| The Years |
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1962-1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 |
| The Games |
Adventure Arcade Arc. adventure Beat 'em up Platform Shoot 'em up Simulation Space Sport Strategy |
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(Ultimate - 1983) In this cheery game, you control Charlie the Chef. The screen presents you with a mixing bowl at the bottom, with dustbins to each side. On the right of the screen is the pantry from which ingredients and number of other objects emerge. You must use flour bombs to stun the ingredients and then knock them into the mixing bowl, while the assortment of other objects must be put in the bin. If you get them the wrong way round you lose points and time. The game boasts Ultimate's usual excellent graphics and is one of the early titles that marked them as masters of the Spectrum software scene.
(Ultimate - 1983) Ultimate again with another of their vintage 1983 hits. In this game, you control Robbie the Robot and your task is to prevent a swarm of insects from eating his precious plant. The playing area is a garden and lining its walls are spray cans which are used to exterminate those pesky bugs. To make life difficult, you need to use the right spray can on the right type of insect, otherwise it only stuns the beast instead of killing it. If you manage to stave off the attack long enough for the plant to grow, it blooms and you move onto the next level. Compulsive stuff.
(Micro Gold - 1983) You may not have heard of this game (unless you voted for it of course), but this is one of the most frustrating and addictive games that you never played on the Spectrum. The author, Tony Rainbird (the eventual founder of Rainbird Software) started Micro Gold from his bedroom, producing two titles, Run Baby Run and Race Ace. The latter was released on Firebird's Don't Buy This, a compilation of naff games, so the least said about it the better. Run Baby Run on the other hand was a great deal better. This game sees you in control of a getaway car, with a team of squad cars in hot pursuit. The aim is to drive craftily around a series of mazes, forcing the cop cars to collide with each other. It's a real edge of your seat affair. Play it and see what you missed out on.
(Ultimate - 1983) Guess what? It's those boys at Ultimate again. The fact that so many of their games are still so fondly remembered is a testament to just how playable they were compared to other titles of the time. This is set in post-nuclear holocaust America where only a few scattered cities still survive to offer you fuel. You must explore the wastes, collecting eight gold cups along the way. Looking to spoil things for you are a hoard of Black Turbos who are out for your blood. The score is represented by miles travelled and there is also your fuel and engine temperature to monitor. A true classic.
(Durell - 1983) Glug glug...no hang on that's a different game. This aquatic number puts you in a wetsuit and drops you to the bottom of the ocean to collect pearls from oysters. Before their precious bounty can be pocketed though, you need to wait for them to open. This can be a nervy business though as the seas are patrolled by a variety of deadly fishies. If your air begins to run low, you need to return to your boat. As you venture into deeper caves, there is greater treasure to be found, but also more deadly creatures.
As well as all those games that followed the arcade trends, there were countless original titles that blessed the Spectrum. Here's just a few. Ah Diddums (Imagine – 1983) You are a teddy bear locked in a toy box with all the other playthings. Unfortunately, your baby is crying, so you need to climb out and comfort him. In order to escape, you must assemble the coloured building blocks in the correct order, whilst avoiding some of the nastier toys who want to stop you. Once you clamber out, you realise you're inside another bigger box. It goes on like this, until you finally escape. There's something strangely sinister about this game. Glug Glug (CRL – 1984) You might be forgiven for thinking that this is Scuba Dive all over again, and indeed the purpose of the game is to collect goodies form the ocean floor, but this is an excellent game in its own right. There's no fancy flippers and air tanks here - you are in an old fashioned diving suit which you can winch up and down to collect treasures and avoid hostile sealife. You are also armed with a gun to see off any of the aquatic army who get too close for comfort. Mined Out (Quicksilva – 1983) It's written in BASIC, the graphics are rubbish and the sound ridiculous - and yet this is a tense, addictive and ludicrously playable game. It puts you at the bottom of a mine field and you must pick your way across it without blowing yourself to pieces. A detector tells you how many mines there are in adjacent squares - if any - but it's up to your common sense to work out which squares they occupy. As you progress there are stranded maidens to rescue and apparently at even high levels things appear that chase you, although I can safely say that I've never made it that far. Quazatron (Hewson - 1986) Good old Hewson. They got some stick from some quarters of the industry (can't remember why - jealousy I presume), but they lasted virtually the whole lifespan of the Spectrum and brought out some truly cracking titles. Quazatron is much more than a simple shoot 'em up and is typical