Zzap!64

Zzap!64
Issue 1 (May 1985)
EditorChris Anderson[1]
Roger Kean[2]
Gary Penn[2]
Ciarán Brennan[2]
Julian Rignall[3]
Gordon Houghton (issues 40-50)[4]
Stuart Wynne[5]
Phil King[6]
Steve Shields[7]
CategoriesComputer magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation77,483 (Jan 1987)
First issueMay 1985
Final issue
Number		November 1992
90
CompanyNewsfield Publications Ltd
Europress Impact
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based inYeovil
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0954-867X

Zzap!64 is a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.

The magazine launched in April, with the cover date May 1985,[8] as the sister magazine to CRASH. It focused on the C64 for much of its shelf life, but later incorporated Amiga game news and reviews. Like CRASH for the ZX Spectrum, it had a dedicated cult following amongst C64 owners and was well known for its irreverent sense of humour as well as its extensive, detailed coverage of the C64 scene. The magazine adopted an innovative review system that involved the use of the reviewers' faces, artistically rendered by in-house artists Oli Frey and Mark Kendrick, to express their reaction to the games.[9] These eventually evolved into static cartoons as the magazine began catering for a younger market. High-quality games were indicated in reviews via the "Gold Medal" award, the logo was used as a selling point for games, big and small.[10][11]

By 1992, the magazine had changed so dramatically in design and editorial direction that then-publisher Europress decided to relaunch the magazine. Thus, issue 91 of Zzap!64 became issue 1 of Commodore Force, a magazine that itself lasted until March 1994.[8]

  1. ^ Anderson, Chris (20 September 2006). "The Commodore Zone for C64 emulators, games and articles". The-commodore-zone.com. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "The History of Zzap!64". Zzap64!. 5 November 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  3. ^ "The Mean Machines Archive - Staff - Julian Rignall". Mean Machines. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. ^ "The Burrow - Gordon Houghton's Zzap!64 pages". The Burrow. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Zzap! Editorials". Zzap64!. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Zzap! Editorials". Zzap64!. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  7. ^ "The Burrow - Gordon Houghton's Zzap! - Where are they now? page". The Burrow. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The History of Zzap!64". The Def Guide to Zzap!64. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
  9. ^ "Zzap!Back - Meet the team". ZZAP!Back. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Batman". worldofspectrum.org.
  11. ^ "Graphic Adventure Creator" (JPG).