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While retro mini consoles have been around for years, the NES Mini, and the just launched SNES Mini have broadened the market and visibility of such devices. So it makes sense for Retro Games to release this miniaturised version of the massively popular home computer.
With a retail price of 69.99 the device is half the size of the original and comes with an appropriately retro-styled joystick and comes, appropriately, with 64 built-in games. These include California Games, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Paradroid and Impossible Mission.
You can also plug in a USB keyboard, so we presume the built-in one isn’t actually working, and enter BASIC of your own devising, which for us would be little more than the usual name PRINT loop. There’s no advertised capability to load other games onto the system, sadly.
"We are delighted to be able to bring back some of the most loved retro games ever"
Having sold millions of units of the C64 in the US and the UK, the computer undoubtedly has a fan following, though arguably it’s not quite got the same retro-appeal as the resolutely British, and far cooler-looking, ZX Spectrum (I’m not at all biased). That said the C64 was certainly a better computer when it came to games.
We are delighted to be able to bring back some of the most loved retro games ever, on one of the most successful formats of all time”, said Paul Andrews, Retro Games’ Managing Director.
The C64 Mini will be distributed by Koch Media, so direct any wholesale enquiries there.
