Spectrum Games - Glass - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Glass ZX Spectrum
Glass was a 3D arcade game released for the ZX Spectrum by the always cool sounding Quicksilva back in 1985.

Paul Hargreaves has a pretty impressive list of Spectrum games to his name, and this one was pretty highly regarded when it was released the summer of my thirteenth year.

With it's impressive sounding title, fast moving 3D graphics and decent back story this is a classic game that did have a bit of a 'wow factor' back in the day.

The Effective Loading Screen

Glass actually stood for Ground Level Alien Strike Simulator, meaning the game was based on your training to take out three enemy cities.

The back story to set the scene had you training to be a combat-ready star-fighter pilot, gaining the skills to take out these aforementioned enemy cities.

This simulator took you through a series of screens, with each acting as a mini-game in itself.

The games varied between sections with simulations in destroying outer radar defences, smashing the pseudo-conscious Metalliks (great names!), all the while keeping your shield level up.

If your shields were expended you could still continue in game with zero score if you so desired.

If you managed to fly the plains of Glass and reach the cities you were then able to deploy a nuclear missile and watch it evaporate in all it's de-pixelating glory!.

The score achieved also set your crew status level, with fourteen levels of excellence to pass through.
Only the best could reach the level of 'Game Lord'.

Nice Reflection Effect

This game was released when 3D graphics were still revolutionary enough to cause a stir in the gaming world.

The sprites move towards you at a fast lick and the reflection effect on the glass surface is, for the time, pretty damn nifty.

Some stages play better than others. The avoiding towers sub game is reminiscent of the classic game Deathchase and it is still fun even today to weave your way through them at a rapid pace. The towers move towards you at breakneck speed without flicker, all the while reflected on the planet surface.

The other sub-games are fun in their own right but they do become repetitive quite quickly as they are often re-workings of the same game featuring a different set of sprites.

When the final city is revealed it does look quite impressive and it almost a shame to nuke it!

All in all this is a decent enough game. It scored highly in Crash Magazine but fell slightly short of the coveted  Smash award, which for seems just about right.

Funnily enough 3D games on 8-bit machines tend to have aged more than other gaming genres, and this one falls into the same bracket I feel.

All in all, this was a pretty decent shooter that was technically pretty impressive. Oh, I'm loving the between game 'cut scene'. Very slick.

GENRE: 3D Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: Summer of 1985
RELEASED BY: Quicksilva
DEVELOPERS: Paul Hargreaves
PRICE: £7.99 (UK)

Marvel at a rapid moving slice of Arcade Action...


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Ghost's Revenge - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Ghost's Revenge ZX Spectrum
This is perhaps a lesser known title from Micromania that was one of many Pacman clones available for the ZX Spectrum.

If you like Pacman then this is a decent version to try. I never played this one back in the day but took the notion for a spot of Pacman gaming today.

So here is a quick review of a nice version of one of the most classic arcade games of all time...



Look it's one of many Pacman Games available for the Speccy - there isn't too much I can say about it that you won't already know! (Unless you've been living under a rock for the last thirty years).

Travel around the maze to gobble the pellets, avoid the ghosts (which do exhibit varying AI - just as they should) munch the power pills to make the ghosts eatable for a short amount of time. The screen also has the wrap-around from left to right and right to left - like any classic Pac-Man game should.

To complete the screen you have to eat all the dots and energy blobs in the maze whilst avoiding the blue, red, purple and green ghosts.

If a ghost touches you a life is lost. Eating a pulsating blob causes the ghosts to turn light blue and become vulnerable, allowing you to eat them to score extra bonus points.

After a short time they become invulnerable again - again just like the arcade game.


One good thing about this game is the difficulty selection which actually adds variety to the game as well as making it more difficult or easier.

