Aztec (Action-Adventure)
| Aztec (Action-Adventure) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game No. | 528 | |
| Voting | 5.75 points, 4 votes | |
| Developer | Paul Stephenson | |
| Company | Datamost | |
| Publisher | Beyond | |
| Release | 1984 | |
| Platform | Apple II, Atari 400/800, C64 | |
| Genre | Actionadventure | |
| Gamemode | Single player | |
| Operation | ||
| Media | ||
| Language | ||
Description[edit | edit source]

In the game "Aztec", the player, as an archaeologist, descends into an underground Aztec temple to find a golden idol and return with it to the exit. In the dark corridors, on rickety platforms and stairs, he encounters chests and other remnants of previous, failed expeditions, and with a bit of luck, he also finds weapons and explosives to blast his way through and defend himself against the numerous enemies lurking in the depths.
Backstory[edit | edit source]
For many days, the player, as an archaeologist, has fought his way through the green hell of the South American rainforest. Now, finally, the longed-for destination emerges from the darkness of the jungle: an enchanted Aztec temple. Somewhere in the temple's deserted corridors lies the golden idol — the last legendary treasure of the Aztecs. Over the years, many other brave explorers have sought this statue and perished in the search. The player's mission is now to find this treasure and bring it safely to light...
Contrary to this version of the backstory from the cassette version's inlay, the game's introduction itself states that the notorious tomb raider Prof. G. von Foerster found the entrance to Quetzalcoatl's tomb and maliciously filled the burial site with deadly surprises:
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Confusingly, however, the explorer occasionally encounters the remains of a certain "PROF VON FORSTER" in chests during the game:
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Design[edit | edit source]
The underground temple consists of 64 chambers arranged in 8 floors, each containing 8 rooms. There is no scrolling; the rooms are presented using a flip-screen method. Within each floor, the rooms repeat endlessly, while the temple is bounded at the bottom by a continuous floor that is impervious to dynamite. The rooms are arranged differently in each game, so both the location of the golden statue and the path to it must be discovered anew each time.
Each room is divided into three levels, some continuous, some open, and some connected by stairs. Platforms and stairs are gray against an otherwise black background, giving the game a gloomy atmosphere. Only the animals lurking in the depths, as well as the chests and piles of trash, are colorful.
During the game, the top 168 grid lines of the screen display the room in which the player character is currently located; The remaining 32 grid lines (corresponding to 4 lines of text) are reserved for displaying message texts and carried items. If no text is currently displayed, an ornament is shown on the left and a god's mask on the right. Both are briefly damaged when the player character uses dynamite to blast holes in the ground, and the character can then step on them (see the middle animation in the first gallery in the section "Tips").
Graphics[edit | edit source]
The game largely ignores the graphics capabilities of the C64 and VIC 6569, exclusively using monochrome bitmap mode for screen display (bitmap starting at address $2000, video RAM with color information starting at $0400). It completely forgoes the use of sprites; all characters and objects in the temple rooms are incorporated into the graphics. However, since this occurs with both the bitmap data and the color information via XOR operation, numerous unsightly artifacts appear with moving objects as they move in front of walls or stairs in the temple. Similarly, the animation of the figures is asynchronous with the VIC's screen output, so the figures periodically become completely or partially invisible for short periods.
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The reason for this decidedly unattractive graphics is likely that the game was initially developed for the Apple II and subsequently ported to the C64 with minimal effort.
The loading screen is displayed in multicolor bitmap mode, while the backstory, tutorial, and high score are shown as monochrome text.
Sound[edit | edit source]
The sound output is programmed in a similarly spartan fashion as the graphics. It is limited to background music for in-game events; there are no melodies. Only the first voice of the SID chip is used, and when the frequency parameter is set, usually only the high byte is written. Generally, only the noise generator is audible; a rare exception is the short sequence shown below, which occurs when the player character falls.
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Hints[edit | edit source]

