I ran a two-line BBS for a hot minute. My older brother had a second phone line installed in our shared bedroom so he could talk to his girlfriend (who wrecked his 1962 Pontiac GTO the first time he let her drive it, and was soon no longer his GF). He closed the account when he moved out, but I discovered that the line still worked--they never disconnected it. So, I used that, and the house line to run the BBS. My dad said I could let people dial in while he was at work.

I only ran it for a couple of months, summer started, and I didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Update: A firmware update fixed this.

After researching a bit, it seems that the original Ultimate 64 boards can search Assembly64, but the C64U searches "CommoServe" which is evidently a copy of that with cracks removed. So: very little there, so far.

I'd be quite interested in a way to restore Assembly64 support on the C64U.

Yes, other carts have been fine; I have a few. All work OK except Fast Load images (and the Fast Load cart).

In other news, though, I spent $32 on JiffyDOS ROMs (kernal, 1541-II, 1571, 1581) and am now running those on my C64U, and that seems to work great.

It feels so weird seeing C64 questions. And I love it so much!

My C64 already had everything it needs in the form of a turbo chameleon 64 cartridge.

He will be getting a friend next year, in the form of a starlight edition commodore 64 with those ultimate boards in them.

And C64 ones then! Great games!

Those last two are ZX Spectrum games!

"Stay awhile! Stay forever!"

Any of the gold box SSL RPG games. I sunk a million hours into them.

Elite, Lode Runner, Castles of Doctor Creep, Zaxxon

Top 5 reccomedations: Impossible Mission.

Ah yes. The Archons were wonderful as well! EA back then makes me sad for what EA became.

That has been my biggest issue with doing anything on an emulator. There are a few of them out there that are exceptional at capturing the C-64 and its little nuances, but without a proper joystick that feels like it's from the 80s, the games don't seem right. Jumpman is a perfect example. The programming for its input and responses is something that you can't describe, it's just unique, but on an emulator it doesn't feel like the same game because I can't use my old Kraft joystick with it.

Rags to Riches - you are a homeless person and try to build yourself up.

Cops n Robbers - you run around trying to collect money, steal diamonds, watch out for the cops and the ghosts.

Grogs Revenge - sequel to BC’s Quest for Tyres. Ride your unicycle up a mountain and avoid Grog. No idea who Grog is, but he gets you.

Rock n Bolt - puzzle game where you try to bolt moving platforms together in a particular pattern.

Alter Ego - text game, start as a newborn baby and make choices at each stage of your life and see what kind of person you become. There’s a female and male version.

World Games and the other Epyx games (Summer Games, Winter Games etc). The c64 version in my opinion is the best version of these.

IK+ - a pre-Street Fighter fighting game. Looks nice, good animation, it’s fun. There’s a few of these type of games like International Karate and Way Of The Exploding Fist. You might know IK+ already, I think it was on Amiga.

Archon - chess board, good pieces vs evil pieces, doesn’t follow chess rules, just move and fight the other pieces until they’re all taken out.

World Class Leader Board - impressive golf game. I liked it anyway.

I played the shit out of Jumpman as a kid.

It's been too long since I actually played them, but I got the c64 mini recently, so I need to start those games up again to refresh my memories, especially about the music!
And some games were just great by way of their mechanics and handling. Too bad the joystick that comes with the mini doesn't feel that great, I need to find a better compatible one...

AI slop

The death in Dino-Eggs was hilarious, and quite a jump scare if you didn't know what to expect.

Spy vs. Spy was so good, and the music!

Such a unique perspective and the physics felt like you were flying a helicopter.

Most of the Electronic Arts collection back then are great. M.U.L.E. with four players (two joysticks and two on keyboard) was insane fun! This is when they were just starting out as a small distributor and not the monster they are now. Just look for the cube/sphere/pyramid logo. Archon, Archon II, and Racing Destruction Set were favorites.

I'll add a few I enjoyed back then. Stellar 7, Arctic Fox, Elite, Jumpman and Jumpman Jr., Satan's Hollow.

Very good recommendation this.

The Last Ninja 2 - Probably one of the best C64 games OOT. Killer soundtrack as well. LN1,LN3 good but not legendary.

Boulderdash (all), Lode Runner, Impossible Mission (1+2), Bruce Lee, H.E.R.O., Jouste, Ghostbusters, Hacker (1+2), Defender of the Crown, Maniac Mansion + Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Raid over Moscow, Spy vs Spy, Beach Head, Agent USA, Airborne Ranger, Bagitman, Dino-Eggs, Fire-Ant, Fort Apocalypse, Gateway to Apshai.
I'll probably add some more of my favs later on ;)