For example:

• LEVEL 1-3 Features normal mazes in the classic Pac Man style
• LEVEL 4-6 Features mazes which become invisible after a short time - pretty novel for 1983!
• LEVEL 7-9 Features completely invisible mazes
• LEVEL 10 Features an invisible maze coupled with double speed ghosts! Pac-tastically difficult
  

One annoying thing about the game is the little ditty that plays after you lose a life. I mean it's okay as far as BEEPER tunes go but it gets on yer pecs after a few times.

This game was also a title that would run on a 16K Spectrum - if you like Pacman then check it out.

And that's about it!

It's Pac Man, it's playable and it is a fine example of a total retro game.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download anything but this game for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Pac Man)
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Micromania
DEVELOPER(S): Dominic Wood
PRICE: £5.95

Classic Arcade Gaming:

The Maze Disappears - Pac Man is slightly scary!

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Gilligans Gold - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Gilligans Gold ZX Spectrum
This classic game was a 1984 release for our beloved ZX Spectrum from good old Ocean Software.

It was based on the lesser known 1982 arcade game 'Bagman' by the also lesser known Valadon Automation.

If you liked arcade action and platform games such as Chuckie Egg then you couldn't go far wrong with this offering...

This arcade style game was set in a gold mine and split over three inter-connected screens.

The aim of it was pretty simple: collect the bags of gold, evade the outlaws and use the ladders and carts to negotiate your way around.

Games in 1984 tended to be quite simple so for them to work they had to work. Fortunately this game was damned playable and pretty addictive.

After collecting the bags you had to place them in your wheelbarrow, all done against the clock of course. Each bag deposited increased your alloted time and raised your score. All the while the outlaws were after you - and the gold.

It was possible to jump into the mine-carts by hanging on the ceiling hooks and dropping in as they passed by (which was pretty cool), and you could also run up and down the ladders or use the lifts to get around.

Dropping down a long mine-shaft meant the instant loss of a life.

Some of the booty was hidden behind breakable walls. Using a pick-axe would allow you to break through and grab the bag.

In another cool feature bags could be dropped from a height onto the bad guys, which would stun them for a few moments. Stars would whirl around their heads as they lay there concussed, before panting heavily (their stomachs rising and falling) as they began to come around. Using a pick-axe on them had pretty much the same effect.

Touches and attention to detail like this were impressive and added a nice dose of humour to the game.

All in all Gilligans Gold is a good solid arcade game that remains playable due to it's simplicity even to this day.

On Release:
Few people tended to realise that this was pretty much a conversion of an arcade original when it was released in 1984. It was well recieved and achieved a good overall score in the likes of Crash Magazine and once you got the hang of how to play the game it was decidedly addictive. It also featured a neat in game beeper tune which again was pretty nifty at the time. Not quite a classic game, but one worth having for sure.

The Test Of Time:
This is a nice simple game that I enjoyed playing again. Once you get the hang of the controls it plays well, moves at a fair old pace and is real old school gaming. The graphics are by no means the best but they serve their purpose. Not bad, not bad at all.

We recommend getting hold of the real Sinclair Hardware but if not them download this game for a ZX Spectrum emulator. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

Please see our other ZX Spectrum game reviews - all links are listed in alphabetical order. Cheers guys.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Platform Game)
RELEASE DATE: 1984
RELEASED BY: Ocean Software
DEVELOPERS: Keith Burkhill, Ronald Rhodes and F.David Thorpe
PRICE: £5.90 - UK

Classic Arcade Action:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Guardian II - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Guardian II - Revenge Of The Mutants
Well the title of the game is a bit of a mouthful, but what we have here is a very good version of the classic arcade game Defender.

This game was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1990 - so it really was a retro game back then as the original arcade game had been released in 1980.

Anyway, most of us know the deal with defender, and this version of it held no special surprises over the original. What it did do was capture the playability of the arcade version nicely.


The game took place over a two-way scrolling landscape and all of the Defender type bad guys were present in the game. It was you and your trusty fighter against the mutant menace.

