The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

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The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Poll ended at Mon May 07, 2018 10:03 am

Jack The Nipper by Gremlin
1
3%
Jack The Nipper II by Gremlin
3
8%
Jahangir Khan's World Championship Squash by Krisalis
0
No votes
Jailbreak by Konami
1
3%
Jason's Gem by Mastertronic
0
No votes
Jasper! by Micromega
1
3%
Jetpac by Ultimate
13
33%
Jet Set Willy by Software Projects
12
31%
Jet Set Willy II by Software Projects
1
3%
Jinxter by Rainbird
0
No votes
Joe Blade by Players
2
5%
Joe Blade II by Players
0
No votes
Joe Blade III by Players
0
No votes
Journey's End by Games Workshop
0
No votes
Judge Dredd by Melbourne House
1
3%
Juggernaut by CRL
2
5%
Jumbly by DK'Tronics
0
No votes
Jumping Jack by Imagine
1
3%
Jungle Fever by A'n'F Software
1
3%
 
Total votes: 39

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PeteProdge
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The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Well, this is it then. Running for 7 days, to be concluded around 10am on Mon 7th May, this is the battle for the letter J - featuring a highly prolific Spectrum title. Well, two... Probably three. Of course, you may not be a fan of these, there are plenty of other options, so do vote with your heart.

(We never did address the Jet Set Willy vs Jet Set Willy II issue... so that puts it in a bit of jeopardy?)

Jack The Nipper by Gremlin
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Jack The Nipper II: In Coconut Capers by Gremlin
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Jahangir Khan's World Championship Squash by Krisalis
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Jailbreak by Konami
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Jason's Gem by Mastertronic
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Jasper! by Micromega
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Jetpac by Ultimate
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Jet Set Willy by Software Projects
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Jet Set Willy II by Software Projects
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Jinxter by Rainbird
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Joe Blade by Players
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Joe Blade II by Players
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Joe Blade III by Players
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Journey's End by Games Workshop
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Judge Dredd by Melbourne House
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Juggernaut by CRL
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Jumbly by DK'Tronics
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Jumping Jack by Imagine
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Jungle Fever by A'n'F Software
ImageImage
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by stupidget »

This was actually tougher than I thought. My first thought was to go for Jetpac as it was one of the first games I ever played on a Speccy, but, then there was also Jumping Jack as that was one of the first games I bought when I finally got a speccy. But, then I remembered how I felt when I first heard and saw JSW!!! It was such a jaw-dropping moment for me to see a game where you could go where you wanted and explore this bizarre world that it'll always be one of my favourite games of all time.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Oddly enough, I was never a fan of any of the games listed. I voted for Joe Blade, because it’s a fine game on its own merit.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

I'm quite surprised people are going for the first Jet Set Willy, seeing as the second one is essentially an expanded and bug-fixed version of the original. I'd say it was an objectively better version, really.

I've gone for Jack The Nipper II : Coconut Capers. For me, that was my Jet Set Willy. An extremely colourful platformer that I spent ages on using an infinite lives poke. Never did complete it, but really enjoyed exploring everywhere. I find it quite underrated and I wonder if Gremlin could have done another title in this franchise? The concept was of course taken to its pinnacle when Rick Dangerous came out.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I voted for Jet Set Willy. It was either this or Jet Pac. But finally I went to M. Smith's game. It's definitely an icon of the ZX Spectrum and the 80s videogames.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by R-Tape »

This thread has caused me an incredible amount of stress.

Jack the Nipper is the best game of the lot here. The best cartoon graphics (apart from the loading screen) and the concept of going around wreaking havoc felt very fresh. I'm glad it was released as Jack the Nipper rather than a comic character (I think it was discussed, Sweeny Toddler?) as would seem less of a Spectrum classic as a result.

I voted Jet Set Willy.
I'm quite surprised people are going for the first Jet Set Willy, seeing as the second one is essentially an expanded and bug-fixed version of the original. I'd say it was an objectively better version, really.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by djnzx48 »

This is a hard one. I feel like I should have gone with JSW, but that game is essentially just wandering around rooms, exploring parts of the house but not really achieving anything. Jetpac is more of a 'game' since you can feel like you're getting somewhere.

