45 Games that Defined the ZX Spectrum

[@itsaPIXELthing]

● Subscribe: kzbin.info ● Support: www.patreon.com/ItsaPixelTHING

[@AngelicJim]

I had a chat with Jon Ritman last year about Head Over Heels. I thanked him for making such a good game from my childhood. He said that it was fun to make and he enjoyed waking up in the morning thinking how he will code another 12 screens. He is a great guy.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks for sharing that, Jim! Appreciate it!

[@plasmaastronaut]

an amazing time to be alive, the ZX spectrum ruled the bedroom from the early to mid 80s.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Indeed :) Thanks for watching!

[@kipp1231]

Skool daze is still one of my favorate games ever.

[@playerone82]

Great to see all the old games. Brings back some great memories. I would also add a game called "beach head" it was fantastic.

[@welshie6313]

Beach Head was awesome!

[@Charles-yz4lw]

Perfect selection of games. I played almost all of them, but there are some that I did not even know, I have to try them. Vamos arriba la Spectrum!!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks for watching, Charles! Take care!

[@Retro_B8]

Great video as always. Great games on the speccy! Exelon was my favourite

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Oh, man! Exolon is so awesome! Indeed! :) So many great games on the system! Cheers! Thanks for stopping by!

[@trelard]

I was a Commodore kid in the 80's. Most of my mates though were on the Spectrum side of the fence, and though there was the occasional humoured rivalry, all my memories of the games are pretty much hanging out at friends houses. Cheers for this.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thank you so much for sharing those memories with us! :) Appreciate it! Take care!

[@16BitJayGaming]

I never played the spectrum myself, but it's always cool to see different computers from the time. I do like the form factor of it, looks like it was nice and compact. Also the types of games are cool like the one based around a prison escape where you had to attend roll calls, even back then they were thinking about realism.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch this video :) Truly appreciate it!

[@bangerbangerbro]

Yeah at least the 48Ks are very compact.

[@andrewbeveridge1386]

Played alot of those games, but my biggest memories of Spectrum were Hungry Horace, Bruce Lee and Cookie's to name a few. Excellent computer.

[@RetroStu82]

25 amazing minutes what else can i say master ✌

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Appreciate your support, Stu! Take care and have a great weekend!

[@fernandomendes6126]

The zt spectrum collors gave the ports an amazing psychedelic tone!

[@atik1798]

So many great games. This video brought back a lot of great memories. Brilliant video :)

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Appreciate it! Have a great weekend!

[@dannyx1791]

Dude, Rescue and Colony were both amazing!

[@TigerBoyRS]

Sweet memories. Played them all!! First the 16k ZX Spectrum games, then rapidly the 48k became the standard and later came the 128k era. I will shoot a few gems: 16k: 3D Tanxs, Phenix, Planetoids 48k: Formula One, Equinox, Nebulus, Dizzy, Saboteur, Dan Dare, Thanatos, Cobra, Amaurote, Cybernoid, Barbarian, Myth, Zynaps, Firefly 128k: Renegade 128, Starglider, Chase HQ, Where Time Stood Still But forever Elite, Academy, Spitfire40, Ace, Turbo Esprit and Basket Master (Dinamic) were the favorites on my Timex 2048 and Speccys. Cheers

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Oh, man! So many great games! No doubt! :) Thanks for stopping by, Ricardo! Abraço!

[@spdmaniac2]

I only saw/played a spectrum one or two times. It's a interesting machine but I'm not from that generation who grew up with this games. But man, those times were crazy. So many stuff that inspired generations of games and consoles. Such a great video. Thank you so much!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! Thanks for taking the time to watch it :) Cheers!

[@EDcase1]

Wow, you showed some games I haven't seen for many years. Thanks for bringing back many memories.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! Have a great 2022!

[@DeckardGames]

Ah, I remember playing Hyper Sports and Turbo Esprit at my cousin's place.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Back then, these simple games meant the world to all Speccy users/enthusiasts :) Thanks for the support, David! Take care!

[@MFGAMINGPT]

Mais um video com a qualidade Pixel!! Parabéns! head over heels!!!! que saudades!!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Bons tempos :) Obrigado por assistires!

[@kakabixlis]

Holly molly!!i have played most of these games mate!!ahh the good old memories ,i miss these times a lot!!thank you for your cool video and i hope you are well!!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Glad you liked it! :) Take care, mate! All the best!

