Spectrum Games - Santa's Xmas Caper - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Santa's Xmas Caper ZX Spectrum
Well there is only five days to go until we can unwrap our pressies on Christmas morning before getting stuck into far too much food and drink.

So in the spirit of things I have decided to take a look at a classic game I actually never played back in the day; Santa's Xmas Caper.

Released in 1991 by Zeppelin Games LTD this is from the twilight era of ZX Spectrum gaming, as by this point most of us had switched to a 16-bit machine.

Looking at it you would never guess though; you would be forgiven for thinking this was an effort from 1982 or 1983. Yep, it really is that much of a turkey.

The whole 'plot' revolves around Santa's Christmas pudding which has been spiked by some evil pixies. The jolly rouge one has to go and recover from said pudding and is in no fit state to pilot the sleigh. Believe me you will have to recover from playing this game too - it will still haunt you well into new year.

Ho Ho 'crap game for Christmas' Ho

Anyway, Santa is out of action so this is where you (the player) comes in, for just one day you'll have to take over and make sure that all of the kids presents are delivered on time.

In classic gaming style there are three levels to get through before you can go home, put your feet up and tuck into a mince pie and a large drop of advocaat.

First up is Lapland; You've got to pick up the sleigh and get all those lovely gifts delivered. But... Those pixies are still feeling a bit evil and they have amassed a stockpile of toy trains and trumpets to throw at you. (honest!)

Get past this and you will be flying over the Atlantic where you meet up with a few scientists who don't believe in Santa. Thinking you to be some sort of alien, they try to take you out with death-rays. All nice and Christmassy so far.

It's trippy alright. Check out those crap graphics...

During play you should collect all the little Santas and glasses of wine that fly by. These are presents and in the final level you have to drop them down various chimneys. Ho hum it's full of festive fun.

Except it isn't. This is one of the laziest pieces of programming on the Speccy I have ever seen. The graphics are disproportioned and laughable, the gameplay is mind-blowingly awful and it will leave you cursing the most wonderful time of the year.

To top it all off they couldn't even get the music in tune. Unforgiveable, and it's a bog standard beeper effort too.

All in all I would say this is one to avoid. Do not ruin any part of Christmas by playing this game.

Cheers all and Merry Christmas!

Santa goes on his caper, the poor bugger:

Classic Games, Arcade games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Steel Eagle - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Steel Eagle ZX Spectrum
This game is a lesser known title from Players Premier Software which was released towards the end of the Spectrum's life in 1990.

It is a classic arcade game that borrows a lot from the likes of Nemesis and R-Type and is one I never ever played back in the day.

So after having a go on it now I reckon it's a playable shmup that is pretty addictive. I'm still not very good at it though!

There don't seem to be any reviews of this game by the likes of Crash Magazine or Sinclair User - so I don't even know how the game was rated back in 1990.

It is the usual horizontal from right to left scrolling type deal with nasties to destroy and scenery to avoid crashing into. The scenery scrolls by very smoothly I must add, even if it is single layer scrolling only. This does not detract from the arcade action in any way.

Some nasties when shot release a token which can be collected to powerup your little craft with rear firing shots, more powerful guns, speed boosts etc etc...

This game also features some great AY Music on the title screen and it is also very well presented overall with cool rolldown effects on the menu screen and high score table.

The in-game sound effects are far too sparse and some meaty explosions or even a looped tune would have gone a long way to adding some atmosphere to the proceedings. Still, this is a playable arcade game that I like a lot.

If you like Nemesis and games of that ilk then you should give this one a go. The Speccy version of Nemesis was never ever good enough anyway - this game is a far more polished effort.

It retailled at only £2.99 too which was great value for an arcade game of this quality.

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

GENRE: Arcade Game (Shoot em up)
RELEASE DATE: 1990
RELEASED BY: Players Premier Software
DEVELOPER(S): Andrew Severn, Simon Hobbs, Martin Severn, Sonic Graffiti
PRICE: £2.99 - UK

Classic Arcade Action:

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Silkworm - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Silkworm
The 'prequel' to arcade classic game SWIV (which I looked at last week - check out SWIV ZX Spectrum) was a very good conversion of the popular arcade game by Tecmo in 1988.

Once again I am looking at the ZX Spectrum version (emulated on a +2 machine with AY sound) and the Commodore Amiga version at the same time - see my Amiga Games blog if you want to compare them for yourself.

Anyway, arcade conversions were all the rage on the Speccy, and to be fair this was a good conversion of a game that was way beyond our beloved 8-bit hardware...

As most of you will know the coolest aspect of the game was being able to play as a helicopter or a jeep (more difficult) and also the two player co-op mode, with one player choosing a vehicle each.

The game featured decent enough scrolling (although we had seen better with the likes of Green Beret, Hysteria, Uridium and Cobra) and to be fair the sprites matched up to the arcade version about as well as could be expected on the Spectrum.

All of the classic arcade game features are in here: large bosses to overcome, weapons powerups, enemies that would 'pop up' and surprise you... the list goes on.

The dual fire was especially great for wiping out hordes of bad guys, the heli and jeep could cut a swathe through the enemy targets with ease.

The sounds effects (on the AY chip) were decent enough and suited the game nicely.

As you progressed through the game the background scenery did not change a great deal - it was the ground that the jeep rolled over that was altered on each level. I suppose the developers were limited and concentrated on gameplay - I can understand why.

The enemy sprites changed as the game progressed though giving the game some degree of variety. The game did have the 'self assembling' enemy helicopter (that was pretty damn cool in the arcade game) which could be destroyed for weapons powerups.

Playing as the helicopter was generally regarded as being easier than playing as the jeep as the latter would have to destroy or jump over obstacles in it's path.

Also, when playing in two player co-op mode each player had to 'cover' the other which made the gameplay more interesting and imposed a small tactical element to the proceedings.

For instance the helicopter could only fire forwards, so the jeep would have to cover the rear with it's swiveling gun turret. However, when covering the rear the jeep was vulnerable from frontal attacks, so the helicopter would then have to provide covering fire for it.