The goal of the game "Aztec" is to control an archaeologist through an underground temple, finding and collecting a golden statue (referred to as an "idol" in the game) as quickly as possible. The archaeologist must then leave the temple with his valuable find at the same point where he initially entered. During his search, he encounters relics from previous, failed expeditions, as well as weapons, ammunition, and explosives — these can be collected and used partly to defend against the numerous enemies in the temple and partly to blast open additional passages to adjacent rooms. However, this does not award any points but serves only the overarching goal of retrieving the statue as quickly as possible.
In the floppy disk version of "Aztec", there is an option to restore a previously saved game and continue the game before starting.
Alternatively, a new game can be started. In this case, the difficulty level must be set using one of the number keys 1 to 8 . This setting determines the number of enemies lurking in the temple corridors, waiting for the explorer: While at the easiest difficulty level "1" only an occasional (usually small) opponent appears, at the highest level "8" the game is sometimes like a visit to a zoo.
Controls[edit | edit source]

The game character is controlled exclusively via the keyboard, requiring the player to first memorize a large number of key codes:
- W : Walk, R : Run, J : Jump
- A : Turn left, S : Stop, D : Turn right
- C : Climb, G : Kneel (multiple times: Crawl)
- O : Open a crate or clear a pile of junk, L : Look, T : Pick up an item from a crate or pile of junk
- P : Place and light a stick of dynamite (only while crawling with your arm extended) (possible, see key G )
- Z : Inventory (list carried items)
The character can be controlled quite comfortably by placing the left hand on the "A", "S", and "D" keys, while also using the middle and index fingers to press "W", "C", and "F". The right hand rests on "G" and "J" and is also used for special functions such as "L", "O", and "T", and, during combat, for "L", "M", and the spacebar. If the character was stopped using the "S" key, it must first be reactivated using "W" before special movements such as jumping or climbing are possible.
Pressing the F (fight) key switches the character to a combat mode with the following key mappings:
- L : Machete lunge, M : Machete slash
- A : Step left, S : Turn character around, D : Step right
- G : Draw gun, SPACE : Fire gun
- W , R , or J : Exit combat mode
Pressing the F1 function key brings up a help screen at any time. In the floppy disk version of the game, pressing S also saves the current game state (see image on the right). Pressing the R key always resumes the game.
Enemies[edit | edit source]
The enemies shown below lie in wait for our explorer in the corridors of the underground temple. The flea and the small snake can usually be destroyed with the machete; a pistol shot is recommended for the large snake, the spider, and the spy. The larger enemies in the second row can only be defeated with several shots — usually two or three.
Flea |
Small Snake |
![]() Large Snake |
![]() Spider |
Scorpion |
![]() Dragon |
![]() Aztec Guardian |
![]() Aztec Guardian |
![]() Jaguar |
Items[edit | edit source]
Useful items can occasionally be found in the yellow chests placed throughout the temple, as well as in the ubiquitous piles of rubbish. While the contents of the chests remain invisible and must be explicitly examined by pressing the L key, items hidden under piles of rubbish become visible as the pile is gradually removed by pressing the O key three times:
![]() Pistol Bullets |
![]() Sticks of Dynamite |
![]() Machete |
![]() Pistol |
![]() Fortification |
Regardless of the location, each item can be picked up by pressing the T key.
Tips[edit | edit source]
- The fastest way to move is by constantly jumping, even if there are no gaps to cross.
- If there is a small gap between the bottom of a staircase and its continuation or the platform below, you can still climb the stairs by approaching them from the opposite side in "Climb" mode and quickly changing direction on the first step.