There were ten humans on the surface of the planet, and it was up to you to keep as many of them safe as possible. The raiders would swoop down and pick up one the little guys and make their way to the top of the screen. If they made it to the top they would mutate into a more aggressive foe (a mutant) - whilst the human was destroyed.

If you shot a mutant carrying a human you would have to 'catch' him with your fighter before he hit the ground with a splat. Doing so allowed you to gently drop him on the surface and also earned you some extra points.


In classic arcade fashion the nasties had cool sounding names and different modes of movement and attack. Aside from the raiders (and mutants) you had to contend with Baiters, Lures, Luresses (yes), Hives, Dynamo's, Mo's, Swarmers, Munchie's, Fire Bombers, Technofighters and Fireballs.

• RAIDER - Skims planet surface, snatches humans and lifts them to the sky where a mutation will occur
• HIVE - A floating capsule containing deadly SWARMERS. When hit, the swarmers will be released (annoying buggers)
• DYNAMO - A floating alien mothercraft releasing MOs which will fly on a suicide mission (really annoying buggers)
• TECHNOFIGHTER - An advanced alien which fly in a squadron formation
• FIREBOMBER - An elusive alien which releases fireballs (total pain in the jacksie)
• LURE - The killer alien only appears if you are slow in completing an attack wave. Watch for the female (LURESS) which was probably the deadliest alien of them all

There were also warp gates on each level allowing you to 'jump' from one part of the landscape to another. Useful to escape from a sticky situation.

You were equiped with a limited supply of smart-bombs. Useful for blowing the sh*t out of everything on screen.

Another 'extra' was the Energy Cloak which allowed your fighter to become invisible and destroys every alien you came into contact with for a limited time period of one energy unit. Useful for clearing away annoying buggers.

As all Defender fans will know, if all the Earthlings were destroyed then the planet was lost and the fight continued in space against Mutants alone.

The game was over when all of your lifes were gone.

This was probably an unusual game to come out on the Speccy in 1990 - but as far as arcade games go, this is a very good version of a classic (which I like a lot). The controls are responsive, the scrolling is spot and and the sounds effects match the game perfectly. It's got to be one of the best Defender type games on the machine - and this game (and Planetoid on the BBC Micro) is one I return to time and time again.

Oh and it was nicely priced back in the day at £2.99. Good stuff from H-Tec Software.

We recommend getting hold of the real Sinclair hardware but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Guardian II - Revenge Of The Mutants for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Defender Clone)
RELEASE DATE: 1990
RELEASED BY: Hi-Tec Software
DEVELOPER(S): Steve Evans
PRICE: £2.99 - UK

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Game - Galakzions - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Galakzions ZX Spectrum
Since I'm in ultra-retro game mode at the moment, and the last game I reviewed was Galaxian, I'll stick with it and look at Galakzions from Mikro-Gen.

This game was basically an un-official version of Galaxian, and I tell you what, it's actually not bad.

There is no loading screen (it was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 - a time when you could 'copy' arcade originals and get away with by changing the name) and the main menu screen is extremely basic.


Anyway - 99% of you will know the score. Alien space ships attack in the usual Space Invaders formation at the top of the screen, moving left and right in unison.

You are at the bottom part of the screen and can move left, right and fire. And that's it. Simplicity itself - but this is what makes the game so good.

In a twist from Space Invaders some enemy ships would break from formation and 'swoop' down the screen towards you, firing as they went.

As you cleared each wave, the amount of swoopers increased, making each wave more difficult than the last.

Just like Galaxian the game featured a backdrop of a scrolling starfield. There were also three 'speeds' you could play the game at: Slow, Normal or Fast.

Play it on fast for a real challenge.

There isn't really much more to say about this; it's a version of Galaxian and it's good. Considering this is an earlier ZX Spectrum game it's pretty decent and plays nice and smoothly. Good stuff.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Galakzions for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Shoot Em Up)
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Mikro-Gen
DEVELOPER(S): Stephen Townsend
PRICE: £5.95 - UK

More classic arcade action...