Saving your best pal was a great laugh and almost made you feel like a combat expert. :-)

All in all Silkworm is a true classic arcade game that was converted very well to the Speccy when you consider the hardware. For me there are better scrolling shooters to play, but it is still a good example of how to develop a horitzontal shooter correctly.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Side Scroller)
RELEASE DATE: 1989
RELEASED BY: Virgin Games
DEVELOPER(S): Random Access
PRICE: £9.99 - UK (£2.99 on re-release)

Classic Arcade Action:

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - SWIV - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

SWIV ZX Spectrum
Now this is a classic arcade shoot em up across a variety of retro computers.

I am looking at the ZX Spectrum version and the Commodore Amiga version at the same time here - have a look at my Amiga Games blog to make the comparison yourself - the article is at SWIV Amiga.

The Spectrum was treated to this in 1991 - the twilight years of the machine. This classic game proved that there was a little life left in the old dog as it tried it's best to keep up with the 16-bit powerhouses that were now the gaming hardware of choice...

This game was the follow up to the reasonable popular arcade game Silkworm, which was again regarded a classic title for the Amiga, and a 'good' game for the Speccy. I reckon that this beats the arcade conversion of Silkworm in terms of graphics and playability.

Once the game was loaded up you were treated to a nice piece of menu music (especially if you had a Spectrum 128)

The nice AY music on the games menu:

So, this game was of the tried and tested top down vertical scrolling variety and one that played along quite nicely.

In case you are or were wondering back in the day, SWIV stood for Special Weapons Interdiction Vehicle and allowed you to play as a helicopter gunship or as a fully armoured battle tank. Most players tended to go for the heli option.

Each vehicle had it's own advantages and disadvantages.
For example the copter did not have to avoid any ground based obstacles but could only fire in the direction it was flying (forwards).

The tank could crash into pot-holes and buildings, but you could rotate it's field of fire. Super duper!

It could also jump over some of the ground based obstacles - but you had to watch for jumping into enemy air units.

The graphics in this game could in no way match those of the Amiga. The developers rightly went for a monochromatic look allowing decent sized sprites to scrolled smoothly across the game zone and gun emplacements to pop up sneakily from the ground.

Tall buildings cast shadows on the ground giving the game a nice sense of depth but unfortunately enemy air units did not come complete with shadows.

All in all the graphics and sound effects were functional and allowed the game to move along smoothly and most important be playable.

The game was further enhanced by the two player option. With one as the heli and the other as the tank it was great fun blasting away at the bad guys, plotting your route as you went.

The usual arcade game power ups were there to be had such as triple fire, shields, multi-cannons and so on.

On Release:
This game was highly anticipated prior to release. It was nearly up there with the 16-bit versions but just fell short. Just. Still, it was a very playable and worthwile shmup. Arcade gamers loved it and rightly so. It was a big hit for the ZX Spectrum in it's later years.

The Test Of Time:
I have to say playing this one again was a lot of fun. It's still playable and challenging and is up there with the better shoot em ups on my beloved Speccy. Simple to pick up and play, SWIV is classic gaming from the early 90's.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download SWIV for the ZX Spectrum. You may even be able to play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1991
RELEASED BY: Storm Software
DEVELOPER(S): Ken Murfitt, Tahir Rashid, Steve Snake
PRICE: £10.99 - UK

Classic Arcade Action:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Spy Hunter - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Spy Hunter ZX Spectrum
The famous Bally Midway arcade game was converted to the ZX Spectrum by Denton Designs and released by US Gold back in 1985.

The arcade game had been really popular and we were treated to a decent version on the good old Speccy.

In the game you play the part of a world class spy, driving for your life in a snazzy bondesque turbo-charged and armed sports car. The road is crawling with enemy agents bent on your destruction.

You had to manoeuvre your car along the road ways and water ways (where it would convert into a speedboat) watching out for the Road Lord, the Switch Blade, the Enforcer and many other enemies.

The arcade action began with the Weapons Van rolling up from the bottom of the screen and stopping at the shoulder of the road. Your car would then roll out of the back, prepped with fully loaded machine guns.

Your car could be moved left and right as well as forwards (accelerate) and backwards (which could be used to come to a standstill).

The game was a vertically scrolling romp, with the road weaving and forking as you blasted and rammed your way through the enemies.

What was cool about the game was the varying weapons at your disposal. Not only could you blast the bad guys with machine guns, you could also power up with rocket launchers, oil slicks and smoke screens. Muhahahaaa!

If all else failed you could try and ram or nudge the bad guys into the road edge, disposing of them nicely.

The terrain changed too as you traversed the course. As the game moved on you were eventually given the chance to drive into a waterway. Here your car entered a boathouse and automatically became amphibious, skimming along the surface of the water with ease.

Now it was time for waterborne arcade action as you battled away against enemy speedboats et al.



Every now and again the weapons van would appear on the roadway, ready to supply you with weapons power ups. To gain the power up you had to drive into the van by moving behind it and driving up the rear ramp to get on board. Once you had been powered up you would then roll out the back and the game would continue.

There were plenty of different enemies to dispose of (in classic arcade fashion), each one with different strengths and weaknesses:

The 'Road Lord' was bulletproof and had to be rammed off the road
The 'Switch Blade' had nasty extended buzz-saw hubcaps to slice you up nicely
The 'Barrel Dumper' dumped barrels in water ahead of you, sneaky b*stard
The 'Enforcer' fired a powerful shotgun
The 'Mad Bomber' aimed bombs at you
The 'Doctor Torpedo' unsurprisingly tried to torpedo your ass into oblivion...

All of this aside running off the road or water caused you to crash and lose a life...

On release:
Well the arcade game was a huge hit so the converion was eagerly awaited. We were glad to get a nice conversion of the game (Crash Magazine awared it Smash status) and not a quick cash in. I suppose it could have been better with some improved sound effects and smoother scrolling, but overall it was playable, fun and addictive. It did well on the Spectrum and was a big hit.

The test of time:
This classic game is still quite fun in a quirky way. Picking up the different weapons does not have the wow factor it did back then, but you know what, it plays quite well and brings back the nostalgia nicely. Not bad at all.

