This video is a real flashback for me: Aztec Challenge was probably the only game I used to play at, when I was a kid. And as other said, your commentary is hilarious! Thanks for sharing it!
Not only have you brought back a great memory...but you did it with hilarious "play-by-play". My own language while playing this was far less restrained!!
A work of of bloody genius by a guy that new exactly the best technique for creating atmosphere and tension. In a class of it's own and so good that it belongs in a museum. Goes to show that in the right hands, less is definitely more. Where is Paul Norman these days. one of the most if not most exceptional pieces for the C64. This and Forbidden Forest 1 in fact with both of them being also very advanced in terms of a film like quality to them. Paul Norman took what were the tools available and worked with them and in a day where tools are much more advanced, he showed that's not necessarily a good thing. His software deserves place in a museum
Paul Norman created a whole bunch of c64 classics. He was always a bit ahead of the curve, and took c64 games to a higher level at least three times. (Forbidden Forest, Super Huey, Navy Seal) I think he’s to c64 game design what Rob Hubbard is to c64 music. A true legend.
@FinnGamble He really did. The way he f.i. leverages the standard petscii graphics to create giant scrolling backgrounds in Forbidden Forest was mind-blowing.
This is so satisfying to watch. We had a commodore 64 in late '80s, and I think I may have managed to pass level two once. I have no idea why the music popped in my head today, so I'm glad I found your video.
Used to play it with my older brother. Hard as nails and some levels were impassible if you didnt have a colour screen. But I loved that the music built up during the levels the further you got, really ramping up the tension.
Got my first C64 when i was 8 in 1984. This game was one of the games my father bought from a work colleague. It was yet another great game i got well into.
This was in the collection of the first games i had along with Hobbit, a role playing text game and a 747 flight simulator that i had problems loading.The C64 was present from father for educational purposes, that ending in a few progams and then just playing games. I was given an Amiga 500 in 1991 and played many more games, that i liked for quick loading, better sound, graphics. I had many more years of fun with the C64 and less years with the Amiga 500. I bought the games magazines also.
I remember playing this when I was a kid. I guess I remember breaking a joystick over this out of frustration. Games those days were much more difficult to beat than now...
Thanks for the video, I used to play this game on my grandmother's C64 when I was a kid. Spent hours playing that game. Watching you play it brought back my same frustrations, I even swore a few times :) Good times!
This is the second game I ever play on a computer. I was hugely impressed but man not the easiest game to start with when you are 8! I think its quite cinematic that the pyramid is getting bigger.
All I could remember about playing this game as a kid was the Gauntlet section, and my friend coming up with the mantra, "Don't fall on my head little arrow; don't fall on my head gold brick!" Because there are no gold bricks nor anything falling on anyone's head in The Gauntlet, I couldn't remember why he'd have said that. But at the 8-minute mark, it all made sense again!
Bloody hard but bloody excellent. Beautifully executed game.Great example of tension in a world of games where such design is often at this expense ie save states. Paul Norman's other work of art
its a very hard game. I remember playing it over and over again on my comodore when I was a kid! omg man, so many memories! I even remembered the sounds and soundtrack!! thank you so much for making me feel 6 years old again ! :)\
I had that feeling many times when I started making C64 videos. So many games I had totally forgotten about but I remembered instantly when I saw the graphics or heard the title music.
The 80s game designer were such sadists :) This was a very fun watch. I have never managed to get past the first level. Didn't own this as a kid, so only played it on emulator. You must be a very patient man :)
You must have :) Great entertainment. Luckily you get to continue at the same level when you die. It would have been a contender to most frustrating game ever otherwise. Love your videos by the way. Found a lot of C64 games I didn't know about by watching your videos
I used to play this at my friend's house on his black and white TV. It was great until you reached the piranha level - the piranhas were invisible in black and white because they were the exact same brightness as the water.
+jpinnyc Yeah, I had the same problem, lol. Eventually I found out that by maxing contrast and lowering the brightness I could vaguely see the piranha's. :)
Man I was so great with this game. I think parts of it aren't actually completely random because as I remember after a while I unconsciously knew how to pass it without thinking (the temple part specifically was extremely easy once you get the hang of it). The game also looks much worse than I remember. Ah, nostalgia.
