The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

General software. From trouble with the Banyan Tree to OCP Art Studio, post any general software chat here. Could include game challenges...
Post Reply
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Not a great deal of titles beginning with O. Here's what I've rustled up for my shortlist...

Olli and Lissa by Firebird
On The Run by Design Design
Operation Thunderbolt by Ocean
Operation Wolf by Ocean
Orbix The Terrorball by Streetwise
Orpheus In The Underworld by CRL
Out Run by US Gold
Out Run Europa by US Gold
Overlander by Elite

...and now, over to you.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Not a very popular letter this time.

I'd add The Oracles Cave by Doric, an interesting RPG:

Image

and One Man and his Droid by Mastertronic, value for money:

Image

But I think the battle will be in the Big Ocean titles (Op. Thunderbolt and Op. Wolf).
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:17 am Out Run Europa by US Gold
Are you OK, mate?

:mrgreen:
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by R-Tape »

I think it'll have to be Operation Wolf for me. This was a game I always oggled in the arcades but rarely played because I was too shy to use the Uzi. I think I played it BITD on a mate's 128k with a lightgun.
Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:47 am and One Man and his Droid by Mastertronic, value for money:
One day I will play this, and have a clue what I'm doing. I probably need to read the instructions or something.
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

R-Tape wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:58 am [...] because I was too shy to use the Uzi.
Out of context, it sounds weird!
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:49 am
PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:17 am Out Run Europa by US Gold
Are you OK, mate?

:mrgreen:
Heh, wouldn't be one I'd personally shortlist, but from having done this, you do get people nominating big licenses despite a disappointing conversion.

While I'm also nattering about my personal views, I just don't get Operation Wolf or Thunderbolt, never found them to be interesting games. Really don't get the hype.

You may call the men in white coats if I nominate for S - Sqij.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
Ralf
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2279
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Poland

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Ralf »

I think it'll have to be Operation Wolf for me
Operation Wolf looks and moves great but as I remember it is too hard for me on Spectrum version.
Anybody able to go beyond second level?

And wasn't it done by these Deakin and Horn guys? They made good game engines but the gameplay was ruined by difficulty.
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 11:51 am You may call the men in white coats if I nominate for S - Sqij.
It'll be a flame war in this forum, definitely! ;)
Last edited by Juan F. Ramirez on Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Anyway, I still don't know what to vote. As I said before, a weird letter this time. The two Ocean Ops. were very popular (so were their original arcades) but I haven't played them much. But I think one of them will win.
Ralf
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2279
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Poland

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Ralf »

And I would add Orc Attack
Image

Early game, simple graphics but some kind of classic I believe. 50 votes in old WOS score which is a lot. Plus a father of a "defend the wall from climbing intruders" genre.
User avatar
stupidget
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:09 pm
Location: Sunny Wolverhampton

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by stupidget »

Out Cast was a pretty good game as well:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=3560

Image

I think for me it going to be Olli and Lisa. For a budget game this has excellent graphics and sound even if it is a tough as a very tough thing.
Dark
Dizzy
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:21 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Dark »

My +2 from Curry’s came with a couple of, “O” games, which I think were the best of the 10 received that Christmas morning, competition was pretty low it has to be said.

Oh Mummy – very simple game with basic graphics, that was probably my favourite of the games that came with the Spectrum. Was quite fun and I did crack it out every now and then over the subsequent years as I spent loads of time on the Spectrum.

Odd Job Eddie – which to be honest I don’t have much recollection of the gameplay, other than it being a platform game, so I must have moved on from it pretty quickly as I started purchasing games.

The game from that list that jumps out from me is Operation Wolf.
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Dark wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:50 pm My +2 from Curry’s came with a couple of, “O” games, which I think were the best of the 10 received that Christmas morning, competition was pretty low it has to be said.

Oh Mummy
AAAaaaah, you have to be kidding me! That the +2 ever came with a 16K game from 1983 is shocking enough. The game itself is terrible unplayable bilge.

