Revisiting the Commodore 64 in 2026 - does it still stand up?

Introduction

So back in the day, I witnessed a Commodore 64 running Rainbow Islands and also Arkanoid, and my jaw dropped at how good this thing looked and the music, wow that was superb, but unfortunately things didn't work out the way I wanted, and I never had a C64 at all back then, I had a C16, but as soon as I got a job and my own place, when I started collecting retro kit, the C64 was one of the first machines I had to get

What kind of setup do you have now?

My C64 is a bit special, it's a later Commodore 64c in a translucent case, and I have the 1541 Ultimate cartridge, as well as a C2N for some legacy tape stuff should I want to use them

How does the Commodore 64 compare to it's competition?

Well, whilst the C64 was designed to compete with the already aging Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers, it's real competition in my region was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

The Commodore 64 was the premium option (hardware wise) and the Sinclair machine was the budget option.

This does NOT mean that the C64 is automatically better than the Spectrum, absolutely not, they're two different ways of achieving a similar outcome, but they came with quite a lot of differences between the two.

A lot of the time, you found that the Spectrum had more detailed graphics, if a lower colour depth, and the C64 had better sound and usually smoother scrolling, but did had chunkier graphics and what some people criticse the most, a kind of washed out gaudy colour palette with lots of greys, browns and light blues used all over the place, vs the Spectrum's bolder and brighter colours.

The Spectrum had more CPU grunt, but the C64 had those fancy custom chips and co-processors, and this allowed talented coders who knew what they were doing, to use these features to achieve things that wouldn't be done with CPU power alone, and this set the C64 apart in a lot of ways

Which machine do you prefer?

Now, my preferences have changed quite a bit over the years. I was always hyper critical of the Spectrum, citing the colour clash and attribute ink limitations, the woeful 48k beeper sound and the rubber keys as reasons to mock the machine, and I do still stand by some of them comments, but the Spectrum has a lot of charm about it, and I've found myself enjoying it a lot more these days after revisiting it.

As for the Commodore 64, well, as much as I love the machine, love it's capabilities, and as a computer, it's probably "the best computer" to exist, it's software catalogue is very mixed (you could say this of a lot of machines) and sometimes, the C64 ports are very different to their Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX Spectrum counterparts .......... take Kwik Snax for an example here.

This does not mean I don't like the Commodore 64 - in fact, I love it, but some of the games that are favourites of mine got better Spectrum or CPC ports, so, if it's between the C64 and Speccy, it depends on what I want it for

For gaming, the Spectrum

For demo scene and general "OMG look at how cool this machine is", the Commodore 64

What are some stand out titles I should play?

Well, here's some of my recommendations:

What kind of C64 fan are you? You didn't mention "Wizzball"

That's because it's 💩 - there, I said it, I can't stand the game - it's totally style over substance and completely unplayabe tosh.

I know that's going to be a controversial opinion, as most of the Commodore 64 scene seem to love the game, but it's totally inaccessible and makes zero sense on how to play it. This is a hill I'm willing to die on.

So what is this 1541 Ultimate Cartridge you have plugged in?

Well, the 1541U cart is the best accessory you'll ever get for your Commodore 64.

It emulates a 1541 drive, can run disk images, cart images, PRG files, even TAP files. It has a built in SID player so you can make your C64 a SID Jukebox. It has a nice menu system and pretty does everything. If you are only going to buy one accessory for your C64, this should be it

However, it's 1. not easy to get hold of and 2. its pricey, so you may choose something else instead that gives you some of these features, or even a combination of other devices.

Should I get a "breadbin" C64 or a C64c?

Well, apart from the different SID chip that sounds quite different between the two models (and tbh, SID chips between different revisions of the same model sound different too), then it depends on what you want the machine for.

If you're a C64 / SID chip musician, you may prefer the original breadbin models, as the C64 scene often cite these as having the better sounding SID chip, however, if you're not a musician or a demo scene coder, you may find that you're happy with a C64c, which is what I have.

I've actually found that the C64c is somewhat more reliable (only mys experience, others may have a different experience) and considering my one C64 owning friend back in the day had this model, it's more nostalgic to me, even if it's not in the classic breadbin style - this is just my own take on it.

Get which ever machine you prefer.

There's other models, the C64 Aldi and C64G for instance

Both of these were not sold or distributed in the UK as far as I can tell, both of these were sold in Germany

• C64 Aldi - was sold exclusively in the supermarket Aldi

• C64G - now I like this one - it's basically a C64c, in the 64c colour scheme, but it's a breadbin case - I wouldn't mind getting one of these

What about the 64GS?

What about it? ........... well, it's a Commodore 64, in a "game console" style, the only differences are that the cart slot is shifted to the top, the keyboard is removed and the ROM changed so that if you turn it on without a cart in, it shows a screen telling you to turn off, insert a cart and tun on again. It's a flop, it arrived in the 90s when the game console market was already sown up by the NES, Master System, and later, the SNES and MegaDrive. 

If you do really want a 64GS, you'd better have deep pockets, they sell for stupid money these days, but let's be honest, they're not worth it, and a normal C64 has a cart slot and can play anything the 64GS can

For a Commodore fan, you sound a bit like you're down on the C64

My experiences of Commodore back in the day were the C16 and then the Amiga 500+, I played the C64 a few times and that was it, I liked it, I was wowed by it, I even love it, but I don't have any nostalgia towards it

I have no dislike to the C64, but because of my lack of owning one at the time, I have less familiarity of the game library on the C64, I'm more familiar with Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum ........... oh, and Commodore 16

Is the C64 still enjoyable? Does it still hold up in 2026?

Overall, it's a resounding yes, it's a superb machine, it's a little different from it's competition in the way it does things.

The Commodore 64 has so much charm about it, from the blocky graphics to the awesome SID chip. You should definitely get a Commodore 64 for your collection if you don't have one - the C64 and ZX Spectrum are two different sides of the same coin, they're both different, but they're both awesome.

What about the Commodore 128?

I have very little experience of the C128 - I understand it's backwards compatible with the C64, but it's 1. very expensive to acquire nowadys and 2. there's not a lot of C128 specific software, making it a bit of a hard sell for me

Maybe if a C128 pops up at at reasonable price, I might get one and have some fun with it, but it's not on my radar at the moment.

What machine are you going to do a retrospective look at next?

Well, I've done to two big hitters, the Speccy and C64, so maybe it'll be the CPC, or MSX, or BBC, who knows?