Review THEC64 Collection 3 (Evercade) - A Third Helping Of Commodore Classics

After mining the C64 back catalogue with THEC64 Collection 1 and THEC64 Collection 2, you'd assume it was slim pickings with this third instalment – and, to a degree, you'd be right. While there are some big names included in THEC64 Collection 3 – such as the amazing Boulder Dash and Heavy Metal Paradroid (arguably the best version of Andrew Braybrook's Paradroid) many of the 13 games which make up this cartridge are slightly less essential releases – but that's not to say they're not worthy of your time.

THEC64 Collection 3 includes Anarchy, Boulder Dash, Break Dance, Cyberdyne Warrior, Cybernoid II: The Revenge, Deliverance: Stormlord II, Exolon, Heavy Metal Paradroid, Jumpman Junior, Netherworld, Street Sports Soccer, Summer Games II and Super Cycle. That's a welcome mix of genres, as you can see.

As we've noted already, Heavy Metal Paradroid is one of the highlights of this pack. It improves on the already brilliant original with better visuals, tighter controls and smoother scrolling. Super Cycle is Epyx's take on Sega's Hang-On series and manages to present a convincing sense of speed. Summer Games 2 – also from Epyx – is also brilliant fun, while Break Dance is an early example of the rhythm action genre and is a proper hoot, provided you don't take it too seriously.

Deliverance: Stormlord 2 showcases some lovely music, but it's a typically unfair 'Euro-style' action platformer with an awkward 'tap to jump' mechanic. Cyberdyne Warrior plays perfectly well but never really manages to get out of second gear, thanks largely to its often annoying "collect all these items to proceed" template, which requires you to painstakingly memorize each stage.

Cybernoid II: The Revenge doesn't really improve on the first (and excellent) Cybernoid all that much, but it's still enjoyable. Exolon is a reasonably enjoyable action platformer, while Street Sports Soccer is a lightweight take on football that feels like a less-advanced precursor to EA's FIFA Street, which would come many years later. It's got some lovely animation and is fine for quick-burst play.

At the bottom end of the scale, Hewson's Netherworld looks pretty but simply isn't much fun to play, while Jumpman Junior is an early C64 release and is very primitive in terms of presentation and gameplay.

THEC64 Collection 3 isn't without its charms, then, but it's not quite as essential as it perhaps could be. Still, fans of Commodore's 8-bit home computer will lap it up, especially if they have nostalgia for some of the titles included.