- If an enemy is particularly stubborn and cannot be fought, briefly moving to an adjacent room often helps. Upon returning, the enemy is frequently either in a different location or has disappeared altogether.
- If you extend your arm over the edge of a platform while crawling and light a stick of dynamite there, it will then begin to fall and explode immediately upon impact with one of the platforms below. With a little patience, you can use this to ambush a dangerous opponent (left animation in the following gallery) — and as a side effect, a passage to the next floor below opens (middle animation).
- Alternatively, the stick of dynamite can also be lit in the next room and "carried" to the target via a programming error (left animation in the following gallery).
- Useful items can sometimes be found not only in crates but also under piles of junk. By gradually removing the pile of rubbish by pressing the O key three times, you might, for example, come across a bundle of dynamite sticks and pick it up by pressing the T key (middle animation).
- Occasionally, you might find a bundle of dynamite sticks already lit in a pile of rubbish. In this case, you must quickly escape to the opposite end of the room to avoid being killed in the impending explosion (right animation).
- The contents of the crates are inexhaustible. You can return to a previously found ammunition crate as often as you like and replenish your supply of pistol bullets or dynamite sticks to the maximum of 7 units.
- If the researcher falls into a trap (indicated by the message "TRAPPED!"), he should immediately retreat and not cross the current platform to its end, in order to avoid being trapped or surprised by a water inrush (see the right-hand animation in the first gallery of the section "Bugs").
- The in-game instructions give the impression that only a high difficulty level can lead to a good result ("IF YOU SELECT A HIGH DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY YOU COULD BECOME A MILLIONAIRE"). In reality, the reward for retrieving the golden statue only increases by about $8,200 with each additional difficulty level — which is often negated by the fact that the encounters with the additional enemies take longer and the golden statue can only be found on lower floors.
Solution[edit | edit source]
As an analysis of the internal data structures shows, most of the chests in the temple contain a golden idol statue. However, access to these statues is blocked on the upper floors, and looking inside these chests there returns the message "NOTHING". The floors on which the golden statue can be found depend on the selected difficulty level: at levels "1" to "3", it's on the bottom three floors; at levels "4" and "5", it's on the bottom two; and at levels "6", "7", or "8", it's only on the bottom floor. The objective of the game is therefore to descend to one of these floors containing statues and carefully memorize where, on the way back, it will be possible to ascend to the next higher floor.
During the descent, easily accessible piles of junk and crates should be searched for weapons and ammunition to defend against the numerous enemies — in particular, a pistol and its corresponding bullets are mainly found in the trash. Longer, risky detours in search of weapons or ammunition are not worthwhile.
Once you have descended far enough, it is usually easy to locate a crate containing a golden statue and take it (left animation). Here, too, the main focus should be on ensuring that a return to the temple exit is easy later on.
Only the floppy disk version of "Aztec" has a high score list, but only players who have completely completed the game can enter their names in it (right illustration). However, those with enough patience will certainly achieve this goal with the help of saved games.
Map[edit | edit source]
The rooms of the temple are rearranged in each game, so there can be no universally valid map of the game world. However, the following illustration shows an example of a possible temple layout. It is clearly visible that there is only one point on each floor where a transition to the next higher or lower level is possible, and that the return route should therefore be carefully planned while searching for the golden statue.

