Developed by Gang of Five in 1986, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is a simple run-and-gun platform shooter based on the famous character from Britain’s famous science fiction comic, Eagle.
Tag Archives: ZX Spectrum
Inside Outing, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum conversion of Michael St. Aubyn‘s Inside Outing was programmed by Pamela Roberts with graphics by Mike Smith.
Fairlight II, ZX Spectrum
Or, to give the game its full title: Fairlight II: A Trail of Darkness. First released in 1986 – one year after the original Fairlight – and again published by The Edge. It was definitely much more substantial than the first game.
Fairlight, ZX Spectrum
Bo Jangeborg‘s Fairlight is a legendary isometric adventure game, published by The Edge in 1985.
Pentagram, ZX Spectrum
By the time Pentagram came out in 1986, famous development and publishing house – Ultimate Play The Game – had been sold off to US Gold. How much of Pentagram was therefore down to Ultimate‘s designers, and how much was down to US Gold‘s programmers, is still a matter for debate. Most likely, Pentagram was a construct of US Gold, with Ultimate providing only the initial ideas, graphics and game engine (the famous Filmation Engine).
Alien 8, ZX Spectrum
The original ZX Spectrum version of Alien 8 was first released in 1985, not long after Knight Lore had already blown the world away with its incredible isometric graphics and characteristic gameplay.
Jonathan Smith’s Classic ZX Spectrum Games
A British programmer/developer who made a name for himself with his very first game, Pud Pud, which was published by Ocean Software for the ZX Spectrum in 1984. Smith was just 17 at the time Pud Pud was released, but was fortuitous in that his pitch to Ocean, and them signing him up as ‘talent’, was all filmed and later broadcast on television in an episode of BBC TV’s Commercial Breaks, which gave him an instant profile to an appreciative audience. Bob Wakelin‘s ace cover art also did Smith‘s early games a lot of good.
Hyper Active, ZX Spectrum
Hyper Active is a fairly boring and generic side-scrolling shooter that was given away free with the June 1988 edition of Sinclair User magazine.
Firefly, ZX Spectrum
Of all his Spectrum games, Firefly was the one that programmer Jonathan Smith said really “came together” during development.
Firefly is an eight-way scrolling shooter with light puzzle elements that was first released by Ocean Software in 1988.
Batman: The Caped Crusader, ZX Spectrum
First released in 1988, Ocean Software‘s Batman: The Caped Crusader is not to be confused with Ocean‘s other Batman game, programmed by Jon Ritman. No, this one is the 2D, comic panel animated adventure programmed by Jonathan Smith.
The King of Grabs 