Today was my second only experience with the Tandy Colour Computer 2, the CoCo and I again instantly fell in love with its simple sounds and graphics and incredibly enjoyable gameplay. As is the way of things for people with a diverse collection I do not play it often enough and really need to fix that, though of course when I do another systems shall fall by the wayside. As they say in Vanilla Sky, it’s a problem.

Having no nostaligia for the Tandy machines its easy to say my attraction if playing games I have never experienced before but this would be a false narrative due to the sheer amount of oddly named ports from popular games. Donkey King, Janky Kong, Lance etc. All games we played in the past on many systems or in the Arcade yet subtly different, some in good ways, some in extremely janky ways but and here is why I love it, all good, solid, entertainment. Throw in some games made for the system and that certain style of gameplay you only get from certain 8bit software.

I like simple gameplay, simple graphics. It excites me in a way that modern gaming just does not. I don’t claim to understand it but I feel I am not alone. One screen, basic gameplay, just fits me. Maybe its because I am terrible at games? Haha, I don’t think I am… but I would think that. No, it is something else that perhaps arcs back to youth where games of this ilk were king on the ZX Spectrum. Even a much more modern game, Spelunky HD on PC, one of my favourite all-time games is at heart a one screen platformer. Sure it scrolls but its got the same basic gameplay. Whatever it is, It makes me happy.

I learnt yesterday that the CoCo was branded by independant magazines as the best Educational Computer from back in the day. Less titles than some but better ones all-around. Now anyone that watches me knows I do love a little Edutainment in my life. It was that class of program that got me into coding over 40 years ago and its still something I like to experience and show younger people how we did it back when I was a kid. Its Geography 1 on ZX Spectrum that made me say to myself that I could make a better version. Same game I broke into the code to see how things worked and that led to some fun programs and games I made solo or with friends. So, yes, there will be an Educational stream soon on the CoCo!

Hope you enjoy the VOD available on twitch and shown below and if you have any experiences on the CoCo or other old 8bit Home Computers do let me know. All comments will be looked at and answered if appropriate.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2210793530

Until next time. Take care!