Classic ZX Spectrum Games
Created | Updated Mar 17, 2003
Rubber keys. Ten minute loading times. Power packs you could use as a hob. Fifteen colours in total. Colour clash if you used more than two at once. Yes, Sir Clive Sinclair was a genius alright, and the computer he created was home to some of the best games around. Due to the limited resources available, the games designer was forced to produce games that emphasised playability over graphics, which means that some of the games still shine, 15 years on. A selection are presented here, so prepare to wallow in nostalgia, or learn why some of us prefer 3D Deathchase to Colin Macrae Turismo 17.
Platform Games
Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy
Miner Willy was a character who appeared in three official games and has since appeared in several unofficial games. His first game was Manic Miner, in which the intrepid little fellow made his way through several screens of varying difficulty collecting enough objects on each screen to open the exit. This game was written by Matthew Smith and published in 1983 by Bug Byte. This game, along with titles such as Miner 2029er (which it was based on) created the genre of 'platform games', whose descendants include titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Crash Bandicoot.
His second, probably most famous, official game was Jet Set Willy. In this game, Willy donned a natty top hat and once again was made to collect dozens of objects, but this time from his mansion of interconnecting rooms. This game, also written by Smith, was published by Software Projects in 1984. This game became famous among 1980s game-players for it's infuriating, 'keep getting killed by falling feature', the 'Attic Bug' and the weird room names1.
Jet Set Willy was the subject of a famous hoax that claimed that waiting around on a screen called 'The Yacht' would transport you to a desert island and some other hidden screens. This hoax was to some extent made true in Jet Set Willy 2, and the screens mentioned in the hoax were incorporated into an unofficial sequel to JSW - Join the Jet Set, by Richard Hallas.
One final official game2, Jet Set Willy II, was published on the Spectrum in 1985. This game was basically Jet Set Willy with additional rooms, including a section where Willy goes into space.
Since then, poor Willy has been made to run around collecting objects in numerous unofficial sequels, thanks to the publishing of a Jet Set Willy editor. An adjusted Jet Set Willy engine, Jet Set Willy 128, was also released, allowing many more rooms and other additional features.
