Jetpac Refuelled Review

By Kristan Reed Published 29 March, 2007

The Ultimate nostalgia fix?

Version tested: Xbox 360

"Provides at least 500 per cent of your recommended daily intake of laser-based alien extinction" goes the rather amusing tagline of this excellent remake of the 1983 ZX Spectrum classic. They should have probably added: "and about 1000 per cent of your nostalgia requirements for the month" for Jetpac Refuelled is pure, deep-brain primal scream therapy for anyone who was born in the '70s and grew up discussing the finer points of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the playground.

Unlike all those arcade classics that keep cropping up on Live Arcade, Jetpac is one of those games that practically every game-obsessed Speccy owner played to death. Trips to the arcade were a luxury, and you might have had enough spare change to see you through a handful of games of, Donkey Kong, Gorf and Ladybug if you were lucky, but you could never just play them relentlessly (unless you were rich, in which case well done you). Owning a rubber keyed Spectrum in 1983 allowed you the luxury of being able to just play and play and play until your wore out Q, A, O, P and Space. It was an endless diet of Chuckie Egg, Manic Miner, and most definitely Jetpac. All three were just as good as the games in the arcade, we'd tell ourselves. We were probably right.

Sounds of the suburbs

'Jetpac Refuelled' Screenshot 1

It might look like a psychedelic disaster from the stills, but it looks lovely in the 'flesh'.

Like all the early Ultimate Play The Game titles, Jetpac had the kind of arcade immediacy that made them instant hits with the wide-eyed button pressing youth. To a soundtrack almost certainly including Temptation, Relax, Wings of a Dove, Blue Monday and This Charming Man, you'd guide Jetman around a single-screen wraparound environment, reassembling three parts of a space craft, gathering fuel, gunning down relentless waves of aliens, picking up bonuses and then roaring off into space. Simple.

But inherent fuel economy issues in 1980s space craft (ahem) forced you to land and repeat the whole fuel gathering exercise again on another planet, albeit one populated by different life form: spiky ones, bubble-like ones, hovering fighter planes and others that fitted nicely into the limited graphical capabilities of Sir Clive's 16 kilobyte groove machine. Maybe the workaholic Stamper brothers just rolled dice to decide which creatures to include. It's as good an explanation as any.

Four levels on, you'd inexplicably have to piece together another space craft and do the whole thing again. And so on for 16 levels, until you either ran out of lives or warped back to the start. £5.50 didn't buy you an awful lot of gameplay back in those days, but no-one was complaining, because - at the time - this was, without question, one of the best games around for home computers (and probably one of the most pirated, too...). It was a game that immediately established Ultimate as the game developer to watch, and began an unbroken run of wonderful Spectrum games over the next couple of years before the Stampers became obsessed with the potential of the NES.

Back to the old house

'Jetpac Refuelled' Screenshot 2

Multiplayer's chaotic and fun, but a bit random.

But now the Stampers are outtahere those now formally in charge of Rare's output (i.e. Microsoft) clearly realise the potential that Xbox Live Arcade offers, and maybe their departure has helped cleared the way to revisit some of its former glories.

And if this cut-priced offering is anything to go by, it's a good decision to go back to square one for inspiration. Sure, Jetpac Refuelled won't go down as the longest lasting game ever to hit the Live Arcade (it never was, let's face it), but it's a sympathetic reworking that stands out as one of the better examples of retro grave-robbing we've seen. For a start, the main part of the package is - for once - the remake, with the retro original tucked away for mere curiosity value (but with its own leaderboard, happily).

Set across a pretty exhausting 128 levels, the premise is, refreshingly, unchanged. Once again, it's a case of gathering up three bits of a spacecraft, dropping them into place, and scooping up six blocks of fuel as the rain down from above. The controls might have a little more inertia than the original, and the laser beam weapon can now be powered up multiple times, but the core gameplay remains unaltered in every way that matters. Unquestionably the best thing about this remake is the visual makeover the game's been given, complete with delightful explosive effects (particularly the screen wobbling smart bomb), a scalable widescreen play field that dynamically zooms in and out as you hover around the level, and alien character design completely in keeping with Ultimate's unique cover art style of 1983 (think Cookie and Pssst!). All retro heads will appreciate the fact that no-one's messed with the formula, but improved it in ways that make it an enormous amount of fun 24 years on.

