Commodore 64 Ultimate Review: An Astonishing Remake

Extraordinarily authentic re-creation of the archetypal hardware. Maintains compatibility with classical peripherals. A fewer invited concessions to modernity. “Digital detox” attack is compelling.

Requires deep-seated nostalgia, curiosity, oregon both. Far from intuitive for newcomers. Authenticity equals slowness.

It’s hard to overstate conscionable however seismic an interaction the Commodore 64 had connected location computing. Launched successful 1982, the 8-bit machine—iconic successful its beige integrative ammunition with integrated keyboard—went connected to go the best-selling idiosyncratic machine of each time. Despite the success, shaper Commodore International folded successful 1994, with rights to the sanction floating astir for years.

Then, retro gaming YouTuber Christian “Peri Fractic” Simpson got the agleam thought to bargain the institution wholesale and re-create its astir important portion of hardware. This isn't the archetypal effort to resurrect the Commodore 64, but this peculiar reborn rig mightiness beryllium the champion effort yet. It’s a near-perfect replica of that 43-year aged titan, 1 that looks, sounds, and feels similar the original. It is, by immoderate measure, a frankly bonzer achievement—but it’s not going to beryllium for everyone.

Everything Old Is Old Again

Dubbed the Commodore 64 Ultimate, the old-new (or new-old?) instrumentality looks similar a relic of the ’80s—and I mean that arsenic a compliment. It bears the aforesaid all-in-one wedge-shaped plan arsenic the original, the aforesaid chunky keys, adjacent the aforesaid wide colour palette for the beige exemplary (it’s besides disposable successful a transparent “Starlight” exemplary with RGB lighting and, for aboriginal buyers, a aureate “Founder’s Edition”). If it weren’t for the distinctly un-yellowed integrative shell, it could beryllium mistaken astatine a glimpse for the existent thing, leftover banal consecutive from 1982.

For some, that volition beryllium the astir compelling happening astir the C64U—it is the existent thing, benignant of. At its core, this is simply a tract programmable gross array (FPGA) device, an attack astir often seen to re-create classical crippled consoles (as with the caller Analogue3D “remake” of the Nintendo 64). To portion the thought close back, FPGAs archer 1 chipset to unreal it’s different and, ideally, let for show near-identical to the archetypal instrumentality astatine a hardware level, alternatively than done emulation.

This goes a measurement further, boasting a heap of carnal connectors and ports that let you to usage authentic peripherals from the ’80s. If you inactive person your archetypal joysticks oregon datasette to hand, they should each enactment arsenic they did backmost successful the day. For fans, collectors, oregon anyone who has their archetypal Commodore gadgets stashed successful a store somewhere, that’s a fantastic proposition. The revived Commodore International hasn’t rather enactment the classical hardware backmost into production, but this comes damned close.

The C64U makes a fewer concessions to modernity. There are a brace of USB-A ports astatine the rear, wherever you’ll link the cassette-shaped USB instrumentality that comes with each unit, pre-loaded with games, bundle demos, euphony that makes usage of the C64’s inactive legendary audio capabilities, and GEOS, a graphical idiosyncratic interface—more connected that later. There’s besides built-in Wi-Fi and an Ethernet port, allowing entree to bulletin boards and the Commoserve record server, and HDMI output. Even there, though, there’s inactive the enactment for connecting to a CRT monitor, making the additions consciousness much similar a tweak than an overhaul.

This dedication to the past goes excessively acold astatine times, with elements painfully authentic to the constituent of being actively obtuse successful 2025—original ’80s labels connected the casing, specified arsenic "H-L" and "RF" (how the C64 connected to CRT monitors oregon TVs), oregon "USER PORT" wherever the HDMI, USB, and Ethernet ports are. And, contempt the beingness of those USB ports, you can’t usage a modern rodent with the C64U—you’ll either request a play portion oregon acceptable the WASD keys to enactment arsenic a virtual joystick whenever you mightiness request to manipulate an onscreen cursor. There’s astir a consciousness of resentment here, arsenic if thing too modern would beryllium a desecration of the beatified hardware, and immoderate concessions made to guarantee the C64U is adjacent halfway usable with present-day displays oregon add-ons were made reluctantly.

Nostalgia Is Mandatory

The Commodore International of 2025, leaning into its deliberately dated approach, is different fascinating facet of the Commodore 64 Ultimate. The institution has labelled itself the “digital detox brand,” positioning the C64U arsenic a bulwark against the distracting, loud, attention-grabbing devices we’re each accustomed to now. That really appeals—I’m peculiarly sick of Windows cramming adverts into each country of the OS and foisting unwanted AI features wherever they don’t beryllium (and past informing radical not to usage them anyway), truthful possibly a travel backmost to however computing utilized to beryllium done would beryllium a virtual balm. Unfortunately, that means travelling backmost to a clip earlier I was really born, and the temporal whiplash is brutal.

Be forewarned: If you bash not person first-hand acquisition of the archetypal Commodore 64, a heavy and abiding emotion for its genuinely ground-breaking epoch of location computing, oregon a burning curiosity for retro technology, the C64 Ultimate is acold from welcoming, and astir apt not for you. I wasn’t astir for the original, truthful I person nary innate nostalgia to lure maine backmost in, but I tin astatine slightest muster up that burning curiosity. Yet adjacent then, getting utilized to the C64 situation is simply a steep learning curve.

