Toki C64 Remastered

As the name suggests, Toki C64 Remastered is a radical enhancement—with all-new graphics and sound—of the Commodore 64 game Toki, originally developed by Ocean in 1991. Ocean's Toki was the licensed conversion of the eponymous arcade game, also known as JuJu Densetsu in Japan.

The project was started on February 6, 2023, by Davide Bottino, retro games creator and journalist at Zzap! Magazine Italia, out of a passion for the original game and a desire to overcome the technical and artistic limitations of the existing C64 conversion. 

While above average for the machine's standards, the original 1991 Toki is not entirely satisfying for a fan of the arcade game, especially due to its poorly designed sprites. Although well-crafted, the backgrounds were converted from the Amiga version instead of the coin-op, and the soundtrack is completely different from the arcade original.

Technically a hack of the original program and not a rewrite from scratch, Toki Remastered will feature greatly improved graphics, a true to arcade soundtrack, and gameplay fixes.

Several well-known figures from the C64 coding and hacking scene have joined the project over its nearly 2 years. Their expertise and passion have been instrumental in bringing Davide's ambitious vision to life.

Key Enhancements Goals

• Complete redesign of all the sprites, ensuring fidelity to the original arcade.
• Extensive touch-ups to the backgrounds, including a full redesign of the final level, to bring them closer to the arcade look while optimizing the pixel art for CRT as well as modern HD monitors.
• Restoration of the original arcade music.
• Fixing of bugs and errors.
• Gameplay optimization, addressing frustrating issues like overly sensitive controls and collision detection.

Toki Remastered will be released as a free digital download containing a .crt (cartridge image) file, playable on C64 emulators or real hardware through devices such as the Kung Fu Flash.

Development Status

On December 24, 2024, we released a Demo of Level 1, v0.9, featuring 100% redrawn sprites (while backgrounds, sound, and gameplay remain identical to the 1991 version in the demo). 

As a final goal, we are also working on an advanced version with completely remastered graphics and sound, along with other improvements described above.

Update April 11, 2025: Here's Level 1 with completely redesigned in Sprites & Background

Toki Remastered Team

• Graphics & Coordination: Davide Bottino
• Disassembling and Coding (in order of joining): Mariano Cigliano, Pasquale Sannino, Euan Gamble, Martin Piper, Knight Rider, Oziphantom and, last but not least, ******* ****** (surprise, surprise!).
• Music: Aldo Chiummo

Original Game Team

• Coding: Al Dukes
• Backgrounds: Bill Harbison
• Music: Keith Tinman

Disclaimer

This project has been created in good faith and with the utmost respect for the current copyright holders of Toki and their work. It is an unofficial hack of an existing Commodore 64 port of Toki, with the goal of enhancing and celebrating this video game classic while preserving the spirit of the original game. The project is entirely free of charge and is not for profit. It has not been created or authorized by the copyright holders of Toki and does not intend to infringe upon any intellectual property rights. It is a tribute to Toki and its cultural legacy.