Eventually, of course, the game starts to become incredibly repetitive. Just like the original did. But while the original had the decency to put a halt to the fun after 16 levels, this goes on long after you've stopped caring. 128 levels sounds like pretty good value for the 400 point price tag, but most just are simply a repeat of what you've already played, possibly with the platforms arranged slightly differently, or a more insane concentration of enemies.

Them were rotten days

'Jetpac Refuelled' Screenshot 3

Downloaded direct from our brain: the original loading screen.

There's always the online multiplayer mode, of course. In this mode you have to compete one-on-one in a race to build and refuel your craft before your opponent. Playable over 5, 10, 15 or 20 minute matches, it's fun for a few goes, but a little bit too random by nature to hold your interest for very long. The fact that you merely have to race for fuel, rather than, say, pay attention to your life counter can make it less about skill, and more about where you happen to be on the screen when the fuel falls out of the sky. It can get pretty annoying quite quickly.

Other than that, you can remind yourself where it all began for the Stampers with a faithful replication of the Spectrum original - the very first Speccy title to appear on Live Arcade if memory serves. Suffice to say, it's an absolutely spot-on port, complete with original loading screen, colour clash, farting sound effects and good old fashioned one-hit death playability. You'll have to complete all 16 levels to get an achievement, mind you, which is a lot tougher than my 10 year old self remembers it being.

So there you go: a cheap, but rather lovely remake of the simple shooter that kicked off Rare's legacy. It's a wonderfully playable link to UK gaming's past, and well worth the 400 points Microsoft's charging for it, but way too repetitive to keep you amused for long. At the very least, check out the trial version and decide for yourself.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (108) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tonka #1 5 years ago

    That new fangled one looks horrible.

  • TripSkyway #2 5 years ago

    Seemed good fun from my quick blast on the demo, will probably pick it up when I get a chance to play it. Slightly disappointing to hear the multiplayer isn't all that good, I was hoping for a co-op with limited lives.
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 08:17

  • pollster #3 5 years ago

    I'm spending the 400 points mainly for the retro version and its leaderboard. The remake is just a bonus for me.



  • Blerk #4 5 years ago

    I still play the original quite often. Great for a ten minute blast over lunch.

    The border around the original version is good fun - spot the Ultimate title. Wonder if they'll redo any of their other stuff? Atic Atac would make for an excellent rejig, I'm sure.

  • DanWhitehead #5 5 years ago

    I think the smart checkpointing system helps to alleviate the repetition. Since you can choose to start from the last rocket assembly stage, it breaks the game down into bite-sized chunks that are just enough for one sitting. You just need to reach the next rocket assembly stage, switch off and then come back to it refreshed.

  • ED209 #6 5 years ago

    You'd pay 425 quid for lemmings!?!111

    /oops sorry - wrong thread :p

  • Nige #7 5 years ago

    I think that's one of the better reviews I've read here... good effort that man.

    The new one is a most authentic experience, I'm just as crap at it as I was with the original. Oh well.

    Now let's have Skool Daze.

    PS. The Q,A,O & P comment nearly bought a tear to my eye!
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 08:45

  • neosalad #8 5 years ago

    i decided to buy after playing the demo.
    It probably will be fairly short-lived, and it's a shame about the multiplayer as i was looking forward to that (havent tried yet).. but.. for 400 points it's still a fairly decent buy.. i wouldnt have paid 800 for it..
    but it is a nice piece of retro history and will be good to see the leaderboards
    :)

  • johnboy_johsnon #9 5 years ago

    This is the first game I'm actually tempted to buy from XBox Live Arcade. Should be a bit of a blast for the weekend.

  • Killerbee #10 5 years ago

    I used to love this on my 48k Speccy (incidentally, wasn't it "Q, A, O, P and M in the rubber-keyed days? IIRC the space key was far over on the right hand side and it was only when the +2/+3 came along that the space bar was introduced to the world of Spectrum) and I'm pretty sure I could complete all sixteen levels back then... probably well beyond me now though. :(

  • Nige #11 5 years ago

    Johnboy

    Castlevania is worth a punt too
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 09:02

  • Mr_Whacker #12 5 years ago

    I'm really enjoying it. Its old fashioned but diverting. And I love the use of the Spectrum font for the score.

