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The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982. Many official and unofficial clones were released around the world in the following years, most notably in Europe, the United States, and Eastern Bloc countries.
Newsfield Publications Ltd was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Artic Computing was a software development company based in Brandesburton, England from 1980 to 1986. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC computer games. The company was set up by Richard Turner and Chris Thornton. Charles Cecil, who later founded Revolution Software, joined the company shortly after it was founded, writing Adventures B through D. Developer Jon Ritman produced a number of ZX81 and Spectrum games for Artic before moving to Ocean Software.
Tornado Low Level is a multidirectional flight game developed by Costa Panayi and published in 1984 by the company he co-founded, Vortex Software. The game was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, with ports for the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1985.
Cauldron is a video game developed and published by British developer Palace Software in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC home computer. It contains both platform game and horizontally scrolling shooter sections. Players control a witch who aims to become the "Witch Queen" by defeating the "Pumpking"
Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back is a video game developed and published by British developer Palace Software as a sequel to their 1985 game Cauldron. The 2D platform game was released in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC home computers. Players control a bouncing pumpkin that is on a quest of vengeance against the "Witch Queen". The roles of the two were reversed from the first game, in which the witch defeated a monstrous pumpkin.
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.
Deactivators is a 1986 puzzle video game designed by David Bishop and Chris Palmer, developed by Tigress Marketing and System Software, and published by Ariolasoft's action game imprint Reaktor. The player controls bomb disposal robots known as deactivators and must use them to deactivate bombs planted by terrorists in five research complexes. The concept for the game came from a brainstorming session between Bishop and Palmer; its design and development took five to six months to complete. It was released for the Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms in October 1986.
Kong Strikes Back! is a 1984 platform video game published by Ocean Software in 1984 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. While its predecessor, Kong, is a Donkey Kong clone, Kong Strikes Back! is a clone of Mr. Do's Wild Ride with Donkey Kong-inspired graphics.
DK'Tronics Ltd was a British software and hardware company active during the 1980s. It primarily made peripherals for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC but also released video games for the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, VIC-20, BBC Micro, Memotech MTX, MSX and Amstrad platforms.
Maziacs is an action adventure maze game published by DK'Tronics in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MSX.
Rambo is a 1985 video game based on the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). The game was designed by David Collier and Tony Pomfret with the ZX Spectrum version converted by Platinum Productions.
Highlander is a video game tie-in to the Highlander franchise released in 1986, the same year as the film, published by Ocean Software for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. Highlander was panned by reviewers.
Halls of the Things is a video game developed by Design Design for the ZX Spectrum and released by Crystal Computing in 1983. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. The player travels through seven floors of a tower, searching for seven rings, with each floor being a complex maze of corridors and rooms. Once the player has the rings they must then find the magical key hidden in the dungeon, which opens the drawbridge allowing the player to escape. To hinder the player's progress they are attacked by "things," but the player is armed with a sword, arrows, fireballs and lightning to aid you in the quest.
Daley Thompson's Decathlon is an Olympic-themed sports video game developed and released by Ocean Software in 1984. It was released in the wake of Daley Thompson's popularity following his gold medals in the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. The game is based on the gameplay format established by 1983 arcade game Track & Field.
Piranha Software was a short-lived video game publishing label created by Macmillan Publishers in 1986 and closed eighteen months later. In that time it gained a reputation for its unusual output from well known developers such as Don Priestley, Design Design and Delta 4. The majority of their games featured licensed properties including the first video game based on the Discworld novels and two games based on the animated television series The Trap Door.
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is an action game published by Crystal Computing in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It is loosely based on the adventure gamebook of the same name written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and published by Puffin Books in 1982.
Zeus Assembler is an assembler development tool for the Z80 originally written by Neil Mottershead for the Nascom 2 and then ported to the ZX Spectrum by Neil Mottershead and Simon Brattel in 1983. It was published by Crystal Computing. The program was designed to make Z80 machine code programming easier, with full symbolic instructions, and an editing style similar to the Spectrum's built-in BASIC.
Ashkeron! is an interactive fiction video game developed by Dorset-based Texgate Computers and published by Mirrorsoft for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1985.
References
- ↑ Popular Computing Weekly , 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.
- 1 2 3 4 Rebirth of the Things: Design Design, CRASH , issue 8 (p.88), Newsfield Publications, 1984
- ↑ "As Clear as Crystal", Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd
- ↑ "From Namtir Raiders, to a bit of a bovver with bears then on to Batman... and beyond", CRASH, issue 33 (p.84), Newsfield Publications, October 1986
- ↑ Design Design official site
- ↑ "The Living Daylights". Crash. No. 43. Newsfield. August 1987. p. 94. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ↑ "Snippets... Spitting Image". ACE. No. 15. Future Publishing. December 1988. p. 10. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ↑ "The Making of: Bloodwych", Retro Gamer , issue 23 (p.55), Imagine Publishing
- 1 2 Trading With Crystal Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine , Sinclair User, issue 15 (p.27), ECC Publications Ltd., June 1983
- ↑ Monitor and Disassembler press ad, Your Computer January 1983 issue (p.131), IPC Business Press Ltd.
- ↑ Bug Blaster review, CRASH, issue 3 (p.83), Newsfield Publications 1984