REX: The Spectrum Game That's Ahead Of Its Time | Kim Justice

[@Kim_Justice]

What do you make of Rex, then? Good, innit? Do feel free to say if there's any other old Spectrum games that feel really modern to you! Thanks for watching. :)

[@eternalpoptimist]

Looks absolutely fantastic and I hadn't even heard of it. What a treat to have a new video from you on my 40th birthday stuck at home with COVID! Thanks as ever, great stuff!

[@4ppleseed]

I still play Chaos from time to time, that's a good laugh with a few mates.

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I had this, been trying to remember what it was called for years. Graphics blew me away back in the day.

[@alexgeorge501]

great game, looks like a blast to play on a weekend or two! Shout to the developers for doing a great spectrum gem!

[@HAVOCJKD]

Still one of my all time favorite speccy games! A machine busting game that pushed WAY beyond what it was believed capable of amd still plays as spectacular today as it did then

[@superspudgun]

Rex still feels like a modern pixel-art game. Love it :)

[@lardeyell]

Soooooo good to see Rex getting some of the recognition it deserves. Loved this game back in the day, but it seemed criminally overlooked.

[@tehf00n]

The beginning of this video was such a trip back to my youth. I have to say, I completed Rex many times and back then I rarely completed a game twice, but this one was great.

[@hmspolio]

Oh man! I remember writing a letter to Mean Machines about this game because I loved it and wanted a console version, but my sister rewrote it because she thought her handwriting was better. She left the name of the game out of it, and the Mean Yob took the piss out of me. ...great days.

[@raymoreton3184]

Me and my brother used to go to junior school with the two sons of David Martin the co creator of Martech Games in Pevensey bay we became very good friends with them until they moved away, I still remember exactly where their house was.

[@hdestotallyunoriginalgamin3555]

What an absolute joy this game is! It was one of the first things I loaded up when I took delivery of my Spectrum Next. Really amazing how forward thinking it was, in some respects.

[@AndreaDoimo]

This and Turrican on Amiga were the most "wooah!!!" moments in my gaming life :)

[@middle-agedclimber]

I've discovered this game on an emulator. It would have surely blown my mind back in the day. Incredible, fluid, smpoth graphics, very playable to this day.

[@StargliderGaming]

Rex is one of my favourite games, and such a fantastically designed thing of beauty.

[@endymallorn]

That almost offhand comment toward the end caught me off guard. I did not know that Dreamweb & Martian Gothic were done by the same guys. That’s amazing. Two of my favorite “look past the jank” games right there. And they started off on the Spectrum, wow.

[@wssayer]

Thank you so much for covering Rex. Such an underrated and easily in my top 10 ZX Spectrum games, and one I still think about 34 years later. Even back when it came out, I was the only one of my friends who had it, and got quite evangelical trying to convince them they needed to play it.

[@em00k]

Rex has always been one of my favourite Spectrum games, from the moment I played the YS demo and still enjoy it today. Awesome game.

[@Etcher]

haha likewise, I remember drooling after playing that very demo!

[@skijumpnose]

This game looks great! Myth was another Speccy game i was impressed with too.

[@bonjovi7399]

It looks similar to Myth in the detail of the graphics and good use of colour

[@em00k]

@@bonjovi7399 Same gfx artist, Dave Dew.

[@ahbahpuh]

Same for me.

[@mustaffaleak9247]

How did this one pass me by? Time to fire up Speccy Em! Please don't stop what your doing. I love your content.

[@pnvgordinho]

The small sprites have a reason and they affect the gameplay, in a good way. Most of those games with huge sprites were crap.

[@middle-agedclimber]

I have yet to discover a single game on ZX Spectrum with big sprites, that I would like. Not a single one so far. And I love many others :)

[@DarkSideofSynth]

True!

[@RunplaysinHD]

including modern games too. Just look at Gears of War, this huge character blocks half of your freaking screen! You should constantly move your camera to see at least something to shoot at. I remember good times of the PS1 era, Tomb Raider exactly, where camera was slightly above the character, not behind his back, and characters were delicate and thin, so even in 3d games you were able to see everything ahead of you

[@Waccoon]

The more of your videos I watch, the more I love and respect the unique look of Spectrum games. Some of the solutions developers have come up with to suit the limits of the graphics hardware are fascinating, and the look is often far less "busy" than games I played on my C64 back in the day. And, yes, I've been watching your videos for a long time. Keep up the great work. 8)

[@guydawson4101]

The quality of the game was there to see from the first screen. I loved juggling the soldiers with bullets. That was so cool looking. Some how I completed it back in the day. God knows how as looks well hard. I worshipped Myth as well. Never knew they did that. But looking back was easy to see the link. The spectrum was a amazing computer.