Arcade Games and Classic Games

Spectrum Game - Galaxian - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Galaxian
Surely Galaxian is one of the most well known arcade games of all time?

Atari-soft treated us to the official ZX Spectrum conversion of Namco's classic game in 1984 - and to be fair it did the arcade original justice.

Galaxian basically expanded on the formula pioneered by Space Invaders. As in Space Invaders, Galaxian featured hordes of attacking aliens that took pot shots at the players ship at the bottom of the screen.

Galaxian added a further element of gameplay by having alien ships dive bomb the player's ship (which was called the 'Galax').

Atari-soft managed to cram in the arcade game features, including the opening sequence which proudly stated that 'we are the galaxians' and displayed how many points you would get for each ship type destroyed.

The opening got you in the mood for Galaxian:


The gameplay was relatively simple. Swarm after swarm of alien ships attacked your ship which could be moved left and right at the bottom part of the wraparound screen.

Your ship could only fire sparingly by default, but rearmed instantly when an enemy was blown out of the stars. Once you defeated one swarm of invaders it was replaced by another more aggressive and challenging swarm. As you progressed the amount of 'dive bombing' aliens increased which made things more difficult for the player.

This repeated infinitely until all of your lives were lost.

A plain starfield also scrolled in the background too which looked quite nice.


On Release:
Well Galaxian was considered a bit 'old hat' by 1984 - and even though this version was pretty faithful to the arcade original gamers wanted more. I suppose with games such as Manic Miner, 3D Starstrike and Night Gunner to play, the concept of Galaxian was a bit limited. At £7.99 it was also overpriced.

The test of time:
Well it's not bad to play and captures the spirit of the old arcade machine (which I can just remember). In fact, it's so retro now that it's more relevant today than it was back in the mid 1980's. If you're a fan of Space Invaders or Galaxian then give this a go.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Galaxian for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Shoot Em Up)
RELEASE DATE: 1984
RELEASED BY: Atarisoft
DEVELOPER(S): David Aubrey Jones
PRICE: £7.99 - UK

Classic Arcade Action... (needs a decent player though!)

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - Gunrunner - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Gunrunner
Everyone has an off day, a dud, a momentary lapse. Well, this arcade game from Hewson was certainly by their standards, well below par.

For a company associated with high quality arcade games such as Technician Ted, Avalon, Exolon and Uridium, Gunrunner came as a bit of a disappointment.

In Gunrunner you had to save a distant ice planet from a bunch of not very nice aliens called the 'Destrovians'. This planet contained an elaborate set of pipes (plutonium pipes) which the Destrovians were going to sabotage. Enter you (as the Gunrunner) so save the day!

The game was a right to left scrolling arcade game played over a total of ten levels. Our main character was quite a nifty soldier, he could run left and right, kneel down and jump. At certain points you would acquire at Jet Pack which allowed you to take to the air and zip along the level rapidly.

As you moved along waves of Destrovians would attack you from both directions - and coming into contact with any of these took away one of your three lives. Losing a life also sent you back to the beginning of the current level. Bummer.

The Destrovians were devious though - you would come across booby trapped sections of pipework; bombs would blow you away and mines would decorate the surroundings using our hero's innards as paint.

You started this not quite classic game with a standard blaster as a weapon but this could be upgraded by picking up varying weapons left lying around by previous (and unsucessfull) freedom fighters.

These powerups (in classic arcade game fashion) included a tri-directional blaster, a temporary shield, the aforementioned jet-pack and a poison bomb which would take out all destrovians in the immediate vicinity (think smart bomb).

It was possible to have more than one powerup at one time though - so you could cause a lot of destruction with the jet-pack and tri-blaster.

At the end of each level there was a computer station - and once this had been reached then it was onto the next stage. Completing all ten meant the end of the game - and you were a gun-runing hero. Hooray!

