Wednesday, May 1, 2013

A Whole New World of Retro Gaming Goodness!

I've known about the Sinclair ZX Spectrum for quite some time, but it was not until yesterday that I actually started to explore the zany world of the "Speccy" (as it's affectionately known by it's loyal fans).  I've gotta tell ya, I haven't played too many games, but I am completely hooked.  The Spectrum was an 8-Bit computer that was developed in the UK and was very friendly towards "bedroom programmers".  I would say probably more so than any other computer system of the 80's.

I'm still exploring the vast library that is available via emulation, but with titles such as Jet Set Willy, Manic Miner and Kokotoni Wilf, I'm very excited to finally play these long cherished games.  Digging further into the library, I come across some titles that sound absolutely friggin amazing (they are listed mostly as freeware....so I'm sure they're actually kinda on the chinzy side, but that is completely besides the point!) such as Killer Knight, Killa Gorilla, Jungle Warrior, Beat the Bug Eyes, Ghosts Revenge and the list goes on and on.

I've actually been playing Killer Knight a bit tonight and it's extremely frustrating, yet I feel compelled to keep playing.  The controls are ludicrous and extremely unintuitive, but I guess that's the price you pay for a Donkey Kong clone with a Killer Knight taking the place of ol' DK!  I have yet to make it past the first level, but I'm determined. 

Please note...the Speccy did not have the same keyboard layout,  You must use the number keys on top!

Ok....so the Killer Knight is rolling barrels at me?  That's an odd attack, isn't it?

You are looking at the furthest that I have made it in the game!  

As I delve further into the ZX library of games, I will post them up in The Space Dungeon as well as pop some non review thoughts here in the HotAR.  

The sun will be up soon and that damsel in distress still needs saving.  So forge ahead I must.  FOR HONOR!!!