Zaxxon — Synapse (C64 VICE 50Hz no commentary)

This is gameplay from the C64 arcade conversion of Zaxxon, released by Synapse Software, also in 1984. There is another conversion of this game — often referred to as the cartridge version — released by US Gold in 1984. In my opinion this Synapse Software conversion is the far superior one. There are also two conversions of Super Zaxxon, but they're kinda average, in my opinion. I'd just rather stick with this one.

This conversion plays at a bit of a slower pace than the original arcade game. But all aspects of the arcade game are present and, even though the arcade game has a vertical CRT, it's doesn't feel squashed or compressed in any way in the 4:3 screen of the C64.

For a game this early in the C64's life they've really done a good job of representing everything. Sprites are used for the altitude indicator at the top-left of the screen, and the sprite multiplexor sometimes only shows enemy shots or planes every second frame. But the flicker of this is barely noticable. The raster split between the game playfield and the score display barely flickers, and there's nice use of the C64's ability to hide sprites under colour two and three, combined with the alternating blue/grey lines of the arena floor to make your ships shadow look translucent.

It would've been nice if the end-of-level boss — the Zaxxon robot, which gives the game its name — was comprised of several sprites, rather than being one blocky expanded sprite. But that's about the only (minor) criticism I can think of.

Anyway, try it out. It's still an excellent game after all these years.

Lemon 64 entry for C64 Zaxxon: (rated 7.48 at time of writing)
https://www.lemon64.com/game/zaxxon

C64 Wiki entry for the Synapse conversion of Zaxxon:
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Zaxxon_...)

Wikipedia entry for the arcade game Zaxxon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaxxon

Arcade Museum page for the arcade game Zaxxon:
https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videoga...