Originating on the Amstrad CPC, Spindizzy is a genius piece of coding and game design. It is an isometric exploration game, where you play as a spinning gyroscope (called GERALD) trying to collect gems across a large map of screens. It was designed by Paul Shirley, and the Spectrum port was handled by Phil Churchyard. Spindizzy on the Spectrum was published by Electric Dreams in 1986.
Tag Archives: speccy
Go-Go BunnyGun, ZX Spectrum
Written by Jason J. Railton and first released in 2026, Go-Go BunnyGun is a side-scrolling shooter on the ZX Spectrum that features a bunny girl on a rocket, flying through space. With smooth, colourful graphics and compelling gameplay, Go-Go BunnyGun is another great “Modern Retro” release.
Wycheweald, ZX Spectrum
Wycheweald is a rare thing on the ZX Spectrum – an actual Role-Playing Game, with a first-person viewpoint and turn-based combat. It was created by Red Zebra and first released in 2023. And, while it is a little slow to play, it is well presented and quite absorbing. That is: if you like these kinds of esoteric RPGs. Which I do! 🙂
Pac-Man Arcade, ZX Spectrum
Written by Marco Leal and first released in 2023, Pac-Man Arcade on the ZX Spectrum is about as close as you could possibly get to the original Pac-Man, without using voodoo.
Brian Bloodaxe, ZX Spectrum
Described as a game with “primary imbalance“, by publisher The Edge in 1985, Brian Bloodaxe is a strange platform game that tries to have a laugh at the expense of everyone – you; itself, and the genre of platform games it belongs to.
Impossible Mission, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Dennis Caswell‘s classic platform/puzzle game, Impossible Mission, was first published in 1985 by US Gold. It is an okay adaptation. Playable, but nothing special.
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax was developed by M.C. Lothlorian and first published by Palace Software in 1988.
Continue reading Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, ZX Spectrum
Barbarian, ZX Spectrum
The Spectrum version of Barbarian is an okay fighting game, but it doesn’t quite have the satisfying decapitation animation of the original C64 version…
Split Personalities, ZX Spectrum
Split Personalities is a sliding puzzle game featuring topical people from the 1980s (Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock, Charles and Diana, Reagan, Breshnev, and so on). The game was first released in 1986 by Domark and was a critical success, but not a commercial one.
Kong, ZX Spectrum
Ocean‘s 1983 release of Kong was an unofficial clone of Donkey Kong, and not a very good one at that. Kong was another early ZX Spectrum game I bought and thought was crap, but was entertaining enough for a few hours at least.
