No.68: Starstrike II - Realtime Games, 1986
Starstrike II is a brilliant space adventure that boasts graphics that have to be seen to be believed on the Speccy. Shaded polygons, along with the usual wireframe graphics feature widely and it’s also an expansive and immersive space exploration game. A true wonder on the Speccy.
Thanks again to www.spectrumcomputing.com for images.
No 70: Avalon - Hewson, 1984
No 69: Universal Hero - Mastertronic, 1986
No.71: Match Day - Ocean, 1984
This might strike some as a low placing for Jon Ritman's footie classic. And indeed it maybe, but as it just missed out on a Crash Smash too back in the day, I’ll excuse myself…
But this isn’t to take away from a brilliant soccer sim which boasted superior control and a neat 2 player game.
For more on Match Day, check out this feature I wrote a few years ago for Eurogamer
And as usual thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for some of the images
No.72: Dark Star - Design Design, 1984
No. 73: Gauntlet - US Gold, 1987
No.74: Pippo - Mastertronic, 1986
Aaaaarrrghhhhhhheeeearrrrgheeeargh!
Yes, the synthesized speech in Pippo may have been a bit over-promoted, but the game itself is a wonderfully cute and entertaining puzzler.
And for only £1.99!
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.com for images.
For more on Pippo, check out this interview with the game's author
No.75: Avenger - Gremlin Graphics, 1986
I was a massive fan of game books back in the 80s, so when Gremlin released Way of the Tiger I rushed out to buy it. This follow up is even better, shoehorning the series into a thrilling arcade adventure with some lovely colourful graphics as the player attempts to recover a set of stolen scrolls.
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for some of these images
No.76: Zzoom - Imagine, 1983
I admit I have a special nostalgic love of Zzoom - it was one of many Imagine games I received with my first Spectrum, and comfortably the best of the lot. Written by John ‘Grandad’ Gibson (he got that nickname because he was an ‘ancient’ 30 compared to practically everyone else in the industry at the time), it’s a technically impressive and fast shoot-'em-up with a devious element to it - you can shoot the refugees you are supposed to be saving, resulting in them spinning hilariously into the air!
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.com for screenshot image.
No.77: Dandy - Electric Dreams, 1986
Like most Speccy fans in 1986, I was keen to see what US Gold would do with its official conversion of the arcade legend, Gauntlet. But before that, there was a range of similar games, and Dandy, based apparently on the game that inspired Gauntlet, was one of my favourites. Developed by RamJam's Simon Dunstan (whose trademark intricate and colourful graphics are present and correct), it’s a neat and playable dungeon romp that’s presented in flick screen rather than scrolling. While there are some frustrating gameplay mechanics in places, Dandy is still one of my faves.
Thanks again to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images!
Dandy's lovely cover art was by David Rowe.
No. 78: Target Renegade - Imagine/ocean, 1987
Co-operative two player games were something of a rarity on the Speccy, so when a software house went the extra mile and included it in a game such as Target Renegade, it was always a nice surprise.
A non-arcade sequel to Imagine's original conversion of Renegade, Target employed some different mechanics in addition to the 2P mode, and as such represented a whole new challenge to gamers.
Coded by Mike Lamb with graphics by Dawn Drake, sound by Jonathan Dunn and Gari Biasillo and another lovely cover by Bob Wakelin.
As usual, thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
No. 79: Future Games - Mastertronic, 1987
Another budget game - do we have more nostalgia for them considering the price? - and this was a really cool multi level event game with some great graphics and marvellous sound and music.
No. 80: International Cricket - Bug-Byte, 1988
Another cover tape from Your Sinclair, I spent hours constructing test matches against 1980s Australia and West Indies teams, guiding Gower, Lamb and Botham to half centuries and more.
It's not without its flaws: the computer fields very strangely sometimes and the dynamic behind stopping the ball is a bit odd. But International Cricket is still fun to play and a fascinating snap shot into 80s cricket.
No. 81: Alien - Mindgames, 1984
Alien was a hugely ambitious attempt to create a unique survival horror game on the Speccy. Your mission was to guide the crew to safety, either by eluding or killing the titular beast, and it was no easy task. Featuring a simplified emotion level for each character and some genuinely nerve-wracking moments, there is little else like Alien on the Spectrum.
For more info check out my making of Alien!
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing for images!
No. 82: Licence To Kill - Domark, 1989
James Bond fans had a bit of a rough ride on the Speccy: A View To A Kill was naff, The Living Daylights and Live and Let Die not much better. By far the best was this game based on Timothy Dalton's second outing as Bond, and it's a neat and tight multi-stage effort from publisher Domark.
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
No.83: Operation Wolf - Ocean, 1987
While ‘Op Wolf' inevitably ended up being distinctly less colourful on the ZX Spectrum, Ocean did a top job of converting Taito's first person on rails shooting game to the Sinclair computer. The big release of Christmas 1987, it was certainly in my stocking, and the tape spent a long time in my cassette player the following few weeks. I never tried it, but the game was even compatible with the Spectrum's Magnum light gun!
Created by Andrew Deakin, Ivan Horn and Jonathan Dunn with a cover by Bob Wakelin.
As always, thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
Your Sinclair is often called anarchic, crazy, funny and off-the-wall. Under the editorial gaze of Teresa Maughan it was all of those things, and there was no-one crazier than Duncan MacDonald. News has today surfaced that Duncan sadly passed away in 2017.
