magazine

on spec
Jonathan cauldwell
The developer on his love for the Speccy Scene
On his favourite creation
Most of them have something going
for them. The title which I’m most
proud of is Encyclopaedia Galactica
Remixed, which sees the player flying
around different star systems and
collecting samples of alien life to
document for the eponymous tome.
On the Spectrum scene
Dozens of new games are created
every year with new authors
appearing to write the game they
wanted to as a child. It’s great to see
bubble
2007cannon
DEVELOPER: coMputer eMuZone
GENRE: puZZle
Spanish team Computer Emuzone produced some strong
demakes this year, including the Bejeweled clone Betiled.
But in terms of retro appeal you can’t beat Cannon
Bubble. Featuring pirate-themed graphics and a jaunty
soundtrack, this is
a game that does
everything right.
It even includes a
two-player mode so
you can go
head-to-head
against a friend.
2010
horace mYstic woods in the
DEVELOPER: BoB SMith
GENRE: platforMer
Horace was a mascot for the Speccy, appearing in three
beloved titles. A fourth game was canned in 1985 but that
wasn’t the end. In 1995 Psion hired Michael Ware to write
Horace In The Mystic Woods for the Psion 3 PDA and 15
years later Bob Smith ported the game to the Spectrum.
Horace’s return was the highlight release of this
year. The original version was monochrome, but on the
Spectrum all 64 screens of platforming action are daubed
with lovely colour. The controls are excellent, as is the
sound. It’s good to have you back, Horace.
so many people
interested in
learning Z80
assembler or
using Churrera
or Arcade Game
Designer in
different ways to create new titles. The
quality is high and some of the games
developed over recent years would
have received rave reviews in the
Eighties. Interest in developing new
games just keeps growing and I have
no plans to stop any time soon.
2008splattr
DEVELOPER: BoB SMith
GENRE: Shoot-’eM-up
Another one from Jonathan Cauldwell and
this was probably his most intriguing and
ambitious game to date. We say ‘game’ when
this is actually a collection of 16 minigames
based on classic arcade concepts (although to
refer to them as mere clones is doing them
a disservice, as there are some brilliant little
challenges included).
Rather than just be a collection of titles,
the games are all connected by the unique
‘Games Exchange’ element where you buy
and sell shares in the games on offer. So you
begin by building up some of your capital by
playing a Pac-Man variant and then invest this
in other titles of varying difficulty, using your
own game-playing skills to amass more and
more resources. You’ll need to watch out for
Massive graphics
and no colour clash?
That doesn’t sound
like the Speccy.
Yet if the sprites
are built using
character squares
then the attributes
can’t clash. Based on this observation (which is reflected
in the title – ATTR is the attribute command in Sinclair
Basic), Bob Smith created this unique shooter where you
blast huge sprites that fill the screen. This is one of those
games where static screenshots simply don’t do it justice.
2006gamex
DEVELOPER: Jonathan cauldwell GENRE: MinigaMe collection
tax (too many penalties and it’s game over),
but more importantly you need to keep your
eye on the time as it’s easy to lose track of it
when you are wheelin’ and dealin’ on GameX.
The stock market shenanigans returned for a
sequel, subtitled Playing Dividends, which was
released in 2015
valleY
2009king’s
DEVELOPER: retroworkS
GENRE: platforMer
The MSX library is littered with Speccy ports, so it’s nice
to see it work in reverse sometimes. This conversion
of Konami’s platformer from Spain’s RetroWorks is
a joy to play. Think Lode Runner, only here you’re
raiding pyramids
for treasure. As
you’d expect from
RetroWorks the
presentation is
spot-on, featuring
impressive graphics
and AY tunes.
2011 craY 5
This was the strongest year yet for
homebrew releases, with a glut of
great games arriving. Cray 5 takes
the crown for being charming,
challenging and just brilliant.
The game was originally
developed by Topo Soft in 1987
and released for the Amstrad CPC.
Topo Soft did release a number
2012 survivisection
DEVELOPER: SancheZ
Another year where it’s hard
to select the best game.
Survivisection from Sanchez
(Aleksander Udotov) has to be
singled out, though, for taking the
theme of Commando and taking
it further than anyone thought
possible on the Spectrum.
GENRE: Shoot-‘eM-up
DEVELOPER: retroworkS
Rather than control your
soldier directly you use a pointer
to select where he moves and
fires. And it’s not about shooting
everything, as there’s a degree of
strategy and puzzling, too. Plus it
looks great, featuring full colour
and full-screen scrolling.
GENRE: Shoot-’eM-up
of games for the Spectrum but
Cray 5 was not one of them.
Thanks to RetroWorks, this
oversight has been corrected –
with some style. It looks amazing,
resembling a Raffaele Cecco
game, and the AY soundtrack is
fantastic. Overall it’s a clear
cut above the CPC original.
50 | RETRO GAMER