Commodore 64 Final Review: A stunning remake

Photo: Matt Kamen

Power on the C64U, and you’ll be greeted by a rebuild of the C64 menu. Here, you can write operating commands just as you did in the past, using the BASIC programming language. Problem: I have no idea what BASIC is. However, in what may be the greatest throwback of all, the C64U comes with a spiral-bound 273-page user manual. It’s absolute Tommy. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not a reprint of anything that came with the original, but rather a dedicated guide to what the C64U does, where it differs from the C64, and how to get to grips with the computer’s capabilities. This history of equal parts book and instruction manual begins by teaching you some simple commands and progresses to teaching you how to program. I’m still very much working my way through it, but this tactile approach – referring to the book, trying something on the computer, back and forth – is a nice touch.

Hidden upgrades

If you don’t want to do the homework, the C64U’s default menu, which can be accessed at any time with the click of the multi-function power button on the right side of the unit, is a simple menu of options and settings. Press RETURN to jump to any section — for example, Video Setting to adjust whether the C64U’s display will output at native resolution, in PAL or NTSC modes (which is surprisingly important, since some games will work with only one display standard or the other), or at 1080p Ultra HD with scan lines removed — and then back out to save any changes to the system’s flash memory. This is still a simple approach but it seems fairly intuitive.

This is also where you can start to try out some of the C64U’s other modern touches, such as how to take advantage of its much greater power. Well, “greater” than 1982. In terms of specs, this won’t threaten any more modern machine, but running on an AMD Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA chip and 128MB of DDR2 RAM – compared to the C64’s 64KB – it blows its inspiration out of the water. Although it essentially replicates the performance of the 1982 hardware, meaning it works as if there was only the original 64K, you can dive into the menu to activate the virtual RAM expansion module or activate Turbo Boost to accelerate the clock speed to a lightning-fast (in this particular context) 64MHz.