Spectrum Games - Odyssey 1 - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Odyssey 1 ZX Spectrum
This classic game is a real golden oldie from good old Perfection Software who comprised of duo Tim Williams and Chris Jones, who were also responsible for other great games such as Fahrenheit 3000, Blockbusters and Turtle Timewarp.

You may remember we managed to Catch up with Chris Jones about three years ago who gave us many fascinating insights into the ZX Spectrum gaming scene at the time.

This is a real old school arcade game from the early days of the machine that still has an air of simple playability to it, even after all these years.

Check out the retro loading screen

There was an actual backstory to this game which went along the lines of...
Two warring planets named Panos and Riggos.

After a period of relative peace it turns out that Riggos has been making preparations for a final, all-out attack on Panos. Now it is the duty of Algorth, (an incredible fighting man-machine) to protect the Star-gate, situated just outside the atmosphere of Panos, as this vortex of four quadrants will be where the Riggosians launch their attacks!

Mopping the sweat from my brow as I type....   :-)

It is likely that Riggos will first strike with the dreaded Blind Mutons, sound-sensitive creatures that destroy everything that moves! Algorth must totally annihilate this first wave in order to have sufficient time to return to Panos to take command of Odyssey 1, a mobile battle station.

The awesome Astro-fleet will arrive all too soonafter the Mutons. You must take great care, for every ship that is destroyed utilises a re-energy conversion technique which changes the wreckage into a deadly regenerating missile aimed directly at Odyssey 1!

But even if the Astro-fleet is destroyed, you cannot rest easy as the Riggosians will themselves come to Panos.

These desperate pterodactyl-like creatures of incredible ferocity are to be feared most of all. No-one has ever faced the Riggosians before...

It looks simple but it plays nicely

As you can probably tell from the back story this, classic game is a three-part mixture of arcade games which is enough to test the skills and reflexes of most shoot em up freaks.

Phase 1 is very similar to the arcade classic Berserk, with your man battling it out four rooms filled with aggressive robots. He can move in any direction with rotational controls, go forward and fire up or down at will.

Completing this screen plonks you in an Arcadia type situation where wrap around squadrons of alien ships fly overhead dropping missiles on you. Once dropped, the missiles also wrap around vertically, gradually filling the screen with alien ordinance!

Screen 3 pits you against those pesky pterodactyl-like creatures which swoop down towards you (rather nicely for a 1983 game I might add).

Beat these dudes and the battle is won!

On Release:
The general feeling was that this was a surprisingly difficult and addictive game to play. The graphics lacked size and detail but the machine code programming (remember this is 1983) allowed everything work extremely well. The game-play flowed along nicely and the small sprites moved around the screen smoothly

The Test Of Time:
Well this really is one of those oldies that just oozes charm in spades. As a fan of both Arcadia and Berserk this game hits the spot for me. Really simple, really old school, really playable.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Odyssey1 for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Perfection Software
DEVELOPER(S): Tim Williams, Chris Jones
PRICE: £5.50 - UK

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Out Run - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Out Run ZX Spectrum
Ahhh now this is one the most iconic arcade games of all times. Who else can remember the thrill of sitting in the Out Run cabinet, the 3D graphics racing towards you and Magical Sound Shower pumping in your ears?

Out Run (by Sega) was a fantastic beat the clock arcade racing game, and a conversion to the ZX Spectrum was always on the cards. But could such a large and graphically intensive game be converted to the Speccy? Well, yes is pretty much the answer.

Out Run was released by US Gold in 1987 and was met with a mostly positive reception. I'll get this out of the way first; the Spectrum 128 (or +2 and +3) versions were superior to the standard 48K version, due to the excellent in game sound track. A fine example of great AY Music.

Having the same music as the arcade original really enhanced the gameplay. Aside from this the versions were essentially the same.

Out Run Music:


For anyone that has been living in another dimension since 1986, here is a little overview of the game...

Out Run placed you in the driving seat of a Ferrari Testarossa convertible with a stunning blonde in the passenger seat (female players had to pretend it was a right-hand-drive vehicle ;-)), to race around a series of tracks at breakneck speed.

As you neared the end of a track (assuming you did not run out of time) then you would take the left or right fork to move onto the next track - each one branching into a different area.