of the imagination and originality of Hewson in their prime. The game is set on a isometric 3D landscape on which you control a droid called Klepto. Your task is to destroy the enemy droids that inhabit the underground city of Quazatron. To do this you can either blast them, ram them, or 'grapple' them which involves taking over the enemy droid's mind and tinkering with his circuitry until he relinquishes control to you. Arguably this doesn't belong in this section, but what the hell, it's brilliant. Stop the Express (Sinclair - 1983) This is certainly one of the more original Spectrum games you'll find in this section. The ITA Express train has fallen into the hands of the ruthless Redmen and you are given the task of stopping the train before it reaches the border. To achieve this, you have to reach the front carriage and unlock the driver's cabin. As you scamper through and above the carriages, the Redmen are out to stop you. If you run into one of them or one of their throwing knives hits you, you lose a life. Your only ally in this thankless mission is the snakebird, a mysterious beast that flutters about the train. If you manage to snatch a passing bird, you can launch it like a missile at your foe. Once inside the train, you must swing on the hanging straps to dodge the Redmen - but be careful to avoid the awful creatures that lurk among the straps! Thrust (Firebird – 1986) If you like those games where you pass a ring over a twisted loop of metal without letting them touch, then you'll love Thrust. You control a small craft which must explore a series of low gravity planets. Control is very much like that in Asteroids, but with the downward drag of the planet's gravity. Your mission is to collect a probe from each planet using your tractor beam, avoiding or destroying the defensive guns and escaping from the planet with ship and probe intact. The trouble is that as you progress, the probes are located in deeper and more treacherous caverns making for some nail-biting missions. Undoubtedly, one of the finest budget titles ever released. The Train Game (Microsphere – 1983) On first appearances, this game might appear a little dull. It is anything but. You are presented with a twisting railway layout, marked by 24 lettered points. You control up to three tains, picking up passengers from three stations. The passengers appear on the platforms in the colour of the train they want to catch and turn white with rage if you keep them waiting too long. Once the trains are on their way you must switch the points to keep them from the colliding. On later levels other rogue trains appear on your network and must be directed away. Simple, addictive and insanely frustrating. Trashman (New Generation – 1984) As the title suggests you are a dustman who wanders the sleepy residential streets collecting bins and emptying them into your dustcart. The pluses are plenty of fresh air and some tips if you stop for a friendly chat with the locals. On the downside, you're up against the clock and if the time runs out the punters complain and you're out of a job. There is also traffic to avoid and ferocious dogs who will nip at your ankles and slow you down. Oh yes, and don't walk on those lovely, manicured lawns or you'll be docked points. It's a tough life.
You are in charge of a bank in the old West. You are presented with twelve doors, three of which can be viewed at any one time. As the doors open, you will be met by an honest local looking to deposit some cash or a ruthless outlaw who must be despatched pronto, before he puts a bullet in you. One joker arrives with a line of bowler hats perched on his head. These must be shot away before the door closes to expose either a bag of loot or a bomb. Shoot the bomb in error and its curtains. Once you've collected money at every door, you will cut to a bonus round where you must take on three outlaws in a shoot out. As you progress through the levels the baddies become tricker. Be sure not to shoot them before they've drawn though or you'll lose a life. An imaginative and simple game but one that can required keen reactions. Wheelie (Microsphere – 1984) You find yourself in Nightmare Park on your motorbike. The park is split into a number of levels (not like my local park I must admit, but there you are) and roaming them are vicious creatures like hedgehogs who would sooner kill you than look at you. You must speed through the park, avoiding the animals and leaping over obstacles such as buses (again, not in my park). Be ready on the brakes though or you might find yourself crashing into a dead-end. If you reach the far side of the park, you will meet the Ghost Rider who will race you all the way back to the other side. A real favourite at the time and still very playable. Worse Things Happen at Sea (R&R - 1984) You play the part of a maintenance robot aboard an automated ship. Your job is to ensure that the cargo is transported safely from one port to another. Despite obviously being a particularly high-tech vessel, its builders were obviously a little slap-dash, because the moment it sets sail, it begins to sink. Now it's a case of both hands to the pump as you race about the ship, locating and fixing leaks, shutting hatches and pumping out water from flooded rooms. All the while you need to ensure that your robot's batteries do not run out, or that he doesn't short-circuit from working in too much water. Thoroughly original and extremely challenging.
