What is the C64 Ultimate like and should you get one instead of an original Commodore 64 or TheC64?

The C64 Ultimate is the first product from the revived Commodore, and by most measures it has been a success. At least this is how it is presented to the community, with the caveat not all claims to the brand have been resolved.

While most of my fellow retro writers and YouTubers have made unboxing videos, and demonstrated the games and compatibility, I think there are enough of those out there to satisfy any demand so I wanted to give my perspective which is a little different.

1. What’s it like?
2. How does it compare to the Gideon Ultimate C64?
3. Is it better than a real C64?
4. Is it worth owning or buying over modern alternatives?
5. What are the differences for retro developers?

Finally, I would like to take a look into the future and make a list of demands ideas for where they could go ‘next’.

What is the C64 Ultimate like?

**It’s wonderful and I love it. **

Every element of the C64U has been implemented with obvious love and care

But I knew I would because I was already satisfied with the forerunner to this setup. For a long time I have regularly used and enjoyed my Ultimate C64 board in an original bread bin case. After the first hype cycle died down I started learning more about the new offering and realised there were going to be some benefits and advantages over the version of the FPGA board I already had.

Fortunately, James from Computes Gazette had one on order that he let me have instead, which was like ten Christmases all at once.

Everything about the experience from unboxing to the attention to every detail right across the package says care and attention rather than cash grab, and I have a lot of respect for that.

C64U Specifications and what you get in the box

As mentioned above, the C64U is based around an updated version of Gideon Zetter’s FPGA-based main board plus modern replica parts that were already on the market individually. I think this is a very smart move by Christian Simpson and co (Perifractic / Retro Recipes):

• Modern electronics (no more worrying about maintaining 40 year old tech or leaky caps!). Close enough 100% compatible internals provided by the replacement FPGA board and recreated electronics, with features beyond the original:

• Built-in sound chips with lots of configuration options.

• Wifi and Ethernet.

• USB and SD for storage.

• Ram expansion and selectable clock speeds.

• HDMI output as well as classic compatibility.

• Action Replay / 1541 Ultimate style freeze ability.

• New bread bin case with all the classic and new ports exposed apart from the “user port” which requires a breakout as with the previous ultimate board. You get two joystick ports, tape “datasette”, cartridge, line out, plus internally an SD card socket and an internal USB port. It comes in classic brown, clear “Starlight” which is what I have, and a gaudy gold founders edition.

• Mechanical keyboard (Gateron medium light switches apparently?) to replicate the look and feel of the original keys, with the PETSCII symbols and layout.

While there has been some criticism of the Starlight keyboard “flexing”, it’s not a big deal for me though I am quite a light typist mostly. That said, I would have been very happy with the basic brown version and might still swap out my innards back to the case currently occupied by the previous Gideon board.

As well as the computer, you also get a branded power brick, cables, lovely manual, and a neat USB stick in the shape of a classic cassette. That USB stick contains software and demos, and is a real nice touch.

The USB drive isn’t the end of the included software as there is an online service element allowing downloads from a searchable database, including a cool new game called Jupiter Fracture:

How does it compare to the Gideon Ultimate C64?

As this is the latest and greatest iteration of Gideon’s ultimate boards it stands to reason this has the best of everything. My old unit worked great and I made a lot of use of the ethernet capability but this new one has higher top speed (64 MHz currently) and has Wifi right out of the box.

That’s not the main argument in favour of this guy, though. The combined package is more than the sum of the parts and works out cheaper than buying, sourcing, or rescuing the components individually.

What they have managed to do is put together a top quality machine and pass along the savings from economy of scale.

Is it better than a real C64?

New C64U meet old C64

I’d say the C64U is objectively better unless your goal is 100% pure authenticity. I know from personal experience, that authentic experience does come at the price of frustrating upkeep of old electronics and lack of modern conveniences so I doubt it is for everyone. Retro hardware, I have long argued, is a distinct but related hobby from retro *gaming. *

As well as my bread bin equipped with the old ultimate board, I also have PAL and NTSC C64s, a C64C and a C128. Of those only the C128 sees action, and then not often. I can’t think of a time I couldn’t do something just as well with the Ultimate, or now the C64U, and that is even taking into consideration my Kung Fu Flash, SD2IEC etc etc.

You can even use all your old peripherals, physical media, and add-ons if you want to. Nothing is lost in translation. My C64U is plugged into my Commodore 1084S monitor for gorgeous blurry CRT visuals, as well as crisp, modern HDMI.

Configuring the C64U Swiftlink modem

There are features that are more convenient on the C64U or even were doable but unlikely on original hardware. On my C64U I am using Jiffy DOS for faster disk loading, but I can switch back and forth with vanilla ROMS with a switch of a menu item. Another is the built-in modem is capable of speeds of up to 38400, whereas my C64 wifi modem tops out at something like 2400 at best.