As soon as you loaded the game up it was obvious that the programmers, (Probe Software), had pulled out all the stops to to reproduce the original as fully as possible. Graphically it was pretty much all in there. To be fair the graphics were excellently drawn and true to the original, despite the monochromatic colours (understandable on the Speccy).

What was good about the game was that it 'felt' like Out Run - all of the trackside scenery was in place, the bends, the road undulations - it was all true to the original arcade version. The only downside was that the Speccy version could not match the speed or smoothness of the Sega machine, but let's be honest here, there was no way that it ever could.

Kudos goes to the developers for squeezing so much into so little. A bit like Space Harrier, they managed to give us the best version we could have hoped for.

On Release:
Well when Out Run came out, some seemed to love it, some seemed disappointed. Some loved the detailled graphics and the fact that the tracks were recreated faithfully, some did not like the slow pace of the game which did not match the original. The game did well and fans of the arcade game snapped up the home version.

The Test Of Time:
In a strange way this game still plays quite well. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the original game - but even after all these years there is something about it. Load it up, give it a go and let the magical sound shower wash your troubles away...

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

GENRE: Arcade Game (3D Racer)
RELEASE DATE: 1987
RELEASED BY: US Gold
DEVELOPER(S): Probe Software (Iain Morrison, Alan Laird, Nick Bruty, Jas Brooke)
PRICE: £8.99 - UK (£2.99 budget re-release)

Classic Arcade Action (Level One):


Classic Arcade Action (Level Two):

Spectrum Games - On The Run - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum On The Run
Design Design were one of those companies who released solid games and were well known for their sense of humour.

On The Run was released for the ZX Spectrum in September of 1985 and was well recieved by us demanding Speccy gamers.

This game was yet another (quality) flick screen arcade adventure game for the Spectrum that was actually quite large and complex (it boasted a whopping 300 screens in total!)

Rick Swift Is 'On The Run'

You played the part of Rick Swift (Another classic 80's name!) - a do-gooding character if ever there was one. This time though you had taken on something a little too dangerous.

You had accepted a task from the Defence Department to clean up an area that had become contaminated by a spillage of some rather nasty chemical weapons. Plants and wild life had suffered from the effects of the chemicals and mutated into strange new people eating life-forms. Time for a spot of classic gaming.

Running round the contaminated zone (I wanna go to The Island!) you had to cope with the angry mutations which included anything from giant mushrooms to chomping jaws.

You had been equiped with a suit which protected you from the effects of the chemicals in the contaminated zone. A jet pack allowed you to zip around at speed - and speed was of the essence in this classic game.

To complete the game you had to collect six flasks in a time limit of 1 hour (otherwise they would degrade beyond repair and it was adios muchachos).

The suit had the usual energy level which was drained whenever you came into contact with one of the mutations and which could be restored by collecting certain powerups. If the suit energy reached zero then it was game over.

Check out the flora and fauna

There were lots of weird and wonderful objects lying around the game screens. Generally they produce one of four outcomes:

Death, more energy, instant transport to another zone or... absolutely nothing at all.

The mushrooms seemed to be the best and safest source of energy but for everything else you just had to experiment. As far as creatures went it was best to shoot everything in sight (you were armed) as almost everything was deadly.

To make life a little easier you may just discover a few smart bombs which were littered around the place. These were very useful for clearing areas chock-full of mobile mutants.

As we already know, the maze was very large (300 screens was very impressive) and was divided into a number of sections. You could only move from one section to another if you had collected one particular object from the area you were currently in.

Above the main display a bar graph showed you the condition of your suit, along with a timer that counted down to degredaton hour! Any smart bombs collected were also shown and there were some 'empty slots' to be filled with collected flasks.

You scored points for killing the mutants - but Design Design left out a high score table (they probably ran out memory which isn't surprising considering the game was so massive).

On release:
Design Design games were usually well anticipated - and this one was no exception. It was well recieved by us Spectrum gamers and was a big hit in 1985. Fans of this genre loved the massive playing area, large colourful graphics and problem solving elements.

