Spectrum Computing

Jonathan M Smith, or Joffa, or Frobush, was considered a quirky and outstanding programmer at Ocean. Alas, he did have his demons and I don't want to dwell on that. I think the perfect tribute to his talent, is this Kim Justice video, well worth a watch.



According to this very site, Joffa has been involved with:

Batman: The Caped Crusader by Ocean
Cobra by Ocean
Daley Thompson's Supertest by Ocean
Firefly by Ocean
Green Beret by Imagine
Hyper Active by Special FX
Hyper Sports by Imagine
Hysteria by Software Projects
Kong Strikes Back by Ocean
Mikie by Imagine
Ping Pong by Imagine
Pud Pud by Ocean
Saucer by Shorten Suite Software
Street Hawk - Catalogue Edition by Ocean
Terra Cresta by Imagine

Doug Burns says Joffa didn't write Ping Pong, he only did the music for it. Can this be verified? I'd take it out of the above shortlist if true. And of course, you too can advise what need to be removed (or even added), over the next seven days, before I start the proper poll!

PeteProdge wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:27 am Doug Burns says Joffa didn't write Ping Pong, he only did the music for it. Can this be verified? I'd take it out of the above shortlist if true.

You don't believe him?

Joffa confirmed he did the music and menu:

https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/disc ... ent_338430

Right, Ping Pong will be struck from the list, thanks all!

Did any one played the Caped Crusader ? Is it worth to play?

catmeows wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 1:48 pm Did any one played the Caped Crusader ? Is it worth to play?

I played the demo and never really thought much of it.

I found this interview with Nigel Alderton, co-author of Kong Strikes Back.

I always felt that Kong Strikes Back was a spiritual successor to Chuckie Egg, it’s got a very similar menu, the main sprite is very similar to Henhouse Harry (even down to the hat!) But the graphics do look more like a Joffa game.

In sounds that Jonathan may have been more involved in the graphics on this one.

Who did you work with while you were at Ocean?
I was in a room with Jonathan Smith and we wrote Kong Strikes Back together. Then we got split up and I got moved into a different cubicle with Mike Webb and we wrote Street Hawk between us. ‘Joffa’ was nice but I think I was a bit mean to him really. He was incredibly talented as a programmer and as a graphic artist whereas I could only program. As a result he concentrated mostly on the graphics, probably because I pushed him into it. I’m not sure if that’s totally true, but I always felt I sort of bullied him into doing that. I didn’t let him code, and once we’d split up he went on to write these fantastic games.

https://www.retrogamer.net/tag/nigel-alderton/

catmeows wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 1:48 pm Did any one played the Caped Crusader ? Is it worth to play?

I've never actually sat down and played it in anger, but it seemed like a pretty nice arcade adventure. I do really like the presentation of it.

catmeows wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 1:48 pm Did any one played the Caped Crusader ? Is it worth to play?

Definitely... Though it comes across more as a competent proof of concept than a brilliant game in and of itself. Most screens would be empty were it not for the infinitely respawning thugs of various kinds. You get two games - A Bird In The Hand (vs Penguin) and A Fete Worse Than Death (vs Joker) so it was decent value for money.

I wish the engine had been used for more games - either further Batman games or unique, unlicensed stories - as it had a lot of potential.

toot_toot wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 4:15 pm I found this interview with Nigel Alderton, co-author of Kong Strikes Back.

I always felt that Kong Strikes Back was a spiritual successor to Chuckie Egg, it’s got a very similar menu, the main sprite is very similar to Henhouse Harry (even down to the hat!) But the graphics do look more like a Joffa game.

In sounds that Jonathan may have been more involved in the graphics on this one.

Cheers, I'll scrub Kong Strikes Back.

One of the greatest, he put a lot of effort and great job in every game he made, he was the best at adapting arcade games.

And in the WoS years he was a funny forum member.

I'm most impressed by cobra.
A side scroller, which is relatively rare
Very smooth scrolling (ultra rare)
Tons of sprites onscreen.
Even when there is a lot going on, the screen never just looks like a pixellated mess.
Actually good, well-balanced gameplay.

Are there any Dev diaries or interviews specifically about cobra?

Cobra is the best technical achievement, but I still prefer the look and gameplay of Hysteria.

I seem to remember Cobra has an annoying quirk that if you move or jump then let go of the controls, it often runs on a bit further. Not sure if this was some ill-judged attempt at inertia, or if it was that it insisted on completing a whole 8 pixels of scroll before letting you stop again.

Joefish wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:29 pm Cobra is the best technical achievement, but I still prefer the look and gameplay of Hysteria.