On Release:
It has to be said thsi arcade game was a bit of a let-down when it was released. It's not that it was bad game, far from it in fact. It was the fact that it was an average arcade game (in a shoot em up style), and was not of the high quality everyone had come to expect from Hewson. The look and feel was very much like Uridium (the character set, the monochromatic scrolling backdrops, even the enemy aliens moved in the same pattern as the enemy fighters) - without the overall polish and playability. Gunrunner was a moderate hit but never hit the heights of previous releases by Hewson.

The test of time:
Well Gunnrunner was merely 'pretty good' back then, and today it doesn't really offer anything special. The action is lacklustre and the gameplay is pretty flat. Of course most classic games seems simple by todays standards, but some of them (Uridium included) still have a certain amount of playability inside. Gunrunner does not really 'suck you in'. Worth a luck purely for interest.

Stick to your guns - and play any of the other Hewson classic games.

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: June of 1987
RELEASED BY: Hewson Consultants
DEVELOPER(S): Christian Urquhart and Mike Smith
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Running a gauntlet in Gunrunner... not quite a classic arcade game

Classic Games and Arcade Games

Spectrum Games - Gunstar - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Gunstar
Good old Firebird released budget arcade game shoot em up Gunstar early in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum.

At only £1.99 it represented good value for money - and to be honest for the low price was a pretty decent shooter.

The whole story of the game was a bit of a saga....

If anyone remembers the proposed 'star wars' orbital defence thingy, well in Gunstar a race of aliens had invaded Earth, easily bypassing it. Now every last one of us had been enslaved; the future looked bleaker than a bleak thing from planet bleak... until a final make or break plan was hatched.

A research team had remained hidden from the alien menace and developed a series of (the cool sounding) pulse fighters. An expert team of ace flyers known as the 'Gunstar' pilots were ready to do battle with the aliens and 'hammer punch them back off the planet'. Phew.

So onto this classic budget ZX Spectrum game. Gunstar was a vertically scrolling top down arcade game in the tried and tested tradition. You began with three lives (each life was one of the Gunstar pilots - all of which had their own hobbies and craft type which was shown to you in a neat touch as you began the game).

As you were launched it was straight into battling with alien craft as they swooped across the screen taking pot shots at you. Arcade gamers would be familiar with the almost 'galaxian' style formations and movement of the baddies. Your craft could move left, right, up and down (it was nice and responsive to your movements) and could of course fire (pretty rapidly) lazer pulses which chewed through these invaders with ease.

Once your Gunstar pilot made it through the first wave of fighters it was into an asteroid belt where the idea was to weave and shimmy your way through. Apparently the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1 too. Anyway, for some reason your weapons did not work in this stage of the game, so it was all about reflexes - pah!

Thank goodness we're clear of that asteroid field...

Now that you had expertly weaved your way through the asteroids it was time to take on the enemy command ship in true classic arcade fashion. To defeat it you had to knock out all of it's defences (gun emplacements) - which could take a bit of work. Anyway, now that the command ship was out of the way it was on to an alien robot.

In a twist, this enemy robot was defended by... gun emplacements. Taking all of these out would allow you to rendezvous with the mothership for a quick refueling before blasting off to take on yet more waves of the alien menace.

Oh, and the high score table was pretty humorous too.

On Release:
Gunstar was well received for a budget game when it was released for the ZX Spectrum. At only £1.99 it represented good value - it was a solid enough shooter and was well worth the money. It became a popular budget choice.

The test of time:
Well this arcade game is very simple but strangely quite playable. You would never sit and play it for any length of time but here in the land of Spectrum games we reckon Gunstar is a good way to pass a spare fifteen minutes. One annoying aspect of the game is the fact that sometimes the enemy fighters bullets are difficult to see in amongst the other explosions. This aside, it is one of those 'quite cool' little games that is definately worth a shot.

