KNIGHTMARE DESERVED BETTER | ZX Spectrum

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

If this video convinced you that your phone was vibrating then I have made you feel more popular today than usual.

[@ChrisFranklyn]

I was looking for the bloody fly in the room.

[@maxabillon]

LOL more punishment, Nice one

[@steve16384]

Maybe it was an administrative error, and the programmers were told "make a game that's a nightmare".

[@mrmonkeyman79]

The crazy thing is that knightmare was basically a live action video game. All they had to do was created some rooms with basic traps to navigate, a few riddles (though in fairness they tried that part) and basic puzzles that made some modicum sense. All making up three dungeon levels. Oh and have their face peeling off I real time to represent health instead of a candle. And for true authenticity, yeah have the player character occasionally move right even though you pressed left.

[@vermis8344]

What do you mean, 'occasionally'?

[@GenerationPixel]

On the plus side, you doing this means I've now seen 500% more of the game than I ever have before. You're providing an invaluable service to the community 😂

[@z.s.7992]

first soulslike? I can see where FromSoftware got the idea for such a deep lore system.

[@gk73man51]

The monsters that pop up if you spend too long in a room (and also spawn if you backtrack too many times) gave me the creeps at the time. Basically unless you know enough to speedrun the game with no mistakes and no wrong turns you’ll get got by them eventually.

[@TimberwolfK]

What I really wanted from a game - the gleefully vicious softlocking of a mid-'80s Sierra adventure combined with the wanton control-based difficulty of a Spectrum title.

[@ItsCrapContent]

Its one of those games we all probably brought because it looked good but got bored of it with in the first few screens ……brill review as always boss

[@Xegethra]

I think a Knightmare game could work these days in video game form. It could be a 4 player co-op game and 3 of you are the ones guiding and one of you is wearing the helmet and you have an almost entirely black screen save for a little bit at the bottom or when you look down. A single player experience could be where you are the one guiding an AI around.

[@zxpresh]

I actually figured out how to leave that second room as kid but it was a long time after I got the game. Definitely a case of exhausting all available commands until I stumbled upon the water. It was such a huge moment, I thought I'd never forget it. Anyway, I loaded it up a few months back, convinced I wouldn't get stuck in that bloody room... but I'd totally forgotten about the "secret inventory water" and ended up yeeting a rock at the old guy when he wouldn't give up the magic shovel for some floor chicken.

[@onlineamiga]

So I was a 12 year old kid who was blown away by the virtual reality that was Knigthmare! It was so futuristic and cutting edge! I was jealous of the kids that got to go on the ITV show and play it for real. So imagine my excitement when there was a game for my beloved ZX Spectrum! Well, dumb ass me couldnt get out of the first screen, so it was a hell of a dissapointment! I wasn't the most intelligent kid... but I do feel, especially after your review, that this game should have given more to those like me at the time who loved Knighmare!

[@baldmindsfan]

This is hilarious 😂. Thank you. I too was so excited when the game came out. Couldn't believe how hard it was, just assumed that it was my inferior grey matter. Got out of the cell but never past the guards. Recently set the game up on an emulator to scratch that itch and discovered that... wow.. you could actually move DOWN to next screen and didn't need to kill the guards. I mean, it's obvious now: why would the guards want to follow after you down the passage? I do have a lingering question. How are players supposed to know how to trade with the maid for the locket? Where in the game is that clue??

[@LondraCalibro9]

i really resented this game, it was bought for me as a gift at full price. I could never get past the first screen and used to just load it up to beat the old man to death with the rock out of frustration. The presentation is very nice though.

[@syrus3k]

I experienced this first hand as a kid when it came out. I even bought it, it wasn't a copy. Never have I been more frustrated. I never got anywhere. I think your Sinclair eventually published a poke for it that helped..

[@JulieGreenslade]

OMG! I remember being so excited about this game, but gave up when I couldn't figure.out how to get out of the first room 😂 love this! Thankyou!

[@robinboyns2753]

So glad I wasn't the only one!