– very simple game with basic graphics, that was probably my favourite of the games that came with the Spectrum. Was quite fun and I did crack it out every now and then over the subsequent years as I spent loads of time on the Spectrum.
Dark wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:50 pmOdd Job Eddie – which to be honest I don’t have much recollection of the gameplay, other than it being a platform game, so I must have moved on from it pretty quickly as I started purchasing games.
Ah, this is a Harry S Price situation. A rip-off merchant who hacked existing Spectrum games. Amazing that he got his knock-offs bundled with the +2.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
User avatar
stupidget
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:09 pm
Location: Sunny Wolverhampton

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by stupidget »

I remember the big hoo-haa about Operation Wolf coming out on the Speccy, but, I just found it a bit boring after a while to be honest.
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

stupidget wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:36 pm I remember the big hoo-haa about Operation Wolf coming out on the Speccy, but, I just found it a bit boring after a while to be honest.
It's wack-a-mole, isn't it? And not in a good way. It'd be slightly better with a mouse.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
User avatar
WIWC
Manic Miner
Posts: 348
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:02 pm

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by WIWC »

Nothing essential to add. I KNOW what to vote.

Maybe we could include the text adventure:

Oh sh*t! by Dominic J. Morris

just because of the smart title.


I also like:

Ometron by Software Projects
User avatar
stupidget
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:09 pm
Location: Sunny Wolverhampton

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by stupidget »

PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:40 pm It's wack-a-mole, isn't it? And not in a good way. It'd be slightly better with a mouse.
Yep, that's the perfect description of it. Was there ever a version that worked with either the Genius or AMX Mouse?
namco
Manic Miner
Posts: 247
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:55 pm

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by namco »

I'm throwing in:
Obliterator
Ocean Conqueror
One Man and His Droid II (Yes, I did say 2)
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

namco wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:09 pm One Man and His Droid II (Yes, I did say 2)
Ah, so borderline!

This is the classic speccy games A-Z, so it's software released in the Speccy's commercially-relevant era, which ended at some point in 1993.

One Man And His Droid II came out to the public in 2001 from the original game's developer, Clive Brooker. It was a free download on the author's website, yet it was coded back in 1991 and intended for commercial release back then. Mastertronic (who published the original in 1985) said it was very good but that the Spectrum games market was no longer commercially viable. (Mastertronic's final ZX Spectrum game - Super Stock Car - was released around September 1990.)
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
User avatar
hitm4n
Manic Miner
Posts: 604
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:56 pm

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by hitm4n »

Orc Attack was a great game, a classic i'd agree, but i'd have to go for One Man And His Droid - Mastertronic

One other O game i can think of not yet mentioned - One Hundred and Eighty - Mikro-Gen

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1443 (my favoured version of One Man And His Droid) :)
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...
User avatar
Vampyre
Manic Miner
Posts: 833
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:51 pm
Contact:

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by Vampyre »

stupidget wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:19 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:40 pm It's wack-a-mole, isn't it? And not in a good way. It'd be slightly better with a mouse.
Yep, that's the perfect description of it. Was there ever a version that worked with either the Genius or AMX Mouse?
Not sure about mouse control but there was a version that worked with the lightgun (Magnum Light Phaser) that came with the +2 Action Pack. I've got it in my loft.
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
User avatar
PeteProdge
Bugaboo
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am

Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with O: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Vampyre wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:58 am Not sure about mouse control but there was a version that worked with the lightgun (Magnum Light Phaser) that came with the +2 Action Pack. I've got it in my loft.
Bizarrely, there was a small corner shop in my town, around 1992, which sold the Magnum Light Phaser pack with those games. Yep, everything but the +2 of course, I think it cost me eight quid.

I don't think I bothered for more than half-an-hour with each game, and that includes Operation Wolf which I thought would at least be the best.

The light gun was, well, very very light in weight and felt too much like a toy. It wasn't all that accurate either.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
Post Reply