Don't feel bad! I myself had this game many years ago and made many oaths of rude origin against it and the makers of said game (I think I broke at least one joystick on games such as this, too! lol!) Although is it just me or does the music remind you a lot of Forbidden Forest? (Another legendary game! :-D ) Wonder if the dame person wrote the tunes for both games?
I'm currently learning Finnish ... I was very proud to have identified your accent as Finnish :) Kiitos for this video ... it took me back to my first boyfriend who used to play this and Forbidden Forest (better music), amongst many others.
Hello from Las Vegas, Nevada USA, I enjoyed this vid, especially when you got frustrated! I saw your comment on Pisserschannel and I came to check your channel out. Subscribed
1:30,, going by your final spedup run, i counted 17 spearmen, also watching it sped up made me realize that they shoot pretty consistently ( i dunno how many seconds inbetween but it seems to be an even amount)
Wtf, when you can see the entrance, you've finished the 1st stage? I just just saw that entrance when i tried the game a couple of hours ago and probably got his by the last spear then.
I don't know what put the thought of this game in my mind, but I couldn't have found a better playthrough. I love the way you die in the spear falling rooms 😁
Oh, I did. For a long time there was only the black and white option except when the folks weren't home and I could get everything in the living room...
Thanks, that was amazing with the narration. I remember the same confusions: (1) How I survived this? (2) Why I just died? The piranha death scene was extremely long for me too. :-)
Kovács András This game is a test for your persistence. At least you don't have to start from the first stage if you die at the later ones. That would be just way too cruel.
Loved watching this, wow it takes me back. my brother and I used to play this for hours, we loved it. I laughed so hard at listening to your frustration playing especially at 8:02 when the boulder falls onto your head. I don`t know what the first word you said was but I like how you said CRAP! and at 8:22 WTF we deserve an explanation. I always said that the games in those days were mega hard! and as if you needed to die entering the next room for nothing. Brilliant upload I have subscribed.
As a lot of graphics in the game were created with the Commodore PETSCII graphics characters, certain games that use those the programmers forget to add code to prevent shift+commodore key changing from upper case to lower case....hence it creates one mess on the screen of a jumble of characters.
I made it to last level as a little kid but never managed to beat it. My father spent whole night trying and next day angrily stated fuck this game, it repeats but slightly faster:D this, montezuma and river raid were my favourites
The game made me want to set fire to it Lol! I was determined to beat it at least once and what makes it really annoying is that the basis for completing each stage is straight forward but it's like you end up making a stupid mistake and end up back at the beginning of the stage. A merciless game if ever there was one :D
I remember feeling this same frustration as a kid. This was great. :) Thank you so much.
The grandfather of "Get over it" :D
Thanks for watching! C64 was the very first computer I got and will always have a special meaning to me.
I'm 46 years old, I NEVER FORGET THIS GAME AND MUSIC, Now I have Xbox one x 😊
This video is a real flashback for me: Aztec Challenge was probably the only game I used to play at, when I was a kid. And as other said, your commentary is hilarious!
Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks for watching!
Your reaction to dying in the game are truly hilarious. You can hear the combination of frustration and fun at the same time :)
MrCageman You just can't help the yelps :P
That's because he is Mr Bean !!! 😂
Omg I LOVED this game back then...And the music from it still is stuck in my head more then 30+ years !!!
Thank you for this. Many hours spent hearing that music. So glad you cured me of my nostalgia for that game.
Not only have you brought back a great memory...but you did it with hilarious "play-by-play". My own language while playing this was far less restrained!!
Thanks for posting this! I love how you captured all of the game-accurate sounds, including the frustrated groans.
It is a difficult and frustrating game for sure. Thank you for watching!
A work of of bloody genius by a guy that new exactly the best technique for creating atmosphere and tension. In a class of it's own and so good that it belongs in a museum. Goes to show that in the right hands, less is definitely more. Where is Paul Norman these days. one of the most if not most exceptional pieces for the C64. This and Forbidden Forest 1 in fact with both of them being also very advanced in terms of a film like quality to them. Paul Norman took what were the tools available and worked with them and in a day where tools are much more advanced, he showed that's not necessarily a good thing. His software deserves place in a museum
Paul Norman created a whole bunch of c64 classics. He was always a bit ahead of the curve, and took c64 games to a higher level at least three times. (Forbidden Forest, Super Huey, Navy Seal) I think he’s to c64 game design what Rob Hubbard is to c64 music. A true legend.
