ZX Spectrum 30 Years Old Today

[Scutch]

Specifically set aside from the retro gaming thread due to it's birthday, I had a 48k Spectrum in the early 80s (born in 79) with Mr.Men and the Hats and Commando. Absolutely loved that game.
In the later 80's I got a 128k+2 for Christmas, Lightgun pack with Operation Wolf et al. Really enjoyed Chase HQ as well.

So many quality games for that time; Commando as said, Robocop, Batman, Jumping Jack, Daley Thompson's Decathalon...

Happy times.

 

[R-Sport.]

I remember Load ""

Football manager , Jetpac, manic miner

S

 

[Bluebeard]

I was on the other team Scutch, I was bought an Amstrad CPC464.

Where's wally, Harrier Jumpjet, afterburner... I spent days at a time on that thing.

 

[MarkCup]

Manic Miner, Chuckie Egg, that is all.

I lost weeks to just those two.

 

[Scutch]

Yeah the Commodore 16/64 was the rival alright.

My mate had one and it seemed a bit more advanced. Similar games of course. There was a bike game where you could build your own stunt courses etc. Enjoyed that.

 

[Longy]

Loved my little ZX, then i got a Amstrad CPC464 Tape based

 

[Goodj]

I wanted a Spectrum with the floppy-drive.

Wound up with an Atari STfm.

Not bad

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Spent an awful lot of time on my Speccy.

Renegade and Target: Renegade were personal faves. Other classis were Quazatron, any of the SSI war games (Mostly Arnhem and Desert Rats, Wheelie, Cyclone, Transformers... just off the top of my head.

Got the 128k +2 later on but it added little IMO. We ended up with the Atari ST as well - Still one of my favourite gaming platforms of all time.

 

[NickM5c]

I had many, many happy hours on my Spectrum. Truly groundbreaking stuff back then.

I've just downloaded an app called ZX Plectrum which is essentially useless but creates nostalgic Spectrum noises. Only those who owned a Spectrum will understand why you'd bother downloading it.

 

[Final Maxim]

pirating your own games using a bit of cardboard put into the tape and recorded with blank tapes on your dads HUGE hifi with twin decks lol

 

[Chip-mk1]

I had a spectrum 48k when they first came out.
It was what I started learning to computer program on when I was 7 years old.

 

[sneeks]

I had a Spectrum 48k and then the 128k+2. Loved both of them but not so much the loading times! Especially annoying when you had to press down the lid of the cassette deck in order for some games to load.

Where Time Stood Still was excellent and Your Sinclair, with Farty the Warthog, was always an amusing read.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Several minutes to load a few k of data, seemed fine at the time as I didnt know any better, well no one did really, lol

 

[SharkyUK]

Happy memories...

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Happy memories...

Indeed.

I remember setting the tape going and then being able to go and call for my mate, both come back round to mine and be just in time to see it finish loading.

Also remember having the joystick interface (a big adaptor thingy) stuck in the back so you could use the old Kempston joysticks (the two red buttons and the big red ball on top - Remains, to this day, the finest joystick ever made). But if you even so much as looked at the interface while the Speccy was switched on it crashed it.

 

[SharkyUK]

I remember setting the tape going and then being able to go and call for my mate, both come back round to mine and be just in time to see it finish loading.

The start of social gaming as we know it... sort of...

Can anyone remember the memory module packs / addons you could get for the ZX Spectrum? I have fond memories of it causing the system to crash. The fit was dodgy and the slightest bit of movement near the machine and there would be a fizzle and a crash.

 

[Darren S]

Indeed.

I remember setting the tape going and then being able to go and call for my mate, both come back round to mine and be just in time to see it finish loading.

Also remember having the joystick interface (a big adaptor thingy) stuck in the back so you could use the old Kempston joysticks (the two red buttons and the big red ball on top - Remains, to this day, the finest joystick ever made). But if you even so much as looked at the interface while the Speccy was switched on it crashed it.

FPMSL! I never had a Speccy - was fortunate enough to get God's Machine of the that time (a C-64). But I saw the arcane arts involved to get Spectrum games working first hand. The fingers crossed when you're praying and hoping that those blue and yellow lines started to flicker on the game loading - and not those dreaded red and green ones!

I remember my m8 getting some form of anti-static/anti-wormhole/anti-layline mat jobbie that he put his tape deck on. I thought it would be utter BS and not make any difference to the success of Speccy games loading. Yet somehow, it did? :S

D.

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

FLOL! Hell yeah, loading Speccy games was a dark art indeed. I remember our tape player had controls for the volume and "tone" for the speaker. Neither which should have had ANY bearing on the output to the Speccy whatsoever.... and yet... Certain games would only load in certain positions for either control. We had to keep notes on what settings were required to load certain games.

Kids that never went through the bizarre rituals required to load a computer game don't know they're born IMO. You can't truly appreciate Skyrim or BF3 until you've spent an hour or so trying to load Manic Miner or Chuckie Egg.

 

[Darren S]

FLOL! Hell yeah, loading Speccy games was a dark art indeed. I remember our tape player had controls for the volume and "tone" for the speaker. Neither which should have had ANY bearing on the output to the Speccy whatsoever.... and yet... Certain games would only load in certain positions for either control. We had to keep notes on what settings were required to load certain games.

Kids that never went through the bizarre rituals required to load a computer game don't know they're born IMO. You can't truly appreciate Skyrim or BF3 until you've spent an hour or so trying to load Manic Miner or Chuckie Egg.

Proper lolz at that - definitely! Imagine the out-cry people would have if their PS3 only loaded on a day starting with M or because the 360 was placed on a cardboard box, it then decided to load Forza?

D.

 

[Dan519]

We packed these in my Familys factory (I was too young to work there at the time )

Had every version go through our house over a few years and I still have my +3 in a box

 

[Scutch]

I actually laughed out loud (which is LOL, in this day and age) at the art of loading a cassette.

So much frustration involved. Pop it in, leave for 20 minutes, return to find it's crashed. Start again. Repeat. PMSL. Those were the days.

 

[MarkCup]

I actually laughed out loud (which is LOL, in this day and age) at the art of loading a cassette.

So much frustration involved. Pop it in, leave for 20 minutes, return to find it's crashed. Start again. Repeat. PMSL. Those were the days.

Fiddling with volume/tone was my life back then. Had a list written with what settings I needed for each game to get it to work. Proper LOLs.

 

[Tom]

Im gutted the BBC arent showing micromen again because of this, was brilliant.