Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (C64)

Developer:

Off the Wall

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Release Date:

1989

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Systems:

C64, Amiga, DOS

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Today on Super Adventures, to celebrate Cyberpunk 2077 eventually coming out at some point hopefully, I'm kicking off Keanu Reeves week! I'll be playing three games this week, each of which is based on a movie starring Keanu Reeves, starting with the computer version of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Which works out pretty well I reckon, seeing as the third Bill & Ted film just came out.

I've already played a Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure game, on the Lynx, but I'm pretty sure this one's something completely different. Maybe even something better! This version came out on three systems, Amiga, MS-DOS and Commodore 64, and I'll be playing all three of them, because I'm hardcore like that. But I'm mostly focusing on the C64 game, because the poor system doesn't get much love here and it'll be a change.

There may be SPOILERS below for the first Bill & Ted movie... but I doubt it somehow.

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Enter difficulty level (1-4), huh? Damn, I'm not sure what to pick now. I usually go with the default or 'normal' difficulty in a game, so I can judge it fairly, but this has defaulted to the lowest difficulty and they don't have names.

Seems that level 1 requires me to collect 6 guys to earn an A+ and level 2 requires 12 of them. Then for level 3 it goes back down to 6 guys again, except I'd need to find more objects and some of them are apparently hidden? That sounds like the opposite of what I'd want.

Okay I'm leaving it on level 1. Not that it's worth me stressing over because let's face it, I'm not getting an A+ in this game whatever I pick.

From that text down there I'm assuming that this man (or possibly woman) is a teacher and they're currently talking to Bill and Ted.

I only vaguely remember what happens in the movie, I watched it once when I was 10, but I do remember that the two of them need to pass this oral exam to save the future. Also it's the kind of oral exam where you go up on stage in front of a crowd as a pair, and you get to bring historical figures up there as well if you want.

Amiga

Here's what the Amiga version looks like. It's definitely the same game, but it's got a much better picture of the teacher. Sure the arm of his glasses is connected to the wrong part of the frame, his jacket has no shading, and he's currently exists outside of time and space, but he looks a great deal more human. Shame the text underneath is harder to read.

And finally here's the PC version:

MS-DOS

Well that's just an actual still from the movie. Hey it's Bernie Casey, I can recognise him now!

Right now it's starting to feel like the DOS was the lead platform and the other versions used its graphics as a source, but I really have no idea.

And this is obviously George Carlin in the role of Rufus.

So far the game's just a series of people talking directly at the screen, though I can't help but notice that Rufus hasn't mentioned anything about being from the future, or that Bill and Ted are famous historical figures themselves. He doesn't even tell them about the time machine!

He does at least explain that the book can tell them the number of any place they want to go, but the clock in San Dimas is always running. Hang on, what book?

Okay, here we are in front of the Circle K (fun fact: the 'K' stands for 'Kay'). The one in blue is Bill S. Preston, esquire, the other one is Ted Theodore Logan... I think. I'm mostly going off the hair).

There's probably nothing stopping me from time travelling right away, but I might as well explore the present while I'm here. Oh, actually I won't be doing that as there's an invisible force field blocking the right side of the screen.

Seems that my only option is to walk into that mysterious beat-up old phone booth on the left, and I should probably do it quickly seeing as the timer at the top of the screen is ticking up. I don't know my deadline, but that's just stressing me out more!

Amiga

I'm going to stop comparing the three versions after this, but I thought you might want to see what the Amiga game looks like. It's got better graphics for sure, though I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying it looks good. I do like how it has the name up on the top left of the screen in case I ever forget.

MS-DOS

And here's the PC game. Uh, where's Bill and Ted? Oh wait, never mind, I can see them now. I can't see the little antenna on top of the phone booth anymore though.

It's funny how the three versions share some graphics (like the clouds and the watch) but look dramatically different in other ways. Those portraits on the right were clearly drawn for one of the games and then edited afterwards for the other one, but I can only guess at which of them came first.

