Emulator:PocketCommodore64 2.52PocketHobbit 1.0ComeBack64ce 0.5PocketHobbitSP2003 Alpha 11VICE 1.21CCS 3.2
PlatformAll versions of Pocket PC (even old SH3 / MIPS – yes, it runs at full speed even on old MIPS Pocket PC’s. Note that SH3 / MIPS support will be dropped in the forthcoming 3.x series)All versions of Pocket PCAll versions of Pocket PC PRIOR to WM5 (incompatible with WM5+ OS’es and VGA devices)MS Smartphone WM2002+All desktop OS’esDesktop Windows
Price$24.95; license is username-connected and is, therefore, freely transferrable to newer devicesfreefreeFreeFree$30
VerdictExcellent: fastest, most versatile and compatible; well worth the price if you don’t mind the high CPU usage, compared to the free PocketHobbitWhile the price (free) and the lower CPU usage is in favor of this app, it has a lot of problems. ONLY recommended if you absolutely don’t want to pay for PocketCommodore64 OR low CPU usage is an absolute must and you can’t underclock your device to run PocketCommodore64 at a lower speed.Absolutely bad, don’t even think of getting it. If you need a free emulator, go with PocketHobbit.If you DO want to play C64 games on your MS Smartphone, this is your only choice. If you have a QVGA device, don’t forget to apply the QVGA hack!Great desktop emulator. CSS64 is, however, more compatible with some titles (particularly demos)The best, most compatible desktop emulator. It’s, however, commercial and has considerably bigger CPU usage (which may be an issue if you plan to play the game running from battery)
Speed, CPU usage: XScale CPU usage at 624 MHz~100%. Developer promises to fix this problem in the 3.x series.~20% (624 MHz, Wizard of Wor; SID enabled, along with filters) with enabled speed limitCouldn’t test because my 624 MHz devices are all VGAn/a; pretty much usable on a 201 MHz TI OMAP w/o overclocking. Speed limiting is configurable (“1” on phone pad)(On a 2GHz P4M) 1-2% at 100% original speed & windows size; 25% at double screen size(On a 2GHz P4M) ~50% (double screen size, original speed)
Usability at XScale 208 MHzWorks great even at 208 MHz using the default 2 frameskip and without SID filter emulation. It’s only with lower (for example, 0) frameskips that 208 MHz becomes pretty useless, as opposed to the default 624 MHz (where emulation works just great)~50%; definitely slower than PocketCommodore64, particularly if you enable SID filter emulationn/tn/an/an/a
Scroll speed in, say, Uridium / Paradroid?ExcellentWith "Draw every" (that is, frameskip) set to 1, everything OK. Otherwise, emulation speed is clearly lower than with PC64.n/tPretty good on a 201 MHz TI OMAP (w/o overclocking!), albeit, of course, slower than on a 624 MHz XScaleExcellentExcellent
General setting dialogs / icons: DialogsGeneric settings; advanced settings: 1 2 3. The latter are explained in Chapter 6, “Advanced Settings”, of the official doc.They do NOT stick over restarts – VERY annoying! Main settings menu: 1 2; display settings; joystick settings (in there, “Configure” isn’t implemented), sound settings: 1 2 Emu; Options Quick settings accessible from the phonepad: sound off/on, quick orientation change, keyboard input, disk turbo and some predefined keys etcA lotA lot
Must-have non-default settings?You might want to decrease the frameskip parameter to 1 or even 0 on today’s high-speed PPC’sSprite collisions (otherwise, no games will work); Draw every: 1 instead of 5 (current PPC's are very fast!); Limit speed (you will mostly disable it when accessing the virtual 1541 and surely enable it when, for example, entering text); SID emulation and a joystick. Note that some of these can be en/disabled with just one or two clicks via shortcuts; for example, the walking / running icons in the bottom right corner in Portrait mode set the throttled / turbo mode.-Switch to landscapeJoystick assignmentJoystick assignment
Input / control: Paddle emulation? Works with Arkanoid (Blast! 122/ 7) (also see THIS) ?+, working great ----+, works great
Mouse emulation? (Neos: Op. Wolf , Arkanoid; 1351: GEOS)----+ (1351 only – NO Neos!)+ (1351 only – NO Neos!)