Cheats[edit | edit source]
None of the versions of "Aztec" available on the internet offer a trainer or any other form of cheat.
The fact that the game makes only limited use of the C64's diverse capabilities can, however, be used to easily develop a custom trainer: Since "Aztec" does not use the NMI and leaves the memory in the address range $02C0 — $02FF untouched, it is convenient to place an NMI routine at this point before starting the game. This routine can then be executed during gameplay by pressing the Restore key and make the desired changes to the program code or the game save.
Of course, this requires that any existing Cracktro also does not use these resources. This condition is met by the Antiprotect crack (https://csdb.dk/release/?id=63363). The following short program therefore represents a trainer that must be executed on the C64 immediately before loading this crack. Lines 20–28 can be partially omitted if the functionality described in the comment is not desired: For example, the combination of line 23 (the statue can be found on every floor of the temple) and line 24 (the researcher has already found the statue) is definitely overkill.

10 FOR N=704 TO 767:READ D:IF D>=0 THEN POKE N,D:NEXT 11 DATA 72,169,7 20 DATA 141,213,8 :REM 7 BULLETS 21 DATA 141,229,8 :REM 7 DYNAMITE RODS 22 DATA 141,237,9 :REM 7 POWER UNITS 23 DATA 141,99,94 :REM STATUE FOUND ON ALL FLOORS 24 DATA 169,128,141,208,8 :REM STATUE FOUND 25 DATA 169,192,141,209,8 :REM ALL WEAPONS 26 DATA 169,173,141,100,20 :REM DO NOT DECREASE PISTOL BULLETS 27 DATA 169,173,141,82,212 :REM DO NOT DECREASE DYNAMITE RODS 28 DATA 169,173,141,186,97,141,194,97,141,200,97,141,213,97 :REM RETAIN POWER 30 DATA 104,64,-1 40 POKE 792,192:POKE 793,2
If the above BASIC program is executed before loading "Aztec", a single press of the Restore key after entering the temple is sufficient to provide the player character with a pistol and a machete, 7 pistol bullets, and 7 sticks of dynamite, as well as to replenish their power reserves to 7 units. Furthermore, neither these ammunition supplies nor the player's power reserves will diminish during the remainder of the game. If line 24 is present, the golden idol statue will already be in the explorer's possession; otherwise, thanks to line 23, the explorer will find this statue even if they look into a chest that would normally contain "NOTHING."
Internal Data Structures[edit | edit source]
For developing custom trainer functions and for analyzing or manipulating the data used by the game, knowledge of memory allocation and internal workings is helpful. The following table therefore compiles a range of information about "Aztec."
| Address | Content | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| $08C9 | Room number | Numbered by row, range 0 (top left) ... 63 (bottom right) |
| $08CC | Row number (floor) | Range 0 (top floor) ... 7 (bottom floor) |
| $08CD | Column number | Range 0 (far left) ... 7 (far right) |
| $08D0 | Treasures | Flag, bit 7 set: Idol |
| $08D1 | Weapons | Flags, bit 7 set: pistol, bit 6 set: machete |
| $08D4 | Current chest status | Encoding: see table below |
| $08D5 | Number of pistol bullets | Range 0...7 |
| $08E5 | Number of dynamite sticks | Range 0...7 |
| $09DA — $09DC | Reward | Little endian, value range $20FFFF...$000000, decreased by 1 approximately 38 times per second |
| $09ED | Strength | Value range 0...7 |
| $09EE | Difficulty | 0 (difficulty "1") ... 7 (difficulty "8") |
A table is located in the address range $9300..$93BF that stores the locations and contents of the chests scattered throughout the temple. In each of the temple's 64 rooms, there can be a maximum of one chest on each of the three platforms: Information about the chest on the top platform in room x can be found at address $9300+x (if available), data about the chest on the middle platform at address $9340+x, and data about the chest on the bottom platform at address $9380+x. All information is compactly encoded in a single byte:
