Katakis

Among shoot-'em-ups for the Commodore 64, Katakis occupies a special place — it is a game that most players recognise immediately, because it strikingly resembles the legendary arcade R-Type. This horizontally scrolling space action by the studio Rainbow Arts became a synonym for a dense, technically advanced shooter and to this day belongs among the titles worth pulling out on eight-bit.

The gameplay builds on the tried-and-tested genre recipe: you pilot a space fighter, fly through waves of enemies, collect upgrades and gradually build an arsenal of weapons to handle ever stronger defences and mighty bosses. Katakis excels in the density of the action on screen and in a pace that keeps the player in constant tension. On eight-bit hardware it is an impressive performance that shows how much action could be squeezed out of the C64.

Behind the game stands Rainbow Arts, a German studio known for not being afraid to draw inspiration from popular arcade originals. It was precisely the resemblance to R-Type that was so pronounced that discussions arose around the title about how close to the original the game actually stood. Either way, the result was a very high-quality shooter that quickly found its fans on the console.

Katakis tends to be mentioned together with other top-class shmups for the C64 — with Uridium and Armalyte — as part of an unwritten trio that represents the best of the genre on this platform. For players who loved arcade machines but wanted to play at home, Katakis represented the ideal choice: fast, demanding and visually attractive action.

Culturally, Katakis is evidence of how strongly arcade machines influenced domestic eight-bit production and how capable European developers were at converting their experience to limited hardware. It remains a favourite title among shooter fans and a regular item in selections of the best C64 action games.

Why play: For a dense, fast space shooter in the style of arcade classics — one of the best of its kind on the Commodore 64.