Video Games on My Old VIC-20 Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This space-themed multi-directional shooter game was a big hit in the video arcades (as "Asteroids"), and I got to the capture the fun at home, too, with this clone that had me blasting through natural satellites.

Answer: Moons of Jupiter

If you have ever played "Asteroids" you know how to play this game. You command a fleet of destroyers though you only control one actively at a time, using one key for thrust and two others used to rotate the craft -- much like other "Asteroids"-type games of the 1980s. Jupiter's moons travel around the screen, and before they collide with your spaceship you must fire at them and splinter them, all the while avoiding UFOs and other obstacles that come your way. Romik Software released this game in 1982, the year the company was founded by Mike Barton and Steve Clark to develop games for the VIC-20 and other popular platforms of the time.

2. This interactive text-adventure game kept me occupied for hours looking for treasure.

Answer: Pirate Cove

Scott and Alexis Adams created many text adventure games for many platforms, but the ones licensed to Commodore were programmed by Andy Finkel, who managed to get them to fit into the 16K available. Gameplay moves the adventurer through three venues: two islands and a London flat (where you start), the goal being to find the pirates' treasure and bring it back to London.

The Commodore title was actually "Pirate Adventure", but the original cover when it was released to VIC-20 in the early 1980s mistakenly had "Pirate Cove" on it!

3. Watch out, Ben-Hur! This two-dimensional racing game was exciting and dangerous.

Answer: Chariot Race

Micro-Antics published "Chariot Race" for the Commodore VIC-20 in 1983. Either one or two people could play. Taking out your opponent "Ben-Hur" style, either by shoving it into other chariots or knocking against the walls of the hippodrome, was an important part of the game! Paul Hope designed and programmed the game, and even set the sound; sadly, he passed away in 2011.

4. This possibly bootlegged game was remarkably like a certain popular arcade game featuring a large gorilla.

Answer: Crazy Kong

The developer and publisher, Falcon, licensed "Donkey Kong" from Nintendo and released "Crazy Kong" in 1981, but only for use in Japan, and Falcon completely changed the color scheme. But then Falcon exported its product to the USA, and Nintendo revoked the license (but not before my Dad got me a copy of the game).

As I remember, the gorilla in the VIC-20 was much scarier-looking than the arcade game.

5. Look out! Robots have run BERZERK in this game played in a top-down perspective, and you have to avoid both then and the walls.

Answer: Amok

"Amok", published by United Microware Industries, Inc. in 1982, was the VIC-20's answer to the arcade game "Berzerk". The player had to make his or her way through a space station called Amok and deal with the robots who coincidentally had run amok. For every 1500 points you earned an extra life, over nine skill levels. Unlike "Berzerk", however, there is no Evil Otto.

6. In this deceptively simple game, you control a spaceship with two buttons and try not to crash-land it, but with actually better graphics than the arcade version on which it is based.

Answer: Jupiter Lander

As the name suggests, the player in "Jupiter Lander" simply tries to land his or her spaceship on the surface of Jupiter, but the challenge is that the terrain is mostly unsuitable, and the player must not only find a safe landing place but also lower the ship at just the right speed to prevent a crash. "Jupiter Lander" was based on the arcade game "Lunar Lander", and HAL Laboratory released it for the Commodore VIC-20 in 1981. (It was also an early game for the Commmodore 64). "Jupiter Lander" had higher resolution and more colors than "Lunar Lander", so it was an example of a home game that was an improvement over the arcade game.

7. Why use pencil and paper for this children's word game when you could play it on your TV set through your Commodore VIC-20?

Answer: Hangman

Guess a word or phrase one letter a time. If you guess wrong, a portion of a stick drawing of a person being hanged is added to the screen. Of course you want to guess the answer before the hapless devil is completely hanged! The way to beat this game, at least on the VIC-20, is to memorize the most commonly occurring letters in the English language. Very simple yet very addictive. No one really knows the origin of the pen-and-paper "Hangman", though it was certainly written about by the late 19th century.

8. Oh, this game of dodging trucks and hopping over logs was a great relief from the shooter games, although it did give you the most ways to die!

Answer: Frogger

Like the arcade version, "Frogger" on the VIC-20 was a single-player game with overhead view action as you guided the frog across a busy highway, over a river, and to its home on the other side. In the 1980s, "Frogger" was seen as having universal appeal, to both boys and girls, both young and old.

The toy company Parker Brothers (now a brand of Hasbro), makers of the board games "Monopoly" and "Trivial Pursuit", licensed the game from Sega and produced cartridges not only for the VIC-20 but just about all of the other platforms of the early 1980s (including ColecoVision, TI-99/4A, and Atari 8-bit).

9. My neighbors had "Space Invaders" on their Atari video consoles, but I had this knock-off on my VIC-20!

Answer: Galaxian

"Galaxian", designed by Kazunori Sawano, started out as an arcade game by Namco as their response to the fixed-shooter classic that is "Space Invaders". It was actually a commercial success in 1980, and it spawned another successful arcade game, "Galaga".

But I didn't worry about that back then; I just enjoyed moving the ship left and right, shooting up a bullet at the rows of alien ships, and with more colors than my friends with their Atari had, and with the added excitement of divebombers.

10. My absolute favorite game was this fixed-shooter game that was really four games in one.

Answer: Gorf

"Gorf" for VIC-20 (ported from the arcade version in 1982) had four segments (whereas the arcade version had five): First, there was the astro-battle that was like "Space Invaders", although your ship had a forcefield that the invading ships chipped away at. Second, there was a laser attack in outer space, in which dive-bombers and a miniature Gorf robot try to destroy you. Then there is a space-warp part during which you have to dodge ships flying at you (and firing at you). In the last segment, the Flag Ship flies back and forth overhead, and you must chip away at her forcefield and destroy her core. Then you go to the next level, and it starts all over again.

The VIC-20 port was known for having some of the best graphics at the time. In 'Ahoy!' magazine, one reviewer wrote, "[Gorf] still has my vote for the best of the bunch ... The graphics are excellent", and 'Electronic Games' described it a "colorful, fast-moving entry" that was "one of the best games available" for the VIC-20.

Source: Author gracious1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Questions		Choices
1. This space-themed multi-directional shooter game was a big hit in the video arcades (as "Asteroids"), and I got to the capture the fun at home, too, with this clone that had me blasting through natural satellites.		Frogger
2. This interactive text-adventure game kept me occupied for hours looking for treasure.		Gorf
3. Watch out, Ben-Hur! This two-dimensional racing game was exciting and dangerous.		Hangman
4. This possibly bootlegged game was remarkably like a certain popular arcade game featuring a large gorilla.		Pirate Cove
5. Look out! Robots have run BERZERK in this game played in a top-down perspective, and you have to avoid both then and the walls.		Galaxian
6. In this deceptively simple game, you control a spaceship with two buttons and try not to crash-land it, but with actually better graphics than the arcade version on which it is based.		Chariot Race
7. Why use pencil and paper for this children's word game when you could play it on your TV set through your Commodore VIC-20?		Jupiter Lander
8. Oh, this game of dodging trucks and hopping over logs was a great relief from the shooter games, although it did give you the most ways to die!		Moons of Jupiter
9. My neighbors had "Space Invaders" on their Atari video consoles, but I had this knock-off on my VIC-20!		Crazy Kong
10. My absolute favorite game was this fixed-shooter game that was really four games in one.		Amok

Oh, my old Commodore VIC-20! It was promoted on TV by William Shatner, so dear old Dad rushed out and bought one back in 1982. Can you match the titles of the video games I played on it with their descriptions?