Spectrum

Launched on a largely unsuspecting public in 1982, the machine appealed to hobbyists and kids alike.

Colour was finally a reality and keyboards became – well keyboards!

Machine Specs:

Z80 a microprocessor running at 3.5mhz
16k-byte ROM containing BASIC interpreter and operating system.
6k-byte RAM (plus optional 32k-byte RAM on internal expansion board)
or 48k-byte RAM.

    Noteworthy Games:

    Commando - An early arcade conversion

    Uridium - An awesomely quick, classic shooter from Andrew Braybrook Wizball - An early classic from Sensible Software Barbarian - That bloody, gory combat frenzy Jetpac - words can hardly describe my adolescent gaming delight with this game from the company that would become Rare

    Check out the Covers Archive for more games.

    Ant Attack - The 'first' isometric game Trans Am – Ultimate
    Jetpac – Ultimate
    Lunar Jetman – Ultimate
    Atic Atac- Ultimate
    Sabre Wulf – Ultimate
    Manic Miner – Matthew Smith
    Jet Set Willy – Matthew Smith
    Pssst – Ultimate
    Cookie – Ultimate
    Barbarian – Palace
    Commando – Elite
    Green Beret – Elite
    The Hobbit – Melbourne House
    Ant Attack – Quicksilva
    Horace Series - Psion

     

     

    Warning Trivia Alert Part 1

    As you can see a great many of the most popular games were written by a company called Ultimate – Play The Game. This company saw the future not in the shape of Commodore’s powerful new PC but in a new Japanese console – the Nintendo Entertainment System. They applied to become developers and thirteen years later Rare are responsible for some of the best selling Nintendo games. Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2, Killer Instinct, Banjo Kazooie & Goldeneye.

    Warning Trivia Alert Part 2

    An early 8-bit best seller was The Hobbit and the coders responsible for this were Melbourne House. (Surprisingly enough based in Melbourne) They went on to do a variety of projects including the tragic Amiga conversion of Double Dragon and were responsible (as Beam Software) for the excellent Shadowrun on Super Nintendo. EA Sports Cricket (PC) and International Cricket (SNES) were theirs too. Also from them is a game called Krush, Kill & Destroy for which they have mysteriously metamorphosed back into Melbourne House again. (Trying to lose me, I expect.)