Keyboard: SIP: original C64 keyboard?+; with modifiers (Shift, C= – but not with Ctrl + color codes), it even dynamically changes the SIP bitmap+ (no bitmap changes with modifiers; original graphic chars aren’t shown in any way; SHIFT key is sticky and must be manually clicked again to switch it off)-. Cursor keys are not mapped (!). F1… F8 function keys are separately offered in the main menu. (no on-screen keyboard at all; character input must (you, because of the character / input problems, shouldn’t directly input anything to the C64 screen) be done on the dedicated dialog accessible with the right softkey . There, both the phonepad and, when present, built-in keyboard can be used to inputting arbitrary, some predefined strings (SAVE, LOAD, LOAD”*”,8) and sending some keys (space, Runstop, Return, F1, F3, F5, F7).

Note that with built-in slide-out thumbboards, you always need to slide them out whenever you need to input anything.

BTW, the input dialog above shows the user entering “run” on the phonepad; hence the underlined ‘u’.)		n/an/a
Command shortcuts on function keys (which ROM is used by default?)+ (using the traditional function key-approach, equalling to the commands used by Kernal ROM 3.X, included in the Commodore 128 for C64 mode support. That is, F1 is List, F3 RUN: etc. See the “Rom Specific Features” section in the official document for more info.+ (see with PocketC64)-- (there are, however, command shortcuts in the character / command input dialog)--
Joystick – device hardware button assignment freely reconfigurable?+ (accessible from the standard Settings menu, clicking “Setup controls” in the upper left area). Even original keyboard keys can be assigned to hardware buttons - not implemented; D-pad and the Calendar / Messaging (Button 1 and 3) buttons on the x51v; the Calendar / E2C (Button 1 and 2) on the PL720 by default (NO upper left button - VERY bad!)-- (fire is fixed at * and Volume Up)+ + (Input / Define Joystick Keyset)
Rapid fire?+ (only works with hardware buttons, not the touchscreen)-----
Auto fire?+ ---+ (speed settable)+ (speed settable)
On-screen joystick fire button tap area (hidden and dedicated control)?Both hidden and on-screen controller. The hidden one can be set in Settings and covers the entire screen area; the on-screen controller is accessible in Portrait mode and is acceptably large --n/a (no touchscreen)n/a (desktop)n/a (desktop)
What is D-pad (with desktop emulators, cursor block) by default assigned to?Both (!)1 (!)22- (joystick emulation must be manually assigned to keys / PC joysticks)Two PC gameport joysticks are connected by default; must be manually re-assigned to keys
Quick swapping the two joysticks (if, for example, the game uses the other port)? How many taps are needed to do this?4: Settings icon, unticking the old and ticking the new checkbox, CloseClick the joystick icon on the main emulation screen and select Joystick X in the menu. Alternatively, Settings icon, unticking old and ticking new checkbox; OK; or, alternatively, Settings / Swap JoysticksSelecting Emu / Joystick X (2 taps)With phonepad key 5 (two button presses - the second being closing the notification dialog, as with all other settings changes)Alt-JAlt-F10
Can D-pad (on desktop: cursor block) be assigned to both joysticks at the same time to reduce time in finding out how you can go on with a given game / cracker intro?+ (see the results in, say, Wizard of Wor!)+--++ (using the same keyset)
Compatibility issues: Swappable Kernal etc. ROM versions?+. See the “Rom Specific Features” section in the official document for more info. All ROM versions are included and, as can be seen, are easily swappable.Only on the file level (not from inside the emu to make it quick)- (contained in the main emulator EXE file)In the file system - ROM files are separateSettings / ROM settings; ROM files are standard (only shipped with one set, as opposed to PocketCommodore64)Options / General / ROM set; ROM’s are stored as easily swappable, standard ROM files
Generic, Windows Mobile-level issues?--. On VGA, it flashes the CPU usage meter for only moments, while, on QVGA devices, it’s constantly visible (in Portrait, next to the last virtual drive) Not compatible with VGA devices at all. With WM5 QVGA devices, it isn’t able to load anything and is, therefore, also useless. On the h2210, it crashes entire PPC upon trying to quit (File / Quit); this isn’t a problem on the HTC WizardBy default, no QVGA support (stamp-sized 176*220 screen area on these devices). Fortunately, the hack work – even with the QVGA one!n/an/a