Joystick Juggler Duncan MacDonald
“Your Sinclair got funnier and wackier when we had the team of me as editor, Snouty, Berks, Macca and Duncan, who was completely crazy,” Teresa told me when I interviewed her for Eurogamer’s retrospective on Your Sinclair earlier this year. “These were all people I gave jobs to, that you probably wouldn’t normally - but I very much believed in giving people a break.”
While Duncan forged a reputable career in games journalism after Your Sinclair, working at its spiritual successor, Zero, and PC Zone (most notably as ‘Mr. Cursor’), his first home is often his most fondly-remembered, especially when it came to a certain April fool joke.
“Duncan at one point was just sitting there tinkering about in the office and chortling to himself,” remembers Teresa. “He had this screen of green disappearing with this thing moving back and forth, and had called it Advanced Lawnmower Simulator. We thought it was hilarious and said we had to put it on the cover!”
“Not on your grass-box matey; this game is ACE!”
Reviewed by Duncan himself in the April 1988 issue of Your Sinclair, Advanced Lawnmower Simulator gleefully riffed on Codemasters’ zealous self-promotion in particular, and secured a 9/10 Megagame score. Eventually, the game would go on to inspire a new section in Your Sinclair entitled ‘Crap Games Corner’ and be presented on the cover as a cassette giveaway.
But it was Duncan’s crisp, enthusiastic and sometimes bizarre copy that amused most. “So much insincere profit chasing hype?” he boasted of Advanced Lawnmower Simulator. “Not on your grass-box matey: this game is ACE!” Signing off many of his reviews with a trademark ‘Boing!’, there was always a cheerful read with Duncan. Never too shy to take the piss, he was in particularly fine sarcastic form in a review of Software Projects’ Star Paws. “Crikey, that’s a funny idea, take the name of a well-known film, change one of the words slightly and voila, a rib-tickling title for a computer game in which the main character can be a dog. Because dogs have paws. Har har. I’ll see if I can come up with something, using that formula, before I finish this review.”
A few dozen words later, and Duncan is ready to complete his challenge. Kind of. “Oh dear. I’ve suddenly remembered my foolish boast…a computer game title derived waggishly from a film title. Uuuuum, eeerrr, uuumm…Ah! Got it. The Sound of Moo-Sick, you play a vomiting space cow. Cripes, I’m not very good at this ‘game title’ lark, am I? Boooiiinng!” Actually you are, Duncan. Very good indeed.
“Duncan would be so unreliable, roll in really late, and then be working until two in the morning.” says Teresa. “But he was probably one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with.”
Rest in peace, Duncan MacDonald.
No.84: Stonkers - Imagine, 1983
Number 84 is most definitely Stonkers, a neat real time war sim from Imagine and ‘grandad' coder John Gibson. Borne from Imagine's desire to have a range of different types of games, this is one of the very few games I used to play with my Dad. Keep those supply lines running pop!
If you want to know more about Stonkers, I wrote a making of in issue 123 of Retro Gamer magazine.
You can also check out my feature on early Imagine games here
And as usual, thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for some of the images above.
No.85: Nemesis The Warlock - Martech, 1987
As a 2000AD fan, seeing games based on its characters was always a bonus on the Speccy, especially if they came with lovely covers such as this one by Bryan Talbot. Nemesis The Warlock was published by Martech Games, and written by Jas Austin, with graphics by Dave Dew. It wasn’t the most complicated of games - within each virtually-identical screen, the alien player character had to kill terminators with his sword and, occassionally, spit - but it was enormous fun.
Martech’s boss, David Martin, recalls how the licence came about. “One of my boys was mad about 2000AD - he collected every issue and knew all the characters, artists and writers. Being a small company, we never licensed movies and tended to stay focused on individuals, but we found ourselves in a meeting with IPC to discuss us creating games based on 2000AD characters.”
Working with Martech was coder Jas Austin (as part of development house Creative Reality), another 2000AD nut. “Jas gave us the lead with which characters to go for,” continues David, “And told us that we must go for Slaine and Nemesis The Warlock. The strips had some fantastic artwork and looked great, so that’s what we did.”
“I think I just gave them my two favourites!” Jas himself grins. “There was an initial meeting where I gave my thoughts on the game’s design and that was it! We picked a few things from the comic to feature: the spitting acid, the sword and gun.”
But perhaps Nemesis The Warlock’s most remembered feature is the player’s gruesome ability to pile up the bodies of vanquished foes in order to reach higher platforms. Recalls Jas, “I always get asked about that! The idea must have come from the comic, we were just plucking ideas out and hoping they’d stick.”
As with many Spectrum fans, the technique is also fondly recalled by Martech’s owner. “It was a brilliant idea - they weren’t sure I’d go for it, but I loved it. And the bodies would even occassionally sprout little aliens!”
Despite some luke-warm reviews, Nemesis The Warlock was a solid hit for Martech. “It was a dream to work on,” remembers Jas warmly. “And although I never got to meet anyone from 2000AD - not even Tharg - I was personally quite pleased with the result. It wasn’t a Crash Smash, but I still get lots of comments about Nemesis today.”
Thanks as usual to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
No. 86: They Stole A Million - Ariolasoft, 1986
Hey Jimmy, big man: got a job fer ya. Get ta number 86 in da Wizwords top 100 games. Do ya think ya up to it? There's some filthy swag up for grabs if ya are!
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
No. 87: Mikie - Imagine, 1986
Under its Imagine imprint, Ocean released a successful range of Konami arcade conversions in the mid Eighties. This high school love drama was one of my favourites although there are more to come on this list!
Thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images