The PC game also has EGA and CGA modes, but you don't need to see them as they've got the same art with fewer colours.

MS-DOS

No seriously, you do not need to see the CGA mode. Do not look directly at the CGA mode.

Anyway I'm going to the mysterious phone box.

Uh?

Wasn't there supposed to be a book? Is this clever copy protection, forcing me to check the manual to find out the dates to type in?

Alright the manual says Napoleon's hanging out in Austria, 1805, so I'll type that in and see what happens.

I walked out of the phone booth and the two of them said "Bogus", then keeled over and died for no reason.

To be fair there was a bit of artillery fire landing around me when I got here, but I waited for it to stop before I stepped forward! And now I'm waiting for them to respawn. Do I have to reset the game or something? This is weird.

Oh, turns out I just have to press fire to make them jump back to their feet.

I made it one screen across before they tripped over a fence and landed on their faces again.

The game doesn't have scrolling, in any of the the versions, it just flicks between screens once I reach the edge. Though the C64 game makes me wait a bit while before the screen appears... each and every time.

That brown box next to the tree looks a bit conspicuous, I wonder if that's one of those items I'm supposed to be picking up. Nope, doesn't look like it.

Awesome, I've mastered the art of synchronised jumping and gotten them both over the broken bridge on the next screen!

It wasn't all that difficult to get them moving together like this to be honest. In fact Bill and Ted are basically a single extra-wide entity; they're 100% in sync and inseparable.

Mr Napoleon, I presume. Oh, it turns out that the game straight up tells you when there's an object on screen so there's no ambiguity! That's cool.

I walked over to pick up the note and got a bit of a noise as a reward (the Amiga version reveals that it's supposed to be an air guitar riff). Then I got a bit more noise for recruiting Napoleon. It wasn't a complicated process: I just walked up to him, pressed the fire button, and that was it.

By the way there's no music in this, in any version. My wacky time travel adventures are playing out in almost complete silence.

MS-DOS

Well this is crap. I was headed back to the phone booth with my new buddy Napoleon, but you can't see what you're walking into on the next screen, and in this case I was walking straight into a river. That's some pretty crappy game design right there. Worse, it's kicked me back to the phone box at the start of the level again!

It could be worse I suppose. It didn't give me a 30 second time penalty, plus I've still got my 1000 points and my note. But I am going to have to go back for Napoleon.

Okay I've got Napoleon, let's go visit Billy the Kid in New Mexico, 1878.

Hey this time period looks a bit more substantial!

It's not though. The one place I can go here is inside the saloon.

Surprise anachronistic product placement! And I didn't even have to pay for it.

This screen's full of things I could interact with, talk to, or examine... if this was a proper adventure game. But it's not, so all I can do is grab the Twinkie and leave.

Oh, if you're wondering what's going on with that woman in the picture back there, it's supposed to be a red dress.

Amiga

I stepped back over to the right and suddenly this happened! I was not expecting that table to get flipped.

That animation's not so great for an Amiga game, but can the C64 version do any better?

Eh, it's more or less the same. Except for the way the characters get covered in ash for some reason.

The real question is why all the characters stand together afterwards and turn around to look at Bill and Ted. I thought they were angry with Billy the Kid, why are they ignoring him and coming after us? I'm very confused.

Right, now it's time for some gameplay.

Amiga

Man I'm glad that the gameplay's over now.

It took me a few tries to get past this on the C64 version, until I realised that standing still and tapping the button was the most effective strategy. I'm not quite sure why the lighting on Ted's leg changes each time he punches though.

Oh by the way, I have to give the artist some points here, as the inside of that window matches the outside perfectly; every pixel lines up. Though they would've gotten more points if someone had been thrown through it during the fight.

Okay that's two historical figures down, time to recruit Sigmund Freud!

Oh, it doesn't look like Sigmund Freud's allowed to come out today. His mother keeps throwing stuff across the room and I think she wants me to leave. I guess I haven't got the right object to solve this screen yet.

