VIC-20 (Cartridge)
Today in my countdown of Mario game formats for Mario’s 40th anniversary, I’m dusting off the VIC-20 cartridge – a curious chapter in Mario’s early history.
Released in 1980 by Commodore (as the VIC-1001 in Japan), the VIC-20 was one of the first affordable home computers – and the first to sell over one million units, eventually reaching 2.5 million. While not a traditional console, it became a popular entry-level 8-bit machine.
It was the first home computer to feature colour graphics and could display up to 16 colours (a huge leap compared to previous systems), which made it more appealing for both gaming and non-gaming uses. It also had an affordable price for families, at around $299 in 1980.
It was also notable for its user-friendliness. It had a simple programming language called Commodore BASIC, making it an entry point for budding programmers. Its success helped make personal computing more mainstream and marked the beginning of the home computing revolution.
But it also was successful in gaming – largely due to its cartridge format, which allowed for faster game load times than earlier systems, which relied on tape drives. This made it more competitive with consoles and helped create a gaming-friendly environment at home.
The VIC-20 was around at a time before controllers were common, and early users had to adapt to controlling games through keyboards or a joystick. The evolution from keyboard controls to more ergonomic gamepads was a key development in gaming history.
Thanks to a licensing deal with Atarisoft, the VIC-20 was also one of the first home systems to feature Mario – appearing in Donkey Kong. At the time, he was still known by many as Jumpman, and this port brought the arcade game into living rooms – just in a stripped-down form.
Due to the VIC-20’s tiny 5 KB of memory, only two of the four original stages were included (barrels and rivets stages). The elevator and pie factory didn’t make the cut sadly.
Graphically, it was a major downgrade. Mario was a blocky little sprite, and Donkey Kong looked more like an angry square than a gorilla. Still, the stage layouts were surprisingly faithful, and the core gameplay loop – climb, jump, dodge barrels – was preserved.
Sound effects were minimal but present. You’d get a few beeps and bloops to accompany jumps and deaths, but don’t expect the full arcade audio experience. To make up for these limitations, developers became skilled at using clever tricks to keep gameplay fluid.
You could control Jumpman with the VIC-20 keyboard or a joystick, making it more accessible for players. While the controls felt stiffer than the arcade, the game was playable – and more importantly, it let people play Donkey Kong at home for the first time.
This port, despite its limitations, helped Mario move beyond the arcade and into the home computing world.
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