[@Trinovante]

I read that the creator of the tv show was inspired by my Spectrum games Legend ofj Avalon and Dragontorc. I think the coders were trying to do something similar but didnt understand the way I did the adventure sequences with clues and minimal text. Perhaps they should of hired me to write it instead.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Would have certainly been a more fitting developer!

[@craigcharlesworth1538]

Now that online gaming is a thing there's absolutely the potential to make a proper Knightmare game, with one player using the controller but with a blank screen and another three able to see what's happening and shouting instructions. I don't think back in the day there was really any solution for making an accurate version of the show so we just got a bog-standard adventure game and, later, a bog-standard RPG with a bit of Knightmare flavour sprinkled on them.

[@z.s.7992]

Knapsack filled with a loose handful of pea soup. the Liquid part is just sliding down your pants out of the seams on the backpack...and you are just standing their smiling at a depressed old man.

[@philversion1383]

My friend thank you for this. I got this game second hand as a child and so desperately wanted to love this game like I did the series. It had so so much potential, a point and click style game would and should of been the perfect medium for the knightmare game. I didn’t have the manual and I still remember pressing every single key on the keyboard until something worked at that first stage. I never saw past those first 2 screens and I remember myself and my brother coming back to it time after time as we were convinced that this must be a huge game and we were just missing something obvious. But alas no, we never saw past those first 2 screens. I’ve never understood why it was made so ridiculously hard to play, even if your a programmer with grand ideas, the fundamentals of playing it still made no sense. Ahh memories, thanks for this video. 👍👍 Great channel

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

No worries!

[@arostwocents]

The times before gaming rules and conventions were established were golden ❤

[@KovesVids]

I remember this game...painfully. I also remember the Dungeon Master clone on Atari ST and Amiga.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Yeah, I'm interested in checking out this DM clone, it can't be worse than this gash.

[@KovesVids]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum It's close lol

[@KovesVids]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum I think the best way to play Knightmare we ever got was the choose your own adventure storys at the end of the books XD

[@andrewalexander4331]

I had this on the C64. Never got passed room 2! :D

[@Elwaves2925]

Never had the game myself but that's only because a mate did. After seeing all of us struggle with the first two rooms, I decided it wasn't for me. I stuck to Fairlight and other fantasy games. TV show was great. Makes you wonder what they could do with this shows format and modern VR headsets. You could build a basic set and have the kids wander around a virtual version of it. That would definitly create some brown trousers moments. 😁

[@RetroBytesUK]

I now have the theme tune stuck in my head .......

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

But which version?

[@TheRiddle1981]

I think my mate and I got soft-locked right at the start and we put on Fantasy World Dizzy instead!

[@Yesterzine]

The old man never thought of himself as a child molester.

[@Larry]

You can open the second door by spellcasting "CASPER" (which considering you never knew you had several spells at the beginning of the game is idiotic) But, Casper was the name of the talking key on the show.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I saw that on the RZX Archive playthrough and could not for the life of me figure out how they knew that! That makes more sense now... While also still being a terrible solution.

[@Larry]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum I think I read it on GameFAQS years later, so it must have been printed in a magazine at some point. But, this is an Activision game, so they had to do something to infuriate you :D

[@rockmanzeroconfused2509]

Knightmare - The Computer Game, not to be confused with the excellent Knightmare from Konami for the MSX computer, and this "game" just takes a huge (censored) on the showrunners making the show. Wow. 😅 (and also, ouch. 😢)

[@c6jones720]

As a kid nearly all text based adventures of the 1980s were unplayable.

[@radioman970]

Love that gameshow. But played the Amiga version way way before being able to see the actual show. I still have my Amiga and the boxed game for it. :) really need to give a go again. But emulated this time.

[@craigix]

This is one of the games I remember being swapped around at school with the main topic of conversation being how to get out of that room - then no one had a clue. The whole concept of thevKnightmare TV show and they made that.... bewildering.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

It's a really bizarre intro to the game as there's barely any other segments of the game where you have to do this kind of thing. It almost feels like a copy-protection thing, but they forgot to put the answer in the inlay.

[@Retrohertz]

I was also thinking it was possibly a copy protection effort - especially as this was a popular TV show at the time. However, I suspect its just terrible game design - potentially influenced by rushing caused by unrealistic deadlines. Did it come out before Xmas by chance?

