The Spectrum Show EP 125

[@billybollockhead5628]

I liked Horace and spiders.. was waiting for that one! Lol.

[@burrytellam]

For anyone not aware, this game had the same type of level. If you didn't stamp on the spider in time it would rebuild the hole and climb out.

[@redknight4805]

I actually managed to finish Atic Atac last year for the first time in my life. I was so happy to finally be able to do it - and without using any maps or cheats! Definitely one of my favorite Speccy games!

[@mattedsmith]

Loved the Atic Atac section!

[@cyrixinstead4592]

Great episode, I really enjoy your deep dives into old arcade conversions/clones. Thank you for all the work you put into this show :)

[@mattierenton701]

Another awesome Speccy show, thats my Sunday evening viewing sorted 🙂

[@mamehaze]

It's always fascinating to see how many clones of these games existed, especially when so few people even talk about Space Panic these days, when at the time it was just as significant as Pacman.

[@ZXSpectrumRespect]

The problem with the keys in Atic Atac might be your PC keyboard rather than the emulator. To make the keyboards more cheaply you will find that some combinations of 3 or more keys cannot be pressed together. On mine 4, 5 and 6 only registers the first two keys pressed but y, u and 5 work fine. You can test this by opened notepad and pressing the first key until it repeats, then the second until it repeats and then the third. If the third key doesn't appear then it's a keyboard limitation. Having said that - q, w, e, r and t don't clash at all on my keyboard so Atic Atac is fine!

[@geoffneil5073]

You are right I've just tried and it is my keyboard.

[@axs203]

Atic Atac got so much right. It was so fast. The diagonal chucking axes and the chicken depleting!. The fonts. The way you could walk through the blue grandfather clocks as well was so memorable. Not to mention the clip clop beep of the knight walking. I think everyone remembers the chicken most of all. It's just etched on my brain. All the sounds in it. Ultimate pushed it a bit further with later games but they never beat this one IMO. Classic!

[@fredbuchanan3060]

The light in the Jack- o-lantern!

[@paulpatrick885]

Atic Atac was the 48k killer app. For a 1983 released game it was truly remarkable. I don’t remember any other Spectrum games before it or many after it that had selectable characters who were all unique. This added massively to the longevity as each character had their own strength and shortcuts.

[@axs203]

@@paulpatrick885 I didn't realise it was 1983. Wow!

[@dobythedog]

18:45 Nice to hear a segment with John Shuttleworth & Ken Worthington. A shame Mary didn't appear with tea & scones.

[@AmbersKnight]

Great episode as always. Nice to see an arcade shoot out again. I could never get anywhere with Atic Atac so I liked seeing it completed here. business software series is coming along great and shows the Speccy did have some use as a business machine.

[@mogwaay]

I'm really enjoying the Business section, something that's almost never considered on the Speccy that I'm sure old Sir Clive would've loved.

[@gregoryoakman8639]

Great stuff as usual, thanks Paul.

[@frankowalker4662]

It just goes to show how versatile the Speccy is when you can swap from great games to business use just like that. :)

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

And education. And general utility usage. Many, MANY things the Spectrum can do.

[@frankowalker4662]

@@letsdiscussitoversometea8479 Indeed.

[@DaveMcGarry]

Another great show Paul! I really enjoyed playing your Summer Santa 🎅🌞 remake. I played it on Spectacular on my phone and completed it a good few of times, it was really fun.

[@martinlebl631]

For me, mostly for nostalgia reasons, although I like the jump on the spider, before they fix hole mechanic, as well, it will always be Horace and the Spiders as the best Space Panic clone.

[@davidhayward119]

The problem with Hobbit Distribution Ltd, is that they spend far too much time sitting around and singing about gold.

[@Baekstrom]

It looks like the world could use a modern Paul Jenkinson version of Space Panic, since there hasn't been a really good one yet.

[@stephenlamb90]

Absolutley!

[@sierraboney1394]

Another good episode! I had another 'version' of Panic, odd thing is is that it was the Visions release but it was called Sheer Panic and was exactly the same as the version you referred to as Panic/Space Panic from Mikro-Gen. It said 'Sheer Panic by K.J. Bezant' on the title screen. I remember it quite well as it had no Basic header on the tape, you had to load it in using 'Load "" Code', you just got 'Bytes: sp' when loading, didn't have a loading screen or anything!

[@retrorobbins]

great show as all ways

[@melthebell33]

Atic Atacs one of my all time favourite games, the cover and loading screen makes me happy, completed it loads of times on all 3 characters, pretty easy. Tips - memorise the layout, the keys only spawn in a couple of places, DONT collect all of the food, save some for when your healths running low, also i leave all the other stuff (that kill Dracula, frankenstein etc) easier just to dodge them, or run quickly through them, then it frees your inventory spaces for the keys, then leave the bits of the ACG key in the main exit room

[@geoffneil5073]

Good tips, similar to my own, although I will collect the spanner to kill Frankenstein if I'm in that part of the dungeon.

