| Manic Miner |
| |
| Release Date | 1983/Jun |
| Original Publisher | Bug-Byte Software Ltd (UK) |
| Min. Hardware | ZX-Spectrum 48K |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Arcade Game: Platform |
| Max. Players | 1 |
| Edited with | Manic Designer Manic Designer 2 Manic Miner Editor Manic Miner Game Designer & Editor Manic Miner Graphics Designer Manic Miner Levels Designer Manic Miner Screen Editor Ultimate Cheat System |
| Inspiration for | Manic Miner ZX81 Manic Pietro Miner Willy's Nightmare Pac Manic Miner Man Thoroughly Modern Willy Winer Milly |
| Original platform for (unofficial port) | Manic Miner |
| Original Price | £5.95 |
| Mods | 46 title(s) |
| Competitions | C&VG 1983 Golden Joystick Awards |
| Features | Border Effects |
| Ports | Manic Miner (SAM Coupé) |
| Other Platforms | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 64 (unofficial), Commodore Plus/4, MSX, Ondra SPO 186 (unofficial), Tesla PMD 85 (unofficial) |
| Average mag. score | 90.50% (4 reviews) |
| Martijn's WoS score | 82.8% (1048 votes) |
Re-releases
| #1 - Software Projects Ltd (UK) | (1983/Nov/28) | ||
| #2 - Ventamatic (Spain) | (1984) | ||
| * Release price: 1700.00 Ptas | |||
| #3 - Mastertronic Added Dimension (UK) | (1989/Feb) | ||
| * Release price: £2.99 | |||
| #4 - EDOS (UK) |
Authors/Contributors
| Matthew Smith (UK) | - ? | ||
| Roger Tissyman | - Inlay/Poster Art |
Annual Awards
| 3rd place in the C&VG 1983 Golden Joystick Awards - Game of the Year 1983. | |
| Rank #03 - 1984 Sinclair User Top 50 Spectrum Software Classics | |
| Winner of the C&VG 1983 Golden Joystick Awards - Best Arcade Style Game. |
Review Awards
| "C+VG Reviewers Choice" | at C&VG (Computer & Video Games) | issue #23 - 1983/Sep | page 131 |
Music References
| Includes the following music: Johann Strauss Jr., An der schönen, blauen Donau op. 314 "The Blue Danube" waltz [title screen]; Edvard Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite op. 46, IV. In The Hall Of The Mountain King [in game] |
Remarks
| Famously moved onto Software Projects label after Matthew Smith left Bug-Byte through a legal loophole. Probably the most famous Speccy game of all time. Appeared in Computer and Videogames greatest 100 games off all time at position 100 in January 2000 (the only Speccy game in the entire list). |
Publication
| An early version of the game featuring 16 caverns was officially announced at the Earls Court Computer Fair in June 1983 by Bug-Byte Software. Later, Matthew Smith added another 4 caverns for the official Bug-Byte Software release. The Software Projects version has modified graphics of enemies at "The Warehouse" and "Amoebatron's Revenge" caverns. The Ventamatic release is based on the Software Projects version and it's fully translated into Spanish, with some cavern names drastically changed. |
Series "Miner Willy"
| 1. | Manic Miner | (1983) | by Bug-Byte Software Ltd (UK) | |
| 2. | Jet Set Willy | (1984) | by Software Projects Ltd (UK) | |
| 3. | Jet Set Willy II | (1985) | by Software Projects Ltd (UK) |
Compilations
| Unauthorized version in | Load 'n' Run issue 10 | (1984/Nov) | by Magazine Load 'n' Run - covertape from issue #10 - 1984/Nov | - titled "La miniera" |
Main File Downloads
| Filename | Release | Machine | Scheme | Language | Comments | |
| ManicMiner(different).tzx.zip | Original | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English | - (different) | |
| ManicMiner.tap.zip | Original | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (???) | English | ||
| ManicMiner.tzx.zip | Original | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English | ||
| ManicMiner(ULAplus).tap.zip | Original | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English | - ULAplus version | |