  • DanWhitehead #13 5 years ago

    "Now let's have Skool Daze."

    Eight player Chaos please.

  • powerup #14 5 years ago

    I used to love this on my 48k Speccy (incidentally, wasn't it "Q, A, O, P and M in the rubber-keyed days? IIRC the space key was far over on the right hand side and it was only when the +2/+3 came along that the space bar was introduced to the world of Spectrum)

    Speccys had space bars way before the +2.. there was the 128k, and I had a 48k+ which had a proper keyboard rather than the rubber keys (oh and a reset button!).

    Don't remember playing Jetpac though; maybe I'm not *quite* old enough..

  • Hog-lumps #15 5 years ago

    This was one of favourite games on the spectrum - when I could get it to load successfully off of tape that is! :-(

    I also loved 'Pssst' and 'Feud'. Does anybody remember these? I reckon they'd work well as a live update.

  • Eighthours #16 5 years ago

    Lower mark than Pacman? Purlease...

  • Martin_feltches_men #17 5 years ago

    kempston joystick interface me up!

  • mazzl #18 5 years ago

    i want day of the tentacle on live!!!! and i want it yesterday

  • DanWhitehead #19 5 years ago

    Feud was great, but it was by Mastertronic, not Ultimate.

  • erp #20 5 years ago

    it's got all the colours!

  • Hog-lumps #21 5 years ago

    Feud was great, but it was by Mastertronic, not Ultimate.

    Ah, I didn't realise we were limiting talk to just ultimate games!

  • el-bandito #22 5 years ago

    Tapes schmapes... cartridge and an interface 2 was where it was at :-)

    Oh... and it was 'N' not 'M'... although you moved to 'M' once 'N' was fooked... not forgetting when 'Q' and 'P' bit the dust as well. Happy days.

  • DUFFMAN5 #23 5 years ago

    Never mind all this stuff when do we get to see the GTA IV trailer. You said the 29th, or are rockstar going to let us down.

  • jonsaan #24 5 years ago

    Great review of a great game. Played the demo this morning and it rocks! I'm glad it's not Lunar Jetman, which was so hard it made me cry.

  • chrisjm #25 5 years ago

    better than worms? Hmmm.

  • DanWhitehead #26 5 years ago

    I like that one of the levels is called Mire Mare. Nice touch.

  • samk #27 5 years ago

    "Eight player Chaos please."

    /in a Pheonix Wright posture...

    SECONDED!

    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 09:49

  • Dizzy #28 5 years ago

    I got this in an instant. Great stuff...

    I agree about it getting repetitive.. but hey! It is JETPAC!!!!!

    I am hoping all the Ultimate games will get this makeover... gonna buy them all in that case.

  • paulf #29 5 years ago

    the original was the first game I ever bought (along with 'Kong' ), I think i may be revisting at the weekend :)

  • speedjack #30 5 years ago

    Bought it.

    Love it.

    Now can we please have remakes of 3D monster maze, Paradroid, Turrican, Sentinal etc etc



    /just askin'

  • McBradders #31 5 years ago

    Wonderful update of a wonderful (and still highly playable) game. And that's with the rose tinted specs OFF and in the bin.

    2 things irk me;

    1. No offline multiplayer.

    2. No keyboard controller. I can't play with this fangled joypad!

  • S_Nashwan #32 5 years ago

    Paradriod 90 !? now we are talking. While we are at it, Wizball please.

  • Killerbee #33 5 years ago

    Oh... and it was 'N' not 'M'... although you moved to 'M' once 'N' was fooked... not forgetting when 'Q' and 'P' bit the dust as well. Happy days.

    I imagine I probably used 'M' because I was about 6 or 7 when I had my Speccy 48k and my thumbs probably wouldn't stretch as far as 'N'!

    A quick Wiki does indeed show that the Spectrum+ and Spectrum 128 had space bars. Wow, those were the days...