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: 1985
RELEASED BY: US Gold
DEVELOPER(S): Denton Designs and F David Thorpe
PRICE: £7.95

Classic arcade action...


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Star Trader - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

ZX Spectrum Star Trader
This classic game was a space trade em up released for the ZX Spectrum by good old Bug Byte software in 1984. They actually had the gall to call it 'The highest plateau yet reached in Spectrum software'!

Now it was a decent enough computer game, but the highest plateu? Not quite...

On start up you would 'enter a galaxy more complex and enthralling than any previously experienced.'

As you may have guessed, the game was in the 'Elite' mould (and came well before that landmark game on the Speccy) and you had to trade, fly and shoot your way around eight planets.

The game switched between wandering around the planets surface buying and selling goods (and eating and drinking to stay alive) and flying across the stars (with some fairly impressive 3D arcade action for the time) to land on another planet to hopefully make a profit.

All enjoyed in the 'most advanced 3D graphics yet attained on a Spectrum.' Ahem.

Star Tradin' across the universe...

A great back story would set the game scene.
A long time ago in a distant galaxy...
Are colonies of men on small inhabitable planets in neighbouring star systems. Over the years these communities have learned to rely on each other for trade.

Marauding pirates have been quick to take advantage of the strong inter-dependence of the planets, and patrol the interplanetary routes.

In fact, it has come to the point where interstellar trading is a risky line of work, though profits, as ever, can be made.

As a result of a recent increase in the pirates' greed (their self-imposed "tax" on captured ships is now 1/4 of the ships cargo), all the remaining traders have left the system. All, that is, except you...

You alone must attempt to vanquish these rogues, whilst keeping the vast interplanetary economy intact. So no pressure then.

TRADING:
There are eight planets to visit and to buy and sell your goods. They each have eight
major industries, which buy and sell goods to you.

You begin the game with an amount of cash and a space ship. You must use your cash wisely, to purchase goods at low prices on producing worlds, so that you may then sell your wares at a suitable profit on consumer worlds. Not immediately easy and gameplay perserverence is required.

Planets with poor supplies of any commodities will suffer from quick inflation, which you may use to your money making advantage. If inflation rises to a chaotic level, social unrest will lead to a complete collapse of civil order; so various people will turn to piracy for as a new source of income.

You have a limited storage capacity in your cargo hold, which you have to keep an eye on. You may only buy and sell your goods during normal business hours, outside of which you will find all shops closed. (They even close at lunchtime!)

The main legal tax on your profits is from the customs officials, who will charge you a sh*t load of duty on your wares. You may try to cheat these officials of their dues (by declaring nothing), but at great peril should you be caught (you are looking at jail time and being 'bashed in').


LIVING:
To stay alive during the game you must eat and drink at regular intervals (it can get a little annoying to be told you are hungry after eating a pub dinner along with a pint of beer!). Failure to do so will cause starvation, and eventually death!

You may stay overnight at an inn or a hotel to reduce your chances of being mugged, although it still can happen whilst you are snoring away in a holiday space-inn.

You should also take a quantity of food packs to eat during space flight between planets. These food packs can be bought from the local supermarket.

PIRATES:
The worst hazard to the game player is being attacked by a pirate band - the height of scum and villany. You may protect yourself though by buying armaments for your ship. You will need
a laser and at least one battery pack to powre up the laser if you intend fight these space bound vagabonds.

This is the arcade portion of the game. The arcade action is viewed from your spaceship front windows, with the enemy craft approaching.

You can move your vessel up, down, right, left and (taken from the inlay instructions was quite something for the time 'so, for instance, if you choose to move left, the enemy craft will drift rightwards past your windows, just like driving a car!'). Amazing stuff I'm sure you'll agree.

If the fight is not going well (as in your shields are fully depleted) you can always surrender and pay the pirates their 'tax'. It can actually work out cheaper to do this rather than buying a lazer and an eight pack of ever-ready. Your shields always have to be repaired too when you land at your destination - so my advice is to avoid space combat and just pay any pirates you bump into.

Watch out for civil unreset on a planet - if society collapses and war breaks out you are immediately killed and the game is over. Keeping the economy secure across all eight planets is no mean feat....



On Release:
This game was generally well met, but was never considered a must have. It managed to combine trading elements with arcade action quite well, and the menu screens were easy enough to follow. It was quite a popular game, but every Speccy users wanted Elite (I was jealous of my mate and his BBC Micro) - they would have to wait a little longer and this game filled the void for a while.

The Test Of Time:
Well, it's a charming game for sure. Very much a true retro game, this one is quite dated, more so than many other games from 1984. Having said that, there is something that is still enjoyable about playing it. Buying and selling is fun for a while, and the different random things that can happen through the game are both funny and frustrating (such as being mugged and having cash stolen, being thrown in jail, being mugged but being too strong for your attackers, spending a bucket load of cash on food but no matter how much you eat you are still hungry...)

Once you get over trying to use your mouse to make menu selections and get back into old school menu selection then progress can be made. Transport yourself back to a time when eight planets seemed almost limitless and when your imagination made each shopkeeper look different...

It's not quite Elite, but it's a quirky little computer game. Not bad. I always thought the spaceport looked quite cool too.

GENRE: Space strategy game/Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1984
RELEASED BY: Bug Byte
DEVELOPER(S): Trevor Hall, Rob Phoenix,Gary McNamara and Joey
PRICE: £6.95 - UK

Classic gaming in the 'Elite' mould...

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Starmaker - ZX Spectrum Classic Game

ZX Spectrum Starmaker
Starmaker was a strategy game/management game released for the ZX Spectrum in 1986 by R&R Software.

The games coder Dave Hawkins also went on to develop adventure games such as Wizards Warrior and Stranded.

This game was something different on the Speccy - where most games player were used to arcade games, adventure games or platform action.

The aim of the game was to run a music band and drive them to commercial success.

After choosing your skill level you would begin. After naming your band you started with a small amount of cash, although you do have the option of borrowing from the bank. If you want you can go straight into it and start on the long road to pop stardom. I wonder if Simon Cowell used this to hone his skills?

