Tag Archives: ZX Spectrum

The Empire Strikes Back, ZX Spectrum

A port of the arcade sequel to Star Wars, released into arcades in 1985; converted to the Spectrum by Vektor Grafix and published by Domark in 1988.

Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back, ZX Spectrum

Star Wars, ZX Spectrum

This port of the classic Atari arcade game, Star Wars, on the ZX Spectrum, was developed by Vektor Grafix and published by Domark in 1987.

Continue reading Star Wars, ZX Spectrum

Action Force II, ZX Spectrum

The sequel to the first Action Force, Action Force II is a game that I knew had reviewed well at the time of its original release (in 1988), so I was expecting good things from it. Having never played the game before, I sat down and gave it a go, but was disappointed with what I found…

Continue reading Action Force II, ZX Spectrum

Action Force, ZX Spectrum

Developed by Gang of Five and published by Virgin Games in 1987, Action Force is a scrolling shooter set in the world of the Action Force toys by Hasbro/Milton Bradley (aka G.I. Joe toys in North America). Action Force was also released for the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, although the Spectrum version is notably different to those versions.

Continue reading Action Force, ZX Spectrum

C5 Clive, ZX Spectrum

C5 Clive, written by Barry Jones and published by Scorpio Gamesworld Ltd., pays tribute to (ie. satirises) Sir Clive Sinclair‘s infamous “personal automotive vehicle“, which was released onto the UK market as the Sinclair C5 in 1985.

Continue reading C5 Clive, ZX Spectrum

The NewZealand Story, ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum version of Taito‘s The NewZealand Story was programmed by Gerald Weatherup of Choice, and was published by Ocean Software in 1989. And it is a decent port of the cute and colourful arcade game – except without the colour…

Continue reading The NewZealand Story, ZX Spectrum

Costa Capers, ZX Spectrum

Costa Capers is the sequel to the classic Spectrum platformer, Technician Ted. The game was published by Firebird Software in 1985 and features similar gameplay to the original, with the same distinctive Ted sprite.

Continue reading Costa Capers, ZX Spectrum

Technician Ted: The Megamix, ZX Spectrum

Technician Ted: The Megamix is a special version of the game, created for 128K Spectrums, which contains many more screens than the original release. It’s also been improved visually, and has some new AY-based music. Technician Ted: The Megamix was released by Hewson Consultants in 1986.

Continue reading Technician Ted: The Megamix, ZX Spectrum

Chase HQ, ZX Spectrum

There’s no doubting that Ocean Software‘s 1989 Spectrum conversion of Taito‘s classic Chase HQ is impressive. Programmed by John O’Brien, with graphics by Bill Harbison, and sound by Jonathan Dunn, this 8-bit chase game really pushes the Spectrum to its limits, and puts pretty much every other third-person driving game on the Speccy to shame, with its amazing road movement and exciting gameplay.

Continue reading Chase HQ, ZX Spectrum

Nebulus, ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum port of Nebulus was coded by John M. Phillips – the author of the original C64 version – and is therefore a very authentic conversion of this excellent platform/puzzle game. It was first published by Hewson Consultants in 1987.

Continue reading Nebulus, ZX Spectrum