Okay, so here's a page with demos. Not just any demos, but a
selection of my absolute favourites. I won't pretend that I'm an
expert on demos, but I've checked out a few hundreds, and I've also,
er, tried to write some. I think it may be a bit easier to understand
how extremely difficult it is to make effects like the ones in the
demos below if you understand a bit about how it all works. Back in
the 80s, I can't say I liked demos. I don't even think I saw that
many. I thought demos were the same as cracker intros, and I didn't
like those. They were just something that made you have to wait
longer for the actual game. I think the first demo I really
appreciated was an Amiga demo, "Coma" by Rebels (1990). But Amiga
demos are mostly boring, the really cool stuff still happens in the
C-64 scene.
So, why did I pick these ten demos? First of all, I've chosen not to
include more than one demo per group. That means a bit more
variation. I've also tried to mix new and old demos. That wasn't
difficult, because great demos have been produced for more than ten
years, although there may not be so many these days. The ones I've
picked are my favourites. As you may notice, I'm not very much into
the new style, attempts to clone effects from Amiga and PC demos. I
prefer the demos with effects that are more C-64 specific. Anyway,
download these demos and have fun!
This was Xakk's last demo on the C-64, and I don't know what happened to them after this demo, because I haven't been able to find any Amiga demos by them. Maybe they gave up on demo coding altogether. In a way, that's understandable, because it would be hard to make a better demo than this one. It's not just the code that is impressive, but also the design of it. I especially like the end part, with all the sprites whirling around the screen and the awesome music by Knatter. (89 KB)
This demo is a cooperation between two of the best demo groups around, Crest and Oxyron. For some strange reason, it didn't win the demo compo at Symmek 1998, but ended up in the third place. Anyway, I don't think I'm the only one who thinks it should have won. It starts with a really nice intro screen and then goes on to a truly amazing highres plasma effect by Graham/Oxyron (see screen shot). It continues with the world's smallest tech-tech followed by a screen filled with vertical raster bars, coded by Crossbow of Crest. It ends with a nice zoom scroller. All the music in the demo is made by Mitch and Dane, and especially the last tune, Neurotica, kicks ass. This one is a must, a great combination of great coding, nice graphics and cool music. (42 KB)
Booze Design made an unexpected come back and won the demo compo at X98 with the demo Soul. That one had some great effects, and it's one of those demos that I get happy every time I watch. This one is a onefiler and was released at Mekka/Symposium in 1999. It starts with a quick intro with large letters that are drawn on the screen (you have to see it), and then it goes into the main part, which features a really cool effect, some sort of tech-tech on acid, in the Padua logo (the title, Happy Birthday, is to congratulate Padua for their ten year anniversary). The music by Glenn Rune Gallefoss is stunning, and the scroll text, written live at the party by several, mostly drunk, party visitors, is crazy. After this great part comes the end, which is a spinning starfield, which is also in the upper and lower border. Don't forget to press space... (44 KB)
Someone wrote, somewhere on the web, that this is one of the best demos for any computer, and I tend to agree. Not that I'm really interested in demos for other computers than the C-64, but this one's really special. It doesn't just feature great code, but also wonderful graphics and high quality music. It occupies two disk sides, so you get a lot of different parts, some philosophical scroll texts and at the end a nice slide show with great graphics. (237 KB)
I can't say I expected much when I downloaded this one, because I hadn't heard of React, and the party where it won the demo compo was held in Poland, where most of the demo groups seem to favour the new style, i.e. plasmas, 3d effects etc. Nothing I'm very fond of. But this demo really blew me away. The first thing you'll notice is the great graphics. They are very original, some are cartoonish and the more "serious" graphics are also original. The coding is also good, although it's not what's most important in this demo, because it's a concept demo. Yep, it actually has a message. And the message is that nuclear power is dangerous and that it shouldn't be used. But even if you don't share that opinion you should check this great demo out, it's definitely worth it. The music, by Orcan, is also really good. (140 KB)
Wrath Design isn't one of the more well known groups, but in my opinion they're really good, because they're trying to do something a little bit different. They seem to care a lot about the design in their demos, which is always a good thing. This demo is impressive both technically and designwise. The music is also interesting. It's technoish, but also a bit industrial, which is something that isn't very common in the C-64 scene. This demo is short (only takes a few minutes to watch) and fast paced, which I also think is a good thing. Check it out! (94 KB)
This one's just plain nice. It's from the golden days of the C-64 scene, when all demos were full of DYCPs, tech-techs and other cool things. The first menu, which is a replica of the Action Replay VI screen, is really cool. And then the rest is also really cool, and a bit more technically impressive than copying a text screen. :-) Everything's well designed and well coded, and they've even included a small (yes, really small) shoot'em-up game in one of the parts. The music is really good too, the kind of cool music you'd expect in a demo from the beginning of the nineties. (62 KB)
In the note to React's Last Reactor demo (see above), they write that they it was this demo that inspired them to create something like that. This one was released in 1993 and is very original. The Triad boys are trying to make you think here, so read the text and think about it There's quite a lot of text in it, and the graphics fit perfectly to the gloomy feeling of the music and the text. But it's not just gloomy, it's also humorous in places. I especially like the filled vector part. :-) The music by The Dungeon Master is great as always. (163 KB)
As the title suggests this is the fifth in a series of demos. The Judges was one of those groups that, along with 1001 Crew, Scoop and others were among the pioneers in the demo scene. They created some of the effects that are today taken for granted. I really like the intro in this demo, with the vertical scroller that occupies both the side, top and bottom borders. The graphics in the other parts are really nice, and you can switch between the three parts as much as you want. (69 KB)
This demo might not be the most technically advanced one you'll find, but it's original and funny. And when it comes to 80s nostalgia, no one can beat Hack'n'Trade. Or as they say in some scroll text in one of their demos: "We're trying to get as much disco, grafitti and breakdance as possible into our demos." :-) As I said, this demo might not impress you as much as the others, but it'll probably make you smile. And as a couple of the tunes are by Goto80, you know that this demo will give you an unusual listening experience. (82 KB)