Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 40 minutes ago
Turbo Outrun C64 Loaded from tape (into gameplay. Note there is about a second of lag between my joystick and what I can see, so it's _bad_ gameplay ;))
Fact #1: I played this game - on tape - to death when I was younger
Fact #2: This game should never ever have been released on tape as is.
Turbo outrun is notorious for being one of the worst tape masters of a good game ever to have been commercially released for the c64. In particularly it has the following loads:
a) Load the casette system
b) reset counter to 0 - this is where you're rewinding to!. Press Fire. @ 1:00
c) Load title screen #1. Press fire. @ 3:30 (so 2:30 loading time)
d) Load title screen #2. Press fire. @ 7:12 (starting at 3:10, so around 4:00 loading time)
e) Load the game system
f) record the tape counter - this is where you're rewinding to on a continue
g) Load the first 4 levels @ 13:00 (starting loading at 9:20, so around 3:40 loading time)
So here's the thing: Getting from (a) to (c) is almost five minutes on its own, and getting from (c) to (d) is another four minutes. And they are _completly unnessesary_. What would have made more sense. Which is sad, because even on tape, it's a great game. But what would have made it a _completly bearable game_ on tape - even great - is:
Side 1: Intro 1, Intro 2
Side 2: Game that loads straight into the first level - loadable _from the basic prompt_.
That would reduce "Time to game" from about 12 minutes to around 3 minutes - much more in line with contemporary releases! People would watch the intro a few times, because they are awesome, but _every single play? Hell no. The worst part of this, is the press fire points - a part of our standard routine was start a game loading, go and get a snack, come back to a mostly loaded game. But this was impossible with Turbo Outrun, because every few minutes you had to show up to skip a piece of presentation!
This could have been one of the greatest tape games ever, but usgold/probe's completely incompetent mastering - amongst the worst on the c64 - completely ruined that. It was still a good game, but.... eventually we ended up playing a lot more of powerdrift. And there was no good reason for this.
Turbo Outrun C64 Loaded from tape (into gameplay. Note there is about a second of lag between my joystick and what I can see, so it's _bad_ gameplay ;))
Fact #1: I played this game - on tape - to death when I was younger
Fact #2: This game should never ever have been released on tape as is.
Turbo outrun is notorious for being one of the worst tape masters of a good game ever to have been commercially released for the c64. In particularly it has the following loads:
a) Load the casette system
b) reset counter to 0 - this is where you're rewinding to!. Press Fire. @ 1:00
c) Load title screen #1. Press fire. @ 3:30 (so 2:30 loading time)
d) Load title screen #2. Press fire. @ 7:12 (starting at 3:10, so around 4:00 loading time)
e) Load the game system
f) record the tape counter - this is where you're rewinding to on a continue
g) Load the first 4 levels @ 13:00 (starting loading at 9:20, so around 3:40 loading time)
So here's the thing: Getting from (a) to (c) is almost five minutes on its own, and getting from (c) to (d) is another four minutes. And they are _completly unnessesary_. What would have made more sense. Which is sad, because even on tape, it's a great game. But what would have made it a _completly bearable game_ on tape - even great - is:
Side 1: Intro 1, Intro 2
Side 2: Game that loads straight into the first level - loadable _from the basic prompt_.
That would reduce "Time to game" from about 12 minutes to around 3 minutes - much more in line with contemporary releases! People would watch the intro a few times, because they are awesome, but _every single play? Hell no. The worst part of this, is the press fire points - a part of our standard routine was start a game loading, go and get a snack, come back to a mostly loaded game. But this was impossible with Turbo Outrun, because every few minutes you had to show up to skip a piece of presentation!
This could have been one of the greatest tape games ever, but usgold/probe's completely incompetent mastering - amongst the worst on the c64 - completely ruined that. It was still a good game, but.... eventually we ended up playing a lot more of powerdrift. And there was no good reason for this.
