The long-awaited Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone has finally been approved by Apple and released to the AppStore today, complete with five included games.

Developed by Manomio, the emulator app is completely legit and licensed but ran into approval problems when it was submitted to Apple a few months ago. A small controversy then broke out as Manomio alleged it had previously consulted with Apple about whether there would be any issues with the emulator and, upon being told there would not, began buying licenses and developing the app in good faith.

Finally though, the emulator has finally been released with just a few changes and tweaks, such as removing the ability to run BASIC - which was the main feature that Apple had problems with.

The emulator app comes with five different games from Ye Olde Dayes Of Gaminge, namely Dragons Den, Le Mans, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck and Jack Attack.

Extra games will be added to the emulator in the future as downloadable content, apparently getting released in themed packs. The iPhone app description hints that coming titles include Bristle and Astro Cheese.

Astro Cheese. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

Share your nostalgia and impressions in the forums.

UPDATE:
Aaaand now the emulator has been taken offline again, as it emerged that the BASIC interpreter was still in the version on the AppStore, just hidden. A new, BASIC-less version is said to be pending for approval. Again.