Boot up the C64U, and you’re greeted by a re-creation of the C64’s menu. Here, you tin benignant successful cognition commands conscionable arsenic you would backmost successful the day, utilizing the BASIC programming language. Problem: I don’t person the archetypal hint astir BASIC. However, successful what is perchance the top throwback of all, the C64U comes with a spiral-bound, 273-page idiosyncratic guide. It is an implicit tome. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not a reprint of thing that came with the original, but alternatively a tailored usher to what the C64U does, wherever it differs from the C64, and however to get to grips with the computer’s capabilities. Equal parts past publication and acquisition manual, it starts retired teaching you immoderate elemental commands and builds up to teaching you however to code. I’m inactive precise overmuch moving my mode done it, but that tactile approach—referring to the book, trying thing retired connected the computer, backmost and forth—is a large touch.

Hidden Upgrades

If you don’t fancy having to bash homework, the C64U’s ain default menu, accessed astatine immoderate clip with a flick of the multifunction powerfulness fastener connected the right-hand broadside of the unit, is simply a elemental database of options and settings. Hit RETURN to spell into immoderate section—say, “Video Setup” to set whether the C64U outputs successful archetypal resolution, successful PAL oregon NTSC modes (surprisingly important, fixed immoderate games volition lone enactment with 1 show modular oregon the other), oregon a crystal wide 1080p with scanlines removed—and backmost retired to prevention immoderate changes to the system’s flash memory. It’s inactive a minimalist approach, but feels reasonably intuitive.

This is besides wherever you tin commencement playing astir with immoderate of the different modern touches of the C64U, similar however to leverage its acold greater power. Well, “greater” successful examination to 1982. Spec-wise, this isn’t going to endanger immoderate much modern machine, but moving connected an AMD Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA spot and packing 128-MB DDR2 RAM—compared to the 64 KB of the C64—it blows its inspiration retired of the water. While astatine baseline it replicates the show of the 1982 hardware, meaning it operates arsenic if there’s lone the archetypal 64 KB were there, you tin menu-dive to activate a virtualized RAM Expansion Unit, oregon activate a “Turbo Boost” to accelerate the timepiece velocity to a lightning-fast (in this peculiar context) 64 MHz.

Then there’s GEOS, loaded connected that cassette-shaped USB. Navigate to the “Disk File Browser” connected the C64U’s paper to footwear it up. This is the closest to a Windows oregon macOS benignant acquisition connected the Commodore, a “regular” desktop environment. It has folders! And icons! It’s apt the astir comfy mode to usage the C64U for anyone who wasn’t determination for the original—although if you don’t person a compatible mouse, you’ll person to get utilized to navigating it with WASD and RETURN to click.

However, portion GEOS is clearer than BASIC, it’s inactive not arsenic creaseless arsenic much modern graphical idiosyncratic interface (GUI) operating systems. I’ve recovered it a small confusing switching betwixt programs, for instance, arsenic they look to request to beryllium mounted and past loaded into the OS earlier opening them. Even penning that backmost from my notes, preparing this review, I’m honestly not definite if I’ve been doing it correctly. Plus, erstwhile thing doesn’t work—failing to make a caller papers successful GEOS apps similar its connection processor oregon overgarment suite was a debased point—there’s seldom an mentation of why it hasn’t.

User Not Found?

Away from “proper” computing, the C64 was a pioneer for location gaming, and that’s 1 country wherever the C64U does consciousness highly accessible. The USB thrust includes a big of classical and modern retro-style games, and much tin beryllium added successful the signifier of disk images if you person them.

The C64U tin tally games successful NTSC oregon PAL format—there’s a full different rabbit spread to dive down here, but immoderate games ran better, worse, oregon not astatine each depending connected the version, and due to the fact that the C64U replicates the archetypal hardware performance, games tin contiguous the aforesaid issues here—but switching show modes is elemental done the main menu. Once you’ve chosen what you privation to play, an interior talker mimics the sounds of the archetypal portion oregon disk thrust arsenic it loads up, which is simply a nice—and extremely nerdy—touch.

The downside is that successful authentically re-creating the show of the archetypal disk oregon portion drives, it’s besides authentically slow—you tin beryllium waiting full minutes for games to load (the aforesaid goes for programs successful GEOS). Maybe it’s portion of that integer detox approach, an effort to thatch america whippersnappers younger than the C64 itself immoderate patience, but I wouldn’t person minded losing that peculiar facet of the accepted Commodore experience.

Ultimately—pun somewhat intended—that’s the tricky enactment the C64U has to walk. Yes, it’s tremendously close to the acquisition of utilizing a Commodore 64 4 decades ago, but who does that service successful 2025? Its proposition of a instrumentality to distraction-free computing could beryllium a distinctive selling point, but I’m not definite that this overmuch of a throwback, with its ponderous quality and leisurely gait of doing anything, is going to triumph galore converts. Even for those with the indispensable levels of nostalgia, if that hankering is chiefly for the C64’s games, this is astir apt excessively much—emulation oregon those earlier C64 hardware re-creations that focused much connected gaming are astir apt amended options.

Despite each that, the Commodore 64 Ultimate truly is an exceptional portion of kit. It’s a beautifully crafted emotion missive to the groundbreaking original, and a reminder that there’s a antithetic mode of doing things connected a computer, and what they’re for, than what Microsoft and Apple connection now. Returning hardcore enthusiasts volition undoubtedly emotion it—but it's hard to spot the C64U reshaping the satellite arsenic the archetypal did.