MS Smartphone compliance?- Messed up screen, nothing is displayed - (quickly clears a 176*220 area on the screen; then, quits at once)Useless – only 176*220 is displayed (that is, only part of the screen); the menus are not accessible; the built-in thumbboard (if present) is useless because the numeric keys are activated etc.+ (no native support for QVGA – must be hacked; then, it works just great)n/an/a
Explicit PAL/NTSC switch? / Different timing settings?+ / +- / + - / -- / -+ / ++ / +
Sound: emulated?+, even in stereo, with settable stereo effect. Sounds very cool - not just the traditional "super stereo" stuff.+; disabled by default!++++
Sound filters?+; disabled by default!+; disabled by default!--?++
File : D64 / T64 / .PRG / cartridge?Everything – by far the best on WMD64 / T64 only – no PRGD64 is NOT supported – VERY BAD!D64 and T64 only – no for example .PRGAllAll
State load/saveAny number of saved state files (saving; they’re stored in the home directory of PC64)+, any number of SNP files +; 1 slot only +++
File dialog box?Its ownStandard; compatible with Mad Programmer’s toolStandard; compatible. Note that, if you use the latter on pre-WM5, File / Load a program will make the emulator exit upon the first run. To fix this, select File / Load T64 Image or Load cartridge first (just cancel them); after this, Load program will also work. No such problems with the standard file dialog box – under pre-WM5, that is. Unfortunately, under WM5+, the emulator ALWAYS exits under WM5 in every possible configuration (also tested with TillianSoft’s tGetFile) and is, therefore, useless.Its own (problem: doesn't refresh, must be manually collapsed / expanded to get it refreshed)n/an/a
Zip support?+; however, it isn't able to peek into D64's stored in ZIP files---++
Shorthand to quickly load a given program in a D64 file?+ (if it isn't ZIP'ed) - n/a (no D64 support)-+-
Fast load (without unnecessarily speeding up execution / emulation too?)+: while the speed is limited by default, disk access emulation is VERY fast- (Limit speed, which is disabled by default, limits both the CPU and the 1541 emulation speed. In that state, however, it's pretty slow to load anything.)n/t+ (enabled by default; can be disabled with phonepad button 6)-+
Generic graphics modes: VGA-aware? Does it make use of the high resolution to avoid dropping entire pixel rows / columns?+ / +- - (furthermore, it's not only VGA-unaware, it's also incompatible: menu not accessible – it’s only flashed when accessed and nothing can be selected)n/an/an/a
320 -> 240 downscale (Portrait QVGA) quality?+ (much better than that of PocketHobbit on both QVGA (it doesn't adhere to the original 8:5 ratio and, therefore, doesn't ignore any horizontal rows) and VGA (again, it's VGA-aware and does make use of the high resolution) devices)Very bad - makes text pretty much unreadable in Portrait mode. While it doesn't adhere to the 8:5 ratio either (it uses 240*170 instead of the official 240*150), it does drop 30 pixel rows, resulting in a much worse readability. In this respect, it's clearly worse than the two alternatives.Better than with Pocket Hobbit: no vertical scanlines are thrown away in Portrait mode. That is, the effective resolution of 240*200 is used (by not adhering to the 8:5 aspect ratio), instead of the "official" 240*150, which would have resulted in having to drop 50 pixel rowsOn original, old(er), low(er)-end 176*220 Smartphones: really poor. On newer, high(er)-end QVGA Smartphones, it only fills in the original screen size by default (post stamp effect). With the generic, for QVGA users, ESSENTIAL QVGA game patch, using the QVGA DLL, in Portrait, it becomes pretty good, using real QVGA resolution as can be seen in HERE (Portrait) and HERE (Landscape). Note that this only applies to the XD.dll in the QVGA subfolder; with the SCALE one, while it correctly fills in the entire QVGA screen (as opposed to the non-patched version), it uses verbatim upscaling. While not keeping the official 176*110 resolution (in Portrait), it uses 176*125 but it's still not really readable, as can be seen in HERE (Portrait) and HERE (LS) (double-sized QVGA screenshots). n/an/a
Video / downscaling modesNine modes (four Portrait + four Landscape + one, the ninth, is screenoff, which only works on QVGA, not on VGA. To make it work on VGA, go to advanced settings (the S icon at the bottom left of the on-screen keyboard) and make sure you click the "FALSE" value under "AllowDisplayModeOff" (just expand the latter to make its value visible) so that it becomes TRUE).