You can choose from varying options from making a record (either a single or an album), performing a concert, advertising (only if you have a record to advertise) and also producing some merchandise such as posters and T-shirts.

To generate cash you have to sell records, starting with singles before moving on to albums. If you get it right your bands popularity will increase and you will generate more money. Other positives will happen such as deejays interviewing the band, slots on tv will reap more cash and so on. Just watch out for dodgy geezers selling fake tickets to one of your concerts!

A rocking gig in this classic game:


If you play it right you may never have to borrow from Mr Jones.

The interface is nice and easy to follow, with icons and options clearly displayed allowing you to make your next managerial choice (the phone ringing icon when you phone Ron Static to produce some merchandise is excellent!)

At each month end you see what position in the charts your single reached and how much of your merchandise you have sold. This in turn will give you a figure of revenue generated - hopefully at a profit!

All in all this classic game was very enjoyable back in the day, and you know what, it's still fun to play all these years later.

On Release:
This game picked up a bit of a cult following back in 1986 and did reasonably well. It was never a huge hit but a lot of gamers enjoyed it as it was playable and something different (I was more of an arcade games player but really liked this back then). At only £2.99 it was great value too.

The test of time:
Like I say this classic game is still pretty playable. It's got oodles of retro charm, is easy to use and once you start generating some cash is plenty of fun. Give it a go.

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

GENRE: Management Game
RELEASE DATE: 1986
RELEASED BY: R&R Software
DEVELOPER(S): Dave Hawkins
PRICE: £2.99 - UK

Star making those stars in classic gaming action:


Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Spookyman - ZX Spectrum Classic Game

ZX Spectrum Spookyman
This is a rare and very early arcade game on the good old ZX Spectrum, released waaaay back in the early days (1982!) by Abbex Electronics.

The games author David Webb would go on to write some popular programming books for the Speccy as well as creating the vector graphics arcade classic Starion.

As you may have guessed, Spookyman was basically a pacman game (clone), and was a pretty good rendition of the Pacman on the Speccy.


Spookyman managed to cram in plenty of the arcade game features such as pac dots, power pills, hearts, clubs and diamonds to eat and of course the spectral looking ghosts who roamed around the maze.

Also there was the 'wrap around' part of the maze where you exit from one side of the screen and re-appear on the other, which was always useful for getting yourself out of a sticky situation.


It must also be said that this game moves at a fair old pace. Your Pac Man style character zips around the maze rapidly and it can take a few plays to get used to it. Once you get the hang of the speed though you can nip around that maze and avoid the nasties pretty well.

A good feature of this classic game is that when you eat the power pill the ghosts stay 'eatable' for a decent amount of time, giving you plenty of opportunity to chew through them and rack up that high score. Incidentally the high score can be re-set any time you wish- another nice little feature.

All in all, if you like Pac Man then give this one a go, it really is testament to early ZX Spectrum Games.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Pacman Game)
RELEASE DATE: 1982
RELEASED BY: Abbex Electronics
DEVELOPER(S): David Webb
PRICE: £5.95 - UK

Spookyman was doing well until he was distracted by someone... classic arcade action:


Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Star Firebirds - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Star Firebirds
Another conversion of a classic arcade game on the ZX Spectrum. Star Firebirds was released in October of 1985 - and by this point was already a 'retro arcade game'.

We're going old-old school!

No real story to the game - it was a standard shoot em up set against the backdrop of space. You basically had to fly across the vertically scrolling space-scape avoiding and destroying aggressive bird like creatures (not Stargliders!).



You could move your craft left and right as well as firing your lazers (no up and down movement). There was a move you could make if things got a bit too hairy - you could hit the warp button and 'warp out' at the top of the screen to re-appear at the bottom. This could only be used once per attack wave though!

Each attack wave contained 50 enemies. This was displayed by a counter which dwindled down as you took out more and more bad guys.

As usual for this type of arcade game the speed of each wave was faster than the last (both the scolling and the enemy ships).

Another quirky feature of the game was the large bomb (a large bomb floating around in space?) that slowy descended the screen every now and again.

You could shoot this bomb which would then spray shrapnel across the playing area - taking out a host of enemies if you were lucky. If you were caught in the blast then you would lose a life - so it was better to take the wimpy way out and shoot it whilst it was still near the top of the screen (giving you less points).

At the end of the first wave you were given the chance to destroy the super firebird. This large creature would make it's way downwards and you had to hit it multiple times to blow that critter to kingdom come.

There was no real way to win the game - it was all about beating that high score (which loads of computer games were back then).

Star Firebirds had a funny high score table and nicely presented menu screen (with a cool roll-inside effect when changing menu screens). You could have a little fun cracking the high score 'names' which were all famous quotes from a rather famous movie! - I'm sure you can work out which one ;-)

Oh - cool music too!

The menu and humorous high score table:


On release:
Well this game was already quite 'old hat' when it made it's way onto the ZX Spectrum - and it suffered a little because of this. By late 1985 people were into the likes of more advanced offerings such as Space Harrier or even Commando. Still, for fans of this type of game Star Firebirds was a good choice.

The test of time:
Well as far as Spectrum games go in the shoot em up genre this one isn't too bad. It's a good rendition of the arcade original and is worth playing. The controls are responsive and the game plays nicely. Love the menu and funky music too!

This classic ZX Spectrum game is definately worth playing after all these years.

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

GENRE: Scrolling Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: October of 1985
RELEASED BY: Firebird
DEVELOPER(S): Mike Follin, Tim Follin, Mark Wilson, Peter Gough
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Kicking alien firebird ass in Star Firebirds - a fine conversion of a classic arcade game:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

Spectrum Games - Scramble - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Scramble
A version of arcade classic Sramble for the ZX Spectrum - called Scramble!

Mikro-Gen (of Pyjamarama fame) released Scramble in 1983 which would run on a 16K Spectrum - and it shows.

When the game loaded up you could choose game speed options which were either slow, medium or fast. Nice customization.