JSW II seems like it should be superior to JSW in principle, since it runs faster and is more polished, but it lost some of the charm of the original with recoloured rooms, slightly different movement and annoying features like the death reset. The extra speed also serves to make it even harder than the original so that it's next to impossible to complete without using snapshots.

Jumping Jack is also a great game, but it's just too frustrating when you're almost at the top, and before you know it you've fallen all the way to the bottom and lost a life, without even being able to move. So I'm going with Jetpac for this one.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Vampyre »

Dead easy one for me - Jetpac by a country mile. The first game I ever played on a Speccy and it's still a damn fine, playable game to this day. It still boggles my mind that Ultimate managed to fit all that into 16K.

Second would have been Jet Set Willy. Back in 1984 it was a release of such expectations that only really Ultimate releases had such interest. Time hasn't been all that kind to it IMO, it's still playable enough but Manic Miner is a far superior game.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Spud »

Is Jet Pac one of those games where you had to have been there at the time to appreciate it? I didn't play it until much later and didn't think much of it.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Spud wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:12 am Is Jet Pac one of those games where you had to have been there at the time to appreciate it? I didn't play it until much later and didn't think much of it.
Ditto here.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Spud »

Ast A. Moore wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:19 am
Spud wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:12 am Is Jet Pac one of those games where you had to have been there at the time to appreciate it? I didn't play it until much later and didn't think much of it.
Ditto here.
Although there is probably an element of that in all games of this era.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Spud wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:22 am
Ast A. Moore wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:19 am Ditto here.
Although there is probably an element of that in all games of this era.
Sure, but most early Spectrum games can’t hold a candle to many later titles. Since the poll is about best games and not games that are dearest to you, I try to be objective when I vote. Grouping them by the first letter is a bizarre idea, but it’s fun.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by djnzx48 »

I never played Jetpac till decades later and it still holds up fine to me. It has its flaws, and the underlying concept is very simple, but it's still fast-paced and addictive. Just avoiding the aliens and getting into the completed rocket at the end of each stage is a great feeling. IMO, some of the best 16K games on the Spectrum hold up today because the limitations they were working with, forcing them to distill the basic game concept into something fun to play and not just adding unnecessary features.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ralf »

Yet another vote for Jetpac from me.

I feel obliged to say why Jetpac and not Jet Set Willy :)

I would say Jet Set Willy is bigger "cult" game. Everybody has heard about it. If you ask some guy who has barely heard about Spectum to mention some Spectrum games he will probably mention Jet Set Willy.

In previous polls I voted for Fairlight and Hobbit even if didn't play them that much and never achieved anything significant in them. Because I just had a feeling that they are great classics.

I don''t have such feeling with Jet Set Willy. For me it aged quite badly. It has simplistic graphics, lacks loading screen, is quite hard, requires pixel perfect jumps, lot of pattern learning to get correct timing, has bugs and so on. I never actually enjoyed it.

On the other hand I spent quite a lot of time with Jetpac and it gave me a great fun of blasting aliens and building rockets. It has very good playability, great graphics for 1983 (think of this rainbow laser) and this special feeling of a real game from arcade salooon. If I had to insert coins somewhere to play it, I certainly would ;)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

djnzx48 wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:31 am I never played Jetpac till decades later and it still holds up fine to me.
Sure, it’s a fine game. Is it ten times better than—well, looks like every other title in this poll, though? Put it another way, if someone who’s never seen a Spectrum game before asked you to make a case for it by showing him “the best game beginning with J,” would you really go for Jetpac? ;)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by djnzx48 »

Well, it might not have the technical features of the other games, but it's right up there in terms of playability. Someone who's never seen a Spectrum game before could learn the basic premise in a few minutes, while more 'advanced' games usually require at least reading instructions before you even know exactly what you're supposed to do.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ast A. Moore »

djnzx48 wrote: Tue May 01, 2018 11:51 am Someone who's never seen a Spectrum game before could learn the basic premise in a few minutes.
Right. I was going more for the “hey, check this out” (as in, “look at it”), rather than “have a go at this.” But, yeah, I see your point.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Ersh »

I went with Melbourne House's Judge Dredd, cause it deserves at least one vote. It's almost as good as the criminally underrated c64 game, a fair deal easier though, you can pretty much play forever.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Morkin »

Jetpac FTW..!

