Spectrum Games - Moon Patrol - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Moon Patrol
Another classic arcade game here from waaay back.

Atari's Moon Patrol was popular in the amusement arcades and was eventually converted to the ZX Spectrum by Atarisoft. Despite the game being completed it was never commercially released.

Why it was never released is a mystery to me (if anyone knows can you please tell me?!!), but it's fair to say that this version never managed to capture the playability of the original classic arcade game.

Moon Patrol (the arcade game) was released in 1982. The game is a shmup of the side view, side scrolling variety.

The player controls a moon buggy, viewed from the side, that travels across the rocky surface of the moon. The player 'drives' it, all the while avoiding obstacles such as craters and land mines. You could also fire missiles upwards and forwards to take out any nasties that would get in your way.

You also find yourself being attacked by UFOs from above and tanks on the ground. This game was one of the earliest linear side-scrolling shoot'em ups and the first arcade game to feature parallax scrolling. How's that for a slice of gaming history?

The top portion of the screen displays a timeline-style map of the current sector, and it also displays incoming ariel threats, upcoming minefields and any attacks from the rear.

The map shows five different checkpoints labeled E, J, P, U and Z. In a similar fashion to racing games, the time spent between each checkpoint determines the amount of bonus points you can score.

The objective of the game was to make right through to the end of checkpoint Z - where the game would switch to a more difficult sector. Complete that one and you have finished the game (I think!)

The problem with this conversion is that it moves along far too slowly. The jumping action is okay as it feels almost like lesser gravity, but the scrolling, buggy and nasties move around the screen far too slowly. The Speccy was easily capable of running a good version of this classic game, it really should have been great.

For me I think it is a real pity that later in the Speccy's life, (when programming techniques had improved), someone did not revisit older arcade games like this one. Can you imagine this game implemented with Jonathan Smith's parallax scrolling as seen in Cobra? Awesome it would have been.

All in all this is a below par version of one of my favourite arcade games.

In the meantime here is a nice and playable version for you to enjoy (Thanks to classicgamesarcade.com):

Arcade Games
It could have been some classic arcade action:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Munch Man - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Munch Man
This is a real golden oldie. Pure retro gaming with one of the unofficial versions of Pac Man that made it onto the ZX Spectrum.

This one was programmed by Crash Magazine's very own Derek Brewster, and was released by DK'Tronics in 1983.

There were a lot of Pacman games on the ZX Spectrum, and this one is pretty standard and plays well enough. Crap loading screen though.



Most of the Pacman game features are present: A nice yellow Pacman (or Munch Man) for you to control; four enemy ghosts coloured yellow, green, cyan and magenta, pac-dots, power pellets and a wrap around game screen.

The only thing that seems to be missing is the bonus fruits that Pacman could eat for extra points.

One thing I noticed whilst playing it was the short time that you can eat the ghosts once you have gobbled up one of the power pellets. It is very difficult to eat all four ghosts in one go.

They don't seem to remain in the central ghost pen for very long either!

If you like Pacman then I would say give this one a go. It is not really any worse than the official arcade conversion of Pacman from Atarisoft.

For me you can't beat the original arcade game, and none of the Speccy versions I have played manage to capture the magic completely. Still, for a 1983 game this one ain't bad.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Pacman Game)
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: DK'Tronics
DEVELOPER(S): Derek Brewster
PRICE:£4.95

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Mr Freeze - ZX Spectrum classic game

ZX Spectrum Mr Freeze
This slightly odd platform/arcade game was released for the Speccy by Firebird in 1984.

It sold for £2.50 before being re-released at £1.99 - and was just about worth it. Just.

In the game you played that part of Mr Freeze, a cool customer if ever there was one. Ahem.

The challenge was to de-ice six compartments of a refrigerator using your trusty flame thrower - so the game was spread over a walloping massive six screens!

There were the usual hazards to watch out for in an arcade game based in a fridge. Nasties such as flying food, guardian robots and lasers of course.

Also stationary ice-cubes would prove to be deadly and falling through any gaps in the shelves would take away one of your six lives. Six screens, six lives, you had to stay ice-cool to overcome the excitement in this game...