Give this one a go, but remember, stick to your guns.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Gunstar for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: Early 1987
RELEASED BY: Firebird Software
DEVELOPER(S): Software Creations (Peter Gough)
PRICE: £1.99 - UK

Flying ace Major Lawrence Bartle Frere takes out some alien nasties in Gunstar - a classic arcade game...

Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - The great Escape - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum The Great Escape
The Great Escape was released by Ocean Software in December of 1986 - just in time for Christmas sales and nicely coinciding with the usual TV showing of the movie by the same name over the festive period.

Denton Designs actually authored the game and had already developed a few quality titles for the ZX Spectrum (released through various companies) such as Shadowfire, Gift from the Gods and the arcade conversion of Spy Hunter.


This game had you as a British prisoner of war, planning and performing a daring prison break during World War 2. The prison compound was viewed in what was becoming a tried and tested classic game style of isometric 3D isometric angle.

In what was probably a first for Sinclair ZX Spectrum gaming, on first playing it was a good idea to leave the controls well alone. Your character would go about the daily grind of prison life (of his own accord) with the other prisoners, which would give you an idea of what was going on around the camp.

A normal prison day consisted of mealtimes, roll-call parades and exercise periods, all of which were marked by a bell (which was displayed in the status area of the screen).The bell would ring and a message would be displayed giving updates on events within the camp (thus explaining why the bell was ringing and what 'event' had to be attended).

To the left of the main play there was a flag which acted as the 'morale level' of our hero. Basically, the higher the flag was flying, the higher the morale of your character. For instance, Red Cross parcels arrived in the camp sporadically, and of you managed to collect one your morale level improved.

Morale was lowered if your character was searched (by a prison guard) or arrested. Your morale level also diminished as time elapsed, and if the flag reached the bottom of the pole, you lost the will to rejoin the war and finally resigned yourslelf to life in the camp with the other prisoners. The character was now under computer control, and you had to start a new game. In other words, it was game over.

While the flag was green in colour you had limited control of the hero (who could only be searched by the Camp Commandant). Should any contraband be found, it was off to the cells for a while - so keeping out of the commandant's way was wise. The flag turned red in colour as soon as the you breaked with prison routine and moved to off limits areas. While the flag was red objects could be picked up and dropped, but the would-be escaper was liable to arrest and search by the guards. Oh the dilemma!

The key to the game was establishing the routine of the compound, and once you knew where to go and when you could start to formulate an escape plan. To keep things tough, only two items could be carried by the character, so part of the game was finding safe hiding places to stow away useful items. Any items found by the guards were confiscated and returned to their original locations. You would of got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky guards!

It was possible to outsmart the guards as they adhered to patrol routes with precise timing and movement. They followed the routes regularly - so it waspossible to move around without crossing their line of site and access buildings and areas un-noticed.

At the beginning of the game, the security level was pretty lax - but as the game progressed the security level increased and avoiding detection by the guards became more difficult.
It was possible to wander around at night, but you had to pay heed to the searchlights which would sweep the yard as you would be arrested on site and thrown into the cells.

There were a number of routes to make your escape by such as a tunnel, cutting through the wire fence and even bluffing your way past the sentries at the main gates.

Once you were outside the game was not quite over. If you forgot items such as a compass and papers or you would not make it very far.

On release:
The Great Escape on the ZX Spectrum was praised for it's nicely drawn graphics and different gameplay. The fact that you could enter huts within the camp (where the view would change to the interior of the hut complete with beds, stoves etc) added more locations and realism to the game. With the open-ended nature and almost infinite ways in which to escape Ocean Software had released a title that was definately different. Watching your character at the start go about his daily business and attend roll call, breakfast and so on was quite something. The Great Escape was a huge success and plenty of people had a copy come the end of December. The fact that it was awarded a Crash Smash in the famous Spectrum magazine did it no harm either.

The test of time:
We here in the land of Spectrum games reckon that this classic game still holds some appeal, even today. The style of the game and other in-game characters (moving in real time and showing some 'intelligence') was quite something back then and influenced future titles. The game is quite absorbing and still holds a challenge. This is one classic game for the more thoughtful gamer.