@@FinnGamble yes I'd certainly agree with all that
@FinnGamble He really did. The way he f.i. leverages the standard petscii graphics to create giant scrolling backgrounds in Forbidden Forest was mind-blowing.
This is so satisfying to watch. We had a commodore 64 in late '80s, and I think I may have managed to pass level two once. I have no idea why the music popped in my head today, so I'm glad I found your video.
That's what great about retrogaming. You can easily emulate these games nowadays and relive the "good old days". Thanks for watching!
The first ever video game I ever played and one of the earliest memories I can still recall from childhood. Big feels. Thank you for the video!
Thanks for watching!
This brings back memories. But nothing so fun as this guys commentary! Great morning laugh.
+Ron Cianciulli Thanks for watching!
Used to play it with my older brother.
Hard as nails and some levels were impassible if you didnt have a colour screen.
But I loved that the music built up during the levels the further you got, really ramping up the tension.
I grew up with that game. One of the best on the C64!
I loved this game as a child, played it over and over and over again. Never got past Phase 2 though - those spears were too fast! 😁
Thanks for watching :) It can be quite hard not to swear when playing games like these...
Thanks for watching. Took a bit over half hour to grind thru it :)
Got my first C64 when i was 8 in 1984. This game was one of the games my father bought from a work colleague. It was yet another great game i got well into.
what ever I didn't even have patience to get thru the first stage as a kid :D
This was in the collection of the first games i had along with Hobbit, a role playing text game and a 747 flight simulator that i had problems loading.The C64 was present from father for educational purposes, that ending in a few progams and then just playing games. I was given an Amiga 500 in 1991 and played many more games, that i liked for quick loading, better sound, graphics. I had many more years of fun with the C64 and less years with the Amiga 500. I bought the games magazines also.
I love this game, many hours spended playing it, thank you
I remember playing this when I was a kid. I guess I remember breaking a joystick over this out of frustration. Games those days were much more difficult to beat than now...
I think I broken at least one joystick playing Decathlon myself :P Never could finish this game back in the day.
Thx for doing these C=64 Retro reviews, I grew up with this system *best times ever*
This game was so sick ! So immersive, you couldn't drop an eye during playing it
thanks for sharing! nice to hear the soundtrack again. I remember really liking it!
What an fantastic game !! The gameplay is awesome. A real thriller
And I love EGYPTIAN temples and stuff !!! It's my dream country; and I must visit one day. A FULL cruise on the NILE with many excursiants.
One of the rare games I didn't finished. The amount of difficulty is legendary.
I never could get thru even the first stage back in the day.
I got up to the piranha bit but had a b.w. monitor that made them fade into the background making it impossible to progress. 😂
I loved this game so much !!! FANTASTIQUE RETRO !!!!
Haha we played this a lot, thanks for taking your time and uploading this. This stuff was extremely difficult to play.
Thanks for the video, I used to play this game on my grandmother's C64 when I was a kid. Spent hours playing that game. Watching you play it brought back my same frustrations, I even swore a few times :) Good times!
I don't think there is a living person who wouldn't cuss while playing this game. Thanks for watching!
Thx for this m8. And your reactions! I was so frustrated by this game. What a torture... :)
thanks for watching! never got thru the first stage back then...
@@Polaventris Me neither... but I remember as a kid that I was somehow fascinated by the game :) ahh to be a kid again :)
Never heard of this game but I definitely love it!
Best 8.22 rofl thx for this video. played it as kid when it was released but never went this far
+Ad Vu Thanks for watching !
This is the second game I ever play on a computer. I was hugely impressed but man not the easiest game to start with when you are 8! I think its quite cinematic that the pyramid is getting bigger.
Thank you very very much sir ! 😍💫
The tantalizing music...the amazing graphics...the mysterious temple awaiting to be entered...it's fun, it's furious, it's Aztec Challenge!
I felt that Kaaabbblluusshhhh at 8:01 lol
Goddamn bricks! I told them to use proper cement instead of that cheap knock off brand...