You could de-ice the compartments in any order you fancied - so it was possible to traverse between the screens, which were linked in tried and tested flick screen fashion.

To de-ice a compartment you had to walk into the De Ice button located at the top of the screen - your flame thrower was actually just used to 'scare away' nasties (it didn't kill them, merely turned them away from you)

The main thing to avoid was the laser which would try and zap you as you climbed any set of stairs. A little tactical thinking was required when planning your route upwards in any of the compartments.

The game would have been decent but for one thing: The controls are more stodgy than my mum's Bolognaise. Getting our hero to jump a gap or move off a ladder is fiddly and usually happens more by luck than judgement. If it wasn't for this the game would be okay - as it stands it was (and still is) a bit of a frozen turkey.

On release:
Well this arcade game did not do Firebird any favours - although they would go on to do better. It was generally regarded back then as poor to average - but the awful controls and low amount of screens made sure it generally recieved a 'cold reception'. Even at £2.50 it was frozen out in favour of other bargain offerings. There were far better platform games you could get for your lolly too.

The test of time:
I did have this back in the day (picked up with my £1.99 pocket money) and managed to complete it despite the crappy controls. I never played it again - and writing this review has brought back all those bad memories. It could have been an okay game - but believe me it isn't. Even the little game over ditty is odd.

It's time to give this game a go for pure nostalgia and laughability. You'll soon see that it's not nICE.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Mr Freeze for the ZX Spectrum if you want to see a poor-ish game. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Platform game)
RELEASE DATE: 1984
RELEASED BY: Firebird Software
DEVELOPER(S): David T Clark
PRICE: £2.50 then £1.99 - UK

Stay cool in some insipid arcade action:

It's game over (thankfully) - hang onto your joystick in this not so classic game:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Marble Madness - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Marble Madness
I tell you what, this retro game takes me back...

Melbourne house had already released the Marble Madness construction kit the previous year, and the full game known as 'the deluxe edition' was released for the ZX Spectrum in May of 1987. Melbourne House kindly included an enhanced version of the construction kit with the game too.



The original arcade game by Atari (released in 1984) had been a huge success with it's unique design, stereo sound and trackball control. It was only a matter of time before it was converted to home machines, and the version for the ZX Spectrum was actually pretty good.

Anyway, in Marble Madness you were basically a heavy metal ball - a marble. Your task in life was to roll around the 3D isometric platform levels of a far distant planet - and basically find your way to the exit.

En-route to your escape you would encounter all manner of villains; fiendish black balls, sweeping brooms, oil slicks and spinning hoops to name but a few.

The game played very nicely on the ZX Spectrum and managed to re-create the 'feel' (gravity and inertia effect) of its arcadian parent, and included all the humps and bumps faithfully from each screen.

The were two main things missing:
The first was the trackball control which did detract slightly from the overall playability. The trackball control had made the arcade game stand out from the crowd with it's novel method of controlling your little ball

The second was the lack of colour on the game screens. The arcade game had been richly soaked in colour but we all know that the humble Sinclair machine just could not handle these sort of graphics in full colour - the moving characters would have been just a little too messy.


Sure enough, Melbourne House sensibly went for the monochromatic look to ensure the playability was kept intact. Once you had played it two or three times you forgot about the lack of colour as the gameplay sucked you in.

Once you got the hang of the controls (simple up, down, left and right) the game really opened up. Playing against the clock, you had to complete each screen before the clock counted down to zero or it was game over.

Colliding with a nasty did not kill you directly - it merely delayed you for a few of those all important seconds.

The game could be completed if you managed to make your way through all of the screens - no mean feat. I never managed it anyway.

On release:
Well this was another arcade conversion that had been hotly anticipated. It did not disappoint on release and the conversion did the original justice within the limitations of the ZX Spectrum. Despite the lack of colour the playability was there and each screen was faithful to the original. Due to it's popularity it was a big hit - even though it retailled at a mega £14.95.

