C64: A Visual Compendium Review.

For those who grew up during the 80’s you will no doubt have fond memories of the Speccy and C64 era of gaming. This book aims to celebrate one of those iconic systems, the C64, in visual form. What’s more, the book is born out of a very successful Kickstarter campaign and one that Sam aims to follow-up shortly with a new book for Amiga fans.

Upon receiving my copy of the book, I could not contain my excitement and I quickly opened the packaging. My initial thought upon opening the package was WOW! The loose glossy dust jacket gives the book that little extra wow factor and, more importantly, a little more protection. Perhaps I was not expecting it to be this good but Sam certainly went the extra mile here and chose quality paper that a book like this truly deserves.

The inside of the book has received the same amount of love and care as the outside. You are greeted with a nice foreword from none other than Mr Stoo Cambridge (I’m a huge fan). The sublime design and artwork that’s gone into making the pages beggars belief as there are no blemishes anywhere to be seen. All the images are from in-game screenshots, game maps, and loading screens each of which captures small moments in time and brings back some wonderful memories. Presented in full colour throughout and printed on high quality paper, complete with a spot-varnished protective dust cover just makes this book look spectacular.

Most of the pages have small write ups that adds a nice touch to each image, these are in the form of either a quote or review from some the original creative masters behind the games, such as David Crane, Ron Gilbert, Jeff Minter and Simon Phipps, just to name a few…

All of the games covered appear in chronological order, starting in the earlier days right through to present homebrew titles still being released today. Yes, that’s right, new C64 games for those that don’t know about that scene see HERE.

Overall I have to say the book is one of the best gaming purchases I have made, let alone book purchases. I could go on and on but I feel I would spoil the surprise for those thinking about getting this book. I must, however, give special mention to Steve Jarratt for his excellent editorial that does not go unnoticed…

The book retails at £24.99 and is now available through Funstockgames.co.uk

zapiy

Retro head and key holder of RVG.