obscurevideogames:

t-rex - Aztec (Paul Stephenson/Datamost - C64 - 1982)

My favorite C64 game is actually a really ugly port of an Apple II game. The setting is totally Raiders of the Lost Ark, but this is way better than the officially-licensed 2600 game which also came out that year. What makes Aztec brilliant is that it takes the randomized dungeon crawl aspect of the Roguelikes and brings it to an action-adventure with wonderfully animated characters. Spelunky did something similar recently, but this was made 30 years before! The random levels make the game incredibly glitchy, but that ends up being part of the charm. You really never know what’s going to happen, and it keeps things exciting. The game holds up incredibly well compared to most C64 games – though I could see how someone who didn’t grow up playing games from that era would have difficulty appreciating it. A warning if you’re thinking about trying it – there is no joystick support, and it’s almost impossible to come up with a good mapping. There are literally almost 20 keys used, which is ridiculous for an action game like this.