  • The Portrait modes are the same on VGA devices and different on QVGA ones. The VGA one is standard display with borders and SIP. The QVGA ones are as follows: first second third fourth (customizable).
  • Screen mode 4 is customizable; see bullet 10 in Chapter 6 “Advanced Features”.
  • Landscape modes: RH landscape with the same; RH LS with full-screen display; Left-handed landscape with the same two modes. If you find it tiring to have to iterate through all these modes, you can freely disable the ones that you don’t need – see bullet 8 in Chapter 6 “Advanced Features”
    		• Two modes only: portrait (with very bad scaling issues) and full-screen, no-scaling Landscape. The latter has no problems.Two modes only: Portrait, Landscape; the latter without menuDefault Portrait and the two Landscape orientationsn/an/a
    Landscape: Built-in LS mode? Left-handed mode supported?+ Must be manually assigned to a hardware button in the “Setup controls” view. No other ways to change orientation. / ++ / + + (clicking the screen changes orientation; no menus in LS mode) / -+ / +; switchable with button 4 n/an/a
    Multiplayer support: does it exist?-----+
    Games compliance report: Blast! Loader compatibility?Loader doesn't load at all - in general, it just CLS'es the screen. Never use it!Loader doesn't startn/a (not compatible with d64)- (immediately exits)Loader loads, but subsequent programs don't - do NOT use it!+ (the only emulator to correctly emulate it)
    Archon n/tn/tn/tusing the keyboard shortcuts, it's possible to start a game; inside, however, the D-pad doesn't work on the Vox. It worked on the HTC Oxygen (s310) flawlessly, though.n/tn/t
    Paradroid (Blast! 050 / 3)++ (noisy SID emulation)- (while the game itself runs, there are no sprite collisions in the default Emu / Sprites / Accurate setting (with Fast, enemy sprites aren’t even visible), which makes the game unplayable)Partial: on both test smartphones, fire button doesn't stick (that is, transferring to another droid is almost impossible) and activates sparsely (reducing the frequency and reliability of firing at other droids). Furthermore, sound emulation suffers from the same increasingly getting noisy problem as with the other Hobbit port.+n/t
    Uridium (Blast! 090 /2)++- (blue screen during loading)Menu music is pretty slow; otherwise, OK+n/t
    WOW (Blast! 132 / 1)++ (also with some sound bugs)+ (but it’s pretty slow, including sound emulation, which badly stutters)+ perfecty playable+n/t
    Pirates! Supposed to be (albeit I received an illegal quantity error after clicking through all the initial menus)n/tn/t++n/t
    Operation Wolfn/tn/tn/t+ (enabled sound stutters)++
    Nebulus / Power Toppler (also see THIS for more info on the native Windows Mobile implementations)n/tn/tn/t+ perfecty playablen/tn/t
    Impossible Mission (the version available HERE - S.F.N. Software crack) - (exits after title screen)- (even the title screen is messed up; then, immediately exits)n/t- (after the EPYX title screen, "error: Jump to I/O space at 7f73 to dd03" on both Smartphones)- (exits after title screen)+ (quickly jumps over the cracking note and the title screen right into the game)
    Impossible Mission (Blast! 011 / 2 – a different crack by Excalibur & MAD for F.A.W. Also see THIS)- (asks the user to use the Accurate Build instead). Note that in THIS PG thread, others also state they had problems with the game; in THIS AximSite thread, some state it worked; he didn’t state whether it was the Accurate version)n/tn/t- (same error as above)++
    Impossible Mission (“Remember” +5 crack; available HERE and HERE)- (see above)n/tn/t- (same error as above)+n/t
    Impossible Mission (original version (? – no cracker info or intro))- (see above)n/tn/tn/t +n/t
