Key Quest, VIC-20

Key Quest is considered to be one of the best games ever made for the Commodore VIC-20. It was programmed by Randy Ubillos and David Dixon of Computer Applications, Inc. and released on cartridge in limited numbers* by Micro-Ware in 1983.

* = An old Retro Gamer article stated that only one copy of Key Quest was known to exist, but in the intervening years a number of other cartridges have cropped up. Why Key Quest cartridges are so rare I do not know. It seems puzzling to me that a game so good was not distributed more widely. Maybe it was an issue with the publisher? If anyone knows why, please leave a comment below.

Key Quest plays similarly to Konami‘s Tutankham, in that you’re an explorer inside a monster-filled maze, collecting treasure, and you can only shoot at enemies horizontally. Meaning that if a monster is approaching you from above or below: you’d better run away and find somewhere where you can shoot at it without endangering yourself.

Collecting twelve treasures in each maze opens the exit door to the next level. Monsters continuously spawn, but a countdown timer means that you have to keep moving on.

There are only four levels, but they do repeat at a higher difficulty when you’ve clocked them. There’s also a two-player mode, where players take it in turns to go.

Key Quest is beautifully coded, fast, playable and quite addictive. I’d say that it’s definitely one of the best games I’ve played on the VIC-20, and is still worth playing today. In spite of the game’s rarity in real life, it has thankfully been dumped to a ROM file and is easy to find online.

One final thing about Key Quest, that I’d like to know: the co-creator, Randy Ubillos – is this the same Randy Ubillos who created ReelTime for SuperMac Technology, which later became Adobe Premiere? And the same Randy Ubillos who developed Final Cut for Macromedia, which later became Final Cut Pro for Apple? If so, that’s pretty wild… It would probably also make Key Quest a more interesting curiosity, if it was the same Mr. Ubillos who coded it. Again: if anyone can confirm or deny the connection, please leave a comment below. Thank you!