The one area the original could theoretically beat the recreation is the audio from a real SID chip. This has been neatly solved for those who care, as the board has sockets for you to insert real 6581 or 8580 chips and have it replace the virtual ones.

This is NOT to say it is something you even need to do. I have flipped-flopped about this personally as in daily use I don’t miss the warm tones of the originals, but every now and then someone will point to a demo or comparison video and I will agree that in those specific instances yes you can tell.

Is it worth owning or buying over modern alternatives such as the RetroGames LTD TheC64?

Yes, if you can justify the higher cost, then the C64U is definitely better than the mini and full sized emulation machines. The C64U goes way beyond the capabilities of the mini and ‘maxi’ TheC64.

In theory, the single board linux computer in the Retro Games TheC64 should be able to do wifi, even as a hack, but out of the box it does not. Just that alone, even as an optional extra, would close the gap somewhat.

That does not, however, take away anything from people buying those machines and fully enjoying them because as well as being found for half the price or less, for many people who just want a plug and play games machine they are plenty good enough.

One advantage the RetroGames LTD machines have that currently the C64U does not is they emulate more than just the C64, for example having the ability to play Vic 20 games. We will get back to that thought later.

What are the C64 Ultimate benefits for programmers and retro games developers?

Cross-developing for the Commodore 64 Ultimate

One of the main reasons I bought the original ultimate board was because of the network capability. Being able to push the new code over to the machine via the LAN is so much nicer than disk swapping. This is even more convenient when you go beyond just telnet and FTP and look at the REST API.

For example, if your C64U has the IP address 192.168.0.64 you can load and run a program by POSTing to:

http://192.168.0.64/v1/runners:run_prg

There’s a lot of potential for games taking advantage of the greatly expanded abilities having 20,000+ C64 ultimates out there too.

For example, 64Mhz leaves a lot of spare processor capacity …

The line in the border shows how much (little) processing time is being taken up

What ‘Next’ for the C64 Ultimate?

You might tell I am impressed with the Commodore team and the Ultimate, especially considering how quickly they seemed to go from idea to having a great product in my hands!

This is just the start too, and there is so much potential in the features and capabilities that are barely being touched upon by the community.

We can start to think of C64 compatibility as a baseline rather than the end game.

That said right now it is not possible, as far as I can tell, for the software to request the higher clock speeds or even the expanded RAM, it seems the user must load a configuration or set up the requirements via the menu items. Seems there is an opportunity to make that better going forward.

The ZX Next does not just emulate a Spectrum, it is an exciting new platform too

So I would, respectfully, love for the Commodore team to look at what the ZX Spectrum Next has done and copy some of their best ideas! It wouldn’t take very much for the community to develop Ultimate-specific game conversions with better graphics and features as has happened in speccy-land:

• Expand BASIC – The C64U does not have to be stuck with Commodore BASIC V2. It doesn’t even need to be a new BASIC, there are several Commodore BASICs to choose from (from the +4, C65, and 128, as well as third party). It would be amazing though to have a BASIC with modern features and access to the full capabilities of the machine.
• Unlock the features to developers – Speaking of access to the full current capabilities, let’s have easy memory addresses or some solution to POKE settings such as clock speed, REU, networking, and so on. If that exists, let’s get access to that knowledge so the community can document it!
• Put the Ultimate in Ultimate – there is no reason we need to be stuck with the C64 limitations when it comes to graphics, sprites, and scrolling. Look at the ZX Next how we are not limited to the 48k spectrum visual constraints. Again it doesn’t necessarily have to be imagined from scratch because the Plus4 TED chip, the C65, the X-16, and even the Neo6502 show what is possible (the latter having 128 sprites and 256 colours on screen would be very satisfactory!). While we are thinking about the Neo6502, I would mention also that the chip in that is the more modern W65C02 which makes me think Ultimate mode might for example replicate a 16 bit version (65816?) giving better addressing and addressable memory …
• More cores – Another thing the ZX Next team are already doing that could be done on the C64U is being able to select a different core, for example to run Vic 20/PET/C16 games, or as a way to implement the Ultimate mode with all the capabilities switched on along with better graphics.
• Embrace the Fujinet Community – While the Commoserve service is a nice touch, and there is a big nostalgia hit from BBS surfing, there is a massive opportunity to engage the Fujinet community by adopting compatibility and capabilities from that system. Already there are multi-platform networked multiplayer games, and the networked file system …

BBS dialling on the Commodore 64 Ultimate

Please Commodore don’t …

What I *do not *want is for Commodore to move on to another machine without developing this one further.

A lot of people are asking for an Amiga Ultimate but personally I think there is a wide open road in front of the C64U before even considering that.

A big advantage with sticking to the C64 at least for now is “Amiga” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and there are already a huge amount of products to satisfy every Amiga itch at least for the time being.

Bottom Line

If you have the budget and the interest I think the Commodore 64 Ultimate is brilliant. I have no complaints, which is really weird for me to even type. I love it, and I think there is an incredible future for it given the right support and stewardship.