OMG thank you so much bro!! i remember when I and my mommy spend hours for try to finish this game. Greetings from Italy
I never could finish even the first stage back in the day :D
All I could remember about playing this game as a kid was the Gauntlet section, and my friend coming up with the mantra, "Don't fall on my head little arrow; don't fall on my head gold brick!" Because there are no gold bricks nor anything falling on anyone's head in The Gauntlet, I couldn't remember why he'd have said that. But at the 8-minute mark, it all made sense again!
Hope it helped at least a bit.
I played this a lot. Its a hard game with great sound
jack002tuber Cosmi games always have a very creepy mood.
Indeed. That's why I like em all.
Childhood memories right there...This and Forbidden Forest...
Forbidden Forest was so scary back in the day!
It definitely is one of those games that you just keep coming back for "one more try" just to see if you can make it to the next stage.
My childhood stress... Watching this makes me anxious
Thanks for watching!
Great Game! I´ve spent many hours in my childhood with that one...
I played this on monochrome tv, and this fish cannot be seen so i did never finish this belovd game. :(
Aw too bad! Pretty poor design flaw too. B&W televisions weren't that uncommon back in the day.
Mee too
This game was so frustrating :O
Bloody hard but bloody excellent. Beautifully executed game.Great example of tension in a world of games where such design is often at this expense ie save states. Paul Norman's other work of art
I was really good at this game..Good Memories...Thanks you so much for sharing this :)
Thank you for watching!
its a very hard game. I remember playing it over and over again on my comodore when I was a kid! omg man, so many memories! I even remembered the sounds and soundtrack!! thank you so much for making me feel 6 years old again ! :)\
Thanks for watching!
thank you man! i'm watching this and feeling so nostalgic :)
I had that feeling many times when I started making C64 videos. So many games I had totally forgotten about but I remembered instantly when I saw the graphics or heard the title music.
have you maybe done a video on spy vs spy? i used to love that one too
I went crazy on this game more than once!!
I was around 10 years old trying to play this.
Was kind of addictive but also annoying as hell. But i loved the music.
C64 was a very special machine
Remember that game aztec challenge, c64, pure old school. Wos the best computer out, back In days, 80s,..amiga,the best💯
Yeah, Amiga was awesome!
@@Polaventrismicra wos also good
Did have 800xl, also 130xe,,,,atari 520st,,i would recommend amiga. In the days
When u2 video for “lemon” came out, I remembered this game instantly
The 80s game designer were such sadists :) This was a very fun watch. I have never managed to get past the first level. Didn't own this as a kid, so only played it on emulator. You must be a very patient man :)
I usually am not that patient either, but I guess I had eaten the right vitamins before I recorded this one.
You must have :) Great entertainment. Luckily you get to continue at the same level when you die. It would have been a contender to most frustrating game ever otherwise. Love your videos by the way. Found a lot of C64 games I didn't know about by watching your videos
Michael Sollien Thank you for watching!
Makes the video just a little bit easier to watch :D
True classic Paul Normal game, for sure. Spent quite a long time playing thru it :D
it's pain and entertainment in the same time.
For sure. If this was a modern game you would have QuickTime Even with every spear, arrow and boulder.
Man, you sound so lethargic, i love it!
Thanks, I guess :P
***** You're welcome! I'm not being sarcastic, by the way, i don't know what it is about it, but the video is real funny to me.
+DarkOmegaMK2 I laughed the whole time... Oh crap
I never heard of a game based on an ancient civilization before! Very cool 😊
I used to play this at my friend's house on his black and white TV. It was great until you reached the piranha level - the piranhas were invisible in black and white because they were the exact same brightness as the water.
+jpinnyc Yeah, I had the same problem, lol. Eventually I found out that by maxing contrast and lowering the brightness I could vaguely see the piranha's. :)
aztec challenge and many games were truly challenging back then , i also remember the first level been hard as hell aswell !
As a kid I never got thru even the first stage... Sad but true.
Classic nice gameplay, great video mate, cant beat some c64 :o)
Man I was so great with this game. I think parts of it aren't actually completely random because as I remember after a while I unconsciously knew how to pass it without thinking (the temple part specifically was extremely easy once you get the hang of it).
The game also looks much worse than I remember. Ah, nostalgia.
Don't feel bad! I myself had this game many years ago and made many oaths of rude origin against it and the makers of said game (I think I broke at least one joystick on games such as this, too! lol!)