    The Three Stooges (on Cinemaware’s homepage, only the Amiga version is available)Game starts, but doesn’t recognize the third “reel” upon disk change.+ (without cracker fastloader. If you do select Fastloader after the cracker intro, it immediately exits (“Illegal opcode 52 at c001)). It’s VERY slow at in-game loading – don’t throttle the speed to fix this! n/t+ (no problems with reading the third disk)- (doesn’t go further after the cracker intro’s asking about the fast loader, using either options)See VICE
    Turrican II (Blast! 241 / 1)+ (albeit sometimes seems to be buggy: it just wouldn't go left/right)+n/a (not compatible with d64)- (loader immediately exits)+n/t
    Katakis (Blast! 332 / katakis (mcg))- (doesn't load?)n/tn/a (not compatible with d64)8,1 default loading doesn't load anything to the BASIC area - RUN doesn't find anything to execute- (doesn't load?)- (freezes after the company logo)
    Guild of thieves (Blast! 336 / *)- (nothing happens after the cracking note)n/tn/tstops at cracker intro (as usual)- (displays “Insert GUILD disk” after the cracker note)- (displays “Insert GUILD disk” after the cracker note)
    Guild of thieves (crack: THE NINJA, 01 / 28 / 1988)+n/tn/tn/t+n/t
    The Pawn (Blast! 338 / *)- (nothing happens after the cracking note)n/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/t- (displays “Insert PAWN disk” after the cracker note)- (displays “Insert PAWN disk” after the cracker note)
    Demo compliance report: Cycle by Booze Design- Immediately exits (effectively CLS'ing the screen), doesn't even show the initial screenn/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/tAfter selecting sountrack at start, doesn't seem to go further+
    Biba 2 - Dream Injection by Arise Doesn't load anything at all (no CLS!)- (didn't finish loading in 5 minutes)n/a (not compatible with d64)n/t?? Didn't stop loading the disk after 8-9 minutesDisplays System halted right at the beginning of loading; doesn't load
    Dutch Breeze by Blackmail Doesn't load anything at all (no CLS!) + gwes.exe crashRuns, but slow; sound is pretty descynhed; initial horizontal scrolling has bugs etc - all in all, pretty buggyn/a (not compatible with d64)n/tStops after a while, in the intro animation, displaying IN +
    Deus Ex Machina by Crest/Oxyron - Immediately exits (effectively CLS'ing the screen)Runs pretty OK at first (albeit the first FLI image is pretty much overscanned, meaning the head of the lady is invisible and the colors are unnatural); after the Big Breadbox logo, it exists with an Illegal opcode b2 at 0101 message.n/a (not compatible with d64)n/t++ (remember to disable disk emulation speedup!)
    +H2K by Plush - Immediately exits (effectively CLS'ing the screen), doesn't even show the initial screenn/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/tn/t- (crashes upon the initial loading)
    Tower Power 100% by Camelot Black screen immediately during loadingn/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/t- (black screen at once)+
    Altered States 50% by Taboo - Immediately exits (effectively CLS'ing the screen), doesn't even show the initial screen, unlike PocketHobbit- (exits with “invalid opcode” after displaying the first textual message screen (“His drive”…))n/a (not compatible with d64)n/t+n/t
    Bumpmania by Arise ?? Didn't stop loading the disk after 8-9 minutes- (white screen after the first animation with the split screen into four slices)n/a (not compatible with d64)n/tSee HobbitSee Hobbit
    Follow the Sign 3 - Unsound Minds by Byterapers - Immediately exits (effectively CLS'ing the screen), doesn't even show the initial screenn/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/t- (back screen at once)n/t
    One-Der by Oxyron Partial: in Demo mode (D at start), sound emulation is bad (with (by default) disabled SID filter emulation - haven't checked after enabling it) while displaying OXYRON at start (constantly playing back a low, annoying tone); stops after some the 3D animation (doesn't go further to the next part). The Note is played back with a messed-up screen.n/tn/a (not compatible with d64)n/t+n/t