Well put! Gameplay-wise, Hysteria is definitely a head above Cobra.

My personal favorite, though, is Firefly. Hysteria is a close second.

Joefish wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:29 pm Cobra is the best technical achievement, but I still prefer the look and gameplay of Hysteria.

I seem to remember Cobra has an annoying quirk that if you move or jump then let go of the controls, it often runs on a bit further. Not sure if this was some ill-judged attempt at inertia, or if it was that it insisted on completing a whole 8 pixels of scroll before letting you stop again.

I remember the mega-annoying bug right at the end of the game. If you pick up the Invincibility pill (or whatever it is), get to the Night Slasher with it still enabled and kill him via that mode (i.e. run straight through him), then the game just runs forever with no enemies. You have to headbutt him (or maybe shoot him - it's been a long time since I've played it).

I had something similar in Terra Cresta once too. Got to a point where it was just scrolling forever with no enemies. Wonder if Joffa had similar code in the two?

My vote will go to Hypersports. Still the finest arcade conversion on the Speccy IMO, and that is seriously saying something.

Joefish wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:29 pm Cobra is the best technical achievement, but I still prefer the look and gameplay of Hysteria.

But ... Cobra has an excellently animated burger in it. How can that be bad?

Still though, it's hard to choose between his games - most of them are very good, but I agree that Cobra is a fantastic technical achievement and probably my favorite because of it ... well, that and Green Beret. Fantastic conversion. I probably enjoyed those more than most others.

Ast A. Moore wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 8:18 pm Well put! Gameplay-wise, Hysteria is definitely a head above Cobra.

My personal favorite, though, is Firefly. Hysteria is a close second.

Firefly is both technically brilliant and has a madcap streak running throughout its design.

It's Joffa in a nutshell to me.

Sokurah wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:32 pm ... well, that and Green Beret. Fantastic conversion. I probably enjoyed those more than most others.

Green Beret is my favorite. At first sight it doesn't seem as big technical achievement but Joffa pulled out some very clever tricks in this game. Because, seriously, how many 48K scrollers have so variable environment and bosses ? And it has one of the best use of color on Speccy.
Hysteria and Cobra are close second. Though, I have problem with Hysteria that the few little flaws (background sprites) stands out against otherwise almost perfect game.
I never understood why is Firefly so popular, it seems to much chaotic to me.

I think Cobra has to be his best game. It’s one of those rare Spectrum exclusives, in that the other 8bit versions were nothing like the Spectrum version and the game itself looks and sounds so “Spectrum”, with its gaudy colours, chunky graphics and beeper tunes. Plus it feels like one of the few original Spectrum games that could have been converted into an arcade game. Joffa clearly liked Defender and this takes that left-right onslaught of enemies concept further.

I also thought it was hilarious how Sinclair User gave it a fairly average 3 stars (out of 5), yet it was riding high in the charts for months afterwards. They really didn’t get it, but the public did!

What's a bit cheeky about Hysteria is in all the parallax bands of scrolling, the bit of ground just behind you is the band that moves relative to you, at 2 pixels at a time (the best 'tell' for this is it's the speed at which the pop-up worms scroll), whereas the further background that takes up most of the screen moves one pixel at a time - but it's on this layer that the shoot/collect objects appear, perched on the top of buildings etc. So you're actually collecting objects off a plane well in the distance.

It's also why the little seated squirrel gargoyles and the jigsaw bits wobble; the far background layer scrolls one pixel at a time, but the sprite engine can only draw objects onto it with 2-pixel resolution. So although they're sat on the scenery, they only move every other scroll.

I didn't like the gameplay of hysteria cos it seemed difficult to get better at the game.
It was mostly just walking to the right absorbing loads of damage.
Cobra was harsh but you could get better at it.

toot_toot wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:46 am I also thought it was hilarious how Sinclair User gave it a fairly average 3 stars (out of 5), yet it was riding high in the charts for months afterwards. They really didn’t get it, but the public did!

Even Ocean don't seem to have had much confidence in Cobra. It was released without any publicity, appearing in the shops before any adverts or previews were printed. By the time Sinclair User's review was published it had already been to number one and was going back down the charts, and Your Sinclair didn't get their review out until mid January 87 - two months after it had been released.

Although Cobra managed around 4 months in the charts, some of Joffa's other games had far more longevity. DT's Supertest was in the charts for 6 months, Green Beret 8 months and Hyper Sports 10 months. But surprisingly it's Batman The Caped Crusader that spent longest in the chart - the hype over the 1989 film kept the game selling for a year. It reached number 2 behind Batman The Movie, even higher than when it was first released in November 88, and became known as "Batman 88" to distinguish it from the new game.