[@Scripture-Man]

For all its flaws, I love the graphical style of this game. Really atmospheric. I like starting off in a locked room with no apparent escape. I like the old man. I love going in a maid's bedroom! If the puzzles had just been better designed (more like a Dizzy game), with a better control system, it could have been amazing. A few musical cues would have been icing on the cake.

[@AcornElectron]

Re-binging the old ones, again. More Knightmare is never a bad thing.

[@SeamusJRM]

Are we getting Knightmare Revisited Season 2 or has ITV dashed my hopes?

[@jdgonzo1982]

i can't thank you enough for the laughs you've given me dude :)

[@mr.a8315]

🏆 Excellent review! They should re-boot this with Matt Berry as the dungeon master.

[@Ashley6100]

Ah! I did not have the instructions as a kid so my main experience of this game is pressing every button on the keyboard in turn while on the title screen and listening to BEEEEEEEEEW repeatedly.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Yeah, I believe I had this as a demo from a Your Sinclair tape and it may have taken me about 4 loads of menu hopping before I read the magazine and found out about holding down 0. There is literally no reason for it, haha

[@andrewmorrice9139]

Burst out laughing at the 'BEEEEEEEEEW' in your there.

[@SamusEny]

Its so good to hear some terranigma music

[@HeyLaserLips]

At least the Spectrum version attempted the theme tune. I had it on the C64 and it was a completely unrelated random track.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Honestly, at this point, that just sounds better.

[@andrewmorrice9139]

With you on this one. Could never get past the second room. Coincidentally, I've just been rewatching the series after an abstinence and it's more fun to 'play along' with that than this game is. The Knightmare game books were closer to the mark. Is the 'other guy' meant to be Hordriss the Confuser?

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Ahh, that could be him!

[@andrewmorrice9139]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum I just checked the release date and it was 1987, so it can't have been him as he didn't show up until the 1989 season. Which does make it confusing!

[@TheUKMediaWatch]

Oh I miss my Zx spectrum 128k ,Dan dare , Ollie and Lisa , and commando , love this channel subscribed 💯👍🏼 and what a class show I’m sure trapdoor was on after this 😎

[@JacknVictor]

My friends and I applied to go on this show at least 3 times but the amount of applicants it got, we stood no chance. One of those friends now works in tv and movies and mentioned to one of his colleagues who had done work on the TV show and he confirmed that with the amount of people who applied made it virtually impossible to get on there. So we had to make do with this shite to play on instead.

[@geoffneil5073]

Great video as always :). I really loved this game as a kid and spent hours playing it and getting a few screens in, it is far too hard though. I didn't like the TV show very much if I'm honest having the player 'blind' was just frustrating to watch. I agree about the TV show theme tune though that was great as was the animation.

[@BrooksterMax]

Thankfully I didn’t pay for this but had it with a magazine covertape. I did manage to launch into game but never went beyond that first room. The later Amiga game whilst better didn’t seem to have much connection to the series.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Oh man, that theme tune 😬

[@SumoDogs]

they actually made a good knightmare game for i think the ST and amiga that was a eye of the beholder clone

[@bobinator1992]

I have to wonder if this is at least better than the Amiga version -- which didn't even TRY to be like the show. Instead it's just basically Dungeon Master/Eye of the Beholder except sometimes Treguard is there.

[@obsoleteworlds]

I was so excited to get this on C64 and then spent 6 months stuck in that bloody room.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Thankfully, I only ever owned the demo. I began to believe the demo was built so that you couldn't actually leave that room, which was a bit rubbish for a demo. But no, turns out that was the game.

[@user-is4jf8yr4z]

"Original and exciting game with something for everyone to get hooked on". Haha, classic. Didn't even boot up the bloody game.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Something for EVERYONE if you enjoy being locked in a room for the rest of your life.

