Galencia

Some classics of the gaming world are so perfectly designed that it is enough to build on their foundations and add a modern shine to get a little treasure. That is exactly what Galencia did. This game for the Commodore 64 from 2017, from the workshop of Jason Aldred, is a tribute to the immortal arcade legend Galaga, and right from the first spaceship it is clear that this is no ordinary clone but a carefully polished piece.

The principle draws on the classic formation shooter. Your ship moves along the bottom edge of the screen and shoots down formations of alien attackers that descend in elegant curves. Galencia takes the proven core of Galaga, where enemies can capture your ship and you can win it back to double your firepower. To this it adds its own ideas, fluid movement, elaborate bonus phases, and an overall smoothness rarely seen on an 8-bit machine.

Technically, Galencia is one of the most admired modern C64 shooters precisely because of its smoothness and visual cleanliness. The game shows what an experienced programmer can pull out of forty-year-old hardware and radiates a shine that would hold up even among the best commercial titles of the golden era. The starry background, detailed sprites, and brisk pace make it an experience that is fun right away and where you want to improve your score.

Galencia also received a physical release in the form of a cartridge, which made it a favorite collector's piece among Commodore 64 fans. It is one of the flagship examples of how lively and high-quality today's homebrew scene around this machine is. For anyone who likes classic space shooters and wants to experience what a perfect Galaga on the C64 could look like, Galencia is a must.

Why play: A masterfully polished modern shooter in the spirit of Galaga, which ranks among the absolute top of new C64 games and entertains from the first minute with pure arcade action.