Jetpac

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Jetpac
Jetpac Coverart.png
Developer(s) Ultimate Play the Game
Publisher(s) Ultimate Play the Game
Programmer(s) Chris Stamper
Artist(s) Tim Stamper
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, VIC-20
Release
Genre(s) Shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Jetpac is a shooter video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and released for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20 in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1984. It is the first game to be released by Ultimate Play the Game, the company which later became Rare. The game follows Jetman as he must rebuild his rocket in order to explore different planets, while simultaneously defending against hostile aliens. It was written by Ultimate co-founder Chris Stamper with graphics designed by his brother, Tim Stamper. Reviewers praised Jetpac's presentation and gameplay, and it won "Game of the Year" at the Golden Joystick Awards in 1983.

Contents

Jetpac has since been included in as an unlockable minigame in 1999's Donkey Kong 64 and part of the 2015 compilation Rare Replay . It was later included in a game compilation on the ZX Spectrum Vega. It spawned two direct sequels and a 2007 remake, Jetpac Refuelled , which was released for the Xbox Live Arcade service.

Gameplay

Three rocket sections need to be assembled before Jetman can leave this planet. Jetpac.gif
Three rocket sections need to be assembled before Jetman can leave this planet.

The game world is presented in a horizontal wraparound and consists of three platforms which Jetman can manoeuvre onto. Jetman must assemble his rocket (which spawns in pieces scattered around the map), and then fill it with fuel before taking off to the next planet, where the procedure is broadly repeated with alternate procedures. [4] In addition, the player has to defend themselves from the planet's aliens, and for bonus points collect valuable resources which occasionally fall from above. [5]

After the first level, the rocket stays assembled and just requires refuelling. However, every four levels, the rocket resets (giving the player an extra life) and the replacement has to be built before it can be refuelled for takeoff. [4] Each new model has a new design with a higher number written on it, although the core gameplay remains unchanged. [5] The enemies change forms each level (cycling back to the first after eight levels) and each alien has a different pattern of movement which means they can be dealt with in a different manner. [6]

Development

Jet Pac ROM inserted to ZX Interface 2 ZX Interface 2 connected to ZX Interface 1.jpg
Jet Pac ROM inserted to ZX Interface 2

Ultimate Play the Game was founded by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper, along with Tim's wife, Carol, from their headquarters in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1982. They began producing multiple video games for the ZX Spectrum throughout the early 1980s. [7] The company were known for their reluctance to reveal details about their operations and then-upcoming projects. Little was known about their development process except that they used to work in "separate teams"; one team would work on development whilst the other would concentrate on other aspects such as sound or graphics. [7] While developing Jetpac, the Stamper brothers closely studied the burgeoning Japanese gaming market and had started to practice developing games for their then-upcoming console, the Famicom, later predicting that the ZX Spectrum had a limited lifespan. [8]

Jetpac was one of the few Spectrum games also available in a ROM format for use with the Interface 2, allowing "instantaneous" loading of the game when the normal method of cassette loading took minutes. [4] The game was also able to run on the 16K version of the Spectrum. [7]

Reception

The game sold 300,000 copies for the ZX Spectrum and generated £1 million in revenue for Ultimate Play the Game, which enabled the Stamper brothers to gain a foothold in the early video gaming market. [12]

The game was critically acclaimed. Crash praised the graphics and presentation, citing that they were of "the highest standard" and added that it was "difficult to find any real faults" with the game. [5] CVG similarly praised the graphics, stating that the presentation was "superb" and the gameplay was considered addictive. [6] In a retrospective review, Chris Wilkins of Eurogamer noted that the colourful graphics and sound effects were advanced for the time, but what truly made for a "faultless" experience was its simple gameplay. [9]

ZX Computing praised the game's playability and replay value, stating that Jetpac was "a very well put together piece of software". [13] The game was number one in the first Spectrum sales chart published by CVG. [14] The ZX Spectrum version was voted number 73 in the Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time in 1993 [15] and was voted the 14th best game of all time by the readers of Retro Gamer for an article that was scheduled to be in a special Your Sinclair tribute issue. [16] The game won the title "Game of the Year" at the 1983 Golden Joystick Awards. [11]

Legacy

After the game's release, Jetpac was parodied in a long-running Crash comic strip named Lunar Jetman. The strip, designed by John Richardson, lasted from July 1984 to October 1991 and gained popular reception from readers. To develop the comic, photographs had to be processed manually on a photomechanical tone and then transferred to paper, being fully colorized in the late 1980s. [12]

Jetpac was followed by two sequels: Lunar Jetman (1983) and Solar Jetman (1990). The latter was not released for the ZX Spectrum, and a version for the Commodore 64 was finished but never released following disappointing sales of the original NES version. [17]

