Mike Mech (C64)
A downloadable game
This game runs perfectly on both PAL and NTSC models of the Commodore 64.
Gameplay
The game is set inside a spaceship invaded by alien entities that have deactivated the supply batteries necessary for the propulsion of the rockets.
The aim is to guide Mike, the mechanic on board, inside the various power rooms and reactivate the batteries. To activate a battery, the player simply has to touch it on one of the four sides.
The player has the option of moving around the room by jumping from battery to battery or by using elevators that move vertically or horizontally. Sometimes there are portals through which the player can teleport to another point in the room.
Mike has no defense against the aliens. The only way to complete a level is therefore to avoid them not to lose a life. Even the contact with the cooling fans, present in some rooms, is fatal.
To complicate matters, there is a time limit, beyond which the player will lose a life.
After activating a certain number of batteries, a crystal will appear for approximately 10 seconds. The player can try to pick it up to increase the score.
Once all the batteries in a room have been activated, the player will earn an extra score based on the amount of time left and will go to the next level.
Every 10000 points, the player earns an extra life, for a maximum of 8 lives.
Options
The game includes 70 levels in total. By choosing Ship Layout A, you will play the easiest 35 levels. By choosing Layout B, you will play the 35 most difficult levels. By choosing Layout A+B, you will play all 70 levels.
On PAL models, you can choose to play at NTSC speed, which is the correct intended speed for the game. PAL speed is slightly lower.
You also have the possibility to practice with a single room of your choice: move the selection bar over "PRACTICE ROOM 01", then move the joystick left or right to select the room, finally press fire.
Controls
| Joystick left/right | Move Mike |
| Fire button | Jump |
| Joystick down | Teleport |
| F7 | Pause |
| F1 | Stop game and return to title screen |
| F1 | Reset ranking (while the top scores are displayed) |
Joystick in port 2.
History
Version 1.0
- First release.
Version 1.1
- Now you can practice with a single room of your choice.
Version 1.2
- Fixed a bug with choosing which room to practice with.
Version 1.3
- Now, on PAL models, you have the option to play the game at NTSC speed.
- Fixed an issue with entering a top score name using the joystick.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Comments
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These 'NTSC speed' options are very welcome! May I ask what made you decide to add this to all your titles?
Let's say that initially I didn't give any importance to the difference in speed between PAL and NTCS, also because I think there are very few C64 games that take it into account. But then I had some requests, in particular for Dig Dug Revival (some people said the NTSC speed for this game was "indispensable") and so I reconsidered the question. In any case, I will not implement NTSC speed for all my games, but only for those that I deem appropriate and for which there are no problems due to the computing capacity of the machine.
Show post...
I like it.
Happy to hear that! And thanks for the video.
I'm impressed!! An absolutely fantastic game, a clear classic. Thank you for all your fun games that make winter a little more bearable 🙏😊
I'm really happy with your rating and consideration! Thank you very much! :)
Very nice and smooth puzzle game. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 01:38:40. 🙂
Thanks again!
The C64 version is the same as good and nice as the PC version.
Happy to hear that.
Really nice game.
We as a familiy (2 adult and 3 kids) had fun for hours
I'm so happy that my game can provide hours of fun for one whole family! Thanks for letting me know!!
Nice platformer. I like platformers with subtle/light puzzle elements like this. Good job
Good! I'm glad you like it.
Purchased both your PC and C64 version! Awesome! Hey do you have a floppy disk label picture? Probably not but thought you might have artwork somewhere :D
Sorry but I don't have any pictures of that kind. Anyway, thanks for liking and buying!
nice, albeit a bit simple. i like it. 7/10
happy to hear that
Mike Mech (Ship Layout B) - C64 Emulated Longplay
I just saw the video. STUNNING !!! Sincere congratulations! Have you practiced a lot?
I spent a day on it ;)
👍👍👍
Mike Mech (Ship Layout A) - C64 Emulated Longplay
Nice game. Thank you
Congratulations! Great performance! 👍👍👍
Hey thank you for this - this is my tribute to your game...
Well done, thank you!
This is a great game. I love all the sound effects and music. I do wish the teleport was less sensitive. More than half the time I end up double teleporting and dying. :(
Just to know... do you use a joystick on a real C64 or a joypad/keyboard on a PC with emulator?
old school Atari style joy stick on an ultimate 64 elite. I’ll try it on my c128 and report back. Honestly could be the joystick is bouncier than most requiring more debounce.
Thanks for the reply!
It seems similar on my NTSC 128. Playing with it a bit, I think what's happening is that I'm teleporting then trying to move left or right but still have the stick down slightly. That triggers another teleport while I'm moving. Maybe waiting for the down direction to be released before triggering it again would help me. I'm guessing going left or right is resetting the down detection.
Or I could just "git gud" ;)
Another interesting thing that happened on my 128 is that the background sound would stop for long stretches during a level and then come back occasionally. The actual sound effects (jumping, triggering pads, etc) always sounded properly. I went back and tried to reproduce this but was unable to, so maybe my machine/SID just needed to warm up.
Thanks again for the game. Please, don't feel any obligation to change anything based on my feedback!
I guess it is a joystick issue which is not quite accurate and which causes false contact if the lever is slightly pushed down. I bet that with a Competition Pro (my absolute favorite joystick) the problem does not arise. I can also assure you that moving left or right does not reset the down position of the lever in any way; to teleport a second time you have to release the lever from the down position and then push it down again.
Regarding the other problem, I tried to emulate an NTSC C128 on PC but I didn't find anything strange.
In any case, I'm glad you enjoy the game; I just recommend a more suitable microswitch joystick.
Thanks for the great game! After some work, here is my video with all 70 levels.
Good job !!! Thank you! 👍👍👍
Really nice nice and enjoyable game! A nice summer surprise! Thanks a lot! Keep doing it!
👍👍👍
I thank everyone for the compliments and for the appreciation shown towards the game.
Grazie a tutti !!! 😁😁😁
Un piccolo contributo alla causa...
Già avevo visto il tuo video su YouTube. Grazie per le belle parole e per la buona pubblicità che mi stai facendo! 👍👍👍
Yet again another superbly highly playable masterpiece! You are genuinely a brilliant programmer and exceptional game designer, many thanks for creating this great game!
Great game !
New game for Commodore 64 by Luca Carminati.
Che bella sorpresa! Titolo tanto semplice nel concetto quanto elegante e galvanizzante nel gameplay. Gioca un ruolo fondamentale anche l'atmosfera che viene creata tramite il ronzio di fondo della nave e stupendi quanto pulitissimi sfx. Complimenti davvero a LUCA!
Super Game 😁
Nice solid game! It seems the high-scores are only loaded upon start-up, and not immediately after the initials being entered when getting a high-score?
edit: oh wait, I see I have to press F1 :)
edit 2: oh no... that removes them! :)
The high-scores are loaded at the start of the game and then saved each time you get a better score (after entering your initials). Something wrong with this?
I think it would be better if they would actually update when viewing the high-scores from the main menu, or at least always keep the updated scores in memory.
It is not clear to me where the problem is. As I said, the scores are loaded at the beginning of the game and saved every time you get a better score, so the scores are always updated both in memory and on disk. However, keep in mind that there is a separate ranking for each selected Layout. Could this fact have misled you?
A challenging platformer with nice responsive controls. Well done!
Awesome game!