Tag Archives: 8-bit

Head Over Heels, ZX Spectrum

Jon Ritman did the programming and Bernie Drummond did the graphics. And the result was: Head Over Heels – an isometric platform game, published by Ocean Software, and featuring two different characters who can combine to become more agile.

Continue reading Head Over Heels, ZX Spectrum

Jet Pac, ZX Spectrum

Ultimate Play The Game‘s amazing Jet Pac is an early ZX Spectrum classic, first released onto an unsuspecting world in 1983.

Continue reading Jet Pac, ZX Spectrum

Deathchase, ZX Spectrum

An early ZX Spectrum classic, Deathchase was first released by Micromega in 1983.

Although it doesn’t look like much (especially in stills), Deathchase was (and still is) an exhilarating game, and is something of a tribute to the speeder bike scenes in Return of the Jedi (which was released the same year as this, in 1983).

Continue reading Deathchase, ZX Spectrum

Ballblazer, Commodore 64

Lucasfilm Games released Ballblazer upon unsuspecting audiences back in March 1984 (actually, on Atari 8-bit systems first).

The game is a futuristic one-on-one sports game, with two players battling it out, from inside the confines of a small, floating vehicle, called a Rotofoil.

Continue reading Ballblazer, Commodore 64

Wriggler, ZX Spectrum

A weird, colourful, original worm-based race game on the ZX Spectrum, released by Romantic Robot in 1985.

Actually, Wriggler is less of a “race” game and more of a “crawl” game. The pace is not very fast at all.

Continue reading Wriggler, ZX Spectrum

Jet Set Willy, ZX Spectrum

Here are all the screens from Matthew Smith‘s original classic ZX Spectrum platform game (and sequel to Manic Miner), Jet Set Willy. All 61 of them. Plus the ending after completing the game.

Continue reading Jet Set Willy, ZX Spectrum

Pastfinder, Commodore 64

David Lubar‘s relatively obscure 1984 classic, Pastfinder, is a weird vertically-scrolling shooter in which you control a spider-like craft that can crawl, shoot and jump, and you must explore a radioactive landscape picking up artefacts from a mysterious planet.

Continue reading Pastfinder, Commodore 64

Mercenary, Commodore 64

Novagen‘s classic 3D exploration game, Mercenary, was first released for the Commodore 64 in 1985. It was designed and coded by Paul Woakes.

Continue reading Mercenary, Commodore 64

Impossible Mission, Commodore 64

Dennis Caswell‘s brilliant 1984 platform game, Impossible Mission, has lost little of its appeal over the decades. There is something so gloriously timeless about it, and the challenge it presents is difficult, but do-able.

Continue reading Impossible Mission, Commodore 64