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I Ignored These C64C Tapes for 37 Years… | The Light Fantastic Toolbox
The five yellow Toolbox tapes that came with the Commodore 64C Light Fantastic pack finally get another look.
Inside the Toolbox collection
Five pieces of software and audio bundled with the C64CThe feature revisits The Image System, The Music System, Shoot ’Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK), Typing Tutor and the Toolbox Audio Tape from the Light Fantastic bundle.
About this feature
In 1989 my battered old C64 breadbin was replaced with a brand-new Commodore 64C from Dixons. The Light Fantastic pack came with games, a Datasette, joystick, 3D glasses and the Cheetah Defender light gun, but tucked in alongside them were five almost identical yellow Toolbox cassettes that I largely ignored at the time.
Going back to them now reveals a surprisingly varied collection. The Image System is a graphics and picture-manipulation package; The Music System provides keyboard, multitrack recording and synthesiser tools; Shoot ’Em Up Construction Kit lets users design sprites, backgrounds, enemies, attack patterns and sound effects before building a playable C64 shoot-’em-up; and Typing Tutor covers finger positioning, accuracy and speed.
The final item is the Toolbox Audio Tape, written by John Minson and narrated by Jonathan Kydd, which guided new C64C owners through getting the machine connected and running. The video also revisits The Music System demonstration featuring Gareth Jones, better known to many UK viewers as Gaz Top from Get Fresh and How 2.
Toolbox manuals
Read the original user guides alongside the video.
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