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The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research.
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold. In the United States it was initially sold as the ZX-81 under license by Timex. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized ZX81 clones were produced in several countries.
The Quill is a program to write home computer adventure games. Written by Graeme Yeandle, it was published on the ZX Spectrum by Gilsoft in December 1983. Although available to the general public, it was used by several games companies to create best-selling titles; over 450 commercially published titles for the ZX Spectrum were written using The Quill.
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.
Jetpac is an arcade-style shooter video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and released for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20 in 1983, and on the BBC Micro in 1984. The game is the first instalment in the Jetman series, and is the first game to be released by the Ultimate company, who were later known as Rare. The game follows Jetman as he must rebuild his rocket in order to explore different planets, while simultaneously defending himself from hostile aliens. Jetpac has since been included in a number of other Rare titles such as an unlockable minigame in 1999's Donkey Kong 64 and part of the 2015 compilation Rare Replay. The game was later included in a game compilation on the ZX Spectrum Vega. It later spawned two direct sequels and a 2007 remake, Jetpac Refuelled, which was released for the Xbox Live Arcade service.
3D Monster Maze is a computer game developed from an idea by J.K. Greye and programmed by Malcolm Evans in 1981 for the Sinclair ZX81 platform with the 16 KB memory expansion. The game was initially released by J. K. Greye Software in early 1982 and re-released later the same year by Evans' own startup, New Generation Software. Rendered using low-resolution character block "graphics", it was one of the first 3D games for a home computer, and one of the first games incorporating typical elements of the genre that would later be termed survival horror.
Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company, that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable of and can be compared favourably with other ground-breaking software houses like Ultimate Play the Game and Beyond. Fourteen of their games were awarded "Megagame" by Your Sinclair.
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 alongside the latter for the ZX Spectrum during Christmas in 1984. Another developer, Firebird, ported the game to the Commodore 64 the next year.
Skool Daze is a computer game released by Microsphere in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8 bit and Oric computers. It was written by David Reidy, with graphics designed by Keith Warrington. The game was commercially and critically successful, and praised for its original concept. It has since been regarded as one of the pioneers of the sandbox game genre.
Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game Cosmos which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex.
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 shooter 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.
J.K. Greye Software was a British software company set up by J.K. Greye in early 1981 and 6 months later joined by Malcolm Evans after they met at a Bath Classical Guitar & Lute Society meeting in Bath in 1981. They produced computer games for the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers.
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.
Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the University of Manchester. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded. The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair ZX81, though it was with the ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus Assembler gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product, Halls of the Things, an arcade adventure game that became their most successful title.
Despite the fact that the ZX Spectrum hardware was limited by most standards, its software library was very diverse, including programming language implementations, several Z80 assemblers/disassemblers, Sinclair BASIC compilers, Sinclair BASIC extensions, databases, word processors, spread sheets, drawing and painting tools, even 3D modelling (VU-3D), and, of course, many, many games.
Back to Skool is a video game, sequel to the Skool Daze, created by David Reidy with graphics by Keith Warrington for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985. The gameplay is very similar to - if more advanced than - Skool Daze, incorporating most of the same characters, gameplay elements and graphics.
Contact Sam Cruise is a computer game created by David Reidy with graphics by Keith Warrington for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1986. Using a similar engine to Skool Daze, this game charted the exploits of a player-controlled private detective called Sam Cruise.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Skool Daze feature". Retrogamer magazine. August 6, 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- 1 2 3 Charles P Cohen (1985). "Little and Round, with no Sharp Edges". Crash . No. 25. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ "Software review : Crevasse and Hotfoot". Sinclair User . No. 15. 1983. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ "Skool Daze (review)". Crash . No. 11. 1984. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ "Back To Skool (review)". Crash . No. 23. 1985. Retrieved 10 January 2013.