| Address | Content | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Bit 7 | Box present? | %0xxxxxxx="no", %1xxxxxxx="yes" |
| Bit 6 | Box open? | %x0xxxxxx="no", %x1xxxxxx="yes" |
| Bit 5-3 | Contents of the crate | %xx000xxx="NOTHING", %xx001xxx="SKULLS", %xx010xxx="PISTOL", %xx011xxx="DYNAMITE", %xx100xxx="BULLETS", %xx101xxx="PROF FORSTER", %xx110xxx="MACHETTE", %xx111xxx="THE IDOL" |
| Bit 2-0 | Column | Horizontal position of the crate in 40-pixel increments |
Therefore, if there is to be an open crate containing a machete in the entrance room with room number 3, located on the far right of the top platform, the value $80+$40+$30+$07 = 247 must be at address $9300+3 = 37635.
A special case applies to crates containing the golden idol statue: Looking inside such a crate returns the response "NOTHING" if it is located on one of the upper floors of the temple. On the lower floors, however, the statue can be found in many crates — but as soon as the explorer has taken one of them, examining the contents of all these crates will again return the result "NOTHING". The floor from which the statue can be found depends on the currently set difficulty level (see also section "Solution"). The following short assembly routine shows the exact procedure for looking inside a crate:
5E4B: LDA $08D4 ; Get the status of the current crate 5E4E: LSR A ; and move the code for the crate's contents to bits 0-2 5E4F: LSR A 5E50: LSR A 5E51: AND #$07 5E53: CMP #$07 ; Is it "THE IDOL", i.e., the golden statue? 5E55: BNE $5E6D ; Jump if not, then return contents unchanged 5E57: LDA $08CC ; Retrieve current floor 5E5A: LDX $09EE ; Retrieve set difficulty level into X-Register 5E5D: CMP $95F0,X ; Compare current floor with the top floor containing statues that matches the difficulty level 5E60: BCS $5E66 ; Jump if the player character has descended far enough (floor contains chests with statues) 5E62: LDA #$00 ; Otherwise, set chest contents to "NOTHING" 5E64: BEQ $5E6D ; Unconditional jump 5E66: BIT $08D0 ; Does the explorer already possess the statue? 5E69: BMI $5E62 ; Jump if yes, set chest contents to "NOTHING" 5E6B: LDA #$07 ; Otherwise, chest contents are "THE IDOL" 5E6D: STA $08EE ; Save current chest contents 5E70: RTS ; Return to parent routine ; Number of the highest floor where the statue can be found, depending on the difficulty level. 95F0: DB $05,$05,$05,$06,$06,$07,$07,$07
Votes[edit | edit source]
| Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote): | ||
| 5.75 points at 4 votes (rank 936). You need to be logged in to cast a vote. | ||
| C64Games | 4 | August 10, 2025 - "passabel" - 19.876 downs |
| Lemon64 | 6.86 | May 1, 2024 - 7 votes |
| Universal Videogame List | 3.3/5 | May 1, 2024 |
| Your Commodore | 3/5 | Issue 5 (February 1985) |
| Personal Computer Games | 7/10 (Graphics 5/10, Sound 4/10, Originality 5/10, Lasting interest 6/10) | Issue 14 (January 1985) |
| Atarimania | 7.2/10 | May 16, 2024 - 37 votes |
| Rombachs C64-Spieleführer | 10 | September 1984 - "Verdict 1" |
Critics[edit | edit source]
Stephan64: "The top rating of '1' in the book 'Rombach's C64-Spieleführer' should really be a clear recommendation to buy — and an occasion to dedicate an article to the game in question in the 'C64 Wiki'. 'Aztec' is the inevitable exception to this rule: graphically abysmal, with sound that doesn't deserve the name, riddled with programming errors — and controlling the clumsily stumbling explorer is anything but fun. This article serves as a reminder that even in the golden age of home computers, there was some truly awful software... I'll give it 2 points for that, because the good intentions of programming a varied and exciting game are at least evident."
Rombachs C64-Spieleführer: "The game resembles fantasy role-playing games, but the graphics are much better than in those games. Recommended for anyone who loves a combination of action and strategy (rating 1)." [1]
Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]
Cover[edit | edit source]