[@RetroSegaDev]

I shouldn't have found the reference to a "sack full of liquid" so funny but I did :D

[@jessragan6714]

Hey, Resisting Treguard's Sadism, I just wanted to chime in as the token American. We didn't get Knightmare over here, but I've watched clips, and it really does seem like the Dark Souls of interactive children's game shows. The closest we ever got to an experience like this is Nick Arcade, and at no point do you think its host will sink a knife in the contestants when their backs are turned. (He is energetic to the point of exhaustion, though.) I always thought it would be amusing if Nick Arcade's Phil Moore and Knightmare's Hugo Myatt traded places, though. "For the last time, children, you are trying to move young Michael beyond the boundaries of the playfield, which is against the rules of the game. Must I continue to explain this to you?" Meanwhile, Phil Moore is watching kids get bisected by wall-mounted blades, and is rightly horrified.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

It definitely feels like fantasy Running Man, but with kids

[@PGGMusic]

This is totally different from the Knightmare I played on the MSX.

[@Lbf5677]

Pickle the elf was worried about goblins

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Pickle the Elf can eat my sweaty cleft. He was the Snarf of Knightmare.

[@Lbf5677]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum yeah he said the same things every week

[@gregd3344]

At least the candle looked nice. I'll give it that.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Stop eating the big red candles

[@Caspian237]

This seems like an early point and click adventure game but without any pointing or clicking or adventure. Shame it couldn't have been better. I too was a big fan of the show.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

It's a really clever system for the verbs/nouns, but it really needed to only show you items currently available to make it viable. As it stands, you're cycling through so many actions/objects that are absolutely useless.

[@primokarmasilver]

Honestly I was planning on reviewing this game but in a super positive way just to annoy you, but honestly ...it looks really unplayable with a guide. Like are you sure it wasn't it's own game and they slap on a Knightmare title on it to up sells??

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

It mostly feels like they had a few ideas on how to tie it in with the license, but the rest of the game they had no clue on, so just sort of... Filled it up.

[@davidreeves4556]

I don't think I even got to the guards maybe I didn't get out of the first room.

[@TeZXSpectrum]

I think I managed to get to the wall face room and that was it. Thank goodness I bought it on budget. The Knighmare is over😣👍

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Where DID the Titanic set sail from?

[@spartan.falbion2761]

Your Sinclair should've been fucking ashamed to put this on a cover cassette. I played this wondering, 'is it just me?' No, it's not just you. Spellcasting: I T S S H I T

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

OOOOOH, narsty

[@fremenondesand3896]

is there any decent knightmare game? I want to rewatch the show.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Someone is making a new Knightmare speccy game as we speak

[@TheGunnarRoxen]

Knightmare was such a good show. It's a shame the game was so obtuse, though I know if the team were annoying the producers would send them into no win situations, so maybe the game developer just hated all players? 😂

[@davidnelson5533]

I had to phone up a cheat hotline to find the way out of room two

[@Steve_UK77]

I never played this game so I have absolutely nothing to add to your video. Oh, apart from... Remember the first time on the tv show that the kids actually won? Yeah, that was great.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Pretty sure the producers decided who would win just based on whether or not they were monsterous little gits or not.

[@Zirus_Blackheart]

Yeah, I couldn't get past the second room either haha

[@al3k]

Could you review the Custard Kid please? :)

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Never even heard of that one, just had a look - is it just Atic Atac with a fat kid?

[@al3k]

Ah wow you missed out big time.. It's worse than atic atac really, not quite the same feel but similar i guess.. I could never get anywhere in it cos it was just so damn random.. you have to be lucky enough to get certain door keys and you get these radar things which help you locate recipes which you need.... and yet there was something about it that kept bringing me back.. I still give it a go every now and then these days.. I just imagined it would be quite funny if you reviewed it and, dare I say even try to complete it... I've never seen the end!

[@Phoenix2312]

@RoseTintedSpectrum Had the game for the Amstrad... And yeah, I too hated it! That being said, I managed to get out of the first rooms easy enough... There was a Second Attempt at a Knightmare Game... However that only made its way to the 16Bit computers... And was a 4 Person Dungeon Crawler ala "Dungeon Master" - Only one of your team had to wear the helmet so could never see! And if that character died, None of the other characters could see until someone picked up the helmet and put it on! Oh and YES you would still be being hit by enemies while trying to find the F**KING HELMET! I only ever had a Demo for the Atari ST... And, Well... It was BETTER at least... Good, Debateable!

