What happens when you mash together a Commodore 64 and an Atari 8-bit? You get Atari64, a clever homebrew project that ports the C64 KERNAL onto Atari 8-bit computers. It might sound like retro heresy, but under the hood, these machines share enough DNA to make the magic happen.
The project, developed by GitHub user Unbibium, is still in beta—so don’t toss out your real C64 just yet. However, it’s already doing something impressive. You can boot into the C64-style PETSCII screen editor, BASIC is running, and the keyboard mappings are surprisingly intuitive for seasoned 8-bit veterans.
Familiar Behavior on New Hardware
Atari64 replicates key C64 features using Atari keys. The Atari logo key types the pi character, while Shift-Logo toggles between character sets—just like switching between C64’s uppercase and lowercase modes. Option, Select, and Start now act like the Commodore logo key, letting users type graphical characters. Need to slow a text scroll? Just hold the Option key—mirroring the old CTRL function on a C64.
Still a Work in Progress
Despite its progress, Atari64 has several limitations. Most notably, there’s currently no I/O support—so loading or saving BASIC programs is off the table. Resetting the machine also boots back into the original Atari OS, unless future versions work around that, perhaps channeling some old-school “Translator disk” tricks.
And if you were hoping for PETSCII color fidelity, that dream’s staying in black and white—color PETSCII simply won’t work due to hardware limitations.