[@Jacky_man542]

I remember going into town on New Year’s Eve to buy a game with my Christmas money and bought TLL. I loved the game and couldn’t believe how good it was.The Speccy was a great computer and I loved mine.

[@Joaojbq]

Spectrum tão boas memórias. Grande compilação!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Muito obrigado por assistires, João! Grande abraço!

[@PiotrPiwowarczyk]

Thanks for bringing back my memories about Cybernoid. I spent so much time with it and before watching this video I couldn't even remember the name of the game ;) Played many of the 45 games too. Priceless childhood memories!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thank You! Glad to hear that! :) Take care, Piotr!

[@alexeiz]

So many memorable games!

[@moozoo2589]

First things I remember on ZX Spectrum are Exolon, Saboteur and Elite. And Golden Axe of course, I spent a lot of coding/hacking time to cram all levels of that game in 128K version, without the need to load next levels from tape after finishing previous ones.

[@inconnu299]

Lode Runner, Commando, Chronos, Dan Dare, Bomberman, Stop the Express, Zynaps, Solomon's Key, Bad Lands, Flying Shark, ...

[@itsaPIXELthing]

So many, I know ;) Cheers!

[@RetroRaider]

So many great titles there. Best channel with the best Zx Spectrum content? It's a Pixel THING right here ,) Love theese videos Pedro, um forte abraço e obrigado.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks for the support, mate! Take care!

[@MrBads_Games]

An awesome video Perdo! 😍 I thoroughly enjoyed this 👍

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Appreciate it, Paul! Take care :)

[@BrooksysBassCorner]

Great job, sir! Really enjoyed the video.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! Thank you!

[@RO-wt8mp]

I'm so old I had the ZX Spectrum and most of the games in the vidoeo on cassette. My fav was Atic Atac and Sabre Wulf.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks for watching and for leaving your comment! Appreciate it!

[@lorzete]

Thanks a lot for the video. Really great!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! :)

[@emilschw8924]

Nice to have a walk through history again. Thanks!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! Take care!

[@blahinc07]

Excelente partilha de alguns titulos menos conhecidos (pelo menos para mim). Bom video. excelente trabalho. Obrigado!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Obrigado pelo apoio, Vitor! Abraço!

[@NicoleConcha]

Adorei ficar a conhecer estes títulos, excelente vídeo amigo!! ^_^

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Muito obrigado pelo apoio, Nicole! Do fundo do coração! Obrigado! Tem um bom fim de semana!

[@theprincessoftreeleaves205]

It's a question of taste. I like Firefly, Arkanoid, Cobra, Travel With Trashman, Bugaboo, Underwurlde, Fred, Harrier Attack, Scuba Dive.. so many to mention

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thank you so much for watching and for leaving your feedback. Appreciate it!

[@andrewbrennan7291]

Super video. Well made.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks, Andrew! Appreciate it

[@PedroFerreira-sx2gd]

Estava a contar com o tetris e pang e algo de Horace (que não é grande coisa mas tem importância histórica) . Adoro chuckie egg, manic miner e death chase. Controles bons e simples. Grande lista. É sempre dificil fazer listas perfeitas. Os homebrews modernos também são excelentes.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Muito obrigado por estares sempre aí a apoiar e a dar excelentes dicas e opiniões, Pedro! Tudo de bom!

[@VascoLopes79]

Mais um excelente vídeo. Parabéns

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Muito obrigado, Vasco! Abraço!

[@IsaacKuo]

Trantor, The Last Storm Trooper looks a lot like Savage - which I recognize only from the (NTSC) Amiga version. The Amiga version of Savage was a close port from the ZX Spectrum original. When I got it, I was a bit confused why everything seemed to be aligned to 8x8 pixel blocks, even though the Amiga graphics modes had no tile characteristics. Years later, I'd learn about the ZX Spectrum!

[@MarceloGeek]

Muito bom ... Muito respeito por estes jogos ... sem eles nao chegaríamos onde chegamos hoje... e como sempre o Pixel a fazer um excelente trabalho

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Sem dúvida :) Muito obrigado pelo apoio, Marcelo!

[@jfroco]

Great video!! Besides a few titles, like LightForce, Exolon, Game Over, Bounty Bob, this list is almost the hall of fame of ZX Spectrum games. I do prefer Match Day 1 and Starstrike 1 over the second parts, but, of course, it is subjective. Thank you!!!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

My pleasure! Thank You! Take care!

