Spectrum Games - Zzoom - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

Zzoom ZX Spectrum
This really is a classic game from the earlier years.

 Imagine Software (pre Ocean Software takeover) released this game way back in 1983.

 It was quite a revolutionary game with it's 3D graphics and fast paced action. This is back when any sort of 3D was pretty much visually amazing.

As the ZX Spectrum became more popular this game was talked about quite a lot until 1984 when other more polished titles pushed the level of arcade games further.

Let's take a look at an earlier classic.

Zzoom. It's not an ice lolly

The object of the game was to protect refugees (who ambled along the horizon) from enemy aircraft, tanks and submarines.

Taking the first person view the game showed the viewpoint from the cockpit of your advanced fighter. For a game released in 1983 this was quite something!

Along with the visual forward view you also had a radar which was basically a small scale version of the whole of the landscape. This radar only displayed enemy to you, friendlies had to be picked up visually. It sounds really 'Top Gunny' already doesn't it?

A handy counter on the console indicated how many people you had saved so far. A refugee was saved when by walking onto the screen and making it safely back off again. Any refugees left on the horizon after each attack wave are added to your refugee counter and then the bonus was totalled up.

All of these arcade games had bonus totals eh?

Points were earned by destroying the enemy aircraft, tanks and so on. To make things seem even more futuristic an autopilot was engaged between each attack wave. This gave you a little break between levels.

Dakka Dakka Boom....

Every time you were hit by the enemy your shields were worn down a notch. If your shields were fully depleted and you suffered a hit then it was game over.

You also had to keep an eye on your height otherwise you would find yourself crashing and burning. It was 'Goose' all over again...

One aspect of the game that was a talking point was the was your little men flew up in the air majestically as they were mowed down by enemy fire. If you were feeling vindictive you could also mow them down yourself! Come on, admit it, you sometimes loaded the game up just to do this...

On Release:
This classic game was quite highly regarded when it was released, with players praising the 3D effect and high speed action. It was generally well received and managed to gain some attention from magazines that started publishing a few months after the game had hit the high street. At £5.50 it was regarded as pretty good value for money too.

The Test Of Time:
Unfortunately old father time has not been kind to this game. It has bucket loads of retro-charm but those 3D graphics really look their age. It's fun for a while but when compared to later ZX Spectrum titles it really shows it's deficiencies. Still, for a game released in 1983 it is very good.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - otherwise download a ZX Spectrum emulator and grab Zzoom from World Of Spectrum. 

GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Imagine Software
DEVELOPER(S): Steve Bower, John Gibson, Mark Butler
PRICE: £5.50

3D Arcade Action:


Arcade Games, Classic Games and ZX Spectrum Games

ZX Spectrum Game - Zynaps - ZX Spectrum retro game

ZX Spectrum Zynaps
Yet another quality ZX Spectrum title from Dominic Robinson, Steve Turner, Steve Crow and Hewson.

Zynaps was released in the summer of 1987 and proved that those bods over at Graftgold and Hewson still had what it took when creating quality arcade games or shoot em ups.

First of all Hewson were always well known for polished technical programming (just look at Technician Ted and Uridium for example) and this game featured animation at 25 frames per second, high resolution multicoloured scrolling graphics (not easy to accomplish on the Spectrum), a 3 dimensional parallax scrolling starfield and of course a 'myriad' of sprites.


There was not a huge back story to Zynaps - it was a good old fashioned arcade game (shoot em up), right to left scrolling and borrowing heavily from the classic arcade game Nemesis. For fans of this type of game, Zynaps was a must have title.

Anyway, this game was set in an alien infested planetary system.The game began with our hero escaping in Scorpion fighter from an alien station far out in deep, deep space.

After lengthy fighting our hero had discovered the location of the alien base and the final conflict was about to begin...

And so began the game.

Classic Gaming on the ZX Spectrum

Your fighter (The MK1 Scorpion) was supplied with a wide range of sophisticated equipment and weaponry all of which was powered by an internally mounted fuel scoop.

Armed with wing mounted pulse lasers as standard, further weapon powerups could also be added such as homing missiles, seeker missiles and plasma bombs to take out ground based targets.

In the usual arcade game style, shooting down a wave of enemy fighters would leave behind a blob of fuel which could be scooped up.

The first powerup to you was 'speed up' which increased your ships speed - but if you did not want this then you would wait and collect another fuel blob which then moved the powerup selection to 'increase firepower' and so on. This way you could pick and choose which powerups you wanted.

Once you had powered your ship up (you needed to as the game progressed too) you could dole out plenty of destruction to the alien craft and eventually alien motherships.

There was plenty of fancy flying required to manouver around hazards and avoid asteriods - all whilst trying to not be hit by enemy fire. All in all this game was straightforward arcade action in the traditional style which managed to get the balance of playability and difficulty just right. Hewson also managed to create nice and colourful graphics with barely any of the dreaded Spectrum attribute clash - more slick programming.

Games like this proved that there was still plenty of life left in the shoot em up genre by 1987 if it was executed properly.

On Release:
Fans of shoot em ups and the Nemesis arcade game loved this effort from Hewson. It was slick, playable, hard (but fair) and highly addictive. ZX Spectrum gamers bible Crash magazine awarded the game an overall score of 91% praising it for it's polished presentation and overall addictive qualities. It was well worth the asking price of £7.95 too. Zynaps was yet another big hit for Hewson, who barely put a foot wrong during the Speccy years.

The test of time:
Well here in Spectrum Games we still dig out this gaming classic every now and again for a quick blast. The game is still playable and for pure old-school arcade action you can't really go wrong. Still playable, still fun, Zynaps is a true classic game.

Hone those reflexes and load it up - it's still good.

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

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

GENRE: Scrolling arcade game
RELEASE DATE: Summer of 1987
RELEASED BY: Hewson
DEVELOPER(S): Dominic Robinson, Stephen Crow, Steve Turner
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Mart needs some flying lessons from Major Lawrence Bartle Frere in Zynaps - a classic arcade game for the ZX Spectrum:


Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games