Okay then, maybe I can convince Abraham Lincoln to come help me with my history presentation. Next stop: the White House!

"Never give a sucker an even break". I guess that's the philosophy at the core of the US government.

Well Billy the Kid and Sigmund Freud were both just one screen away from the phone booth, so I guess I'll walk to the left and see if I run into Lincoln there.

Yep, here he is in his Oval Office, one screen to the left.

Unfortunately Lincoln's standing just a bit higher than I can reach, so I suppose I'll need an item here as well. But what could entice Lincoln to come down from his desk? What was Lincoln into? I doubt the cowboy Twinkie's going to get the job done.

Okay I'll put a pin in this for the time being and see if I have any better luck recruiting Michaelangelo.

Michaelangelo's painting a ceiling up at the top of some scaffolding so I have to play Donkey Kong to reach him!

I picked up a violin by the way. I see the empty case I swiped it from every time I fall off and end up back on the floor again.

This platforming minigame was absolutely effortless on the DOS version for whatever reason. I made it to the top with no problems at all.

Amiga

Meanwhile the Amiga version was a real pain in the arse.

In the other versions the bouncing paint buckets just knock you over for a second, but on the Amiga game they knock you down a level. Plus if you hit a bucket on the platform above with your head it still counts, so you've got to be bloody careful.

Uh, the dude's not up here. Michaelangelo's gone missing.

I tried walking off screen to the right to go look over there and just fell right back down to the bottom again. So that's a bit frustrating. But probably not as frustrating as trying to recreate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on a C64.

MS-DOS

The PC version looks a bit better, plus they've added a paint-by-numbers joke. The PC and Amiga versions also include a lift on the left for a speedy descent.

Oh there he is on the floor on the right! Damn, they didn't make that easy to see. Anyway, doesn't matter anymore because he's mine now. Michaelangelo get!

Unfortunately they forgot to put a lift in the C64 version so I just jumped off and we all fell back to the start.

There's that bloody violin case again.

With three dudes down I headed to 1,000,000 BC to try to recruit a caveman, but I guess he doesn't count as a historical figure because he's just ignoring me and won't get in the box. I got a calculator though!

Hey, what the hell, why isn't the 'MA' box lit up on my dudes list? Oh duh, I can only carry two people in the phone booth at once! I'll have to drop Napoleon and Billy the Kid off before I can pick up any more. Well, that's needlessly realistic.

Right so that's two dudes banked and I'm ready to go play Donkey Kong and pick up Michaelangelo again.

Then I'll head to the Bastille to collect Marie Antoinette. It's a prison break!

Oh no, it's a maze minigame! Worse, I can only see a tiny bit of it at a time and I'm being chased by guards. This is the worst game of Pac-Man.

Actually the guards seem to be walking their own patrol routes, so maybe this isn't as bad as I thought. They're pretty fast though, so I need to be careful as I make my way over to... wait, I have no idea where I'm going. They haven't marked the exit!

1 MINUTE AND 24 SECONDS LATER

Marie Antoinette is in the box, so that's four down, two to go! Or was it one to go? I forget. 

Socrates here won't budge until I take his question mark and return with an answer, but I don't know where to take it. I can't go into any of the doors back there, and there's no point in me heading back to the phone booth and trying to walk the other way, because when I park there's only ever one direction I can go in. In fact when I tried going right it gave me a message saying I can't go that way... which is really unusual now that I think about it. Usually I just slam into an invisible wall and that's it.

Okay I'm going back to the phone booth and heading right.

Oh, it turns out that I can go this way now! It's lucky I tried coming here again after speaking to Socrates, even though I had no reason to think it'd work.

Now I have to navigate my extra-wide Bill and Ted sprite around a series of narrow walkways collecting coins. At least I don't have to start collecting them from scratch every time I slip off, because I am slipping off a lot. It's a bit of a pain how I reappear back at the phone booth again though.

