Vic-20 questions

[jboypacman]

I have been gaining a growing interest in classic computer gaming in the short while now with me picking up a couple of Atari 8-bit computers and a Tandy Color Computer 3.

 

Now after watching a few videos on YouTube am starting to get interested in the Vic-20 and was wondering a couple of things.....

 

1)How much would it cost to get a decent Vic-20 set up to play some games on?

 

2)What games would anyone recommend me to play?

 

3)Are there any good Vic-20 fansite/webpages out there i should check out?

Edited April 9, 2010 by jboypacman

[Tempest]

Check out Denial, they're the biggest Vic-20 forum on the net: http://www.sleepingelephant.com/denial/

 

Tempest

[+Psionic]

1)How much would it cost to get a decent Vic-20 set up to play some games on?

They can be had fairly cheaply ($20 or less), but they can be unreliable and are often sold as "untested". It's worth looking for a good working unit, which will probably cost you $30-$40 (I bought my CIB and tested working VIC for around $40).

 

2)What games would anyone recommend me to play?

It doesn't have an extremely exciting library due to most of the games coming out (in superior form) on the C64, but there are some games where the VIC-20 really shines. This rarity list has some ratings which are pretty accurate as far as which games you'll want to check out (and which you'll want to avoid)...

 

http://www.digitpress.com/the_digs/vic20/texts/vic-rare.htm

[jboypacman]

Thanks guys i will give these all a look see and thanks for all the info too.

Edited April 9, 2010 by jboypacman

[TMR]

2)What games would anyone recommend me to play?

 

Anything by Jeff Minter, Wacky Waiters, Choplifter, Jetpac and Wunda Walter as a few random starting points and recently there have been some great homebrews including Berzerk MMX, Astro Nell, Dragonwing and i'll slip a plug for my own ViColumn in here too. =-)

 

3)Are there any good Vic-20 fansite/webpages out there i should check out?

 

Someone already pointed to Denial, that's your best bet.

Edited April 9, 2010 by TMR

[Mirage]

Consider a Vic-20 MegaCart. www.mega-cart.com It's right around $100, and has tons of Vic-20 software on it. It does have all carts that have been dumped, and a sampling of cassette-based software as well. RAM expansion, utility carts and so on too. It's a fantastic value. You were asking about what good games -- that cart will have most of the good ones on it.

 

I'm always happy when someone mentions becoming interested in the Vic-20. It was my first computer. Of course, I dumped it to get a C64 like most people did, but today, I still go back to the Vic-20 as it has a different charm than the C64 does, and it stands as a great gaming machine in it's own right. I even like playing the cart games on the Vic that were later released for the C64 like Radar Rat Race, Omega Race (fantastic version!) and many others.

 

I agree about looking for a tested one. They are getting harder to find, but they are out there still and shouldn't set you back too much. Nice that the peripherals are the same as C64, so you don't have to spend all that $ again on each setup if you get or have both. You should be able to get nice Vic-20 and MegaCart setup for well under $150, and that's really all you need.

 

Have fun!