ZX-Shoplifter
Way back in 1979 in Japan, Hiroshi Suzuki programmed a game for the Commodore PET that many consider the first-ever Stealth game: Manbiki Shounen aka Shoplifting Boy. Predating Castle Wolfenstein, it's a game in which a young shoplifter attempts to clear a supermarket of all items on the shelves without being caught.
It was Robin's 8-Bit show and tell YouTube channel that bought this game to my attention. It looked like such a fun game, that I thought that I would try to convert the game line by line to Sinclair ZX spectrum basic.
Code
The zx spectrum code is a line by line conversion into ZX Spectrum basic as well as I could convert it. The original CBM PET code is provided for reference. Some elements of the game had to be changed. This is due to the Spectrum only having 32 columns of text compared to the 40 of the CBM PET, but it still plays just like the original game.
Controls
- S - Start game
- P - Up
- L - Down
- Z - Left
- X - Right
- SPC - Steal item
Downloading and playing
Download the either the shoplifter-original.tap or shoplifter-enhanced.tap file and load it up in your favorite ZX Spectrum emulator to play the game.
Shoplifter-original is as close to the pet version as I could get it.
Shoplifter-enhanced adds colour for the spectrum version
✓ PROCESSED
DH 03/03/2024