The test of time:
Marble Madness is still playable, still frustrating yet still pretty addictive. It was always pretty simple in concept anyay and stands as a classic of the mid 80's era. You could even say that this classic directly influenced modern hits such as Super Monkey Ball which uses a similar inertia effect and gameplay style in certain stages. Here in Spectrum games we reckon you should play Marble Madness again.

Grab it by the balls and give it a go - the gameplay (and ball play) is still there

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

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

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: May of 1987
RELEASED BY: Melbourne House
DEVELOPER(S):
PRICE: A whopping £14.95

I used to be good at this, honest! Marble Madness is a classic arcade game...


Classic Games and Arcade Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Moon Cresta - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Moon Cresta
I suppose when this game came out in March of 1985 it was already 'old school' then. Does that make this classic ZX Spectrum arcade game old-old school?

Incentive Software (and developers Tim Walter and Philip Taglione) re-created the Nichibutsu arcade original faithfully adding another quality shoot em up to Sinclair's rubber keyed micro.
In true arcade fashion there wasn't really a back story to Moon Cresta, but with action this good you didn't really need one.

The game was a classic arcade shoot em up. Set against a downwards scrolling starfield backdrop you had to blast away at hordes of alien ships. Hordes and hordes of them.

You began Moon Cresta with three lives and in a nice touch each 'life' arrived as part of a three-stage rocket which flew to the top of the screen and then separated.

Your first life was the nose stage of the craft which descended to the lower portion of the screen ready to do battle with the alien menace.

This first stage was armed with a single-firing laser making destroying the alien ships a little tricky with your pea-shooter of a cannon. If you lost that life then the two remaining stages repeat the process leaving you with the middle stage to fight on.


The second and third stages each were armed with dual-firing lasers, which made blasting through the bad guys a lot easier. You could move your craft to the left and to the right along the base of the screen - no up and down movements here.

Various waves of the enemy would swoop in and attack you - some of which would split into a smaller alien when shot once. Another hit would finish them off.

After basting your way through a few waves you were faced with a nice little bonus section (as was usual for arcade games): docking the first stage of your craft with the second stage for bonus points. The bonus was based on the time taken to dock as the top craft slowly descended downwards, wavering around. You had to guide it by the left and right controls and applying thrust (with the fire button) to slow the rate of descent. Basically it was very similar to the arcade classic Moonlander - come in too fast and you blow up. Come in too slow and you'll burn away all of your fuel before you dock. Oh the dilemma!

This bonus sequence was then followed by five waves of 'dancing aliens' which included diagonally opposed asteroids and white blobs that morphed into seeking missiles if they were not destroyed in time. The variety of nasties and the way some of them changed kept the pace of the game red hot.

Depending on how good your skills were it was possibe tp 'earn the right' to fight with either two or three rocket stages together as the speed of the aliens increased.

Prety much the full display area was used to depict the action with score lines superimposed at the top of the screen, just like the arcade original.

On Release:
Well as we have said Moon Cresta was already a little old school, a little retro when it was released in 1985 on the ZX Spectrum - but playability never dies and it was a well liked game by Speccy enthusiasts. Fans of pure shoot em up's loved it as did fans of the arcade orginal. Moon Cresta was a breath of fresh air when it was released and sold well.

The test of time:
As we have already said Moon Cresta was already a little 'old school' when it was released in 1985 - and it is a pure shooter of a game. The graphics were nothing special even back then as the game was all about playability, fast reflexes and a faster trigger finger. For those reasons it hasn't dated too badly at all. Still playable, still fun, Moon Cresta is worth playing all over again.
Nice one Incentive.

Load it up and play it - it's a blast.

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

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: March of 1985
RELEASED BY: Incentive Software
DEVELOPER(S): Tim Walter and Philip Taglione
PRICE: £6.95 - UK

Nice manouvers in Moon Cresta - a very good conversion of the arcade game

ZX Spectrum Games - Missile Defence - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Missile Defence
Our last review (Space Harrier) was of a later arcade conversion developer by Keith Burkhill and this game is yet another great conversion by the same programmer.

An earlier release for the ZX Spectrum, Missile Defence was released in 1983 by Anirog software - and remains probably the best (and unofficial) version of Missile Command available for the Sinclair machine.