[@Slay4r]

Thanks for this fantastic trip to my world of nostalgia. Never played Quazatron or Turbo The Tortoise, but it seems they're very good indeed. I would add a few games, like, Formula 1, Decathlon, Raid Over Moscow, Ghost'n'Goblins, Trap Door, Popeye, Dakar, Carlos Sainz, Tusker, Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix, Rick Dangerous. God, so many good games!!!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

I have Tusker in my list for a future video. That's a game that always intrigued me.... Thanks for watching, mate! Appreciate it!

[@Slay4r]

@@itsaPIXELthing Looking forward to watch it. Keep up your amazing work!

[@welshie6313]

Amazing video, as always. Looking back, I’m always amazed at some of the titles that were released on the Speccy. I mean, Carrier Command alone is incredible! I’m somewhat disappointed Dan Dare wasn’t on your list though. That was a beautiful looking game with great gameplay and no color clash!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Indeed. Dan Dare is an amazing game :) Thanks for watching and for your feedback!

[@dweston76]

Great video!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks, Daniel! Appreciate it!

[@mooseyman74]

I used to like Saboteur and Death Wish 3

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Awesome games, indeed! :)

[@lowfinger]

You really picked out a great selection of games, some real gems. Also a great job on a concise run down of each one. Enjoyed many of these on release. I think 3D death chase was my first purchase, chase HQ the last !

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Deathchase was the very first game I played on the rubber keyed 48K! :) What a game! Thanks for watching!

[@madblank]

No Highway Encounter or Myth? Great video for the nostalgia trip!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Myth is so awesome :) One of my first videos here on the channel :) Cheers! Thanks for watching!

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Gotta admire the little thing. It was punching well above it's weight.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Indeed :) Thanks for watching, Andrew! Take care!

[@RGF]

Never owned my own spectrum....i always played on friends houses.... I was also born in 82....a good year😀

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Great year, indeed! It was the start of something great, no doubt about it! And, without these systems, things would be so different. Cheers, mate! Take care! Thanks for all the support!

[@GandaMelgao]

Excelente vídeo! Joguei muitos dos jogos desta lista, e já nem me lembrava da maior parte deles. Para além destes, no meu caso pessoal, os mais importantes foram as aventuras de texto, das quais apresentas aqui o Hobbit. Texto com imagens, mas essencialmente uma aventura de texto. Só conheci uma outra pessoa em Portugal que gostava de aventuras de texto. Muito obrigado pelas recordações.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Obrigado eu! Abraço!

[@CristopherOS]

We need a ZX Spectrum mini!

[@emilschw8924]

Ant Attack was the first isometric game, and therefore the great-granddaddy to today's isometric games such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale etc. Knight Lore was the second.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Indeed :)

[@arseniy]

Штук 8 играл из видео. Из особо прикольных, не упомянутых, были - Myth и Rex.

[@grymmjack]

Great vid

[@CronicasVideojogos]

It's adorable to use the word "stunning" on a ZX Spectrum video.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Right? Only the ones that grew up with the system will understand ;) Cheers, mate!

[@magiccampos]

Não joguei todos estes jogos, mas quase....como é que estes joguinhos tão simples e "limitados", podiam transmitir tanta felicidade? Obrigado pelo video. Podia acrescentar de forma cronológica e totalmente aleatória, Pole Position, Decathlon, Rick Dangerous. (entre mais algumas dezenas 😜)

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Sim, muita malta não compreende isso mesmo, a forma como nós olhamos para estes jogos arcaicos com tanta nostalgia e consideração. Sem isto não teríamos a indústria que temos hoje. Abraço, Rui! Obrigado por assistires!

[@sergioamorim7916]

Boas, meu amigo. Não conhecia maior parte destes jogos. Não joguei muito spectrum em miudo. O meu unico amigo que tinha spectrum, não tinha jogos originais eram copias, e por isso maior parte das vezes nem entravam. Acabavamos por ir jogar a bola para a rua e depois nem jogavamos. Hoje aprendi mais umas coisinhas contigo. Abraço

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Obrigado pelo apoio, Sérgio! :) Abraço!

[@LoudNerds]

Bem como sempre antes de mais estes vídeos são sempre uma excelente fonte de informação! Amigo Pixel sempre ao mais alto nível . Lembro muito bem de alguns dos jogos mas também desconhecia muitos deles e as suas particularidades. Aquele Paradise ali mesmo em primeiro plano 😁 Grande abraço , Renato.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Estes são um pequeníssimo exemplo do que a máquina poderia oferecer. Tantos programadores conceituados nos dias de hoje começaram por aqui, a programar para o Spectrum. A indústria poderia ter tomado um rumo bem diferente. Para pior ou para melhor, ninguém sabe. Fico feliz por ter atravessado todas estas eras e poder trazer este tipo de conteúdo mais histórico ;) Abraço, Renato! Muito obrigado pela visita!