[@melthebell33]

@@geoffneil5073 yeah I noticed you was doing what I was typing as I typed it

[@reagandow850]

Thanks for another great show. Edit: Are you ever going to back to your old format where you showed some old and new games in each episodes instead of basically two deep dives into two different games? Just curious. I understand you probably get tired of the same old format but I really enjoyed seeing an assortment of different games.

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

Yes, definitely - in fact the next episode will be back to normal. The Xmas Show, live show and the extra long chat sort of made it tricky to keep the format :-)

[@felipegcs]

@@BuckingTheTrend2008 some people like the new format with the comparisons, you know? :)

[@TheRetroEngine]

I'm sure the original Atic Atac had a spelling error on the completion screen. Great Sunday viewing!!

[@kins749]

Arcade shoot out back on the show and Geoff completing Atic Atac - it doesn't get any better!!!

[@jasejj]

Re Visions/Mikro Gen Panic, I'm sure I read that Kevin Bezant (the author of both versions) ended up a staffer at Visions, so it's likely that this was a Manic Miner type thing where he kept the rights to his old games and brought them over?

[@iballa2]

I love your show!

[@monkeymanbob]

Ah Space Panic. In an era when IP reboots are many I've been surprised that we've never seen an update despite it's spiritual successor Lode Runner sees one every few years

[@CliveSherriff]

GOOD SHOW have got ZX-VGA JOY sorted yet.?

[@mariobrito427]

Great episode. I'm amazed to see such a vintage printer still working. How do you maintain it? I assume they don't make ribbons for it anymore... Do you re-ink it somehow when it runs low?

[@paulpatrick885]

Wow Geoff was the OG Speedrunner completing Atic Atac in 1 minute 36 seconds. I could never complete it back in the day despite playing it a lot.

[@geoffneil5073]

That's a dim and distant memory so it could be wrong, but I could complete it in some insanely quick time.

[@adrianjapp]

Great stuff!

[@chopschoppsta7197]

Well done Geoff 🤩

[@geoffneil5073]

Thanks 😀

[@laszlorajcsanyi9894]

Great video, nice to see how many versions there have been of such a simple but great game. I tried to reach you several times on your website and on Instagram, but unfortunately there was no response from you for several weeks. :(

[@NeoMK27]

Great episode and liked in game feature on Atic Atac. However, after 40 years the burning question still remains. What were all those weird objects used for? The cross made the devil back of and I think the spanner killed the astronaut guy - but what about the rest?

[@geoffneil5073]

I'm pretty sure that loads of them do nothing

[@jurispurins8065]

Not a Speccy player. But a very nice deep dive on Space Panic. I would have loved to see a Title Screen and a screen shot of the game box.

[@stevesgaming7475]

Awesome stuff as usual. Episode 126 should have Geoff playing Minder ;)

[@geoffneil5073]

I'd rather not to be honest

[@stevesgaming7475]

@@geoffneil5073 awww.. okay, Cyclone then? ;)

[@michaelmogan5563]

I love your work and was like number 400 above. But we'll have to agree to disagree on Horace - it may be sentiment, but I love the little blob and think HATS is better than most of these panics - forgetting the 2 other levels!

[@meetoo594]

Awesome speedrun by Geoff, I never got that games layout memorized so never completed it. I could blast through Durrells Saboteur with my eyes closed though. BTW You are missing a `like` on that order form (I would to place an order) 🙂

[@geoffneil5073]

Thanks :)

[@kennethgibson456]

I fired up saboteur for the first time in 35 years a week ago and completed it. It's amazing how I can remember where to go almost instinctively yet can't remember what I had for dinner last night! Never got close to completing saboteur 2 though, that was well harder.

[@meetoo594]

@@kennethgibson456 never got on with saboteur 2, it just didn't click with me like the first one did. But yeah, muscle memory is amazing, I can still complete arcade space harrier with 1 credit without really thinking.

[@marasmusine]

Can anyone help me identify a ZX Spectrum game? It was a pacman clone, I'm sure called either Munchman or Mazeman - but it doesn't seem to be any of those listed at WoS. The main gimmick was that on the title screen you can press any of the letters A to Z to get a different maze (so there's 26 mazes - probably 48K rather than 16K).

[@CliveSherriff]

There is A bug in the Game to get 100 . only 98 is most you Get

[@ttrjw]

Wot no Horace and The Spiders?

[@curtisnewton895]

ever heard of chapters ?

[@illusions2142]

Space Panic doesn't half resemble Felix In The Factory on the BBC

[@AmbersKnight]

Or more accurately, Felix in the Factory doesn't half resemble Space Panic as I am pretty sure Felix is a BBC clone of Space Panic

[@TygonBC]

Love your channel but surely you chat "with" Geoff, not "to" him?

[@geoffneil5073]

When I'm trying my hardest to concentrate on playing Atic Atac with dodgy keys it was more of a talk "to" this month :).