For anyone who doesn't know Scramble - it was a right to left scrolling arcade game and your ship could move in all four directions as well as firing rockets and dropping bombs.

The object of the game was to score the most points - and that was it! (It was 1983 remember). Your bombs and missiles would get points as follows:

Surface to air missile (on the ground) - 30
Missile in the air - 50
UFO - 50
UFO Base - 100
Fuel dump - 150
Final Base - 2500

There were four stages to play through which were missile area, UFOs, Meteors, Fortress and final base.

You began the game with 4 ships to play with and a Bonus ship was awarded once you scored 10,000 points. Throughout the game your fuel was slowly being burned up. The only way to replenish it and keep it topped up was to hit the fuel dumps on the ground (just like the arcade version).

Every dump you hit gave you twenty more 'fuel units'. If you did run out of fuel your ship fell from the sky and crashed and burned Mav.

If you were a bit of a player you would eventually make it to the Final base. This base was at the bottomof a steep hill guarded by 4 UFO bases.

If you destroyed it the game restarted (as usual) back at the first level with increased fuelconsumption and more hazards to avoid. If you failed to destroy it you were given another chance and would come round to it again - this time without any fuel dumps so you had to blow that mother up quick smart.

On Release:
Scramble as we all know was a mega popular arcade game, so versions for your Spectrum were pretty popular. There were other versions released on the Speccy that were far better such as Cavern Fighter and Penetrator. Scramble was never a huge hit and suffered from being one of the poorer Scramble type games.

The test of time:
Well this game was pretty average back then and has really suffered over the years. For a 16K game it's not bad, but Spectrum Games really took off and became a lot more sophisticated after 1983. Play it for nostalgia.

It's Scramble - so it makes it worth a go I suppose.

We recommend getting hold of the real Sinclair hardware but if not then download Scramble 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: Scrolling arcade game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Mikrogen
DEVELOPER(S): Stephen Townsend
PRICE: £5.50- UK

Flying ace Major Lawrence Bartle Frere Scrambles and gets into some classic arcade game action:


Classic Games and Arcade Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Stainless Steel - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Stainless Steel
As far as I remember, this was one hyped up arcade game before it was released for the ZX Spectrum by Mikro-Gen (and programmer Dave Perry) in September of 1986.

The hero of the game was the 80's sounding 'Ricky Steel' (a teenager with a mechanical arm) who also had the 80's sounding special car called 'Nightwing'.

Anyway, and evil bloke called the uber-cheesy and cheap aftershave sounding 'Dr Vardos' was out to conquer the world. Well, our Ricky was having none of that!


The action was viewed from above (classic arcade gaming top down view) and the gameplay area scrolled smoothly upwards and downwards.

The game contained four zones, each with its own set of hazards which became successively more difficult. Enemy craft approached from either in front or behind, so you had to be on the lookout at all times for the nasties.

All in all, this game really is a scrolling arcade game of the shmup variety.

In the first game zone you had to leg it along the tarmac and pavement, avoiding helicopters which had the capacity to blast you into tiny pieces, accompanied with an awful exposion sound effect. A collision with a helicopter was also fatal.

Fortunately, Ricky could fire missiles too and also had a bomb shield to soften the effects of enemy attack. Scurrying past traffic jams and road barriers whilst destroying android patrol ships which moved across the road, the man with the steel arm had to make for the end of the zone (the top end of the road) where his trusty car was waiting.

In the second game zone you got to fly 'Nightwind' - and the task at hand was a little harder. Bubbles of fuel had to be collected to keep the super-car in the air as you fought your way across an arid desert.

Rockets zoomed back and forth and you had to use your powerful laser cannon to bring them down. All the enemy forces had to be eradicated before the game zone was marked as complete.

In the third zone battle resumed over a watery canal type channel. Nightwind was also amphibious (as well as capable of flight - a touch of the 'Spy Hunters'!) and you had to watch out for submarines which popped up from the water every so often. Placing a bomb on the deck area of a submarine required quick timing, but lots of points were awarded for destroying any of these submersibles.

The final zone was populated with androids in the shape of lizards(?) and salamanders(??) as well as Dr Vardos' other minions. If you made it to the end and defeated Dr Vardos in the final showdown then the game was won. Muhaha haaaa!

The main screen was flanked either side with status panels. On the left, Ricky's energy and shield or arsenal strength were displayed below the current score. On the right, the zone number was shown together with any bonus points awarded, the number of androids that remained in the zone, and large red hearts told you how many lives you had left to play with.

In a neat switch, if the enemy forces were not shot down fast enough it was possible to end up with a negative bonus score, so quick shooting was the way to go.

A radar screen below the main display area detailled Ricky's position in relation to the enemies in the current zone, and a message was flashed here when Ricky was killed. This seemed to happen to me a lot.

On release:
Well as far as my memory serves me, arcade gamers were expecting a lot from this game. When it was released it was perhaps a little disappointing as it was (when you played it for a while) just another top down scrolling shooter. The game was very polished with excellent presentation, smooth scrolling and detailled 'metallic' looking graphics (our imaginations did a lot back then!) Anyway, this game was generally well liked, but it just seemed to lack that certain 'something'.

The test of time:
Arrgh! This game frustrates me! I never was very good at all those years ago, and am still crap today. The main play area seems a bit too small and you don't have enough time to see the enemies arriving on screen even when you use the radar. The fact that you go right back to the start of the level when you get killed is a constant niggle too. I can't play this for very long, there are other arcade games that I much prefer. Having said all that, it is a good example of how detailled graphics, smooth scrolling and nice music could be created on the Sinclair Spectrum.
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.

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

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: September 1986
RELEASED BY: Mikro-Gen
DEVELOPER(S): Dave Perry
PRICE: £8.95

I get killed and decide to nip to the pub instead. It could have been an arcade classic:


Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - Spectipede - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Spectipede
The classic game was first published in 1983 by R&R Software and was then re-released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984 by Mastertronic.

At only £1.99 it was a decent version of the classic arcade game 'Centipede'.

Kevin Allison (who didn't seem to develop any other ZX Spectrum Games) created a well rounded version of the game with plenty of options and features, and it was all crammed into 16K of RAM too.