[@manuelvelez32]

Paradise Café :D

[@PedroFerreira-sx2gd]

Concordo

[@PauloSilva111]

um clássico - cheguei a tentar começar uma versão para colecovision mais próxima possível, nem sei se continuo! :D

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Sério? Eh eh eh!

[@UpYourArsenalTV]

a Ultimate marcou tanto esta consola. pena muitos desses franchises não terem visto continuidade. gostava que a Microsoft fosse responsavel por um revivalismo de alguns deles na Xbox Series X

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Correção: o ZX Spectrum não é uma consola, mas sim um computador ;) Em relação à Ultimate/Rare, tens algumas das suas criações no Spectrum (para mim, as melhores) disponíveis na compilação "Rare Replay". Mas acredito que a malta nova nem sequer lhes deu oportunidade. Abraço, Daniel. Obrigado pela visita.

[@UpYourArsenalTV]

@@itsaPIXELthing damn caio sempre nessa xD é o habito!

[@Gameverna]

Mais um excelente video amigo. Para mim que tive muito pouco contacto com o spectrum este video é excelente para conhecer melhor esta plataforma tão peculiar. BTW - trivia - Já sei onde o meu chefe foi buscar a imagem de perfil dele, é o boneco do knight lore ahahah. Um abraço!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Wait! Tens um chefe que é gamer? Também quero!! :) Eh eh eh eh! Grande abraço, Ivan! Obrigado por estares aí!

[@1977Futre]

Quazatron, Bruce Lee, Skool Daze 1-2 , Ant Attack, Starquake. I can still play these games nowadays. Spectrum had some awesome stuff. The only thing I hated were the coin op conversations.....They just looked and played terrible once you had seen the arcade.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Yeah, that's a really good point. Even so, I was always after the arcade conversions, first fot the Speccy and later for the Amiga ;) Take care!

[@daishi5571]

So many great games for what was not a good computer.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Right? :)

[@youcabv]

mto bom!! tou contigo, tirando o Sim city e o R-type mtos dos meus favoritos não foram contemplados para esta lista. mas num mundo como este era complicado fazeres um video com 1500 jogos para incluir os favoritos de todos ehehehe. abraço

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Mesmo ;) E, como disse no final do vídeo, dos que mostrei provavelmente apenas 10% estão no meu top 30 de jogos para o Spectrum ;) Abraço! Obrigado por estares aí!

[@RC-go2kl]

23:00 - Stacked

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Eh eh eh eh! :)

[@KgamesReviews]

Amigo tanta jogo adorei ver e ouvir falares neles algo passou muito lado spetrum ...:)

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Obrigado por assistires, K!

[@bangerbangerbro]

So Tornado Low Level is like a precursor to Desert Strike?

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Something like that :)

[@DrNutrijorge]

Parabéns pelo vlog. Faltou jogos como Bruce Lee, Frank n stein, Formula One na minha opinião mais conhecidos e melhores que alguns apresentados

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Obrigado pelo feedback, Jorge! Abraço!

[@CPCGameReviews]

This is a very good selection of games, particularly in the early years (1982-1984). However, wouldn't it have been more appropriate to demonstrate 48 games instead of 45? ;-)

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Eh eh eh! Good point ;) In the meanwhile, I'm preparing another list with 29 games :) Thanks for stopping by!

[@pnvgordinho]

Não tens o ZX Spectrum Timex Computer que era construído no nosso cantinho à beira mar plantado?.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Não tenho, mas já falei sobre eles ;) Se ainda não viste, aqui fica o link para o meu documentário sobre a Timex (em PT): kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnSVdHSijLuMnck

[@pnvgordinho]

@@itsaPIXELthing jà foste ao museu do sepctrum em Cantanhede?. Ainda não tive oportunidade mas pelo que já vi, parece fixe.

[@wesgleeson]

Match Day 2 was the best football game... until Emlyn Hughes came along

[@MephProduction]

I think Magicland Dizzy was better than Fantasy but Fantasy is probably more well known. Surprised Dan Dare wasn't on the list

[@itsaPIXELthing]

So many great games! :) Thanks for watching! Take care!