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

So the helmet... MADE YOU SEE? THIS IS OPPOSITE WORLD

[@Phoenix2312]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum LMAO! Yes.. They tried to emulate the idea that the other 3 characters were guiding the 1 character around... So the one character was always unable to see, I mean... They tried also to copy the Shows idea that Only via the Helmet could the Other 3 see what was going on... I get the concept yeah - For the TV show that premise works great! After all the Dungeons and Monsters were CGI Generated Primitive though it was... BUT THAT DOES NOT WORK IN A F**KING VIDEO GAME!

[@onemanconga8127]

A great tribute to a disappointing game of perhaps the best TV show ever made (up there anyway with Fraggle Rock). Simon, if you're out there reading this, I hope you finally regained the confidence to take a sidestep to your left whenever you want.

[@fremenondesand3896]

damnit, I want to watch knightmare now. Odyssee or rumble?

[@GamSin1981]

The C64 version isn't much better, but it doers have nice music although not the TV theme. I do remember the Amiga having a different Knightmare game and it did have the proper theme music. Sadly, it wasn't like the TV show and more of an Eye of the Beholder dungeon quest game.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Yeah, I've seen mention of the Amiga game... I might have to upset myself with that as well.

[@MrStabby19812]

I made it to the second room lol

[@malcolmhutchison]

The Amstrad CPC verision is only slightly better - the items are a different colour from the background. Even has the crap music even though the CPC had much better sound available.

[@ghostoflazlo]

Love the DOOM shirt

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Good eyes!

[@Met182]

I never got out of the first room....I remember hitting the old man but I don't think he died. That was my childhood experience of this game lol

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I'd say it was 90% of people's experience with it!

[@chessoc7799]

I don't think I made it out of the first room lol. Didn't come back to it either. The Atari st game was better. Was a dungeon master clone. Think it was a ST game anyway.

[@jasonwilletts559]

In the first screen, you give the old man food and water, he gives you the magic spade, you can dig out of the second room, you navigate the corridors until you reach the puzzle rooms

[@JakeBirkett]

Yep. It was similarly bad on the C64. Real shame.

[@pyenapple]

Why the hell haven’t they rebooted Knightmare?

[@richieWWS]

rerender the whole series of knightmare revisited using the spectrum game, job's a good'un

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

This is such a lengthy, pointless task that I could well see myself doing it.

[@toastedfallenstar584]

Truth accepted.....

[@awatson3367]

I had the c64 version, haven't played it for 30 years but do remember some of the stuff you highlight here. I did get out of the first set of rooms, but cant remember how much further i managed. I do remember the creepy monsters that punish wrong answers, (and dont they also appear if you kill the old man?): they always gave young me the same creepy feeling as the ghouls in the film Ghost that drag that guy to hell.

[@funkyweapon1981]

Ooh nasty.

[@z.s.7992]

same thing happened to me with the Golden Girls game...not like the show. Too action packed. Not near enough knitting. No innuendos to speak of. 2/10. Gave it an extra point because the got the old lady clown hair right.

[@zetetick395]

"This game is....SHIT" 😮‍💨 ....."Truth, accepted"

[@dellzincht]

At least the Spectrum version uses the actual theme tune, us C64 owners got a completely uninspiring guitar rock bollock piece of shit theme

[@faenethlorhalien]

Weird they'd dedicate a game to a female horse in plate armor. Knightmare.

[@faenethlorhalien]

We had a similar show, clearly ripped off England, in Spain when I was a kind, in the late 80s to early 90s, and it was shit, sadly. A pale imitation.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I'm pretty sure there were a few european versions of Knightmare - same show, but with a different theme tune, and different shaped helmets (oddly). Other than that, they looked fairly identical, but specific to the various European countries that licensed it.

[@RoulDukeGonzo]

Please can you review a nice game? I'm starting to get a bit worried about you.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I'M TRYING

[@RoulDukeGonzo]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum cyclone?