No real story to Spectipede (or Centipede for that matter) it was classic arcade action and a case of shoot the nasties and survive as long as possible.

The Famous Mastertronic Loader

Different creatures inhabited the screen such as spiders, scorpions, fleas and of course the 'Spectipede'. Plenty of green coloured mushrooms were dotted around the screen too and things would get busy pretty quickly.

The aim of the game was to shoot the Spectipede which headed for you avoiding the mushrooms as it moved.

If you hit the body of the Spectipede it would split in two, creating two Spectipedes. Hit any of these in the body and it would split again, and so on...

Fleas descended the screen leaving new mushrooms behind (mushroom making fleas?) and needed two hits to kill them, speeding up after the first hit. Sneaky eh?

Scorpions wandered across the screen poisoning any mushrooms they touched.

Spectipedes would drop straight to the bottom of the screen when they ran into a poisoned mushroom, but if you were quick you could get underneath it and destroy it with rapid fire as it descended straight down.

Whilst all of this was going on Spiders would randomly appear and try to jump on you. This game was rapid arcade action all the way.

Mushrooms All Round

The game would award you with an extra 1500 points for clearing a screen (by destroying the Spectipede) and an extra life for every 20000 points gained.

As you progressed through the levels the game really did hot up and took a lot of skill (and luck!) to keep going.

One or two players could take part, in two player mode you took alternate goes on each life lost.

The keyboard play was nice and responsive and most joystick types were supported by the game too.

Oh, and the cassette sleeve and inlay had slightly bizarre and cartoony images.

On Release:
This game was never a massive hit and I can only remember the Mastertronic release. With this game being available in 1983 and also running on a 16K Spectrum it really is one of the early gaming classics for the Sinclair machine. We are talking real retro gaming with this title! Games like this were still popular in 1983 and here we had a really good version of it for the ZX Spectrum. At only £1.99 you couldn't really go wrong and it was regarded as one of the better Centipede clones you could get.

The test of time:
Well here in the land of ZX Spectrum Games we have a real soft spot for this classic game. When you play it you just know it really is one of those early simple games that is all about fast action and quick reflexes. As the 1980's wore on games became more complex in concept, design, story and graphics. Consequently Spectipede is a playable version of a classic game, and would probably keep your attention for a good twenty minutes. Not bad, not bad at all...

Hone those reflexes and download Spectipede for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play online.

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

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: R&R Software then re-released by Mastertronic
DEVELOPER(S): Kevin Allison
PRICE: £1.99 - UK

Mart used to be good at this, honest! Classic Arcade Action:



Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - Scumball - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Scumball
Cult budget programmer Peter Gough (anyone remember the playable shooter Gunstar?) did it again and came up trumps with a gem of a ZX Spectrum game in Scumball.

This game was released in 1988 by Bulldog and at only £1.99 was an absolute steal.

In Scumball your job was to cleanse the sewers and destroy the uber germ leader, the slime monster.

Taking control of a sanitising robot named LINDA (Laser Incorporated Nasties Disposal Android - Gough's games tended to have plenty of humour in them) you had to enter the sewers and kill every nasty that got in your way. Talk about germ warfare.


First things first - the game was very similar in look and feel to the classic ZX Spectrum game Starquake.

Instead of the game character BLOB we had LINDA. The graphical style (some of the rocky platforms were very reminiscent) and animation certainly had a similar look to Steve Crow's work - but this was no bad thing!



The game was a flick screen platform game with the usual weird range of nasties to avoid and kill, items to collect and use and also various bonus features to pick up.

The mission, which you had already accepted, was to collect eight grenades (one at a time) and deposit each of them in the lair of the slime monster.

Once all eight had been deposited the slime monster could be blown into tiny slimy pieces and victory was yours. You would have killed all germs. Dead.

Of course there were plenty of nasties out to stop you. Mutated insects, giant crabs, snakes and other nasty sewer dwellers would all sap some of LINDA's energy - and if the energy level reached zero the game was over.

This game was a very good arcade game (adventure) mixing good puzzle solving elements with jumping and exploring action. Your character (which was easy to manouver and highly responsive) was also affected by gravity when jumping around and falling. Nice stuff.

With plenty of screens to explore and solve (mapping the game was handy as it was quite large), smooth animation and fast colourful graphics, Scumball was an essential ZX Spectrum purchase (a steal at the price) for flick screen fans, arcade game fans and platform game fans.

On Release:
When Scumball was released it was a top, top budget title. Gamers enjoyed the character physics, the colourful environments and superbly animated nasties. As a budget game it really stood out and was well worth the asking price. By 1988 the ZX Spectrum scene was unfortunately in decline due to the lure of 16-bit machines, but cheap and arcade games like this proved that there was life left in the old dog just yet. This game did pretty well and deservedly so.

The test of time:
Well you know this classic game just has something about it. It was obviously technically impressive back in 1988 but even now it is still playable and fun. I always did like a good platform game and this is pretty much as good as any - there is plenty of variety in the screens and the game also has plenty of challenge in it. Here in the land of Spectrum Games we regard this one as a hidden gem - pure retro game charm.

Stick this one on - you'll never have so much fun cleaning!

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

GENRE: Arcade Game (Flick screen platform game)
RELEASE DATE: 1988
RELEASED BY: Bulldog Software
DEVELOPER(S): Peter Gough
PRICE: A paltry £1.99 - UK

LINDA starts to clean house in yet another classic arcade adventure:

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Games - Stunt Car Racer - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Games Stunt Car Racer
This 3D racing simulator was perhaps most famous for the version that graced the Commodore Amiga - but Micro Style (and legendary 3D developer Pete Cooke) managed to replicate it very well for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum - considering the difference in capabilities of the two machines.

Stunt Car Racer was released on the Sinclair Spectrum late in 1989 (almost 20 years ago - I feel old!) and proved that there was still plenty of life left in the old dog.

This game was set in the future and was supposed to have taken over from Formula 1 motor racing; future racing fans craved more excitement and in the 21st centure Stunt Car Racing is introduced. Each race track was a large structure much like an old time roller coaster. It's definately brown trousers time.