Another cover that likely accompanied the cassette version can be found, for example, at Lemon64 or ready64 (see section "Weblinks").
Inlay[edit | edit source]


Cassette[edit | edit source]

Fastloader[edit | edit source]
The cassette version of Aztec is not available as a cassette image on the internet. To analyze it, and especially its fast loader, the author of this article operated a datasette with a laboratory power supply and played the data carrier shown in the section Cassette. The resulting logic signals on the "Read" line were then fed into a correspondingly programmed Arduino, which ultimately generated a TAP file on a microSD card. This file is available upon request.
The integrated software fast loader is automatically activated during loading and speeds up the loading process by approximately a factor of 6. This fast loader is stored in encrypted form in the header of the program stored on the cassette, meaning it is transferred to the cassette buffer as soon as the filename is found. The program itself is just a short routine that then decrypts and executes this fast loader. Furthermore, this program is responsible for destroying the fast loader after it has finished, so that a subsequent reading of the cassette buffer does not reveal its operation. During the loading process, the screen initially displays a horizontal striped pattern; later, it displays the loading screen shown below.
The fast loader is capable of sequentially loading up to 256 individual program segments. Each such file is preceded by a 4-byte data structure containing the start and end addresses of the subsequent data block. Thanks to optimized encoding (shorter intervals for 0 and 1 bits, no parity bit or byte, and no duplicate storage of program data), loading "Aztec" takes about three and a half minutes, whereas the KERNAL's datasette routines would take almost 19 minutes for a file of this size.
Almost as interesting as the fast loader is the routine that decodes it before it is used. To obscure its exact workings, this decoder uses a large number of illegal opcodes (mostly NOPs) and therefore, when disassembled, initially appears more like a random data block than executable code. This program segment is loaded into the memory area $02A7...$030B and overwrites two BASIC vectors there, causing it to start immediately after loading.
The same fast loader is also used in the cartridge versions of the games "Astro_Chase", "Starquake", and "Bristles". The manuals for the games "Astro Chase" and "Bristles" contain the note "Burner 'FASTLOAD' (C) 1984 D. Turner/Dream Software."
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Bugs[edit | edit source]
The graphics of the game "Aztek" are so carelessly and amateurishly programmed that inconsistencies can be found in almost every room of the temple that would justify the term "bug". However, in order not to overload this section, the following gallery is limited to programming errors that have serious consequences for the further course of the game.
In the left animation of the following gallery, a stick of dynamite lit by the player character does not remain in the room where it was placed, but instead follows the character's movements into adjacent rooms. The same error can also be observed when moving to another floor, where a quick return to the original room is then impossible, and the explosion may destroy important objects. Nevertheless, the manual glorifies this malfunction as a feature (see section "Hints").
Similarly, passing through solid walls is declared a mysterious ability of the enemies — given that the explorer also possesses this ability (see the right animation and section "Tips"), this is likely a programming error, especially since, in the example shown here, an ordinary passage unexpectedly becomes a one-way street.
In the left animation of the next gallery, the platform above the explorer explodes for no apparent reason as he is taking the golden idol statue from a chest. Fortunately, he is not bothered by it; however, an imprint of his head remains in the air.
The middle animation shows that objects blown up by the explorer (here, a crate of dynamite sticks) still exist and are only covered in black when the screen is displayed. Consequently, although now invisible, the crate can still be used by the player character to replenish their dynamite supply.
Finally, the right animation illustrates a game crash when an escape tunnel is blown up after a flood. On other occasions, the CPU also encounters the illegal opcode "JAM", which crashes the C64 and requires either a reset or turning the computer off and on again.
Since the game completely forgoes the use of sprites, there is no hardware support from the VIC for detecting collisions between the player character and their opponents. The software-based detection system implemented as a substitute is remarkably unreliable:
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Video Recording[edit | edit source]
Longplay of the game
Highscore[edit | edit source]
In this game, a high score is only of limited use: Firstly, no progress is displayed during gameplay or when a mission is failed — presumably the most frequent occurrence. Secondly, a successful completion of the expedition is rewarded with a single prize based almost exclusively on the time taken to leave the temple complex, without taking into account the effort involved in searching for the idol. However, this can easily be optimized by regularly saving the game and resuming from the last saved state after each failure or extended detour.
Those who have endured all these hardships should nevertheless have the opportunity to immortalize themselves in the following list with their result — the amount of their painstakingly earned reward. The ranking is based solely on the amount of this reward; however, the difficulty level may be noted. Given the numerous, agonizing bugs in the game, the use of previously saved games is expressly permitted.

- Stephan64 - 2137607 - 1 (21.05.2024)
- Keiner - 0 (tt.mm.jjjj)
- Niemand - 0 (tt.mm.jjjj)
Links[edit | edit source]
| Wikipedia: Aztec_(video_game) |
- CSDb - Release No. 63363
- Gamebase64.com - Game No. 517
- Test Report No. 2781 on Kultboy.com

- C64Games.de - Game No. 3263
- Universal Videogame List
- Atarimania
- Magazine
- Your Commodore test report (p. 64)
- Electronic Games test report (p. 56)
- Computer Gaming World Testbericht (S. 36/38)
- Happy Computer test report (p. 147)

- Personal Computer Games Testbericht (S. 64/65)
- Electronic Games test report (p. 56)
- Softline test report (p. 45)
Sources[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Oswald Reim, Martin Scholer: "Rombachs C64-Spieleführer", Rombach, 1984, page 27














































