The best top 10 best spectrum games ever list ever.

[Jbizzel]

Just another top ten nostalgia fueled list that no one asked for. Not in order and based on the games I found myself playing the most. It's a fools errand, but I've written it now. If you have a spare 5 minutes, add a game to the list, but tell me why you love it.

J Bizzles nostalgia fuelled top ten spectrum games of all time

R-type - best graphics on the spectrum and an accessable game. Level 3 is an incredible achievement that no one expected for the spectrum. Best dev story too, thanks to Bob Pape's excellent free book. The games limited sound is it's only negative. In a sea of mostly monochrome titles this stood out with smooth pixel scrolling in full colour. It left me wondering 'If R-type can do it, why can't other games?'

Rainbow island - god damn this game is perfect. That little fear of drowning, great playability, great graphics, colourful, exciting boss battles, nice difficulty level and a lovely little tune that is still stuck in my head 30 years later.

RoboCop - every other 8 bit version is s**t compared to this. OK, I didn't question the nature of humanity while I played it, but if that's the only criticism - brilliant! It has a nice slow pace where you can think about what you're doing. It's a hard game but fair. The mini games really help give it a cinematic feel. It has the 4 directives!

Fantasy world dizzy - the most accessible and fun dizzy game. The Oliver Twins Perfected the formula here. A game that's not to big with puzzles you can work out intuitively.

Chucky egg - more that the summit it's parts. Fast, frantic supremely playable. The controls are pin sharp responsive, great collision detection, and the threat of being chased by the giant chicken. A simple premis with hidden depth. Chucky egg2 is also worthy of note: an underated, hidden gem of a game.

Manic miner - a perfect single screen platformer. Spawned innumerable spin-offs, nothing else was quite as balanced. I will say, some levels in the second half are stupidly hard - but it's a game where you want to 'git gud'. Jet set willy also deserves some special love for it's non linear design and the game is just madgically weird! But it's just so hard, I never stood a chance.

Castlevania spectral interlude - (or Rainbow Island with whips - sort of) unbelievable that this is a 'home brew' game. Breath taking quality. Cool story, challenging boss battles, immersive game design. If this was a game back in the day it would have topped all the lists.

Cyclone - lovely looking, 'open world' game where you can take your time and play your way. Unlike it's predecessor, this is a casual game. And that freedom and casual nature help give a sense that you are a pilot, and this is your job, you can approach it however you want.

School daze - Get the upper hand on the bullies, nasty teachers and swots in a school based action RPG for the spectrum. There is just nothing else quite like it. I played this a tonne as a kid without ever knowing what I was supposed to be doing. Another 'open world' game where you can take your time and play your way.

Chase hq. Wonderful arcade game. Play the c64 version, and understand how good the spectrum version is. Excellent music, fast paced, big cars, exciting arcade action. Graphics were so good you could wife up Nacy.

[Andre Leao]

Chuckie Egg and Castlevania on my top 10 as well.

[stupidget]

The only two I don't agree with are RoboCop and Dizzy. I just found Robocop too hard and I simply hate Dizzy games. These are what I'd replace them with:

Bean Brothers - One of the best puzzle games, not just on the speccy, but on any platform. When you approach each new puzzle you think 'how the hell am I going to do this?' and when you finally work it out you think 'well that was easy'. Excellent graphics and superb sound make this a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Deathchase - I often think 'am I remembering this game with a certain rose-tinted memory', but then I load it up and I'm reminded as to why I think it's so great. The sheer feeling of speed as you career through the forest genuinely sets your nerves on edge, whizzing past a tree as you desperately try to destroy one of the other bikers really gets your palms sweating and I can't think of any other speccy game that has the same effect.

[Jbizzel]

Ooh, interesting.

Bean Brothers is very good indeed. I'd forgotten about that one.

Death chase, I nearly added that into my list. It hovered there in the background, somewhere beyond the trees of my mind.

My reason for not including it is almost certainly pure nostalgia. I never played it back in the day, and I never quite got into it now. But it is very good, of course. The way the trees come at you is so well done. It encourages you to be reckless, push the throttle, then hit a tree - BLAM! and it was all your fault!

[Andre Leao]

Some time ago, I've posted a top 50. Not my own preferences or the ones I played more, or I would put Formula One in top 3, for instance, but the ones I find most impressive covering all variants of the game...

https://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/20 ... squad.html

[Vampyre]

In no particular order and I've undoubtedly forgotten some gems:

Knight Lore
Highway Encounter
Manic Miner
Splitting Images/Split Personalities
Jetpac
Hypersports
Quazatron
Head Over Heels
Three Weeks In Paradise
Chase HQ

[Lee Bee]

Great list, Jbizzel, very similar to my own. The only game that jumps to mind which definitely should be on the list is MYTH. But with the Speccy it would be easy to compile a top 100 games list. I like your Top 50 list, too, Andre.

[Lgodinho]

For me the games I played the most were :

Green Beret
Flying Shark
Great Escape
Enduro Racer
Scuba Dive
Deathchase
Grand National
Bomb Jack
Trashman
Night Gunner

I also remember others who made me happy almost 40 years ago...

Last Ninja
Saboteur
Target Renegade
Barberian
Aquaplane

[Andre Leao]

Great list, Jbizzel, very similar to my own. The only game that jumps to mind which definitely should be on the list is MYTH. But with the Speccy it would be easy to compile a top 100 games list. I like your Top 50 list, too, Andre.

Thanks

[Mpk]

Dizzy can get in the bin, frankly.

Sub in Turbo Esprit, because you can knock dudes off their ladders.