The arcade game of Missile Command was originally released by Atari in 1980. Players loved the simplicity of the game and the novel trackball method of controlling the cross-hair.

Needless to say, as well as Space Invaders and Galaxians, Missile Command had to be converted to the home format, and Missile Defence was one of many conversions.

This retro arcade game involved defending a group of cities against ariel bombardment from incoming ballistic missiles and smart bombs. Your six cities (although in this version it seems that you are defending large vehicles) were dotted along the bottom of the screen and you had three missile silos of your own with which to mount your defence.

Each silo contained ten surface to air missiles giving you thirty missiles in total. A cross-hair was displayed on the screen showing where your missile would detonate when fired. As the enemy missiles rained down you would have to position your cross-hair at the nose of each one to destroy them in mid air.

Your surface to air missile would explode and expand out nicely, taking out any missiles which came into it's 'detonation cloud'. It was possible to destroy multiple inbounds that were converging on each other with one well placed shot.

As well as the incoming missiles, aircraft would also fly across the screen dropping even more missiles and sometimes smart bombs. The smart bombs were difficult to destroy and required a direct hit on them to take them out, otherwise they would 'bobble' above your own missiles detonation cloud before continiuing to drop towards the ground.


As you progressed through the game, each level increased in speed with the enemy missiles raining down on you more quickly and in greater numbers than before. Once you got to level 9 the speed of the game was incredible and you would be doing well to survive it at all.

Bonus points were awarded at the end of each level for each 'city' still intact and for any spare ammo you had left over. Bonus cities were awarded for a certain amount of points too, but you were only awarded with one if at least one of your current cities had been destroyed.

Players also had to ensure that their missile silos were not taken out too, otherwise you would have nothing to shoot with and would watch helplessly as the ariel bombardment rained down and wiped out everything on the ground.

Controlling the game was one issue which may have put ZX Spectrum gamers off. Keyboard control was with the dreaded cursor keys (although your trusty reviewer here never had a problem using the cursors) and keys 1,2 and 3 to fire from silo's 1,2 and 3 respectively. Joystick control was somewhat easier, but you always fired from the central silo (number 2) with this particular silo being re-stocked from silo's 1 and 3.

This could leave you at a disadvantage sometimes depending on what area of the screen you were shooting at - so using the keyboard really was the best option for high score seekers.

The game could never be 'completed' and just kept going and going until your poor old trigger finger couldn't keep up anymore. Anything past level 9 on Missile Defence was insanely difficult - it was a case of laying down a blanket of fire and hoping for the best!

On Release:
This arcade game was pretty well received, but 1983 was still the early days for Spectrum gaming. People who did pick it up marvelled at the fast gameplay, the good sound effects, (the missile zapping sound, the explosions and even the 'extra' award were suitably 'arcadey' (and really captured the spirit of the original) and the addictive qualities. Anyone who liked Missile Command would keep coming back for more - it definately had that 'one more go' factor. At £5.95 it was properly priced, and for 16K Spectrum owners it was one of the best titles they could obtain.

The test of time:
Well here in the land of Spectrum Games reckon that this is the best Missile Command conversion for the Spectrum that you can play. It is still very playable and on the later levels is a real challenge. The speed of the game is impressive, and it suffers from very little slowdown at all. The sound effects are great, especially considering the year the game was released. The fact that it could run on a 16K Spectrum makes this game (in our book) a true classic arcade game. Well done to Keith Burkhill and Anirog software.

This classic game (unofficial) is worth another look after all these years.

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

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

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Anirog Software
DEVELOPER(S): Keith Burkhill
PRICE: £5.95 - UK

Mart shows he is still a dab hand with the cursor keys and puts up a valiant fight against the enemy in an excellent version of the classic arcade game:



Arcade Games and Classic Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Manic Miner - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Manic Miner We cannot be covering retro games on the ZX Spectrum without devoting some time to Manic Miner.

A true classic arcade game, this title has achieved cult status over the years, and the name of the games author Matthew Smith is still held in high esteem.

This game can probably be credited for pushing the genre of the platform game into the mainstream home arcade gaming arena.

