Spectrum Games - Kung Fu Master - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Kung Fu Master ZX Spectrum
Argh! And I'm not making any martial arts type noises there either.

This ZX Spectrum version of the classic arcade game was released by US Gold in 1986. It turned out to be completely shit.

The arcade game had been a huge hit, and conversions to pretty much all of the home computers of the era was pretty much guaranteed.

Many conversions of arcade originals or movie tie-ins tended to be quick rush jobs intended to cash in on their popularity; alas this game turned out to be one of those.

The Loading Screen Is As Good As It Gets

The thing about this game is the fact that it was pretty limited and repetitive, mainly because there were only two attacking moves to make (punch and kick), as well as jump and duck. The arcade version got away with it due to it's colourful graphics, decent sound effects, excellent backing music and fast paced action.

The Spectrum version, despite being released in 1986 just reeks of 1983. The scrolling, the graphics, the animation, the collision detection... all were unacceptable by 1986.

There is little playability in here and using your punches and kicks is an exercise in guesswork.

Stay Back Or I Will Blind Your Eyes With Crappy Graphics

In a deviation for the original the screen uses the flick-scroll method to move the action along, whereas the arcade version used continues push scrolling.

On top of all of this the in-game music is absolute torture - and I mean torture. I think the developers must have realised how bad the game was and just stuck it in there for a laugh or a distraction. It is even worse than listening to a Celine Dion album on endless repeat - that's just how bad the in-game music is.

All in all this game is a load of old cack. Anyone who played it back then will probably still shudder at the thought of it. Nice loading screen though.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum Emulator and download anything but Kung Fu master! Alternatively you could try and play something else online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Beat Em Up)
RELEASE DATE: 1986
RELEASED BY: US Gold
DEVELOPER(S): David J Anderson (loading screen by F David Thorpe)
PRICE: £7.95 -UK

Quick cash-in conversions are the order of the day....

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Krakout - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Krakout
The Spectrum went through a spate of breakout clones, and this was yet another one from the folks that brought us the likes of Trailblazer and Avenger.

Okay, so it's basically Breakout or Arkanoid except turned on it's side. Here you bat from either side of the screen rather than the bottom. One cool feature of the game was the fact that you could select to bat on the left hand or right hand side at the beginning of the game.


You could also select from six 'speeds' of play which added a little variety to the gameplay. The highest speed was only humanly possible if you'd drank 2 litres of Jolt Cola.

There was some real 'clutching at straws' back story about an 'awesome ogre' who had to be defeated, but we won't even go there.

So we've got coloured blocks, a bat and a ball. Time for some classic arcade action. Game on.


As usual for an Arkanoid type game there were various powerups and block behaviour within the game.

For example some bricks when hit rolled over to reveal bonuses. Bonuses that could be got included:

Glue: The Ball sticks to the bat
Bomb: There is a massive explosion destroying adjacent blocks (wo-hoo!)
Shield: Makes a barrier appear behind you (nice)
Missile: Gives you one missile to fire (not very exciting)
Slow down: Slows the ball down slightly (handy)
Times two: Doubles scoring (More precious points)
Double bat: Gives you another bat in front of your present bat. (super!)
Extra man: Gives you an extra life
Expand: Makes your bat expand (no dodgy comments please)

Aside from all this you had the blocks that took multiple hits to destroy and the aliens floating around the screen which could divert the path of the ball if struck by it.

If you like Arkanoid then you will probably like this game. It's easy to pick up and play, the graphics are okay for the era and the controls are responsive enough. The fart noise that accompanies the destruction of an alien becomes a tad annoying after a while though.

On release:
Well this game perhaps came at a time when us ZX Spectrum gamers were becoming a little fed up with Breakout type games. I remember Crash magazine gave it less than favourable review - but this was a rare occasion where I didn't really agree with them. At only £4.99 this game represented great value for money and was a playable Arkanoid type variant. It ended up being a reasonable hit for Gremlin Graphics.

The test of time:
This classic game is easy to get into, playable and you know what you are getting. Not a bad way to pass half an hour and to be fair this game hasn't aged too badly at all.

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

GENRE: Arcade game (Breakout Clone)
RELEASE DATE: 1987
RELEASED BY: Gremlin Graphics
DEVELOPER(S):Rob Toone, Andy Green, Greg Holmes, Ben Dalglish, Marco Duroe
PRICE: £4.99 - UK

Classic arcade action in this breakout variant:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Kong Strikes Back - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Kong Strikes Back ZX Spectrum
An earlier game from Ocean Software which was obviously inspired by the arcade games Kong and Mr Do's Wild Ride.

This game was released on the ZX Spectrum early in 1985 - and was a pretty good twist on the platform genre. As usual, the mighty Kong had kidnapped yet another damsel in distress and it was up to you to rescue the fair maiden. All done against the clock of course.

This time though the setting was a fairground, with Kong and the damsel perched atop a rollercoaster type structure.

Why were damsels always in distress in 80's computer games?