Since its release, Jetpac has been included in a number of other games developed by Rare. The game is playable in Donkey Kong 64 , where it could be unlocked to play in Cranky Kong's laboratory after obtaining 15 Banana Medals. Beating Cranky Kong's high score rewards the player with the Rareware Coin, which is necessary to beat the game. The game was retained in the April 2015 Virtual Console re-release of Donkey Kong 64 on the Wii U, despite the property being technically owned by Microsoft. [18] An enhanced remake of Jetpac, entitled Jetpac Refuelled , was released on the Xbox Live Arcade in March 2007. [19] Microsoft's E3 2015 press conference unveiled the compilation title Rare Replay , which has a selection of thirty games from Rare's lifetime game library, including the original Jetpac and its two sequels and remake, making the Jetman series the most represented in the collection. [20]

Related Research Articles

Ashby Computers and Graphics Limited, trading as Ultimate Play the Game, was a British video game developer and publisher, founded in 1982, by ex-arcade video game developers Tim and Chris Stamper. Ultimate released a series of successful games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX and Commodore 64 computers from 1983 until 1987. Ultimate are perhaps best remembered for the big-selling titles Jetpac and Sabre Wulf, each of which sold over 300,000 copies in 1983 and 1984 respectively, and their groundbreaking series of isometric arcade adventures using a technique termed Filmation. Knight Lore, the first of the Filmation games, has been retrospectively described in the press as "seminal ... revolutionary" (GamesTM), "one of the most successful and influential games of all time" (X360), and "probably ... the greatest single advance in the history of computer games" (Edge).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rare (company)</span> British video game developer

Rare Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Twycross, Leicestershire. Rare's games span the platform, first-person shooter, action-adventure, fighting, and racing genres. Its most popular games include the Battletoads, Donkey Kong, and Banjo-Kazooie series, as well as games like GoldenEye 007 (1997), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), Viva Piñata (2006), and Sea of Thieves (2018).

<i>Pssst</i> 1983 video game

Pssst is an action video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game that was released for the ZX Spectrum in June 1983. In the game, Robbie the Robot has to protect his plant as it is attacked by various insects, each of which needs a different repellent to neutralise it. Pssst was the second game to be released by Ultimate, after Jetpac.

<i>Sabre Wulf</i> 1984 video game

Sabre Wulf is an action-adventure game released by British video game developer Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum home computer in 1984. The player navigates the pith-helmeted Sabreman through a 2D jungle maze while collecting amulet pieces to bypass the guardian at its exit. The player does not receive explicit guidance on how to play and is left to decipher the game's objectives through trial and error. Sabreman moves between the maze's 256 connected screens by touching the border where one screen ends and another begins. Each screen is filled with colourful flora, enemies that spawn at random, and occasional collectibles.

<i>Knight Lore</i> 1984 video game

Knight Lore is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in video games. In Knight Lore, the player character Sabreman has forty days to collect objects throughout a castle and brew a cure to his werewolf curse. Each castle room is depicted in monochrome on its own screen and consists of blocks to climb, obstacles to avoid, and puzzles to solve.

<i>Solar Jetman</i> 1990 NES game

Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship is a multi-directional shooter video game developed by Zippo Games and Rare and published by Tradewest in North America and by Nintendo in Europe. It was released in North America on 14 October 1990 and in Europe on 26 September 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is the third installment of the Jetman series and was later re-released by Nintendo for their NES-based PlayChoice-10 arcade system in the United States in 1990.

<i>Underwurlde</i> 1984 video game

Underwurlde is a 1984 action-adventure platform video game in the Sabreman series by Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. The player controls the adventurer Sabreman as he jumps between platforms in a castle and its caverns to find an escape past the exit guardians. Underwurlde features about 600 flip screen areas. Unlike other games of its time, Sabreman is not injured when touched by enemies and is instead knocked backwards. Underwurlde is the second game in the series, between Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore, and released shortly before the latter for the ZX Spectrum in late 1984. Another developer, Firebird, ported the game to the Commodore 64 the next year.

<i>Lunar Jetman</i> 1983 video game

Lunar Jetman is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game. It was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 and later on the BBC Micro. In this sequel to Jetpac, the second instalment of the Jetman series, Jetman has to destroy alien bases whilst simultaneously defending himself, along with Earth, from a hostile alien race.

<i>Atic Atac</i> 1983 video game

Atic Atac is an arcade-adventure video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, released for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1985. The game takes place within a castle in which the player must seek out the "Golden Key of ACG" by unlocking doors and avoiding enemies. It was Ultimate's second game to require 48K of RAM; most of their previous games for the Spectrum ran on unexpanded 16K models.

<i>Gunfright</i> 1985 action-adventure game video game

Gunfright is an action-adventure game developed by Ultimate Play the Game and published by U.S. Gold. It was first released for the ZX Spectrum in December 1985, then released for Amstrad CPC and the MSX the following year. The player takes the role of a sheriff in the town of Black Rock and is tasked with eliminating outlaws who are scattered throughout the settlement.

