Datastorm is back - Part 1 - the Commodore 64 demo compo

This weekend, after a 3 year long hiatus, the Datastorm 2017 party was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was the first party of 2017 to feature both c64 and Amiga demo compos, and bringing the people from under the C= sign a great bunch of releases.

I just saw all 7 C64 Demo releases, and apart from some usual compofillers, there are two demos that clearly stand out from the rest. The winners of the compo were the scene legends from TRIAD, with their Neon demo, and the 2nd place was taken by Shape with a prod called The Shores of Reflection. The latter of the two is my personal favorite.

Neon by TRIAD is a demo based on a concept of returning to the 80’s aesthetics, highlighted by neon lights, shiny logos and Knightrider like cars. The pixels in this demo are great, with C64’s palette perfectly fitting the 1987-style, and the music is almost perfect. Of course the effects are also there, but don’t expect anything jaw-dropping, as the main strength of this demo is it’s atmosphere. Neon is certainly a good demo, but my personal opinion is that in that particular compo it was more of a second placer. Well a vote is a vote...

The Shores Of Reflection combines great oniric visuals , with equally good music, and some cool effects with the scene of flying over cubes filled landsape being the demos highlight. After watching it three times I'm still amazed by the design, and wondering how the hell Shape didn't end up winning the compo... Anyway, I always look forward to seeing a next demo from Shape, as their previous big production, Disco Apocalypso is probably one of my top 3 C64 demos.

After seeing these two big productions, I’ve watched the rest of the stuff. The 3rd place was taken by Atlantis, with their short, but sweet Carrie Fisher tribute demo, called The Last Hope. The effects were nothing new, but it’s always nice to see pixeled Leia in her bikini from The Return Of The Jedi, with some good old Star Wars the music.

The last prod that I think is worth mentioning is the compos 6th place, a n intro by Elysium, called Surdataströmming 95%. It is only a one-logo and one-effect prod, but it’s nice to see a comeback, or maybe a prelude to a comeback by a group that released their last big demo back in 2002. Ah, and the music is great :)

The rest of the prods and results can be found at the usual places like Pouet or CSDB.

Oh and keep watching this space, because I will cover the Amiga releases soon :)