You knew this Commodore 64 game as Commando — but in Germany it was released as Space Invasion. Elite Systems swapped the enemy soldiers for white android robots that look a lot like Star Wars Stormtroopers (and made the vehicles more futuristic) in an attempt to avoid Germany’s strict youth protection rules. It didn’t work — the re-skinned version still ended up on the index. This short video explains why and what actually happened.

2/6 Platoon on the C64 was split into four distinct stages that felt like completely different games: 1. Side-scrolling jungle & village — Navigate paths, avoid traps and snipers, find explosives to blow the bridge, then search huts for a torch, map and trapdoor. 2. First-person tunnel system — This is the standout. You move through a dark Viet Cong tunnel network in a first-person view (static corridor images rather than free-look 3D). A map on the right shows your position and facing direction. When you hit an enemy or enter a room the controls switch to a crosshair so you can aim and shoot or search. You have to locate two sets of flares and a compass before you can exit — an impressively ambitious early proto-FPS style experience on the C64 in 1987. (See image below) 3. Night-time foxhole — A fixed-screen shooting gallery. Use limited flares to light up advancing Viet Cong and gun them down before they reach you. 4. Timed final jungle confrontation — Race through the jungle (2-minute limit) to a shelter while dodging traps and enemies, then lob five grenades into Sergeant Barnes’ foxhole to finish him. The tunnel section in particular felt years ahead of its time for an 8-bit film tie-in, would you agree? The game also had a hidden 👾Space Invader game 🧵👇

What Commodore 64 adventure game is still the most fun to play today?

1/6 In 1988 Germany banned a video game based on an anti-war film… for being too pro-war! Platoon on the Commodore 64 was released in 1987. In May 1988 the German BPjS put Ocean’s Platoon on the youth-endangering index. The official reason? The game was “kriegsverherrlichend” and trivialised war — even though it was based on Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning anti-war film. The BPjS concluded the movie’s message about the madness of Vietnam simply didn’t come through in the game. It stayed restricted for 25 years until the listing automatically expired in April 2013. Did you get past the 1st level? Did you discover the hidden Space Invaders game? 🧵👇

Did you know computer cookies aren’t new. Even your floppy disk had one! Inside every 3½" and 5¼" floppy was a circular piece of oxide-coated Mylar called the 'cookie', sandwiched between two fabric liners. That was the actual magnetic media where all your data lived. Ever had a 3½" or 5¼" floppy get wiped by a magnet?