Bagman continues his escapades

Bagman Strikes Back (C64) is a free arcade video game that lets you continue the wacky adventures of a sneaky thief. Developed by LC-Games, this 2D pixelated indie game is a tribute to the 1982 arcade platformer, Bagman, and is also the sequel to the developer’s own fan game, Bagman Comes Back (C64 version). 

Similar to the first game, Bagman Strikes Back (C64) retains the retro look and feel of the original Bagman game. However, this is a completely new installment and continues what was started in Bagman Comes Back—giving all-new stages for you to enjoy.

A fan game sequel

Bagman—also known as “Bagitman” and “Gilligan’s Gold”—is a 1982 arcade platformer video game developed by Valadon Automation wherein you collect bags of gold in a mine shaft while avoiding guards and other obstacles. It gained considerable fame and got a sequel called Super Bagman in 1984. However, its console eventually became outdated and it was an unplayable game until some ports into other platforms were made.

Bagman Comes Back (C64 version) is not a port but a fan game based on it for the Commodore 64 console and can be played on analog TV screen models like PAL and NTSC and on emulators like VICE. The developer also added new playable stages for it—although they retained some downsides of the game that could have been fixed for modern platforms. 

Even though this game is a sequel, it’s not based on the Super Bagman game. Instead, it’s like the original game but has 24 completely-new levels to keep things fresh. Similar to its predecessor, it can run on both PAL and NTSC models of Commodore 64—although it’s recommended to use NTSC for faster game speed. Unfortunately, its tutorial still displays huge chunks of text inefficiently.

There’s a trick to thieving

Nevertheless, there’s a good reason why Bagman was considered a fan favorite among arcade game enthusiasts—and Bagman Strikes Back (C64) is free for all players to rediscover why. The downside is that the previous issues from Bagman Comes Back are also present here. Still, there are still more great features in it that make it an overall enjoyable game to try out.