The aim of Stunt Car Racer was fairly simple; rise from the depths of racing division four to the top of racing division one. Each division has two tracks to overcome:

• Hump Back and Little Ramp in division four
• Big Ramp and Stepping Stones in division three
• Roller Coaster and High Jump in division two
• Draw Bridge and Ski Jump in division one

The game was viewed from the cockpit of your stunt car (a powerful front mounted V8 turbo-charged dragster looking beast capable of 300MPH - Jeremy Clarkson's wet dream) which gave a drivers eye view of the proceedings.

The game allowed you to view each track from different angles (so you could have an idea of what to expect) and also to practice driving the tracks as much as you liked. Once you had the hang of the car and track(s) it was time to race for real.

Your car was winched up into the air and dropped on the starting line of the track, your front tyres and suspension bouncing as you were put in place. Already the game gave you a sense of height - each track was elevated quite highly from the ground.


Once you were off it was high banked corners, bumps and dips in the track, and huge jumps that would send you soaring through the air. Your car was a tough old boot, but should you abuse it too much, a crack would appear (at the top of the screen) and would work it's way from left to right as more damage was inflicted. If the 'crack' made it all the way across the screen then that was it; your car was buggered and you were out of the race.

If you flew off the track completely then a lot of damage would be incurred and you would have to wait (what seemed for ages) whilst you were winched back onto the track.

Micro Style really managed to get the 3D perspective right in Stunt Car Racer - the sense of height as you sped over a jump and sailed through the air was spot on - it had that right 'roller coaster' feeling to it.

With eleven other racers to compete against and crazy tracks which got progressively more difficult, Stunt Car Racer was a white knucke ride that got your adrenalin pumping!

On Release:
When Stunt Car Racer was released Spectrum gamers loved the 3D action and sense of speed the game gave you. The action was fast and intense, and throwing your car around steep bends and over huge jumps was brilliant fun. The only downside was the simplicity of the graphics, and next to the Stunt Car Racer Amiga version(Amiga Games our brother site) well there was no comparison. Still, when you were burning along at 300MPH you didn't really have time to take in the scenery!

The test of time:
Here in the land of ZX Spectrum Games we reckon if you ignore the simple graphics then Stunt Car Racer is still enjoyable. The sense of speed and 'grabbing some air' is still in there, and racing round the tracks is good for a laugh. Nice and simple, Stunt Car Racer still works.

Grab a pair of driving gloves and your old BMX helmet and load up Stunt Car Racer - fans of racing games will love it.

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

GENRE: 3D Racer
RELEASE DATE: December of 1989
RELEASED BY: Micro Style
DEVELOPER(S): Pete Cooke
PRICE: £9.99 on cassette, £14.99 on disk - UK

3D driving action with Stunt Car Racer in ZX Spectrum Games:

ZX Spectrum Game - Starglider - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Starglider
Starglider was a 3D vector graphics game released by Rainbird Software in December of 1986.

The developers of the game were those 3D specialists Realtime Software, who had already given Spectrum Gamers some excellent titles in Starstrike 1 and 2 and the classic arcade Battlezone type game 3D Tank Duel.

Anyway, Realtime and Rainbird did it again with the excellent Starglider, another brilliant addition to the ranks of 3D vector space games.



There were two versions released, on for the standard 48K Spectrum and another (with enhanced features) for the Spectrum 128 and Spectrum +2. This review will concentrate on the enhanced '128' version.

Starglider had a nice backstory to set the scene in true classic gaming fashion:
For many years in a galaxy far, far away... the planet of Novenia was at peace. An automated defence system (The Sentinels) had kept unwelcome callers from outer space at bay. These huge sentinels had one policy - shoot first, ask questions later.

This rather ruthless policy worked well for a long time, until The Sentinels destroyed a harmless flock of protected interplanetary migratory birds known as Stargliders.

Under orders from Inter-Galactic green brigade, The Sentinels were immediately reprogrammed not to shoot down these harmless and gracefull creatures.

The ruthless Egrons hatched a plan to finally conquer Novenia. They disguised some ships as Stargliders and used them to bypass the Sentinel defences. With no other armed forces at all Novenia soon fell under the rule of the evil Egrons. Which was no doubt a bit of a drag.

Two Sentinel repair workers (Jason and Katra) witnessed the attack on Novenia from the safety of one of Novenia's moons. Our two heroes embark on a mission - to destroy the invading aliens using an obsolete museum fighter equipped with lasers and the capability of carrying two missiles. This is where you come in...


In this (another of our classic ZX Spectrum Games) there were more than sixteen different types of enemy craft to destroy. Each craft had to be dealt with in a slightly different way.

The action took place over the now barren land of Novenia. You had to guide your antiquated fighter around the dusty atmosphere using a co-ordinate system which divided the surface of the planet into a 100X100 grid.

The game had plenty of options for you to get your teeth into before commencing the game.
Two types of gun sight were available to you which were fixed or floating.

Before starting the game it was up to you to choose which one you desired. Floating sights affected the control of the ship - it 'followed' the sights as you moved the sight around.

Fixed sights (like a classic WW2 fighter) remained in the centre of the screen, and the ship had to be manoeuvred until the enemy craft appeared inside the target square.

An optional centering system could also be enabled or disabled at the start of the game. Automatic centering could be set on either the vertical or the horizontal axis, in all directions, or not at all.

Fully automatic centering was handy for the player as it returned your ship to straight and level flight when you left the controls alone.

This enhanced version of Starglider also included digitised speech (which would inform you of events as you were mid-mission), a superb three channel title tune and extra missions that either involved destroying an invader or picking up some extra powerups for your craft.

Custom add-ons included super missiles which had a longer range, power packs which temporarily negated the need for you to refuel, and a rear view mirror (being able to 'see' the action behind you was very impressive at the time).

Once you made it to the latter levels you needed these extra power-ups as the enemies were more deadly than in the standard 48K version.

Repair depots dotted the Novenian landscape and you could enter them with careful flying to fix up your craft and pick up a missile (as long as you didn't already have two fitted).