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjectsLtd).tap.zip | #1 | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (???) | English | ||
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjectsLtd).tzx.zip | #1 | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English | ||
| ManicMiner(Ventamatic).tzx.zip | #2 | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English | ||
| ManicMiner(MastertronicAddedDimension).tzx.zip | #3 | ZX-Spectrum 48K | (None) | English |
Additional File Downloads
| Filename | Size | Release | Type | Language | Comments | |
| ManicMiner.scr | 6,912 | Original | Loading screen | |||
| ManicMiner.gif | 2,956 | Original | Running screen | |||
| ManicMiner.jpg | 281,938 | Original | Inlay - Front | |||
| ManicMiner_2.jpg | 439,115 | Original | Inlay - Front | |||
| ManicMiner_Back.jpg | 152,707 | Original | Inlay - Back | |||
| ManicMiner.ay.zip | 3,696 | Original | Ripped in-game/theme music in AY format | |||
| ManicMiner.mp3.zip | 330,266 | Original | Sampled in-game/theme music in MP3 format | |||
| MANICMIN.TXT | 13,449 | Original | Instructions | - Docs & Cheats (from games database) | ||
| manic.txt | 1,049 | Original | Instructions | |||
| ManicMiner.txt | 2,858 | Original | Instructions | English | ||
| ManicMiner_historical.txt | 13,179 | Original | Instructions | English | ||
| ManicMiner.gif | 70,139 | Original | Game map | |||
| ManicMiner.jpg | 227,911 | Original | Advertisement | |||
| manic.zip | 0 | Original | RZX playback file | - Recorded by Paul French and Jamie Angus [denied] | ||
| mmvariants.zip | 0 | Original | RZX playback file | - Recorded by Daniel Gromann (with rollback) - More than a dozen variants of MM. See the enclosed document for details. [denied] | ||
| Manic Miner (1983)(Bug-Byte Software).pok | 2,094 | Original | POK pokes file | |||
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjectsLtd).scr | 6,912 | #1 | Loading screen | |||
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjects).jpg | 287,880 | #1 | Inlay - Front | |||
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjects)_Back.jpg | 161,220 | #1 | Inlay - Back | |||
| ManicMiner(SoftwareProjectsLtd).txt | 2,589 | #1 | Instructions | English | ||
| ManicMiner(Ventamatic).jpg | 146,069 | #2 | Inlay - Front | |||
| ManicMiner(Ventamatic).pdf | 8,593 | #2 | Instructions | English | ||
| ManicMiner(MastertronicAddedDimension).jpg | 342,023 | #3 | Inlay - Front | |||
| ManicMiner(MastertronicAddedDimension)_Back.jpg | 275,310 | #3 | Inlay - Back |
Magazine Reviews
Magazine References
Magazine Advertisements
Links
| Centre for Computing History | (Information - in English) | |
| Centre for Computing History | (Information - in English) | |
| JSW Central | (Information - in English) | |
| MobyGames | (Information - in English) | |
| Modern ZX-Retro Gaming | (Information - in English) | |
| Modern ZX-Retro Gaming | (Information - in English) | |
| Modern ZX-Retro Gaming | (Information - in English) | |
| RZX Archive | (Information - in English) | |
| RZX Archive | (Information - in English) | |
| RZX Archive - YouTube | (Information - in English) | |
| Speccy Screenshot Maps | (Information - in English) | |
| The Cutting Room Floor | (Information - in English) | |
| The Tipshop | (Information - in English) | |
| UVL | (Information - in English) | |
| Wikipedia | (Information - in English) | |
| ZX Spectrum Reviews | (Magazine Reviews) | |
| Spectrum 2.0 | (User Reviews) | |
| The TZX Vault | (Software Preservation) | |
| ZX-Art | (Spectrum Graphics) | |
| ZXInfo | (ZXDB Front End) | |
| Every Game Going | (Multi-Platform Archive) | |
| New World Of Spectrum | (Spectrum Archive) | |
| Original World Of Spectrum | (Spectrum Archive) | |
| World Of Spectrum Classic | (Spectrum Archive) | |
| Spectrum Computing | (MAIN VIEW) |