<i>Nightshade</i> (1985 video game) 1985 video game

Nightshade is an action video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game. It was first released for the ZX Spectrum in 1985, and was then ported to the Amstrad CPC and BBC Micro later that year. It was also ported to the MSX exclusively in Japan in 1986. In the game, the player assumes the role of a knight who sets out to destroy four demons in a plague-infested village.

<i>Spindizzy</i> 1986 video game

Spindizzy is an isometric video game released for several 8-bit home computer formats in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software. It combines action and puzzle game elements. Players must navigate a series of screens to explore a landscape suspended in a three-dimensional space. Development was headed by Paul Shirley, who drew inspiration from Ultimate Play the Game games that feature an isometric projection.

<i>Jetpac Refuelled</i> 2007 video game

Jetpac Refuelled is an arcade-style shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released worldwide on the Xbox Live Arcade service on March 28, 2007. The game is the fourth installment of the Jetman series and a remake of Ultimate Play the Game's 1983 ZX Spectrum game, Jetpac. The game follows Jetman as he attempts to rebuild his rocket in order to explore different planets, whilst simultaneously defending himself from hostile aliens.

<i>Kong Strikes Back!</i> 1984 video game

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.

<i>Highlander</i> (video game) 1986 video game

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.

<i>Digger T. Rock</i> 1990 video game

Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City is a platform game developed by Rare and published by the Milton Bradley Company for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in December 1990 and in Europe in 1991. The game centres around the miner Digger T. Rock, as he spelunks various caves and catacombs whilst searching for the mythical Lost City.

<i>Daley Thompsons Decathlon</i> 1984 video game

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.

<i>Rare Replay</i> 2015 video game compilation

Rare Replay is a 2015 compilation of 30 video games from the 30-year history of developers Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles—from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360—and retain the features and errors of their original releases with minimal edits. The compilation adds cheats to make the older games easier and a Snapshots mode of specific challenges culled from parts of the games. Player progress is rewarded with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews about Rare's major and unreleased games.

<i>Ace</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Ace is a combat flight simulator video game published for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Plus/4 in 1985 by Cascade Games. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stamper brothers</span> Video game developers

Brothers Tim and Chris Stamper are British entrepreneurs who founded the video game companies Ultimate Play the Game and Rare. They first worked together on arcade conversion kits, which were licensed to companies, but later became developers for the ZX Spectrum home computer in the early 1980s. Chris programmed the games, while Tim designed the graphics. They found success as Ultimate with games including Jetpac and Knight Lore. After reverse engineering the Nintendo Entertainment System and deciding to shift their focus to console development, the brothers founded Rare in the mid-1980s. They became Nintendo's first major Western developer, for whom they developed licensed games and ports. Over the next two decades, Rare enjoyed a close relationship with Nintendo and developed multiple major titles for the company, including Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007. Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002, and the brothers left the company in 2007. After spending several years out of the public eye, the brothers are currently planning new ventures.

References

  1. ↑ "PSST is this the Ultimate?", Personal Computer Games (1): 5, June 1983
  2. ↑ "Coming Soon..." Personal Computer Games (2): 7. November 1983.
  3. 1 2 "Jetpac review, BBC Micro version". Computer and Video Games (38): 36. December 1984.
  4. 1 2 3 "Interface Games are Fast but not Furious", Sinclair User , EMAP (24): 54–55, March 1984
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Jetpac review". Crash Magazine (4): 65. April 1984. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Jetpac - Review", Computer and Video Games , Future Publishing (21): 136, January 1983
  7. 1 2 3 "The Best of British - Ultimate". Crash. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Ultimate Hero: The Complete History of Sabreman" (PDF). Retro Gamer. Imagine (73): 27. February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 Wilkins, Chris (25 October 2007). "Jetpac review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Reaction games across the Spectrum - Jet Pac", Home Computing Weekly (16): 15, June 1983
  11. 1 2 "C&VG's Golden Joystick Awards 1983". Computer and Video Games . Future Publishing (29): 15. June 1985. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  12. 1 2 "1983: A Spaceman's Odyssey - The History of Jetman" (PDF). Retro Gamer. Imagine (96): 50. November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "The soft touch - Jet Pac", ZX Computing (8): 106–107, August 1983
  14. ↑ "Chart Toppers", C+VG , Future Publishing (23): 37, September 1983
  15. ↑ "Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time", Your Sinclair , Future plc (93): 11, September 1993
  16. ↑ "The 50 Best Speccy Games Ever!". ysrnry.co.uk. November 2004. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12.
  17. ↑ "Solar Jetman - 1991 storm". Games That Weren't. 1991. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Donkey Kong 64". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
  19. ↑ "Jetpac Refuelled". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  20. ↑ "Rare Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary with a Massive 30-Game Collection". Xbox News. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.


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