Your ships instrument panel displayed horizontal bars showing shield strength, power reserves and a fuel guage. Two vertical indicators showed how high you were and how fast you were travelling. The height bar would warn you and flash red if the craft went too close to the ground - hitting the ground was a quick way to drain your shields.

In another smart piece of coding the game would switch to 'missile view' whenever you fired a missile. You had to 'home' the missile in on target before it ran out of fuel - which could be a little tricky. The 'super missiles' gave you a longer flight time to find your target.

Three missile hits were required to destroy a main enemy fighter, and when you did an instant replay of the destruction was showed to you - yet another great touch by the programmers.

10,000 points later and you were onto the next level and the game became more difficult...

On Release:
Starglider was heralded on it's release due to it's polished presentation (the cassette was even accompanied by a 64 page novel), supberb sound effects (including speech you could actually understand!), smooth and well animated vector graphics and excellent gameplay.

This game had a perfect mix of arcade action and tactics - you had to plan your routes across the planet and know where to pick up your repairs and extra missiles. The 128 version had worthwile enhancements over the 48K version - using the extra capabilities of the machine well. Crash magazine awared (the 128 version) an overall score of 97%. Even though Starglider retailled at a whopping £14.95 the depth of the gameplay and bundled novel justified the high price.

The test of time:
Your humble reviewer here remembers Starglider very well. In amongst the vast ZX Spectrum games that are available, Starglider remains one of the best vector shoot em up's you can get. The animation is still pretty good and the game moves along at a fair old pace. Still playable, Rainbird's classic is worth digging out again. Oh, and the digitised voice is pretty sexy too.

This classic game is definately worth playing after all these years.

Give this one a go and glide again.

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

GENRE: 3D Vector Game (Arcade Game)
RELEASE DATE: Christmas 1986
RELEASED BY: Rainbird
DEVELOPER(S): Realtime Software
PRICE: £14.95 - UK

Mart tries to recapture his youth (and fails) in Starglider - Classic Gaming:



Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - Starquake - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Starquake

Now this classic game will bring back plenty of memories for lots of you ZX Spectrum gamers.

Starquake was released by the delightfully named Bubblebus software late on in 1985 to much critical acclaim.

The developer of the game Steve Crow was already well known for his previous (and very good) efforts Factory Breakout and Wizards Lair.

Steve would go on to develop more excellent titles for the Spectrum over the next few years.

Starquake was an arcade adventure - mixing arcade action and platform gaming with a large dollop of humour to create a nice game full of challenge and character.

As usual it was up to you to save the day, in this case our lovely planet Earth.

The inlay text of the games cassette gave a nice overview of what lay ahead:
"Message has just reached Earth of an unstable planet emerging from a black
hole somewhere at the edge of the galaxy. If the core of this planet is not
rebuilt it will implode causing the whole universe to go "Ka Boomf!" -
Strewth, a Starquake..."

This was obviously not very good news, so a hero was sent to this rogue planet (a little being called BLOB - or Bio-Logically Operated Being) to rebuild the core of this rogue planet and avert the impending disaster. Game on!

This game was presented in age old arcade adventure style. The screens flicked between each other and the majority of the action occurred in a system of caverns below the suface of the planet.

Our hero was a creature with some of the usual abilities who could go left and right and had a nice line in falling (for moving downwards).

It was possible to propel Blob upwards too, by use of his platform laying device. In this novel twist platforms could be used to prevent a fall or be 'stacked up' to create a vertical stairway.

Once laid the platforms soon faded away (sort of super quick bio-degradable), crumbling away to dust leaving poor Blob unsupported in mid air (if you had not made it onto more a more solid piece of rock in the meantime).

You began the game (in classic arcade game style) with four lives, a stockpile of platforms and some ammo.

The top of the screen displayed valuable data such as lives remaining, energy levels (each life had an energy bar) which was sapped by colliding with any of the nasties roaming around the caverns, and your platform and ammunition levels.

To aid you in your planetary quest it was also possible to jump on 'hopper pads' to move around the screens. These hover pads allowed you to zip around the screens in all directions, thus saving on your platform stocks.

The downside was that you had to park the pad and leave it if you wanted to collect any items (such as extra ammo, platform packs, energy boosts and even the odd extra life).

You could also move around using the built in teleport system and jump from one area of the planet to another. When you entered a teleport, it informed you of its teleport code and requested a destination code to allow it to transport you to another teleport booth.

The teleport network was a really great feature - once you had played the game enough and found the codewords to all six teleports.



The whole game was large and was smattered with lots of different features and items.

Security doors barred you way in certain areas (usually blocking your path to an essential 'core piece') and you would have to find the key code to open it. Little pyramids could be used to trade in items you were currently holding for a more useful item and an access card would allow you one time access (get it?) to any door.

There were also secret passages, zap rays and 'breakable bridges' which would prevent upwards passage, but could be broken by falling onto them from a great height.

The variety of objects, masses of locations and imaginative graphics marked Starquake on the ZX Spectrum as a unique and playable game.

On Release:
Steve Crow was already building a good reputation for himself on the back of his previous games and this one made him a household name (well in ZX Spectrum households anyway). Gamers loved the frantic mix of arcade and platform action that Starquake offered. This coupled with the puzzle solving elements, polished presentation and slightly wacky graphical style ensured that Steve Crow's game was a big hit. Speccy gamers bible Crash magazine scored it with a very nice 96% praising it's gameplay and technical acheivement.

The test of time:
This is a playable and fun game. The visuals used in the game still work, and the action is as frenetic as ever. The central character BLOB is a nice little being, and the strategy you have to employ (use of platforms, hover pads, learning codes etc) makes Starquake a challenging yet playable experience. A lot of people have fond memories of this game - and here in the land of ZX Spectrum Games we can see why. This is a bona fide classic game.

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

GENRE: Arcade Adventure
RELEASE DATE: Tail end of 1985
RELEASED BY: Bubblebus Software
DEVELOPER(S): Steve Crow
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Classic Arcade Gaming:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games