This was a short-lived but popular sub-genre in the early days of the Spectrum. Taking its inspriation from the 1982 Disney film Tron, these games place you on a grid, normally in a vehicle such as the 'light cycles' used in the film. As you set off about the grid you leave in your wake a solid track that you must force your opponent to crash into. The graphics are invariably basic and special effects are kept to a minimum, but these games tend to be very fast and highly addictive. Cruising on Broadway (Sunshine Books – 1983) This is a take on the basic Tron idea. You are being pursued by a police car and your only way of evading him is to block his path with your trail. If he catches you, you return to the start. Points are scored for the time to survive. Once you've completed the course, you move onto a new frame with a different layout. My favourite of all these games. Light Cycle (PSS – 1983) A close copy of the arcade original where you must force your opponent to crash into you trail. The graphics may look a bit primitive, but it makes up for it by being incredibly fast. Transversion (Ocean – 1983) Surely the most successful of the grid games. Here the grid represents an area of space with each edge of it guarded by an alien ship. You must destroy them by zipping about the grid and ploughing over them. This is no easy feat as they launch missiles down the gridlines at you. The only let down for me is that you are given just one life. Not fair!
Ah! The simple delights of the maze game. Whether or not it is populated by ghosts and yellow-headed munchers, the best maze games induce a feeling of sheer panic. Signal sweaty palms and much edge-of-seat sitting. Check out this little selection. Do Do (Blaby – 1983) You've heard of Mr Do! haven't you? No? Well what about Pengy? This is the sort of game where you get to make your own maze by burrowing through ice, and then shunt iceblocks into the path of your pursuers to trap or crush them. In this instance you are on the run from the Snow Bees of the Arctic and you are the world last surviving Dodo, it says here. Surprisingly good. Escape (New Generation – 1982) Waaa! Never has a game made me panic so much. You are dropped into natty little 3D maze and in there somewhere is a key to the exit. The problem is that due to the perspective you have of the maze, you can't see it and will only find it when you run into it. Also patrolling the maze is a dinosaur who homes in on you the moment the game begins. If you manage to elude his attentions and escape the maze, you start the next level with two dinosaurs to worry about, and so on. Great game, but it'll leave you screaming. Escape-MCP (Rabbit – 1983) 'A good game from Rabbit?' I hear you ask. Incredibly, yes. Especially surprising as it comes from a company who seemed to pride themselves on producing crap. Like some perverse take on the film Tron you have been sucked into your Spectrum's processor and must find your way out, while the dreaded MCP chases you. There is a key to escape each level, but don't hang about or the relentlessly pursuing MCP will be on you. Really rather enjoyable. Gulpman (Campbell Systems – 1983) A Pac Man clone with a difference - no power pills but a laser that will kill any ghosts in its range. Looks like it was written in BASIC, but genuinely good fun. Hungry Horace (Psion – 1982) Horace was surely the Spectrum's first games character. This game is a Pac Man copy with a few minor changes. Horace is not a friendly yellow muncher but some sort of hulking monster and there are no power pills, so arguably it's tricker than its arcade relative. Lord Harry & Lady Harriet (Lotus Soft 1983) Now here's one of those games that you'd find lurking in a small black-and-white advert on the playing tips pages of Crash. I always wondered if anyone bought these games or whether they were any good. Thanks to the miracle of emulation, I've been able to take a look and let you know. And as it happens, it's pretty enjoyable. You have the choice of playing either of the titular characters in your efforts to escape from a friend's huge, maze-like garden. There's an exit to be found, vicious dogs in hot pursuit, mushrooms to munch to keep the old energy up, and a variety of other obstacles to avoid. Just to add to the tension, there's one poisoned mushroom in each of the four gardens which will kill old Harry (or Harriet) stone dead unless you can find the exit within 99 seconds. Maziacs (DK Tronics - 1983) What a classic. You are stranded in a maze guarded