Spectrum BASIC had PRINT AT (which is probably what you're thinking of). The C64 would probably have to use control characters to achieve the same thing in BASIC if it's anything like PET BASIC (inverted playing card suit characters etc.).
Ah, yes! PRINT AT. I didn't know PETSCII had control characters to place the cursor, but in any case, I think everyone will agree that's more obscure than a nice high-level PRINT AT statement.
(Still, I'd love to go back in time and tell my young self that I could use control characters instead!)
PS: pretty sure there was at least one BASIC that had a LOCATE command, or am I confusing programming languages?
PPS: well, duh! It was GW-BASIC that had LOCATE. No wonder I remembered the command, GW-BASIC was my first true love and the first language with which I actually programmed games.
