April 23, 2017 at 06:57ZX Spectrum: 35th Anniversary
35 years ago, on April 23, 1982, the ZX Spectrum appeared - a wonderful home computer that brought a lot of people to programming. In the first half of the 1990s, these 8-bit compact devices were very popular in Russia. In fact, ZX Spectrum 's filled the niche of budget game consoles, but at the same time allowed to write full-fledged programs in Basic (and not only). In honor of the next anniversary, we decided to recall the most vivid games that won the hearts of many users of ZX Spectrum.
If you were too young or you didn’t find the ZX Spectrum at all, you are unlikely to understand the nostalgia of the owners of these small computers. At that time, PCs were too expensive for the vast majority of Russians. And the ZX Spectrum didn't even need a monitor - they connected to the TVs. Moreover, a tape recorder acted as a loading device, and the carriers were ordinary audio cassettes. Only a few lucky ones could boast of drives connected to the ZX Spectrum.
You connect the computer with wires to the TV and the tape recorder, turn on the last one, and wait several minutes until some game is loaded into the 48- or 128-kilobyte memory of the computer. The process is accompanied by an unforgettable psychedelic cacophony of sounds. It was very similar to the sounds made by modems. Here is the classic ZX Spectrum boot screen. The game Manic Miner was poured from a cassette into memory for three minutes.
Today we are spoiled for incredibly realistic 3D graphics and gorgeous special effects in games. Even on smartphones. And in the days of the 8-bit ZX Spectrum, millions of people flirted with games with graphics that today will satisfy perhaps the unpretentious representatives of the younger preschool age.
Elite
Probably many fans of aircraft and space simulations will be perplexed by the fact that the game Elite was one of the most popular on the ZX Spectrum. This is a space simulator in which the player plowed the vast expanses of the vacuum, fought with pirates and traded all kinds of goods, flying from planet to planet. With experience and combat victories, the player grew in rank. Very few managed to reach the rank of Elite. Personally, I only reached the rank of Competent .
These are screenshots with real ZX Spectrum resolution: 256x192 pixels. All objects in space were "wire" - through them stars and other objects were visible.
R-type
The R-Type game was a two-dimensional classic shooter, in which it was necessary to control a certain aircraft and shoot all the oncoming ones. Naturally, it was possible to pick up upgrade modules flying out of enemies, significantly increasing the capabilities of your pepelats.
Chuckie egg
Chuckie Egg is a steal and run game. A certain plump Muscovite in a dashing hat named Harry runs through the mazes and collects the eggs of some overgrown geese. Common sense? No, not heard.
Manic miner
Manic Miner ("Crazy Miner") - one of the first platformers. The game won the widest national love among the owners of ZX Spectrum. The name of the game was saying: the miner explores all kinds of mysterious catacombs in search of keys, simultaneously dodging the unfriendly fauna and sleeping objects.
Chase hq
If you had a ZX Spectrum, then you probably wound a lot of kilometers in the Chase HQ racing simulator. The gameplay was very straightforward: you had to pass different sections of the track in time on a Porsche 928 police car.
Knight lore
The first ever quest in isometric view was the game Knight Lore . The main character makes his way through the insidious labyrinth of castle chambers, corridors and cellars to get a magic potion that will remove the spell from him.
Head over heels
Another hit game had a very similar isometric graphic - the pretty Head Over Heels . In fact, it was a set of puzzles that needed to be solved and advanced to the plot goal.
Saboteur!
In the wake of interest in the Saboteur ninja ! can be considered a classic of the genre. An action-style game developed by Clive Townsend and released by Durell in 1985 on the ZX Spectrum, it was later re-released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore 16, and Plus / 4 gaming platforms. And to this day, it remains the favorite game of thousands of Spectrum guides.
Robocop
If you come from the 1970s and 80s, then you hardly need to tell what a cultural phenomenon the RoboCop film has become. The eponymous series of games on many platforms, including the ZX Spectrum, was no exception. How many boys with pleasure played the role of a police cyborg Murphy!
3D deathchase
Natural born riders loved the 3D Deathchase motorcycle chases . Yes, eye bleeding starts from this sight today, but for 1983 it’s a great game!
Super hang-on
Super Hang-On motorcycle races did not look so brutal, and were, perhaps, more popular among the "spectroducts".
Boulder dash
Boulder Dash is a game for real extreme diggers. The main character is a kind of humanoid creature, making its way through the thickness of the soil, collecting diamonds hidden in the bowels and dodging falling cobblestones.
Lode runner
And what owner of the ZX Spectrum did not like the platform game Lode Runner ?! In this game, everyone could feel the most intelligent, dexterous and cunning, trying to outwit the faceless robots and trying to get to the gold treasures.
Lunar jetman
Another mega-popular platform on the ZX Spectrum was Lunar Jetman . The militaristic future of the moon - the astronaut had to collect bombs in order to destroy the alien bases.
Dizzy
The top of the best games for the ZX Spectrum included the platformer Dizzy - you controlled a sort of Humpty Dumpty, a human-chicken-egg, moving around the game world and solving problems.
Target: Renegade
In Target: Renegade, thousands of boys flirted. A simulator of street mochilov: pumped-up alpha males in vests, some in motorcycle helmets, some with hammers and other improvised weapons, knocked out each other's spirit in urban surroundings. I remember in my hometown at the very beginning of the 1990s, several home-grown entrepreneurs rented a corner in one of the cinemas, where they set up several tables, four ZX Spectrum with TVs, and sold playing time to local boys. If I’m not mistaken, 15 minutes of the game cost 1 ruble. I really liked playing Renegade, and not on buttons, but on a primitive joystick, possibly even home-made.
The Way of the Exploding Fist
The Way of the Exploding Fist - fans of films with Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude van Damme sat around this game for endless hours. And you did not argue with classmates, which of them will beat whom?
Sim city
You will be surprised, but even Sim City has been ported to the ZX Spectrum. True, it looked very abstract, like a block diagram of an application being developed.
Operation wolf
Natural born warriors enjoyed on the ZX Spectrum an action-shooter, Operation Wolf. The screen moved independently of the player, and it was necessary to manage to destroy the enemies so that they did not have time to open fire on you. The special forces hero had not only cartridges, but also grenades. By the way, I played the version on the PC - as I remember now, grenades were thrown by pressing Enter. With all the dope, I thrashed the keyboard, compensating for the lack of accuracy with the power of a great push, smashing enemies at the computer in the accounting department of the factory where my aunt worked.
If you want to remember youth and drive games for the ZX Spectrum, then you can use some of the many emulators created for all conceivable platforms.
PS All these games fit in either 48 or 128 KB of RAM.