  • el-bandito #34 5 years ago

    'I imagine I probably used 'M' because I was about 6 or 7 '

    ah... bless ;)

    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 10:12

  • pollster #35 5 years ago

    Hmm, I seem to remember using - Z,X for left and right - P, L for up and fire . Could be wrong though, it was 20 odd years ago!
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 10:13

  • Martin_feltches_men #36 5 years ago

    z,x left/right o,k up/down p for fire

    thats the only key configuration for me!
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 10:21

  • DanWhitehead #37 5 years ago

    Sabre Wulf would be a good one, simply because the original has plenty of room for improvement. As beloved as it is, there are some glaring design flaws (an inability to attack above or below) that - if addressed - would improve the game tenfold.

  • celery7 #38 5 years ago

    z,x,k,m & l did it for me.

  • Xerx3s #39 5 years ago

    This is an absolute blast and doesn't get old imo. Another true gem on xbla. This is well worth the 400 points, if only for the hypnotising tune.

    Lower mark than Pacman? Purlease...

    Indeed. Not only did they include the old one, they put in the effort of making the graphics and sounds beautiful and tweaking the gameplay. How Pacman got an 8 is beyond me, this offers so much more. Oh, and if you talk about repetition, you should play pacman....

    The scoring system is definitely very unbalanced with these dlc games.
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 10:35

  • BadBoyBonner #40 5 years ago

    At least when you turn the Joypad upside down the buttons do not fall off - Old Speccy fans will know what I mean! lol

    * For those that do not - The Spectrum+ did indeed have a "real" keyboard with space in the right place. Due to shoddy build, it was notorious for the keys falling off if flipped over - resulting in a poor mans Rubic's cube puzzle or treasure hunt for an old typewriter (as most likely nobody else you knew had a computer) so you could put the keys in the right place.

    Obviously with I.Q.'s increasing with experience it soon became obvious that you could turn the computer on with keys missing and it would not explode or burn (startling findings and cutting edge R&D for me as an 8 year old left alone in my bedroom with the broken computer - after being repeatedly told to leave it alone as it might explode by my Mum). Which obviously meant once switched on you could press the pointy plastic cross and see what appeared on the screen - which wasn't as helpful as it might have been with the Speccy's love of typing words for you with a single key press. Again R&D soon taught typing a quotation mark allowed for accurate assessment! lol

    Personally I loved and still love, the purity of 3D DEATH CHASE - now there is a classic worth remaking - another 16Kb marvel.

  • lost_soul #41 5 years ago

    I've never played Jetpac :-(

    I had all the other Ultimate Spectrum games, but somehow this one passed me by.

    Knightlore and Underworld (Underwurlde?) were probably my favourites.

  • miiiguel #42 5 years ago

    wow... I don't know if it makes me happy or sad to remember the days of tunning the tape recorder heads in order to make the games load""

  • hamstand #43 5 years ago

    q,w,o,k,p were my keys....

    sabre wulf!! fuck me that took over my life and i was only 8 years old! i remember it came in that weird cardboard box that stuck out from all the plastic cassette boxes....

    knight lore was also excellent.... them were the days :)

  • miiiguel #44 5 years ago

    sad... it makes me sad..., I want my gaming mornings back!!

    Shitty Oracle and all these logs!...

    Gotta work.

    Later.

  • Hog-lumps #45 5 years ago

    3D DEATH CHASE! I remember that! Why has nobody since made a game where you drive a motorbike through an incredibly dense forest?!

  • MGG #46 5 years ago

    Ahh, my childhood returns - I'll be getting this, once I can be bothered to buy this new-fangled "point" things. Whats wrong with using "money" - grumble grumble

    Anyway, as others have said, lets see some more real speccy/c64 classics!

    Skool Daze / Back 2 Skool
    Quazatron (better than Paradroid, FACT ;) )
    3d MonsterMaze (zx81)
    International Soccer (Emlyn Hughes Soccer on other versions)
    Chuckie Egg (but not CE 2!)
    The Great Escape (there may be legal problems with this one!)
    Knightlore (was that its name? Isometric thing)
    Head over Heels

    I could go on all day here.........

