There were a number of decent Batman games on the ZX Spectrum, but this one from Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond was particularly memorable. For having a pudgy Batman and an isometric viewpoint…
Batman was released by Ocean Software in 1986 and was Ritman and Drummond‘s first isometric game together.
Sub-titled “Tau Ceti II“, Pete Cooke’s stunning Academy is a brilliant mission-based surface shooter that combines great presentation and atmosphere, with interesting use of light – quite radical for a humble ZX Spectrum.
Arguably game designer Steve Crow‘s finest hour, Starquake is a brilliant platform action game first released through Bubble Bus Software in 1985.
Sequel to Mike Singleton‘s classic fantasy war game Lords of Midnight, Doomdark’s Revenge is much bigger and more complex than its predecessor, although essentially it still follows the same style of play as the original – with unique, turn-based movement and tactical combat.
The late Mike Singleton‘s classic Lords of Midnight is a pioneering fantasy war game with strategy and RPG overtones. It was first released in 1984 on the ZX Spectrum by Beyond Software and immediately became a cult hit.
Sir Fred is a wonderful little platform game originating from Spain and first released on the ZX Spectrum way back in 1986.
By 1986 the ZX Spectrum was awash with isometric action/adventures games. After the success of Ultimate Play The Game‘s Knight Lore, everyone was trying to make and release them.
Looking back now I would have to say that many of the so-called “clones” were actually very good, although few were outstanding.
Piranha‘s Nosferatu the Vampyre was one of the few outstanding ones, it having been created by Spectrum veteran game design team Design Design, and it also being an interesting take on the classic tale of vampirism written by Bram Stoker (actually this game being based on the 1979 film starring Klaus Kinski).
The sequel to Realtime Software‘s brilliant Starstrike 3D, Starstrike II is another excellent and groundbreaking first-person space shooter, only this time with impressive “filled” polygons, instead of the simpler wireframe graphics of the original.
More than just a clone of Atari‘s arcade classic Star Wars, Starstrike 3D (or 3D Starstrike, whatever you prefer) is a wireframe, shooter masterpiece on the humble ZX Spectrum that really set the gaming world alight, back in the early Eighties.
Dark Side is the 1988 sequel to Driller is a very early example of a first-person, full 3D, explorable world, that can be viewed from almost any angle.
The game engine – Freescape – has gone on to become famous as one of the earliest examples of its type, and one that was hugely influential on every 3D exploration game that followed.
The King of Grabs 