Although is it just me or does the music remind you a lot of Forbidden Forest? (Another legendary game! :-D ) Wonder if the dame person wrote the tunes for both games?
I love how the audio is on while you fast forward! :P
I'm currently learning Finnish ... I was very proud to have identified your accent as Finnish :)
Kiitos for this video ... it took me back to my first boyfriend who used to play this and Forbidden Forest (better music), amongst many others.
Good luck with your Finnish studies! Forbidden Forest is another C64 classic for sure.
Hello from Las Vegas, Nevada USA, I enjoyed this vid, especially when you got frustrated! I saw your comment on Pisserschannel and I came to check your channel out. Subscribed
No ending? Just a loop? 😭😭
1:30,, going by your final spedup run, i counted 17 spearmen, also watching it sped up made me realize that they shoot pretty consistently ( i dunno how many seconds inbetween but it seems to be an even amount)
This is one of the funniest videos I've ever seen. The comments are just hilarious. I don't know if that was the intent but there you go
Thanks for watching!
Never had such a good laugh with the oh crap 🤣😂 loved this game and the Erie music.
Thanks for watching! I never got past the first stage back in the day.
this guy is Mr Bean 😂
@@iuwdbwudbvhwduivhbwduivbii431 Shhh, don't tell anyone!
beautiful game,thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for watching!
This is intense!
Wtf, when you can see the entrance, you've finished the 1st stage? I just just saw that entrance when i tried the game a couple of hours ago and probably got his by the last spear then.
Very difficult game, might still have the original in storage somewhere
oh the frustration...
Also, what software did you use to 'float' title screens acros the screen, and fast-forward the game?
i got to phase 2 stairs back when i was about 10 (now almost 42)
I don't know what put the thought of this game in my mind, but I couldn't have found a better playthrough. I love the way you die in the spear falling rooms 😁
Imagine playing this with black and white TV! Talk about another level of unfairness!
Oh, I did. For a long time there was only the black and white option except when the folks weren't home and I could get everything in the living room...
Great game...pretty difficult because it really tests your reflexes well :)
That it sure does!
Thanks, that was amazing with the narration. I remember the same confusions: (1) How I survived this? (2) Why I just died? The piranha death scene was extremely long for me too. :-)
Kovács András This game is a test for your persistence. At least you don't have to start from the first stage if you die at the later ones. That would be just way too cruel.
That was great entertainment. One of the most frustrating games on the C64.
8:04 LOL!!
These were the days, when there was no save and you had to start all over from the beginning.
No saving, no regenerating health, no difficulty settings and no tutorials.
Thank you!
Loved watching this, wow it takes me back. my brother and I used to play this for hours, we loved it.
I laughed so hard at listening to your frustration playing especially at 8:02 when the boulder falls onto your head. I don`t know what the first word you said was but I like how you said CRAP! and at 8:22 WTF we deserve an explanation. I always said that the games in those days were mega hard! and as if you needed to die entering the next room for nothing. Brilliant upload I have subscribed.
Watched this twice, suscribed!
As a lot of graphics in the game were created with the Commodore PETSCII graphics characters, certain games that use those the programmers forget to add code to prevent shift+commodore key changing from upper case to lower case....hence it creates one mess on the screen of a jumble of characters.
hahaha i also really enjoyed the commentary. thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
Thats for sure!
I made it to last level as a little kid but never managed to beat it. My father spent whole night trying and next day angrily stated fuck this game, it repeats but slightly faster:D this, montezuma and river raid were my favourites
I played it on B&W Russian small screen TV. The piranha lake was quite random... :)
I can imagine it being even more difficult without colors...
@@Polaventris Still managed to finish though...
Very much like your game shows!
Thanks for watching!
I want cry. OMG I’m old 😭😭😭
brilliant
harvester of sorrow çalıyor sanki o yıllarda acelemizde yoktu ne kadar hız aşığı olmusuz
8:03 You were saying? :D
Well done :D
The game made me want to set fire to it Lol! I was determined to beat it at least once and what makes it really annoying is that the basis for completing each stage is straight forward but it's like you end up making a stupid mistake and end up back at the beginning of the stage. A merciless game if ever there was one :D
Press Shift + Commodore key during the game for an even greater challenge!
Ï still have nightmares about this game.. Years after i played it.
Time to start it up again (with a trainer this time) and finish it!
great