  • BadBoyBonner #47 5 years ago

    Even Geroge Lucas nicked the idea from 3D Death Chase with his speeder bike section of Stawars VI Return of the Jedi.....

  • McBradders #48 5 years ago

    INCREDIBLY DENSE

    http://up load.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...

  • MGG #49 5 years ago

    Q,A,O,P & M - the REAL speccy keys. Anyone see Uncle Clives greatest inventions that never were? The Speccy control pad? Genius!

    +1 to ManicMiner - the sinclair interface keys were for real men ;)

  • hamstand #50 5 years ago

    did anyone else have a penchant for the crap that mastertronic and firebird used to churn out?? there were some real classics in there...

    all of their names escape me currently.....

  • spongebob #51 5 years ago

    That old menu picture sure fires up memories. Those were the times, indeed!

  • Hog-lumps #52 5 years ago

    McBradders wrote
    _______________________________________
    INCREDIBLY DENSE

    http://up load.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...
    _______________________________________

    Heh lol! At least I seem to remeber it being incredibly dense! (damn my rose tinted spectacles!)

    Although to be fair, doesn't the woods get denser as you pregress?
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 11:06

  • MGG #53 5 years ago

    Hamstand - yes, and heres a short list:

    [link url=http://ww w.guter.org/mastertronic_stats.htm
    ]http://ww w.guter.org/mastertronic_stats....[/link]
    and another:
    [link url=http://www.mastertronic. net/
    ]http://www.mastertronic. net/
    [/link]

    Formula 1 sim and kickstart were great, and I seem to remember playing a crap Election game - crap but I seem to keep playing it for ages. Very strange - or tells you something about my personality? :p

  • krudster #54 5 years ago

    Firebird? I raise you Booty.

    Mastertronic? How about Spellbound?

  • Masarin #55 5 years ago

    Mr_Whacker: I'm really enjoying it. Its old fashioned but diverting. And I love the use of the Spectrum font for the score.

    Yeah. I also luvvve the Spectrum Score. Worth the price alone. :-)

    Hog-lumps: Heh lol! At least I seem to remeber it being incredibly dense! (damn my rose tinted spectacles!)

    Although to be fair, doesn't the woods get denser as you pregress?
    ignore poster

    Id does. It could get insane.

    I miss loads of games. There were one driving game that you could run over pedestrians long before the Grand Theft Auto franchise did it.

    Another one, seldom seen, was Deactivators. Review here:http://ww w.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/deactiv...
    Relly loved this kind-of-puzzle-game. It's a forerunner to Valves coming game Portal with different gravitation in different rooms. Very spacey.

    Btw I think i still got almost all of the Ultimate games in their original cases. They're awesome.

    Speccy... come back!
    Edited by 2 at 29/03/07 @ 11:14

  • krudster #56 5 years ago

    But no-one mention the rubbish Pickford-developed C64 Ultimate crap, eh? I'm still gutted that the Stampers didn't bother to turn their hands to it.

    Still, nice box art.

  • krudster #57 5 years ago

    Dictator!

    I can hear the machine gun fire now!

  • bloodflowers #58 5 years ago

    I find the new graphics too busy and confusing, in a way that even Geometry Wars isn't. The new revision feels slower than the original - in fact we have a ZX Spectrum at work (don't ask...), and this is definitely the case, and the wide aspect just makes this seem worse as you trawl from one side of the screen to the other. Not what I'd hoped for. Retro version is much better, but still seems to run a tad slower than our 48k rubberkey here.

  • Hog-lumps #59 5 years ago

    My Dad used to love the game 'Popeye' on the spectrum. Although he still complains at his frustation that we could never work out how to complete it.......'its something to with that damn fruit machine I tell you'.

    Although my personal award for most anoying speccy game has to be 'everyone's a wally' - becuase I could never figure out what to do!

  • GitSomE_UK #60 5 years ago

    EG knows my childhood...Q,A,O,P...sniff

    /smokes pipe and goes misty eyed

  • miiiguel #61 5 years ago

    my very 1st video-game was Chuckie Egg.

  • hamstand #62 5 years ago

    Booty! YES!!!