Just stands out of the crowd for me, don't think I could vote for anything else. Close to arcade perfection when it was released, and still great to play now.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Uto »

Choosing between Jet Pac and Jack the Nipper II (which in my opinion is much better than JTN I) was difficult. JTN2 it's an awesome videoadventure game that allows you to explore a lot and so have a lot of fun and enjoy the game a lot without even complete the game. On the other hand, Jet Pac is an awesome arcade that I played a lot and it's incredibly good for an early game.

Finally my vote went to Jack the Nipper II.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by hitm4n »

Don't forget the title is "best CLASSIC Speccy game". This for me, means an earlier title, something between 1982 and 1987 or so and i think if a limit was set on the year, this would have been a more definitive list of CLASSIC games and more tightly run in many cases with fewer candidates for sure.

Jetpac for me.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by PeteProdge »

hitm4n wrote: Thu May 03, 2018 12:36 am Don't forget the title is "best CLASSIC Speccy game". This for me, means an earlier title, something between 1982 and 1987 or so and i think if a limit was set on the year, this would have been a more definitive list of CLASSIC games and more tightly run in many cases with fewer candidates for sure.

Jetpac for me.
I came up with 'classic' to label the Spectrum's commercial era - when you could go into high street shops and find new games. Distinguishing it from the homebrew/hobbyist era we're in now. Roughly speaking, classic is 1982-1993. Homebrew would be post-1993.

I don't think classic Spectrum games vanished after 1987. Robocop, one of the biggest selling games of all time, came out in 1988, as did the highly celebrated Chase HQ; Where Time Stood Still and Target Renegade. And I'm not just going to cherry pick that following year...

Batman; Rick Dangerous and Kwik Snax from 1989. Lords Of Chaos; Turrican and Total Recall from 1990. Lemmings and CJ's Elephant Antics from 1991. Um... the cupboard is really bare from 1992, I'll grant you, but Space Crusade and Crystal Kingdom Dizzy are there. 1993 spits out Dr Who Dalek Attack as what is probably the ZX Spectrum's last commercial release seen in a physical shop (in Western Europe at least), and we see the demise of the last two Spectrum magazines.

A hypothetical (and ridiculous) scenario - if you were to be given everything released for the ZX Spectrum BUT ONLY FROM ONE YEAR OF YOUR CHOOSING (you are not allowed anything outside of that year), I think I'd pick 1987. That's definitely the peak of Spectrum gaming quality (and the magazines were on top form). Of course, what came after is certainly not at all shabby, and you got bigger playing areas and more lovely 128 AY music.

With that all said, I find it nice that a 16K game is topping this week's poll! I think there would not be an argument were Jetpac to be declared the best 16K ZX Spectrum game ever.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Pegaz »

PeteProdge wrote: Thu May 03, 2018 10:51 amWith that all said, I find it nice that a 16K game is topping this week's poll! I think there would not be an argument were Jetpac to be declared the best 16K ZX Spectrum game ever.
Not for me, I prefer Pssst. :)
Jet Pac is a great arcade, but always too fast and frustrating for me.
I voted for Jet Set Willy because it's a game I've always enjoyed, although graphics are not at the level of some other games.
A game with an incredible atmosphere, which completely brings the player into this twisted imaginary world, created by Matthew Smith.
JSW, like MM, are cult games that define Spectrum, timeless classics..
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by WIWC »

I've voted Jasper!, for some reason.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with J: vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

By the way...


WHO VOTED FOR JUNGLE FEVER?






.... For those who don't get it, it's just an old WoS story I prefer to forget... :lol:
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