I still remember pulling Wasteland for the Commodore 64 out of a bin of ‘throw-away’ software when I was 6. It was 1990, the NES was gaining popularity and quickly reshaping how people gamed. So, despite being 1989’s Game of the Year, Wasteland for the Commodore 64 was seen (prematurely) as ‘outdated’.

The box was similar in size and shape to that of a 33-LP vinyl, adorned in finely detailed hand-painted graphics; an artist’s vision of a post-apocalyptic southern California.

What inquisitive mind couldn’t be drawn in by that cover? A gang of five desert warriors facing a lone stranger midst the blown-out rubble of a city street. […]