    Also Gargoyle games - Marsport!!! tir na nog? is that right/!?! ha.

  • BadBoyBonner #63 5 years ago

    Will never forget the day in 1985 as an 11 year old I picked out Last Suspect (a horse) to win the Grand National putting 20p to win.

    In 1985, Last Suspect won at odds of 50-1 resulting in me getting a tenner from my Dad (big cash in those days - with him probably super pi**ed off probably never having never put the bet on! lol).

    Straight down to Lords photographers (who strangely at the time sold Computer games). Where I purchased my very first £9.95 computer game - big money in those days, it was Ghostbusters by Activision.

    While arguably Activision may have slimmed me - the day is remembered as one of the happiest of my life.

    A 50 to 1 winner on the national and a highly priced Computer game purchased without even a hint of begging, crying or pleading, nor a birthday or Xmas anywhere insight - glory days indeed.

  • MGG #64 5 years ago

    BadBoyBonner - underage gambling is king ;)

    Krudster - Booty, my god I forgot that, what a game that was! I know where my lunchhour will be going today!

  • GitSomE_UK #65 5 years ago

    They should bring back Trashman as well.

    Only game I've ever seen to elevate the job of bin man to something that could be seen as a fun occupation.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #66 5 years ago

    I would literally pay a million pounds for a fancy multiplayer remake of Rebelstar, the BEST BUDGET GAME EVER.

  • BadBoyBonner #67 5 years ago

    Booty - was certainly the best Firdebird Silver release - who ever chose to release that on the Silver Range at £2.50 was no doubt immediately sacked on the spot.

    But here's one even my encyclopaedic knowledge of Spectrum games is failing to remember the title of.

    I am pretty sure it was also a Firebird Silver game - and was arguably IMO the prototype to Warioware.

    It was called something like "42 Totally Crap games" or something like that (think the 42 has grafted itself into memory from the card games on DS to be honest).

    But had games where you had to avoid being shot by standing up as you were bigger when sat down etc etc.

    Anyone remember the name???


  • DanWhitehead #68 5 years ago

    Do you mean Cascade's Cassette 50? A tape with, yes, fifty really awful BASIC games that each took about 5 seconds to load, and two seconds to play? I remember dutifully ploughing through each and every one, always hopeful that there'd be at least one half-decent effort among them.

    Then I went downstairs in our cardboard house and had coal for tea.

  • BadBoyBonner #69 5 years ago

    Coal ya say, we used to dream of eating coal for our tea.

    We used to have to get up half an hour before we went to bed......lol

  • tinocat #70 5 years ago

    Ah the Speccie 48k. Daley Thomsons Decathalon and a warped keyboard. Gawd those
    were the days. Endless sunny, idyllic summers and eating Tudor Gammon crisps....

  • Uncle Clive #71 5 years ago

    "It was called something like "42 Totally Crap games" or something like that (think the 42 has grafted itself into memory from the card games on DS to be honest). "

    It was actually called "Don't Buy This!", and yes - it was from Firebird.

    The games were absolutely terrible though - crappy fruit machine things, and one involving a dog that grew bigger when you sat down....

    http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Don't_Buy_This

  • quantumsheep #72 5 years ago

    I love you Uncle Clive =)

    I've got a speccy emulator for the GBA (burnt onto cartridge) and I daren't erase it. Some of those classics are awesome on the go.

    3D Deathchase especially.

    Oh, and Tornado Low Level - that was ace.

    Seriously, the Spectrum changed my world view and as such, is one of the most important pieces of technology in the sheep's life.

    That and Ziggy ;)

  • GitSomE_UK #73 5 years ago

    @tinocat

    Nah Hypersports was better

    But Tudor Gammon crisps... sniff.. That's... sniff... That's beautiful that is... If we were feeling posh we'd have a Tunnocks teacake too.

    @Quantum

    Yes TLL was a quality game, wasn't there a similar game with a helicopter picking up the crates...wasn't choplifter but another Ocean classic... damn this memory of mine
    Edited by 2 at 29/03/07 @ 12:22

  • cools #74 5 years ago

    Bought it after 30 seconds play. First LA title I've done that for. Fantastic!

