A few days ago we listed some of our favourite retro games available for the iPhone inside the iTunes App Store, proving that there is a healthy market for these older, but still fun, games.  Why?  Well, many are simple to play with the minimum of controls and most importantly of all, they’re often fiendishly addictive!

With the recent  re-release of Manomio’s C64 emulator (iTunes link) app, there is a good chance there will be plenty of 8-bit goodness in the future, but seeing as there is no harm in asking, here are six Commodore 64 games we would like to see running in the emulator soon!

Turbo Esprit.

Published by Durell in 1986 for the Spectrum and the C64, this driving game feels essentially like a Grand Theft Auto mission.  Driving your Lotus Esprit, you must hunt down drug smugglers cars and destroy them, all the while avoiding enemy hit cars, pedestrians and the odd ladder.  It may look simplistic now, but the indicators, working traffic lights and free-roaming environment were all ahead of their time.

A straight port would be fine, but a very slight graphical overhaul would be nice – we don’t need the colour clash, thank you – as would a touch of vibration instead of the flashes around the edge of the screen to indicate damage or a crash.

Treasure Island Dizzy.

The sequel to the original Dizzy was far more puzzle-based than the first, and was notoriously difficult thanks to your one and only life.  In Treasure Island Dizzy, Dizzy has to collect 30 gold coins and discover how to escape from the island, all done by collecting items and solving some difficult problems.

This was chosen over Dizzy or its later sequels for the improved graphics and its catchy David Whittaker soundtrack, plus its pureness as a puzzle-based platform game over Dizzy’s more arcade-style gameplay.

Operation Wolf.

A port of the classic arcade game with the gun on the cabinet, Operation Wolf on both the C64 and the Spectrum was a great game.  The aim was to rescue five hostages held inside a camp, by shooting everyone – except the innocent and inappropriately dressed nurses – on screen as they scrolled past.

If a shooting gallery game as simple as Duck Shoot (iTunes link) can be fun on the iPhone, imagine some good old original first-person action.  In fact, we would love to see a straight arcade port of this one!

Cybernoid II: The Revenge.

Can a shoot ‘em up like this transfer to the iPhone?  Some very delicate movements are needed in various places during this hard-as-nails game, which may not be able to be performed using a virtual joystick.  Let’s face it, Cybernoid 2 could be frustrating enough without a dodgy control system too!

There was some treasure collection needed, but who cared about that when there were so many weapons upgrades and enemies to shoot.  Wondering why we picked the more-of-the-same sequel?  Simple, for the wonderful Jeroen Tel music.

Head Over Heels.

The isometric arcade game is still so much fun, with more inventiveness and scope than a host of today’s puzzle based explorers.  At first, you control either Head or Heels, until which point in the game the two can be combined and their special abilities shared.  There was a storyline, but it was nonsense, so it’s best just to run around the rooms, solve the puzzles and revel in the barking mad gameplay.

Exolon.

Not only the second Hewson game on our list, but the second made by Raffaele Cecco, after Cybernoid II.  This screen-by-screen shooter sees you control a soldier with a gun and rocket launcher blowing up some very colourful sprites.  As you progressed, the chance to upgrade to some heavy armour was presented too.

If Cybernoid II: The Revenge’s control system would prove to complicated, then Exolon’s simple move, jump and fire system should be perfect for the iPhone.

These games make up our current wishlist, let us know what you’re looking forward to on the iPhone’s C64 emulator in the comments below.