1980 · Tandy · US · computer
Tandy Color Computer
Radio Shack's Color Computer, plain-looking and quietly capable.
Mixed Trivial to run Needs a keyboard ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Radio Shack's Color Computer, launched in 1980 around the capable Motorola 6809 and later a proper multitasking operating system, OS-9. It had a devoted following that its plain looks belied.
Dungeons of Daggorath, a real-time first-person dungeon with a heartbeat that quickened as you tired, was startling for 1982.
What it cost
roughly a third of a month’s pay in 1980 · about $1,519 today
| US TRS-80 Color Computer launch price ($399 for 4KB RAM) |
$399 (1980)
Powered by the Motorola 6809E processor and Microsoft Color BASIC. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | ≈1,000,000 estimate Over 1 million units across CoCo 1, 2, and 3 models. |
Why it mattered
The CoCo built a devoted following around a capable 6809 and a real multitasking OS, and quietly kept Radio Shack in the home-computer game for a decade.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | VCC, MAME (coco driver) |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Trivial to run (1 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | This is a computer-like platform: games may use a joystick or pad, but launching and configuring software often needs a keyboard. |
| Runs on a handheld | Yes |
The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
Firmware
This system needs no firmware file. Install an emulator, open a game, and it runs.
How many files you need: none to go and find. No separate firmware file is needed for an ordinary setup.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Libretro documentation for the current list.
Where the software is
TOSEC catalogues computer disks and tapes broadly, including many revisions. It is useful for preservation, while a smaller curated selection is usually easier to play.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- Dungeons of Daggorath 1982 dungeon crawler
A real-time first-person dungeon with a heartbeat that sped up as you tired — startling for 1982.
- Downland 1983 platformer
- Rogue 1984 RPG
- Zaxxon 1983 shooter
The verdict
Worth it for Dungeons of Daggorath and a characterful library; a friendly emulation target.
Its plain looks and text-heavy software mean it rewards patience more than instant fun.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about apple and the ibm pc and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 3/5 for fun today and 3/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.