Stick on the movie, grab a baseball and glove and give The Great Escape a go. Watch out for Werner, he's a crazy mixed up kid.

The Great Escape for the ZX Spectrum is worth another look after all these years.

We recommend getting hold of the real Sinclair ZX Spectrum hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download this game. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Real Time Strategy (RTS - Arcade Game)
RELEASE DATE: December of 1986
RELEASED BY: Ocean Software
DEVELOPER(S): Denton Designs
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Our hero goes straight to the slammer in an all time classic game


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Green Beret - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Green Beret
Not quite a shoot em up, more of a stab em up, this classic retro arcade conversion still holds fond memories for many.

Arcade stab em up game Green Beret (also known as Rush 'n attack - notice the play on words?) was released by gaming giants Konami in 1985.

In 1986 it was converted to most home computer formats, and the ZX Spectrum effort was an excellent conversion.

Another of F D Thorpe's excellent loading screens

Imagine software (and programmer Jonathan (Jof) Smith) were onto another winner with their version of the original arcade game.

The game was well received and scored a whopping 88% in Crash magazine.

The game involved taking control of a highly trained soldier, with the objective to rescue some prisoners. This classic arcade game stood out from the crowd slightly because of your characters main weapon being the famous Green Beret knife - although you never did get to stitch your own arm up in a First Blood stylee. There were four stages to fight through (or four levels) which were:

1. A missile base
2. A Harbour
3. An incredibly long military bridge
4. A prison camp

You would begin this arcade game with the usual three lives, and each stage was littered with enemy soldiers, gun weilding commandos, karate specialists, paratroopers, attack dogs and hardpoints such as mortar emplacements.
On top of all of this, there were land mines to avoid too! Make no mistake, this game was tough... but it was beatable if you had the minerals to persevere with it.

Our man is about to take a flying kick to the face

Our hero could move left or right, could jump, could lay flat (handy to avoid incoming fire) and could of course, stab anyone with his trusty blade. As you moved through the levels (nicely scrolling from left to right) you would be swarmed with enemy attackers.

Fortunately, every once in a while a commandant would appear and if you killed him then you would be rewarded with a nice weapon powerup. Depending on the current game level you could be given a flame thrower, some hand grenades, a bazooka etc. It was always handy to make sure you had one of these when you got to the end of the level as there was always truck loads of soldiers, dogs etc to take out.

Plenty of practice was required to make it through to the end of this arcade game - but once you got to know the levels it was possible to run, jump and stab your way through to the end. Extra lives could be earned by scoring points (every 70,000 points yielded another life) - I would say this game was hard - but fair.

On Release:
This classic game was popular in the amusement arcades, and the home conversion was eagerly anticipated. Most Speccy gamers were happy with the conversion, the levels were re-created accurately (with nicely scrolling backdrops), the enemies were all in there (such as dogs, paratroopers etc) and all of the graphics were about as good as you could expect for the era. The price of £7.95 was deemed pretty good value for the title too. It went on to be a big hit.

The test of time:
Well this game is still playable today - it was excellent back then. The ZX Spectrum version is a pretty good rendition of the original arcade game, and it still has that 'one more go' factor. Once again we here in the land of Spectrum Games are amazed at what Jonathan Smith managed to squeeze into 48K of memory. Nice one Jof!

Dig out a bit of Sly from your retro movie collection, and drop a line to Colonel Trautman and give it a go. After all, they drew first blood.

This retro arcade game for the ZX Spectrum is definately worth another look after all these years.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download it for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade game (stab em up?)
RELEASE DATE: April of 1986
RELEASED BY: Imagine Software
DEVELOPER(S): Jonathan Smith (Jof)
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Mart overcomes all takers and takes you on a tour of the first level in one of his all time favourite classic arcade games

Classic Games and Arcade Games