by the dreaded Maziacs. Your aim is to find a stash of gold, but as well as trying to track down the loot there is food to be eaten to keep your energy levels up and the Maziacs to avoid. You can find swords littered about the maze that you can attack the Maziacs with, but they only last once. Fortunately, there are prisoners locked up in the maze who will point you in the right direction, but once you've found the gold you can't carry any swords, so the threat of the Maziacs grows stronger. A frustrating and playable maze game. Pac Man (Atarisoft – 1984) Well, if you're going to play it, why not play the officially licensed version. It came a bit late in the day (4 years after the arcade original), but all the original features are here: power pills, ghosts and tunnels. A classic. Splat (Incentive – 1983) A simple notion: a maze game where the maze is constantly moving. If you touch the sides, you die. You'll need a steady hand and someone to mop your brow as you pick your way through this one.
Here's a very short-lived sub-genre that populated the Spectrum's varied landscape in those early days. Not to be confused with platform games, the painter involves covering an area (normally a structure of some kind) in cheery paint while some evil nasties attempt to stop you. Nearly all the main software houses made a contribution to this scene and here's a choice selection of the best titles. Color Clash (Romik – 1982) A top notch painter that requires you to slap paint around some squares while a pack of paint pots are on your tail. There are four levels to complete and plenty of high-tension action. High Rise Harry (Blaby – 1983) More than the rest of these titles, Highrise Harry manages to combine platform elements with painting duties. As Harry it's your thankless task to rustproof a construction of girders. In your way are the roaming nasties who must be avoided by leaping over them. To help Harry get about there are also ladders, lifts and slides. The graphics are small and simple, but they works remarkably well. You may have noticed that this game also appears amongst my platform reviews and that's because this game spans the two categories too well for me to cope with! Oh Mummy (Gem – 1984) For some reason this was one of those games that always stood out in magazines and the software selection of my local John Menzies. You play an Indiana Jones type who must explore the maze-like tombs of Egypt. In order to uncover the contents of the tomb you must speed around a square made up by the passageways, leaving a trail in your wake. Once this square has been filled the contents of the square are uncovered. There's plenty of treasure to uncover and some ancient uglies in hot pursuit. Painter (A&F – 1983) A classy version from the people who brought you Chuckie Egg. Armed with your trusty can of aerosol you are pursued by a paint roller who is looking to flatten you. As you progress throught the levels, the roller is joined by more of his friends make this a very challenging painter indeed. The graphics and sound are superb for this kind of game and it is a ferociously addictive experience.
Froggy (Microsphere – 1984) This an excellent copy of that old arcade favourite Frogger. You must guide the green one across a variety of roads and rivers, avoiding cars, trucks and aligators, while riding on logs and turtles' backs to make your way to safety. Basic stuff, but worth a mention as an arcade standard of the time. Tapper (US Gold – 1985) This is an arcade conversion and a very good one. Like all the best arcade games, it's simple, frustrating and addictive. You are barman serving four counters full of drinkers. These thirsty sorts shuffle their way up the bars towards you and can only be kept at bay by sliding a beer down to them. If they reach you before their drink arrives, you'll find yourself thrown nose-first down the bar and you'll lose a life. Serve up one too many and you'll end up with a smashed glass and again, you lose a life. Once the drinkers have finished their pints, the glasses get launched back at you and you need to catch them before they fall off the end of the bar. You will score extra points if you collect tips left by the customers. When you manage to complete a level, you are transported to a bonus stage. In this, the Soda Bandit stands behind seven cans lined up on the bar and then shakes six of them before mixing them up. You have to pick the unshaken one to get the bonus points. Home |
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