Happy Birthday, Dear Spectrum

I’m slightly behind the curve here, because Sir Clive’s masterpiece, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, turned 35 years old yesterday. This is, of course, an occasion worth marking, even a day late, so mark it I will do: with my Top Ten Spectrum memories. This won’t represent the best of what … more

My Head Is Spinning: 30 Dizzy Years

This week marks the 30th birthday of one of the icons of the 8-bit era: adventurer, boxing glove wearer and all-round good egg, Dizzy. So, to mark the occasion (and breathe life back into the retro-gaming blog here), here’s a quick rundown of Dizzy’s greatest adventures, ordered from least good … more

Game review: Splat!

loaderToday’s challenge is to see how long I can actually keep writing about what is, in essence, a maze game; thankfully, I’ve chosen a … more

Game review: Penetrator

LoadingOnce upon a time, not so very long ago, Spectrum gaming was so new and, ahem, basic, that software houses felt the need to show … more

Towel Day: Games Inspired By Hitchhikers

No, not games inspired by hopeful looking individuals standing near the exit of Strensham Services holding up a piece of card with ‘Islington’ rather optimistically scrawled upon it. For today is Towel Day, when the Universe acknowledges one of its greatest ever occupants, Mr Douglas Noel Adams, author of The … more

Game review: Trashman

trashloadSo here it is, as promised, my retro review of the Spectrum classic Trashman.

You have to wonder what went on in some of the pitch sessions … more

Game Review: Paperboy

Having got my newly acquired Sinclair computers up and running, there was only one logical next step; and so I dug out my copy of Paperboy, prayed I had remembered the laws of chuntey, and loaded up…

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There was … more

The Ubiquitous Willy

I know I said it started on eBay, or on my 40th birthday, but of course it didn’t, not really. My current obsession with retro gaming is like episodes IV-VI, but with better prequels.

My Phantom Menace, to stretch an already crap metaphor, occurred when these two 80s behemoths met … more

It lives!

At the end of last week’s post, I had acquired a handful of non-functioning Sinclair computers, and was about to embark on trying to revive them.
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And as you may have surmised by now, my … more