The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

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The best classic Speccy game beginning with D

Poll ended at Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:03 am

Daley Thompson's Decathlon by Ocean
3
9%
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge by Ocean
1
3%
Daley Thompson's Supertest by Ocean
0
No votes
Dambusters, The by US Gold
0
No votes
Dandy by Electric Dreams
1
3%
Danger Mouse in Double Trouble by Creative Sparks
0
No votes
Dan Dare by Virgin
3
9%
Dan Dare 2 by Virgin
1
3%
Dan Dare 3 by Virgin
0
No votes
Dark Sceptre by Firebird
0
No votes
Dark Star by Design Design
0
No votes
Day In The Life, A by Micromega
1
3%
Deactivators by Reaktor
0
No votes
Deathchase by Micromega
8
24%
Death Star Interceptor by System 3
0
No votes
Death Stalker by Code Masters
1
3%
Death Wish III by Gremlin
0
No votes
Deflektor by Gremlin
2
6%
Demon's Revenge by Firebird
0
No votes
Deus Ex Machina by Automata UK
1
3%
Deviants by Players
1
3%
Dizzy by Codemasters
3
9%
Dictator by DK'Tronics
1
3%
Dominator by System 3
0
No votes
Doomdark's Revenge by Beyond Software
1
3%
Doomsday Castle by Fantasy Software
0
No votes
Draconus by Zeppelin
0
No votes
Dragontorc by Hewson
2
6%
Driller by Incentive
1
3%
Druid by Firebird
0
No votes
Dun Durach by Gargoyle
0
No votes
Dustin by Dinamic
0
No votes
Dynamite Dan by Mirrorsoft
1
3%
Dynamite Dan II by Mirrorsoft
1
3%
 
Total votes: 33

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Morkin
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Morkin »

So after suggesting Doomdark's Revenge for the poll, I've gone and voted for Dragontorc. :oops:

I thought it was an excellent successor to Avalon, very atmospheric, and felt a bit more 'open world' (to an extent) once you could travel the leylines to different areas. I liked the mixture of distinct above/below ground areas. Only managed to finish it with a few (magazine) hints though.

...I'm assuming it won't win though, I'm guessing that sodding egg game will win.. :lol:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by AndyC »

There are some good games to choose from, but Dizzy is the absolute stand out. I get the "he was in too many sequels" counter-argument, but the reason for that is because of how good the original was. It's arguably not the best of the series, but a best games list that didn't feature Dizzy would just be missing one of the biggest impacts on the market the was.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by stupidget »

Some really great Loading Screens there as well. I still love the Deathchase one. Blew me away when I saw it 35 years ago :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2018 9:30 pm A very dispersed voting, definitely...
Yeah, for me I don't see any strong stand-out titles this time and I think it's the same, broadly speaking, for the rest of you. Quite the opposite of the C vote.

If I had to put money on the winner, I think it'll be Dizzy. Not that this should have any influence on voting, always vote for the game you like the best, even if you feel it's going to be mentioned with just 1 point on Monday.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Oh, I loved Deviants. A very cool game.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Sokurah »

Ast A. Moore wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 2:49 pm Oh, I loved Deviants. A very cool game.
Pretty good game - it's so fun running around, but the map is perhaps a tad too big.
... oh, and I hate those damn puzzle sections.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Sokurah wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:04 pm and I hate those damn puzzle sections.
Heh. I know many people complained about the bomb deactivation sequence. But I kind of figured it out pretty quickly and intuitively, so those rarely presented a problem.

The map is pretty big, yes.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Wow! deathchase has just turned the poll around!
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:47 pm Wow! deathchase has just turned the poll around!
I never 'got' Deathchase, but was very entertained by retrogaming's prolific Vimto-loving flat-topped SNP supporter giving it full-on praise.

This has been a lovely poll so far, quite a few games getting clicked on that you wouldn't suspect.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Ralf »

I would never personally vote for Deathchase but I can understand that some people value it that much.

It was a very impressive game for 1983. Fast crazy action and true 3D view which was very uncommon then.

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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Yes, Deathchase is technically great for a game from 1983. But I think there are more about it. It's bloody addictive once you start to play it. Even the crazy 'bumblebee' sound help make it addictive! :D
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Pegaz »

Dan Dare and Dynamite Dan II are by far the best games beggining with D.
My vote always goes to the first part of Dan Dare, as the best in the series and one of my favorite games for Spectrum, ever. :)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by walrus »

This has probably been the toughest choice yet, there a number of good choices for me but no real stand out titles. I am looking for something which lifts a title above the others and although there are some excellent later titles I find myself keep being drawn back to Deathchase. I guess I am choosing the excitement of playing that game for the first time over the technical accomplishments some of the later titles. It may not be the deepest game but it is one I still enjoy playing.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Ralf wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 10:25 am I would never personally vote for Deathchase but I can understand that some people value it that much.

