Fun fact, calendar fans: The Commodore 64 came out in August 1982, and so August is known as Commodore 64 month!

What better excuse to follow up the “Funnest Amiga Games To Play On Amiga Day” article with a piece about the Commodore 64 games you really owe it to yourself to try out. This shouldn’t be taken as a list of the best games – some of these are downright terrible – but they’re ones you can be pretty much guaranteed to be able to just load up and have a great time with for one reason or another. Let’s get to it!

Funnily enough International Karate + was at the top of my Amiga list too, but it really doesn’t matter which version you go for because the game is just awesome regardless. Two player karate action with a thumping soundtrack and plenty of moves to try and master, topped off with with an aggressive AI opponent for you and a friend to take on together. There’s even a 3-player mod of this floating around the internet for people who own the 4 player adaptor, which would be awesome to try!

OK I will gladly admit that Cops And Robbers has a terrible reputation as one of the worst games ever made for the Commodore 64. However, I still can’t resist its simple but addictive maze game formula. The graphics are terrible but it’s just fun being a robber and avoiding the police who are chasing you around the place. Go on, give it a try, and watch it steal your afternoon!

It’s no secret that I think every single video game ever would be made better by being more like Rainbow Islands, so why not spend some time with the original? OK so it’s not 100% arcade perfect but for most people the rainbow-throwing, cute-busting and fruit-collecting gameplay is a right laugh and guaranteed to cheer you up no matter what.

You might notice a pattern with this list as there’s lots of games that have a two player mode, and Spy Vs Spy is one that was very much designed as a multiplayer experience. Sure, laying down traps for a computer opponent to fall afoul of is fun, but it’s hilarious when you’re battling against a friend.

Barbarian is likewise best enjoyed in two player mode, as the brutal sword fighting action can go on for ages between an equally-skilled set of players, but for some reason it doesn’t stop being fun. Of course, if you’re good enough to somehow pull off a perfectly-timed roundhouse swing that cleanly chops off the other guy’s head, you’re just plain awesome.

Yes, International Soccer looks like it was made in the space of a day and it’s as simplistic a soccer game as you’re ever likely to play – but that’s part of what makes International Soccer just so much fun. It’s quick to pick up and play and there’s surprisingly a lot of skill required to get the ball into the net at the harder levels. I genuinely prefer this over something like the latest FIFA game because of its immediacy – something all the realism and TV-style presentation of modern games take away.

Like Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble is just so gosh-darn cheerful that you’re guaranteed a smile while playing. Unlike Rainbow Islands, however, Bubble Bobble allows for two players to work together to pop enemies, collect fruit and go stark raving mad listening to the 30 seconds of background music to loop over and over and over and over and over and over again forever. OH HEY HERE IT IS!

Now the Bubble Bobble music is stuck in your head! BWAHAHAHAH

I recently posted a comic about Stunt Car Racer to talk about how much fun it is, but you really need to try the game out for yourself to see what I mean. It might not have the frame rate of the PC version or the lush visuals of its Amiga counterpart but the C64 version of Stunt Car Racer has that essential feeling of being on an out-of-control rollercoaster that makes this such a special game.

Could Space Taxi be the greatest video game ever made? Yeah, it very well could be, I’m not a video game scientist or anything so what do I know. You control a little taxi. You activate its thrusters and watch it fly around the screen influenced by inertia and gravity. You pick up passengers who sound like daleks. You drop them off on giant umbrellas and cactii and lollipops and whatever other weird things the game’s programmer saw around the room as he or she made the game. It’s awesome. It’s hilarious. It’s a must-play!

You may not have heard of Guns ‘n Ghosts, but you should have because it’s awesome fun! Imagine Bubble Bobble but with shotguns and you’re sort of there, plus it has zombies and Frankensteins and great music and a co-op mode that’s just brilliant in its simplicity and effectiveness. I haven’t had this much fun with a Commodore 64 game in a long time, and you can get your copy in a fresh new tape, disk or even cartridge!

(And yes, I know very well that “funnest” isn’t actually a word, but it could be if we all wish for it hard enough!)

But…I am afraid I may be missing some essential games, and the weekend is around the corner…so help, guys! What am I leaving off the list?