Hang on, that egg over there is another coin, but not a gold one. In fact it's a penny. What's with all these anachronisms lying around anyway? I don't remember the movie being like this.

WAY TOO MANY ATTEMPTS LATER

MS-DOS

Well I'm on screen #3 of the coin maze and I have no idea where it wants me to go next. I was hoping to find someone who could swap Socrates' question with an answer but all I'm finding is gaps to fall down and I'm sick of respawning back at the phone booth.

Fuck it, I'm bored now. In fact I'm just going to look up what Lincoln wants so I can get this over with already.

Amiga

Lincoln wants the penny I picked up! Is this because his face is on it? I have no idea what's on a US penny.

Weirdly the text you get after recruiting someone is different in each of the games. Like when you get Lincoln in the DOS version it says "That's a pretty penny! Where did it come from?" while the C64 game gives you the message "Lincoln is intrigued by the penny and follows you."

Alright, I think I've got enough dudes now. Next I need to head to the mall and phone Missy to take us all to school.

Honestly, their report isn't as impressive as I expected. They just introduce everyone one by one and that's it.

But I've actually done it! I've beaten the whole game! I'm not sure I've ever finished a C64 game before.

Oh.

I guess I didn't find enough dudes. I was sure I read somewhere that I only needed five of them. Maybe that's just for the Amiga version.

They seem happy in their new lives at least.

Actually screw this, I've got a time machine! Let's try this again and go get the proper ending.

SOME TIME TRAVEL LATER

Well that was easy. I just gave Einstein that caveman calculator and he was happy to come with me. That's brings the count up to six dudes, which means that I've definitely gotten everyone I need to this time, on this difficulty anyway.

And I only used two items in the whole game!

There you go, it's done. Bill and Ted got their A+ and they celebrate by playing terrible music with the princesses that we didn't meet or rescue.

The future's saved, that's what really matters here. Though hang on, was the future even at risk in this game? I don't remember Rufus ever mentioning anything about that, or giving any hint about where he's from. He's just a kind stranger who decided to help a couple of teens out with their school report.


CONCLUSION

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Keanu Reeves week is off to a great start then.

I don't know what else is left to say here, you saw exactly what the game's like from start to finish. It's going to be a bit more complicated on higher difficulties as more objects are required, but half the time I had a little minigame to do before I recruited a dude and the other half of the time I just walked over and handed them something.

It's hard for me to judge the visuals on the Commodore 64 version as I'm not all that familiar with the system, but I think it's fair to say that the graphics in the other versions fall short of what the Amiga and a 1990's PC is capable of. I mean Wing Commander came out in 1990! The music's even worse though, as most of the game doesn't even have any and the rest of the time I was begging it to give me the silence back.

The game could've been a lot more frustrating than it is though. It seems to give you infinite retries with no time penalty, the minigames weren't that bad, and you can't accidentally make it unwinnable or anything like that (unless you take too long). It's much less awkward than a Dizzy game at least. Plus it can be really short on easy mode: I finished the Amiga game with 7:35 on the clock and the DOS version with 7:45... which means yeah, I finished this bloody game four times over today.

But which version's the best? Well none of them are going to give you a fun adventure game, but the DOS game has a slight edge in graphics, the Amiga version has the best sound by far, and the C64 game looks terrible and will drive you slowly mad with the pauses between each screen... so probably not that one.

I don't want to talk anyone out of playing this game, that's not what I do here, but perhaps I could talk you into playing something else instead? You deserve better than this, probably!

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Next on Super Adventures, it's another Keanu Reeves game... but what? Only someone with extensive Keanu Reeves knowledge or some bad video game purchases in their past could possibly make a guess about it in the comment box below. Or I suppose you could just go to MobyGames and look up every game with one of his characters in and work it out from there.

If you want to just leave a comment about Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure you could do that too. Plus I feel like I should remind you that there is a Super Adventures Discord and it's full of people talking behind your back right now.