Play C-64, PC Dos Games Online [Game Saturday]

Ah the C-64, the best selling home computer of all times. Commodore managed to do nearly everything right with that one. It is undeniable that it was used mostly for gaming, but you'd be surprised that it was used for different purposes, from business to education, as well.

I taught myself Commodore Basic back then and started programming a football manager. Time constraints and some advanced programming issues killed the project in the end. But hey, I was ten or so.

The C-64 gave birth to lots of classic computer games, from the notorious Commando over Sid Meyer's Pirates, Airborne Ranger, Maniac Mansion to Impossible Mission and arcade conversions like Bomb Jack.

Update: The websites mentioned below are no longer available. For C-64 gaming, check out our guide to playing C64 games online. For MS-DOS games, check out Archive.org's selection of games that you can play directly in your web browser.

The website C64i lets you relive your memories if you happened to play C-64 games back in the 80's, or explore them if you never came in contact with them before. The site uses Java to run the games in the browser. A recent version of the Java Runtime Environment is all that is needed to run the games.

Just head over to the website, pick a game that you want to play and wait until it is loaded in the browser. It should not take more than a few seconds to load in most cases.

C64i has a top ten list of games that are the most popular on the site, which is probably a good place to start, unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

In the top 10 are all time classics like Commando, Great Giana Sisters, Bubble Bobble or Paperboy. Each game is displayed with a thumbnail image. If you are into action, you may want to start with Commando, if you like jump and run games you may want to pick Giana Sisters or Ghost n Goblins.

Controls are always the same. You use the arrow keys to move, the Ctrl key as the fire button and space as a secondary button which was not available on the C-64. The secondary button simplifies some actions in certain games, for instance throwing grenades in Commando.

Games are sorted into categories listed at the top of the page. You can use it to pick your favorite gaming category to see all the games listed there. The site has a beta category as well which lists untested games that may or may not run. The beta list alone is bigger than all category listings combined. Worth checking out.

Many games throw error messages currently, at least when played in the Chrome browser. Commando worked fine, Giana Sisters on the other hand threw an error message and refused to load correctly.

The sister site, Dosdose uses the same layout and concept to offer online access to PC Dos games. Games like Indiana Jones, Moonstone, Ultima V or Airborne Ranger are playable on site.

The games on this site work better, I did not encounter a single one that refused to load.

Both sites offer lots of entertainment, especially for people who have played C-64 or PC Dos games in the past. You will encounter games that may not be working correctly, but there are so many to chose from that it should not make a huge difference.

Have you played C-64 or PC Dos games in the past? If so, which games were your favorites back then?

Update: The C-64 website is no longer available on the Internet.

Update 2: And it is up again.

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