Back in April 1990, readers of the Yugoslav computer magazine Svet Kompjutera were introduced to a batch of fictional game reviews cooked up for the humor section “Cvet Kompjutera.” The joke? These weren’t just any imaginary titles—they were absurdly well-reviewed. But a little editorial chaos caused the joke to be taken seriously. The humor section’s label was accidentally left out, and the reviews ended up nestled between actual game coverage.
One such phantom title was Popeye in Space—a supposed Commodore 64 release that never existed. That didn’t stop waves of readers from hitting up pirate software vendors, convinced the game was out there, somewhere.
Now, three and a half decades later, developer zzarko has made the myth real.
From Magazine Misprint to Playable Reality
The idea to turn Popeye in Space into something tangible surfaced in 2024. But it wasn’t until the first day of 2025 that zzarko officially sat down to start building the game. With an eye on the calendar—and a personal deadline of April 1st, 2025, to hit the 35-year mark—he got to work.
The result is a six-level space shooter for the Commodore 64, coded in Turbo Rascal, a tool that offered a smoother development experience than traditional assembly. zzarko handled most of the graphics himself, with some borrowed help on the title image, Bluto’s ship, and the letter sprites. Music came from the well-known High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC), with tracks dating back to the ’80s and ’90s.
What to Expect from the Game
Let’s be honest—Popeye in Space wasn’t built to win technical awards. The developer says so himself. But it was built to be finished, played, and enjoyed. For a solo first-time effort, the game strikes a nice balance of ambition and self-awareness.
The shooter spans six levels, gradually upping the challenge. It runs on both PAL and NTSC machines, making it friendly to most setups.
Is it a lost masterpiece? No. But it’s a real, playable answer to a decades-old joke. And for zzarko, it’s a personal victory—another item checked off the bucket list: releasing an arcade-style C64 game.
Credits
Music from HVSC:
- Drunken Sailor by Spider Jerusalem
- Fake Rave by Nebula
- Slow Techno by Surgeon
- Oh No-Techno by Genius
- Popeye Remix by Compod
Graphics contributions:
- Foundry 255b by ChristopherJam
- Spiked Ship 3 by Skorpio