A decent list though. More than the sum of its parts, you might say.

[clebin]

School daze - Get the upper hand on the bullies, nasty teachers and swots in a school based action RPG for the spectrum. There is just nothing else quite like it. I played this a tonne as a kid without ever knowing what I was supposed to be doing. Another 'open world' game where you can take your time and play your way.

Nice list. I'm interested that so many people choose Skool Daze over Back to Skool. Is it because it was first / most ground-breaking / first one you played or do you feel it's the better game? Back to Skool was the first one I had (on Beau-Jolly's 5 Star) so I can't really judge, but Skool Daze feels a bit restrictive to me after the sequel.

Anyway, Back to Skool is definite top 10 for me (and Contact Sam Cruise top 20). Chuckie Egg and Castlevania would be on my list too. One or both of Rainbow Islands and R-Type would probably make the cut. I'd go JSW over Manic Miner but I might just sneak both in.

[sn3j]

• Back to Skool
• Tomahawk
• Fred
• Knightlore
• Bak2skool
• Tir Na Nog
• Bomb Jack
• Ant Attack
• Loads of Midnight
• Elite
• Finders Keepers
• Spy vs Spy

[clebin]

• Back to Skool
  ...
• Bak2skool

See, sn3j likes it so much he's included it twice!

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Only Cyclone & Skool Daze in my list...

1. Sabre Wulf
2. Knight Lore
3. Pyjamarama
4. Skool Daze
5. Saboteur
6. Highway Encounter
7. Cyclone
8. Green Beret
9. Hypersports
10. Fred

[SteveSmith]

If we're judging based on time spent playing, then:-

1 - Laser Squad
2 - Chaos
3 - 3D Stock Car Championship

would be my top 3.

[Jbizzel]

Nice list. I'm interested that so many people choose Skool Daze over Back to Skool. Is it because it was first / most ground-breaking / first one you played or do you feel it's the better game? Back to Skool was the first one I had (on Beau-Jolly's 5 Star) so I can't really judge, but Skool Daze feels a bit restrictive to me after the sequel.

Anyway, Back to Skool is definite top 10 for me (and Contact Sam Cruise top 20). Chuckie Egg and Castlevania would be on my list too. One or both of Rainbow Islands and R-Type would probably make the cut. I'd go JSW over Manic Miner but I might just sneak both in.

I'm going to be honest and say..... Through the misty realms of time.... I can't remember for sure which one I played the most!!! In fact when I made the list I thought someone might pick me up on it. It's my failing memory! Reading you description, it could well be the case that I played back to school. On the other hand I may only have had school daze! I just can't be sure!!

[Mpk]

do you feel it's the better game?

Yes. Back To School ( that's how I'M spelling it ) adds a lot, most of which is fun, but some bits are too fiddly to get working correctly and I ended up getting frustrated. It's better than School Days as a sandbox, but trying to actually finish it was too much for me when I replayed both a couple of years ago.
The original is just more satisfying to play, for me.

[Morkin]

Nice list. I'm interested that so many people choose Skool Daze over Back to Skool. Is it because it was first / most ground-breaking / first one you played or do you feel it's the better game? Back to Skool was the first one I had (on Beau-Jolly's 5 Star) so I can't really judge, but Skool Daze feels a bit restrictive to me after the sequel.

Anyway, Back to Skool is definite top 10 for me (and Contact Sam Cruise top 20).

I preferred Skool Daze as I felt I could actually complete it - or get pretty close to completing it at least. I felt like it had more re-playability.

I loved the idea of extending the 'skool' in Back to Skool, but the puzzles and what you had to do were initially too unfathomable for me to begin with, or later too difficult to execute in the game (even riding that flippin' bike! ).

Contact Sam Cruise I was very excited about when I saw screenshots etc., but I couldn't get anywhere in it and gave up very quickly.

[Edit: Just realised that this is almost a carbon copy of @Mpk's post above ]

[p13z]

We should start a "Top 10 top 10 games threads" thread:

viewtopic.php?t=6486
viewtopic.php?t=2696

( This used to be @Alessandro 's job )

[Mpk]

[Edit: Just realised that this is almost a carbon copy of @Mpk's post above ]

700 lines MORKIN! YOU MUST NOT COPY YOUR CLASSMATES POSTS.

[Pegaz]

Dan Dare
Manic Miner
JSW
Dynamite Dan II
Robin of the Wood
The Hobbit
Elite
Cobra
Atic Atac
Pssst

[Nienn Heskil]

Fairly sure they more or less boil down to the same games as in the other 16357245298310397519837516 threads on this topic

[Mpk]

We all know that @PeteProdge is building up to run a vast series of polls with every game ever made, which will settle the issue once and for all.

[bluespikey]

If we're judging based on time spent playing, then:-

1 - Laser Squad
2 - Chaos
3 - 3D Stock Car Championship

would be my top 3.

Is the correct answer. This is the only list which includes Chaos. All other lists are crayon scribbled errata. Cos I say so, and I'm right, cos I can get to the third screen in Airwolf.

[PeteProdge]

We all know that @PeteProdge is building up to run a vast series of polls with every game ever made, which will settle the issue once and for all.

It's Chaos. Best strategy game ever. Best covertape game ever. Best ZX Spectrum game ever.

It's just so awesome that it's also the best text adventure, the best driving game, the best isometric 3D game, the best music, the best 128K-only game, the best coin-op conversion, the best PlayStation 5 game, the best TV game show license, the best movie license - yes, it's just that damned good that it traverses all conventional boundaries, so don't come at me with your "well, it's not actually a holographic metaverse game" complaints, it's simply that good and you are wrong.