  • Masarin #75 5 years ago

    Ahhhh. Gimme

    Tir Na Nog (1984)
    Dun Darach (1985)
    Marsport (1985)
    Heavy on the Magick (1986)



  • S_Nashwan #76 5 years ago

    Anyone recall the incredibly bad compilations for the c64 by Bea-Jolly ? Although i think they also published Sacred Armour of the Antirad so they can't be all bad.

  • MrAtheist #77 5 years ago

    Viking Raiders was the best budget speccy release ever. FACT.

  • hamstand #78 5 years ago

    heavy on the motherfuckin magik.... :)

    sacred armour of antirad! great game.

    now what about Trantor?!
    that was amazing, or rubbish. i can't remember. looked amazing if memory serves...

  • hamstand #79 5 years ago

    i remember getting a +2 after many years of the 48K, and only having winter sports to play at first and being completely blown away by the incredible quality of the music... which was of course ski sunday! :)

  • WiseNail #80 5 years ago

    To be truely authentic the retro version should load up over about 5 minutes, force you to listen to a high pitched screaming noise and then crash just as the title page appears.

    Happy days...

    Oh, and how about an Arcade version of The Chaos Engine, that would rock!
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 12:36

  • Mr_Whacker #81 5 years ago

    Yes TLL was a quality game, wasn't there a similar game with a helicopter picking up the crates...wasn't choplifter but another Ocean classic... damn this memory of mine

    It was Cyclone I think.

    I'd like to see a remake of Sophistry. The most captivating and pointless game ever.
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 12:39

  • Masarin #82 5 years ago

    Hehe. Now we're talking music. 'Wham - the music box'. I was getting it as a christmas gift. Borrowed it from the sack the day before only to copy it and jam all the night long... in fake duophonc godness. :-)

  • quantumsheep #83 5 years ago

    @Mr Whacker - yep, it was cyclone - another awesome Vortex game. You had to pick up crates and rescue stranded people by winching them on board - all the while checking the map to see where the cyclone was as if it got too close you started getting buffeted around and really had to fight to control the chopper.

    My god, that was an AWESOME game =)

    I remember hiding the chopper behind the cliffs of an island, then just making it slowly rise up over it and fly directly 'at' me into the screen. It was a real 'oooh, just like Airwolf' moment for me over and over again.

    And yes, it does sound sad, but I was only about 14!

  • hamstand #84 5 years ago

    christ this could go on forever.

    monty mole
    jack the nipper
    and the rest of the gremlin graphics games.

    and all the durrell classics; scuba dive, saboteur ummm did they do a driving game?? lotus??

  • Mr_Whacker #85 5 years ago

    Turbo Esprit!

    Even GTA doesn't let you knock workman of ladders with your car.

  • Masarin #86 5 years ago

    MR_Whacker: Turbo Esprit!
    Even GTA doesn't let you knock workman of ladders with your car.

    Yes! That was the one. I can't stop driving over people since. Guess Jack Thomson should look into it.

  • sanctusmortis #87 5 years ago

    I'd like both Chuckie Egg games, Commando and Bionic Commando, please. Q A O P space is certainly what I remember..

  • LittleVoice #88 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:03:32 01-02-2012

  • pollster #89 5 years ago

    Firebird? I raise you Booty.

    I remember meeting a bloke in a pub in the Isle of Man (where I live) who reckoned he wrote this game.

    Probably talking bollox, but you never know!

  • pollster #90 5 years ago

    This speccy site is good for a laugh. Loved the spectrum windows emulator - class!

    http://speccyspo ilers.co.uk/cgc2004/

  • BadBoyBonner #91 5 years ago

    Q,A,O,P with M for Primary Fire/jump and Z for secondary fire/jump.

  • Carrybagma #92 5 years ago

    I'm a UPTG fanboy at heart, but quite seriously, little gems like this on XBLA help make the 360 a compelling purchase prospect. I'll still wait for the hardware quality issues to be sorted though.

    Do RARE types read EG? If so - thank you. I wish you you 000000's of downloads. :o)

    Could Lunar Jetman be next?? Oh that would be wonderful. The UPTG mythology would have to be completed by the presence of a trailer.