The test of time:
On The Run is still a nice enough game with plenty of screens to explore. It does get a little repetetive after a while though and only the most determined of players would see it through to the end. Still, here in Spectrum Games we must put it down as a classic arcade adventure that happens to have a crappily named central character!

Go for a run and give it a go.

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

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

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: September of 1985
RELEASED BY: Design Design
DEVELOPER(S): Graham Stafford and Stuart Ruecroft
PRICE: £6.90 - UK

Rick Swift goes On The Run - a slightly different arcade game:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Operation Wolf - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Operation Wolf
When this came out for the ZX Spectrum late in 1988 conversions of arcade games were still popular.

The original arcade game by Taito had been more popular than harsh language in a Tarantino flick - with gamers loving the pseudo 3D viewpoint and control via the force feedback cabinet mounted uzi.

The arcade game (at the time) featured state of the art graphics (large animated enemy soldiers, helicopter, tanks etc) and superb sterio sound. Couple this with the actual uzi machine gun you used to play it with and you were onto a winner.

Converting such a game to an 8-bit machine was never going to be easy - Ocean software stepped up to the task.

There was no way that you could replicate the large full colour graphics on the hunble Speccy, so Ocean decided to go for the monochromatic look - and it ended up working pretty well.

The game began with you (a double-hard crack commando) being parachuted into hostile territory to locate an enemy concentration camp and free the captives. You began the game with seven clips of ammunition and five grenades - so straight away you had to get used to short controlled bursts.

The mission was split into six sections (divided into three loads on the 48K version and one huge load on the 128K version). It should be noted that the 128 version featured better music and sound effects as you would expect.

The sections were: Communication Setup, Jungle Area, Jungle Village, Powder Magazine, The Concentration Camp and finally the Airport. On each level the landscapes slowly panned from right to left before you in first-person perspective as looked down your gun-sights (represented by a cross-hair).

As the game landscape scrolled before you soldiers parachute downwards or ran into the action firing away at you, whilst helicopters, boats and tanks also arrived to make things really interesting.

Vehicles required a barrage of shots to be destroyed - but could be taken out in one go with one of your precious grenades. The characters from the arcade game were re-created pretty faithfully - those huge Schwarzenegger type badguys who appeared right in front of you were even included.

On later levels some enemies wore kevlar jackets and had to be hit in the head to dispatch them. Also requiring fast reactions were the daggers and grenades lobbed at you, these could be shot out of the air to prevent them from reducing your energy.

To the side of the playing screen was the ammo counter, a damage meter and three icons. The latter told you how many men, tanks, boats and so on had to be destroyed before the current level was cleared.

Extra ammo and grenades were available (by shooting them as they appeared on-screen) and a power up was available which gave you double rapid fire and unlimited bullets for around ten seconds.

There were also items which would reduce your damage by a few points - which could make all the difference in completing a level.

Apart from human targets various animals appeared (like birds and pigs) from time to time and shooting them would occasionally give you an item of food to boost your energy or extra ammunition. Shooting any prisoners, villagers, nurses etc took a fair bit of your energy away - so you needed to be accurate in your shooting.

On release:
Well Op Wolf was a mega-popular arcade game and the home versions were hotly anticipated. In keeping with the arcade game the ZX Spectrum version also supported the Magnum Phaser light gun in an attempt to re-create that arcade feel. It wasn't quite as good as the uzi - but it wasn't bad. Playing with the keyboard was still pretty good as your cross hair was responsive and accurate. Ocean managed to capture that playability (it was a mindless shoot em up at heart really!) well and Operation Wolf turned out better than most people expected.

The test of time:
Well Op Wolf always was a simple game based on rapid action and accurate shooting. I've played it a fair bit lately (the 128 version) and you know it's not bad. The screen only suffers from slow-down when things get really really busy - and it does remind me of the original arcade version. It can keep you occupied for half an hour anyway. The only thing missing in the ZX Spectrum conversion is the cut-scenes - but it's not such as great loss.

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

Ok that's it, I am finished...... here.

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: End of 1988
RELEASED BY: Ocean
DEVELOPER(S): Andrew Deakin, Ivor Horn and Jonathan Dunn
PRICE: £8.95 Cassette or £14.95 Disk - UK

Wreaking havoc in Operation Wolf - classic arcade game action:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games