[@buggerlugz6753]

No "Bobby Bearing" or "Starglider 128k" ......how very dare you!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Sorry! 😉

[@monkeymanbob]

Great video. I'd ditched the Speccy around '88/'89 after the discovery of beer and girls but I have a lot of love for the machine and the early gaming era which was much less toxic than today. Would have welcomed an gamer girls with open arms in those days and they were as rare as rocking horse shit. I especially miss the cover art by the likes of Bob Wakelin et al - seems so generic and one note these days - the exception being football games which were equally one note back in the day. I can't comment on the later games and their validity in shaping the Spectrum but I would have included some titles that made us sit and take notice back in the day, including: Valhalla . Seems odd that games like Valhalla with their free roaming real time NPC's is par for the course these days. But in 1983? Get outta here. Massive box, massive price (£14.95!) and I massively hated it. But it was way, way ahead of its time. Elite: I know the BBC had it first and helped sell a fair few units. But nobody thought that the humble Speccy could fit this into 48k. I spent the evening reading the novella that was package with the game (another £14.95'er!) we all had a copy, legit too because the bastard LENSLOK anti piracy it came packaged with that also meant that sometimes you couldn't play the game you legally owned. Daley Thompson's Decathlon: Killer of joysticks, creator of palm blisters if you used the golf ball hack, this game flew of the shelves and copies went round the school quick than Covid. Football Manager: The game that got me into strategy (along with DK Tronics Dictator & Melbourne House's Mugsy). It was and is a simple game. It's not hard, you can go from the bottom of division 4 to winning league 1 and all the available cups in 4 straight seasons. But by God it was addictive. Kevin Toms plastered his face over a few over similar titles but never really had the same success (he's got a Kickstarter going for a new version of Football Manager) - but this game, this is the game that you used to persuade your dad you needed a Speccy. Jet Set Willy. Personally I disliked it and the genre, but where Manic Miner was a clone of Miner 49'er, JSW set the tone for the next few years and the glut of platformers that were hoisted upon us.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

You got me with "after the discovery of beer and girls"! Eh eh eh eh! Thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts! Have a great 2022!

[@Alokin800]

No love for Elite?

[@itsaPIXELthing]

On the Amiga ;) Thanks for watching!

[@deanthomas6613]

elite , ground breaker , game changer , at the time made me feel like either a astronaut , or roguish pirate :)

[@ZXSpectrumHotel]

I disagree with some of your choises. No JSW, Elite, Dan Dare, Saboteurs?

[@StojanOdVeles]

Exolon !

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Great game! Indeed! :)

[@deanthomas6613]

what about elite >>

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Sorry. Played it on the Amiga.

[@deanthomas6613]

@@itsaPIXELthing ground breaking game, way ahead of its time ... scorned by most publishers who believed games should have 3 lives and be finished in 10 mins .... elite opened up the idea of free roam and the ability to play a game the way you want ... many roles available .... PLUS the first truly 3D game developed .... at the time it was incredible feat of coding ...

[@AlexanderSeven]

Laser Squad, not Laser Quad.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Seriously? Eh eh eh eh! Thanks for watching!

[@16BitMovies]

Have you seen this modern day spectrum drifting game (interesting to see) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/paDLnH1jishnqs0

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Yeah! It's pretty awesome and impressive :)

[@PauloSilva111]

nenhum da Dinamic, Topo ou Opera...

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Como acompanhas o canal há já bastante tempo, decerto reparaste que jogos da Opera, da Dinamic, da Topo e da Made in Spain (exemplo: Paris-Dakar) estão entre os meus favoritos no Spectrum. Já os mencionei vezes sem conta, tanto em Tops como em vídeos específico (história da Erbe/Topo Soft e da Dinamic, La Abadia del Crimen e Game Over). Títulos de empresas espanholas apenas fizeram furor em Espanha, Portugal e um pouco em Itália (Game Over apenas fez sucesso no UK pela capa). Neste vídeo tentei dar atenção e foco ao que se passou a nível global (europeu) e que, de alguma forma e ao longo dos anos, foram mostrando do que o microcomputador de 8bits era capaz. E, como deves compreender, é muito difícil ser consensual numa lista tão pequena tendo como base uma biblioteca gigantesca. Tenho planeado um vídeo do meu Top de preferências no que toca a jogos oriundos de Espanha. Abraço, Paulo. Obrigado pelo apoio ;)

[@ForOdinAndAsgard]

It looked like shit then and it still looks like shit now, let's not even speak about that sound. Nothing beats the C64 if it comes to 8-bit of that time.