Anyway, just like the classic arcade game the beast would roll things towards you, in this case he would hurtle rollercoaster cars along the tracks which took one of your four lives if they hit you.

You had a limited number of bombs which could destroy a coaster-car, but could only be used when you were standing on a 'flat' section of the track. Luckily there were ladders dotted around the track which you could use to evade the oncoming cars and conserve your ammo. Timing your movements around the track was the key to success.


You had to follow the 'track' from the bottom to the top, your little character moving smoothly and following the track lines well.

If you avoided the roller-cars and made it to the top the maiden was rescued, and you were awarded bonus points for the amount of time you had left to spare. There were also bonus items to collect which boosted your score, and you could gain extra lives by racking up a lot of points.

There were four screens to play through and once you had completed the fourth you were sent back to the beginning with the difficulty increased and more nasties to contend with.

On Release:
This game was a moderate hit for Ocean and was generally well recieved. Spectrum gaming magazine Crash awared it an overall score of 73% - pretty good. Fans of Kong and Mr Do enjoyed it as it was playable and the keyboard response was good - which is essential in this type of game.

The test of time:
Well this was a pretty good arcade type game on the ZX Spectrum and still plays quite well today. Your character moves very well over the rollercoaster tracks and once you get the hang of it running up and down the ladders is quite fun. If you like Kong or Mr Do then you can't go far wrong.

It also reminds me a little of Gilligan's Gold - another earlier game from Ocean I quite like.

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

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

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: February 1985
RELEASED BY: Ocean Software
DEVELOPER(S): Jonathan Smith, Nigel Alderton, F David Thorpe PRICE: £6.90

The Spectrum Gamer strikes back - the first two screens of arcade action:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Kokotoni Wilf - ZX Spectrum classic game

ZX Spectrum Kokotoni Wilf
Ahhh now this is a slightly lesser known gem. Kokotoni Wilf was a slightly unusual arcade game from Elite software (who had just changed their name from Richard Wilcox software). It was released for the ZX Spectrum in October of 1984.

Anyway, in Wilf you played the winged hero in this 63 flick screen 'platform game'.

Apparently several hundred years ago in a province of Northern Europe there lived a 'Great Magician' (Derren Brown?) who discovered that there had once existed a Dragon Amulet. Fragments of this amulet had been scattered throughout time.

Wilf Gets 'Koky'

The Great Magician wanted to recover all of the fragments but by the time he had discovered it's existence he was too old to undertake the mission himself - a bit of a downer. So he summoned his athletic protege, (Kokotoni Wilf - you), gave him a pair of wings and sent him off in search of the fragments. Let the wing-flapping adventure commence!

You began the game more than 500 million years ago (when Dinosaurs roamed the earth).

The object of the game was to search for the various pieces of the amulet, which resembled glowing Stars of David (63 pieces in total - one on each screen) and when all the pieces had been collected from one time zone, the Magician had enough magical power to create a flashing timegate which you could enter to travel to the next time zone.

There were six periods in history to visit - each having roughly ten screens to fly through. The periods were: 965BC, 1066, 1467, 1784, 1984 and 2001

Welcome To Jurassic Park

As Kokotoni Wilf you could fly around the levels which were populated by scenery and creatures from the era you were in. You had to avoid dinosaurs, poisonous plants, warriors with longbows etc etc.

What is quite funny now is when you get the 'future' of 2001 the screens are filled with space shuttles, satellites and so on. How far and distant the year 2001 seemed back in 1984. Well unfortunately we're still in petrol cars and no-one has invented anti-grav boots yet!

The amulet pieces were located in tricky to reach places (well as the game progressed they were) and sometimes you had to make Wilf 'hover' before making a quick move to make your way past a nasty. When you didn't press the 'fly' key Wilf would descend downwards until he hit solid ground - so you had to tap the fly key to keep him airborne and level. A similar method would be used later on in the arcade game Airwolf.

The game was over when you gathered all 63 pieces (not easy!) - and Elite actually offered the first 100 gamers to finish it a copy of their next release which was 'The Fall Guy'. I think that game turned out to be a bit of dud actually.

On Release:
Well this game was set to take on the mighty Jet Set Willy - a flick screen arcade game with roughly the same amount of screens. The fact that you could fly added a different slant to the platform genre. It wasn't quite as playable as Matthew Smith's classic game - but it was a good game in it's own right. Kokotoni Wilf was a fairly big hit and put the name 'Elite' into the minds of ZX Spectrum gamers.

The test of time:
Well Kokotoni is a bit of a cult classic game in the realm of Spectrum Games. It's quite easy to get into but get's really difficult as you progress. Not bad and a testament to the time it was created.

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

Be Wilf-ful and play it!

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

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: October 1984
RELEASED BY: Elite
DEVELOPER(S): Elite
PRICE: £5.95 - UK

Flap away with Kokotoni Wilf - a neat twist on the platform arcade game genre:


Wilf goes further and further in this classic arcade game:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games