Commodore 64 (Cartridge)
I’m counting down 40 Mario game formats to celebrate Mario’s 40th anniversary. Today I’m celebrating one of the lesser-known Mario formats – the Commodore 64 cartridge.
Believe it or not, this is one of three formats featuring Mario for the Commodore 64! The Commodore 64 (C64) was an 8-bit home computer that quickly became one of the most successful of all time. It took its name from its 64 KB of memory, which was impressive for its era.
While consoles like Atari and Coleco struggled with the effects of the video game crash of ’83, the C64 thrived despite being released around the same time. This was in part because it wasn’t just a gaming console but also marketed as a home computer with educational benefits
It featured a keyboard and users could code in BASIC, making it ideal for those wanting a computer for both fun and learning. It became the best-selling computer model in history, dominating markets except in the UK, France, and Japan, where it faced greater competition.
The C64 supported three types of game media: cartridges, cassette tapes, and floppy disks. Today, it’s the turn of the cartridge version of Donkey Kong, one of the standout titles for this system, and developed by AtariSoft, a subsidiary of Atari.
C64 cartridges were perfect for instant plug-and-play gaming, with faster load times compared to cassettes. These ROM cartridges plugged into an expansion port, making them more reliable than magnetic media, but also more expensive to produce and buy.
While the Donkey Kong cartridge offered faster load times, it still had to contend with hardware limitations. With 8-bit graphics, the game captured the classic gameplay but had to make compromises due to less ROM space, such as fewer sound effects and no save features.
Despite these limitations, the game’s sprite movement, animation, and collision detection were praised by critics. The C64 colour palette was also one of the most vibrant of any 8-bit computer, giving the game a brighter aesthetic compared to darker arcade or NES tones.
All things considered, the C64 Donkey Kong served as a good introduction to Mario for many early gamers with a solid gaming experience and reliable playability.
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