Inspired by the existing arcade game Miner 2049er , Manic Miner was released in 1983 by Bug Byte software (the game would be re-released later through another company called Software Projects).





This game established Matthew Smith as a fine games developer, and Bug Byte would go on to release some well received titles over the next few years (such as Elevator Action, The birds and the bees and the fine graphical adventure, Twin Kingdom Valley).

But I digress, Manic Miner was an instant hit, and was a must have game when it hit the high street stores.

The aim of the game was very simple: Negotiate your way through 20 levels to complete the game and collect the untold riches that will allow our hero Miner Willy to retire.

On first loading, you knew you were in for a treat when the animated loading screen appeared which was a revelation in itself.

The Blue Danube and piano playing menu screen was quality stuff, even though the rendition of The Blue Danube was, lets say, a bit pants.

In each level you must collect the keys which are placed in awkward positions by jumping over platforms, avoiding obstacles, looking out for collapsing floors and avoiding contact with various nasties which roamed around the screen.

Once all of the keys have been collected the exit portal will flash, allowing you to escape the level and move onto the next one by walking into it. All of this had to be achieved before Miner Willy's air supply ran out which was signified by the air progress bar at the bottom of the screen.

Miner Willy's movement was very simple: walk left, walk right and jump. You could jump straight up by standing still and pressing the jump key, or jump through the air left or right by pressing jump as you were walking.

Some platforms were conveyors so your character would be forced along in one direction as soon as you stepped onto it (a bit like an airport travelator) which would make negotiating certain areas of a screen quite tricky.

Some platforms would begin to collapse as soon as you put a foot onto them, and there were always static hazards to avoid such as poisonous pansies, deadly slime and so on.

Aside of all of this, falling from a great height would also kill our intrepid hero and lose on of your three lives. All of these features were quite something for an arcade game back then!

The levels got more and more tricky the further into the game you progressed, the difficulty arc of the game progressing nicely as you moved through the screens.

Matthew Smith's wacky style of humour was evident throughout the game, with the naming of the levels (such as The Endorian Forest, Amoebatrons Revenge and Eugene's Lair which was named after a co-worker of Matthew Smith who had commented that Manic Miner would probably not be a success) and the style of the nasties which ranged from roaming toilets complete with flipping toilet seats, killer birds in The Menagerie and falling space satellites in the SkyLab landing bay (satire in a computer game - check out SkyLab history).



It was possible to gain extra lives by scoring a certain amount of points (on reaching 10,000 you would get your first extra life if my memory serves me) and the more air you had left at the end of each level would give you more points also.

On Release:
Manic Miner was a modern classic as soon as it was released. Word of mouth soon spread the legend of the Miner, and it sold very very well. The levels were challenging and the game was highly addictive. Touches like the animated loading screen and in game music (in the hall of the mountain king) added to the appeal of the game. Music that played 'while' you played the game was miraculous! Great stuff from Smith. He also thoughfully added the option to turn the music off if it began to grate on your nerves (which it could do after a while). The 'Foot squash' animation once all of your lives had been lost was utter brilliance and was reminicent of Monty Python. The game actually achieved more longevity through the disappearance of Matthew Smith a few years later - the mystery of his whereabouts further appeal to this already classic game(and it's excellent sequel Jet Set Willy).

It should also be noted that there were a few subtle differences between the Bug Byte release and the later Software Projects release, but essentially both releases were the same game.

The test of time:
Well we here in the land of Spectrum Games reckon this game has a certain amount of retro appeal. The playabilty is still there and the levels are challenging. It still requires a little bit of planning to negotiate your way through some of the levels. The humour surrounding the game heightens the retro charm. This is a true classic game for the ZX Spectrum - raise a toast to Matthew Smith folks!

This fine classic 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 Manic Miner for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Platform game Arcade Game)
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Bug Byte then later on Software Projects
DEVELOPER(S): The legendary Matthew Smith
PRICE: £5.95 - UK?

Miner Willy meets his doom and is squashed to a pulp in a Pythonesqe way in perhaps the most classic arcade game on the Spectrum:


Classic Games Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games