Technically, the Commodore 64 (C64) could have been the home of a First Person Shooter (FPS) or two, but it never did. Sure, looking back it is easy to say such a game should have been possible but for those working on the C64 back then it was completely different. While Bad Pixels is not a C64 game, it is made in the style of the Commodore 64. Specifically, as the developer says on their Itch.io page, “Think Commodore64 + SuperFX.”
I agree. I agree.
Just Imagine If Commdore Did Release Improvement Carts
Wishful thinking but seeing Bad Pixels in action has gotten me to thinking how cool it might have been had Commodore done that. What if Commodore had released upgrade carts for the C64? What might we have seen? How much longer, if there is any at all, would the C64 held on for beyond the early 90s?
Ah well, day dreaming is fun, but we can look at Bad Pixels and get an idea of what that might have looked like. I get a strong Super Nintendo plus Super FX chip vibe from the media available. No matter where you fall on the graphics, Bad Pixels is squarely in that “early days of 3D” vibe as it seems the developer intended.
Pre-Order and Get a Bonus
The point of Bad Pixels is traveling the world and completing 16 missions and taking down five bosses. Set in a low detail wild west environment, you are going to be fighting gunslingers and probably other things, but none shown in the video.
If you pre-order on Itch.io then you can get Bad Pixels for about 25% off and you will also get your name in the credits.
Bad Pixels is planned to release on Itch.io and Steam in August 2025. Follow Bad Pixels development on Blue Sky.