  • MGG #93 5 years ago

    You'd be surprised (or possibly not!) how many game devs read this site, and similar ones....

  • BadBoyBonner #94 5 years ago

    Pollster

    Best Spectrum emulator ever must goto SpeccyDS

  • smelly #95 5 years ago

    I prefer mariopac.. and it's free.

  • George-Roper #96 5 years ago

    Contact Sam Cruise was also a blinding Microsphere game; a'la Skooldaze/Bak 2 Skool. Went thru a phase, about 10 years ago, where I bought up all the Speccy/C64 classics off flea-markets. Found some gems.

    Gandalf the Sorceror (C64) aka Sodov the Sorceror on the Spec.

    Rebelstar 2, complete Aliens rip-off, on the Spec.

    Arena on the C64, which was a four scrolling screen version of Speccy Chaos.

    Zombie, Zombie, the psuedo sequel to Ant Attack.

    Best days of my gaming life.
    Edited by 1 at 29/03/07 @ 19:12

  • tafkap #97 5 years ago

    Lords Of Midnight and to a greater extend Doomdark's Revenge stole my youth. How they fitted into 48k I'll never know!

    What was that other Beyond classic that was claimed to be the first Spectrum game to use icons? It was top down I think, science fiction themed, and you had a team of characters you could switch between??

    What about Android? That was intense!

    There was an isometric game by the same makers as TTL and Cyclone, but it had this dalek basically going down a long road and you had to get past barriers and stuff... Mmmmm...

    I'll tell you what might be good on the controller - Gyroscope! I loved that music..

    Ah, the memories - leaning down to the speaker to hear the dreadful speech at the start of Robin Of The Wood! Wonder why they never used the Currah for that?

  • George-Roper #98 5 years ago

    @tafkap

    I think the Beyond game was Shadowfire and a damn good game it was too!

    The isometric game was called Alien Highway.

  • bonker #99 5 years ago

    Cool, now bring on Knightlore!!

  • pollster #100 5 years ago

    @tafkap

    I remember the Beyond game enigma force. Ahh fond memories......

  • George-Roper #101 5 years ago

    @pollster

    Yeah, actually it could be Engima Force. In fact, I think Shadowfire was the first game and Enigma Force the sequel.

  • tafkap #102 5 years ago

    Aye, Shadowfire it was! You guys are good.. I still have it in a box somewhere, that was a class game. I loved going into a room where a fight was going on, and just standing back to watch..

    Beyond did a Lords Of Midnight clone called 'Shadows Of Rothrorn' or something like that - I ordered on day of release and was very disappointed that my twelve year old brain couldn't understand what was going on.. I think, in reality, it was just rubbish but I didn't want to admit it to myself. :-)


  • MGG #103 5 years ago

    Has no-one mentioned Elite yet? ;)

  • George-Roper #104 5 years ago

    @takflap

    Wasn't that unoffical, 3rd, 'Midnight' game called 'Shadows of Sorderon?'

    I remember it was in one of those odd shaped, sqare, red cardboard boxes where the whole lid came off. With a sticker on the front with the game artwork. Anyone confirm?
    Edited by 1 at 30/03/07 @ 21:02

  • tafkap #105 5 years ago

    @ George

    Actually it was called Sorderon's Shadow, and came in the same type of box as LOM, Doomdark's Revenge and Shadowfire - big and yellow!

    I did a trawl through, and found the cover!

    ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/s inclair/games-inlays/s/SorderonsShadow.jpg

    Okay back to talking about Jetpac everyone, sorry to hijack!! lol

  • drivenstorm #106 5 years ago

    Beaky and the Eggsnatchers! Anyone?!

    I love this version of Jetpac. The only downside is that the backgrounds serve to make Jetman harder to distinguish. In this case the orginal version has better gameplay. Refuelled has more forgiving collision detection but I'm having a blast playing both.
    To be honest I think the original version is slightly more interesting to play. Still nice job on the revamp and damn good value.

  • LittleVoice #107 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:03:32 01-02-2012

  • IronCladChicken #108 3 years ago

    lol@LittleVoice
    Lenslok.