't as streamlined as you might hope.
Firstly, we have to load programs through Basic.
Secondly, you can only load one disk image onto your USB stick at at a time.
Now, using programs like DirMaster you can put several games onto one image - space allowing,
enabling you to hold several games on one stick, but it's still extremely clunky.
Multi disk games are even more of a problem.
At least there is functionality to load external ROMs out of the box, but if you're having
to mess about to this extent, you start thinking...
I might as well have setup a Raspberry Pi emulator.
Retro Games Ltd say this will be improved on later firmwares (along with other features),
but that doesn't help Boris, who doesn't know how to update firmware and just wants an easy
to use, out of the box experience.
The only saving grace is that once you've loaded an external game, you can save it's
state to the Mini's memory, and then just reload the game from there.
This way, you don't need the USB, but it does limit you to the 4 save slots found under
the Basic interpreter.
Ok, what about 2 player?
This thing is perfect for some multiplayer lounge action.
Well, you can apparently plug another joystick into the 2nd USB, but as I don't have a suitable
controller, I thought I'd try it with a USB keyboard.
However, for the built in games, this wasn't successful.
Titles like PitStop II seemed to want a second joystick or nothing, whilst California and
Summer Games just kept adding more and more players, with no apparent way to limit proceedings.
Now maybe this is my error, but the point is, it's not intuitive.
In fact, given the the number of buttons on the joystick, it's disappointing that you
have to fall back to the keyboard on some titles, especially if you've only got the
bloody virtual keyboard.
It's fine, but the implementation of some games just feels a bit "off the shelf".
It would be useful if there was an indicator on the menu screen as to which games are multiplayer
as well.
Going back to the joystick.
The cord isn't the longest, so if you're sitting on the sofa, this might cause some limitations.
But you can use your own pads, so a decent wireless one may solve this issue... if you
can find one that's compatible.....and that's the main issue for me.
The quality of the product.
Little things like incompatibility with certain joysticks and usb cards can likely be fixed
through firmware updates, but there are little issues here and there which make me doubt
this thing.
This ranges from display issues in games, to crashing
and even to this horrific sound the device makes upon booting.
I can't see these lasting 30+ years like the original hardware has.
This was supposed to be fun wasn't it?
I mean, look.
It is fun.
The thing is fun.
It can be fun.
It will be fun, as long as you let it be fun.
I do like it.
But the problem with all these computer minis is the lack of keyboard, and I think the slightly
smaller than the original, but larger than this, with a working keyboard version, might
be more up my street.
Still, at least I can plug my C64 Mini joystick into my PC and PLAY SOME SPECTRUM GAMES WITH
IT.
THE HORROR.