Book Review: ZZap! 64 Annual 2020

It was only a few months ago that I reviewed the 2019 edition of Zzap64 that a new book was delivered on my doorstep: this time was, of course, the edition for 2020. Once again, Chris Wilkins managed to complete the Kickstarter campaign and managed to deliver another wonderful book to add to your personal retro-collection; once again, dozens of reviews of brand new C64 games and other neat features are guaranteed to quench your thirst for everything retro, from software to art to music.

As you know already, one of the things that I miss the most from the ’80s is how talented and skilled were the pixel artists. Don’t get me wrong here: the progress made with graphic technology allows nowadays’ artist to reach unprecedented peaks of excellence, but still it amazes me how incredible results said artist managed to reach with only a fistful of pixels and a very limited color palette.

A nice thing reviewed in this issue of Zzap64 is the outstanding Ultima 64 board, a full-fledged FPGA implementation of the C64 motherboard, perfect for revitalizing your old breadbin by using its external casing if the original motherboard didn’t pass the “test of time”. I did review the first of Gideon’s Logic products some time ago HERE.

Finally, if I had to peek only one article from this 2020 edition, I would choose the Steampunk implementation of the C64 by Mark Hellewell and Paul Parry. Of all the mods I have seen so far, this one was definitely the best, something that I would consider to make myself since I do have a spare C64 down in my basement which could serve the purpose.

In the end, Zzap64 Annual 2020 is another big hit in Chris Wilkins’ opera, a book that should not miss on your shelves. Thanks, Chris for what you do, and I can’t wait for the next one!