It was a very impressive game for 1983. Fast crazy action and true 3D view which was very uncommon then.

Today for me? Funny for 5 minutes ;)
Yeah, as a latecomer to the Spectrum, right at its arguable commercial pinnacle (late '87) I initially didn't get the love for the ground-breaking early games like Deathchase and even Ultimate's stuff just made me go "yeah, that's alright I guess". With hindsight, that must have been incredible to experience in a time when most games were cheap and nasty arcade clones and graphics - even on machine code efforts - were really UDG-ish.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Ralf »

I know what you mean. I got my Spectrum in 1986 and completely missed the experiences of first years.

Actually some game like Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy are much more popular in UK than let's say Poland or Russia. For you it was unique, new and great when it appeared. We got our Spectrums later and there was much more choice and more polished games already available.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Ralf wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:28 pm I know what you mean. I got my Spectrum in 1986 and completely missed the experiences of first years.

Actually some game like Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy are much more popular in UK than let's say Poland or Russia. For you it was unique, new and great when it appeared. We got our Spectrums later and there was much more choice and more polished games already available.
I do have a lot of love for the big names of the early days - Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy when they came round on re-release. They were always commonly cited in the playground in my pre-computer-owning days. Oh, and if Chaos didn't exist, I'd have voted for Chuckie Egg in my previous poll. That's still immensely playable.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Rorthron »

I got my Spectrum in 1982. Back then even BASIC games were magical. I loved playing Games 5 (Star Trail) from Sinclair, but it was so amateurish that you could even break into the program and review the listing.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

The poll ends tomorrow. Really good games there. And it seems Deathchase will win. A fair winner.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by hitm4n »

walrus wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:17 am This has probably been the toughest choice yet, there a number of good choices for me but no real stand out titles.
I've changed my vote 3 times now. I try to pick what i think is both great fun AND a classic in that it is well loved and well known. M and J will be no brainers, the winners there simply must be Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy although i bet its a fierce competition with a multitude of games in each list...

Deathchase is by far NOT the best game listed here, but it is the most classic in my eyes.
Dynamite Dan was my first choice, but this came later and in terms of quality is miles ahead of Deathchase, but is it as much of a classic as Deathchase?

Tough letter this week. I'll stick with Deathchase, looking forward to E. Can i have an E please Bob?
I don't have anything cool to put here, so i'll just be off now to see a priest with yeast stuck between his teeth and his friend called Keith who's a hairpiece thief...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by R-Tape »

hitm4n wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:21 am M and J will be no brainers, the winners there simply must be Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy although i bet its a fierce competition with a multitude of games in each list...
I'm already feeling tense about M...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

The same to F

;)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by bob_fossil »

I chose Daley Thompson's Decathlon in the end. I never owned Deathchase and only became aware of it when Stuart Campbell made it his top 100 Spectrum game in Your Sinclair. I played Decathlon so much, I was genuinely shocked when I turned out to be rubbish at the javelin during athletics at school - turns out it's more than just running a bit and throwing it at as near to 45 degrees as possible. If you ever talk to someone about 80s home computers and games, you're more likely to find common ground with Daley Thompson than Deathchase. Pummeling the keyboard or inflicting terrible physical damage on a joystick seems to have entered the lore of 80s gaming. For me it also marks the point where Ocean became the big licensing company they turned in to and was my first experience of the Speedlock tape loader on the They Sold a Million compilation. I nearly voted for Danger Mouse as I have a soft spot for it. It's silly and colourful like the cartoon and like Bruce Lee, one of a select number of games I can finish (again :) ).
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Well, the clear winner is Deathchase, winning with 8 votes. Could there be any other 16K Spectrum games that can top these polls, I wonder?

Three games are joint third with 3 votes each...
Daley Thompson's Decathlon; Dan Dare and Dizzy

The next tier - 2 votes each - has Deflektor and Dragontorc.

Then there are loads of single-voted games: Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge; Dandy; Dan Dare 2; A Day In The Life; Death Stalker; Deus Ex Machina; Deviants; Dictator; Doomdark's Revenge; Driller; Dynamite Dan and Dynamite Dan II.

Now to start the week-long discussion thread on E...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: vote

Post by WIWC »

Not sure about this one. I'd have gone for one among Deactivators, Death Star Interceptor, Druid and Dynamite Dan II.
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