[@badnewsbruner]

It's always a special day when you upload :) I hope you and yours are doing well. Also, you've gotten amazing at bass, you should upload more bass stuff!!

[@ThePerradox]

Great video Kim. This really seems like a very interesting game.

[@fearlessjoebanzai]

This is perhaps the most impressive Spectrum title I've ever seen. Thank you.

[@merman1974]

Fascinating video, I never had the chance to play Rex back in the day but it does hold up well.

[@BottIsNotABot]

Excellent video (as always!). This is a game I've still yet to play, I remember seeing it reviewed in YS but don't ever remember seeing it for sale near me. Might be time to take to fleabay and see if I can pick up a copy.

[@UpTheAnte1987]

It's such a shame I never knew of this game when it came out. Would have surely been a favourite.

[@lagunagfx]

Thanks for discovering such great game to us, Kim. A lot of Spectrum gems got missed in favour of inferior-yet-heavily-promoted stuff (I’m looking at my copy of Enduro Racer at the moment, hehe)

[@grzegorzpaszkowski8555]

The phenomenon of this game, apart from the fact that it required only 48 kB, was also that, with the same memory, it played sound effects on an AY connected to the edge bus, an idea at that time known mainly in Poland and probably in Czechoslovakia at that time.

[@gregskuza7166]

Excellent video! This was one of my most favourite games on spectrum and still is. Rex will work with AY and Sepccy 48 so you will get all the sounds on 48 as well.

[@pnvgordinho]

7:45 Don't know why but this part reminds me of Axiom Verge.

[@stefan-catalinanton4207]

I like this single game reviews. Thank you.

[@freakishuproar1168]

I'm an absolute sucker for the "humanity is colonizing the stars and no one is too thrilled about it" sci-fi trope, so my intertest is piqued :D I also can't be the only person who thinks that all of From Soft's game should end with the player defeating the big squidgy thing and going home to have a nice cup of tea.

[@greenhowie]

I like how Rex literally looks like a fusion of Gex and Rez on the box art. Definitely a coincidence, but an uncanny one.

[@paullittle8719]

Great video and what a phenomenal game!

[@4ppleseed]

Yes! Love this game, great choice Kim. That title screen alone is worth the price of admission.

[@DJSvenNo1]

Great video, good looking game. Thanks for sharing!

[@ianorr8427]

Great video about a great game. I think about this game a lot, I loved the aesthetic, with the scale of you vs the playing environment working to underline the magnitude of your task. I would love to have seen more games (both then and now) with a similar aesthetic. Much like the lemmings there's a lot of character in that little rinosapien sprite.

[@LyingSecret]

Great video Kim :)

[@Etcher]

I always felt Rex and Myth were good cousins of each other. The graphical style these boyos hit upon was sublime. Kim, a vid about Myth would be great. Not sure if the System3 story of Myth is as compelling as this but it's by far my most beloved Speccy game and I can't be the only one out there who thinks that ;) Anyways, thank you for this video - it was very enjoyable!

[@HeadmasterAutobot]

I wasn't born in the time or place to appreciate the Spectrum, and usually just admire its work from afar, but this looks like an absolute blast. May track it down at some point.

[@davidk6987]

Amazing review of one of my favourite ZX Spectrum game from one of my favourite KZbinrs. Thanks I use to play REX a lot on my Didaktik M (Czechoslovakian copy of ZX Spectrum) with black and green monitor. It looks so much better in colour. 🙂

[@RolanTheBrave]

I had this - I even remember the shop I got it from - long, long gone sadly.

[@bigbadbod04]

Got Rex for a quid on my 14th birthday, absolutely loved it, bit of an unloved classic, I was amazed by it. Almost 34 years ago now :-(

[@stewsretroreviews]

Nice content, I missed Rex the first time round , but heard so many good things about this and Myth, might have to check it out, nice one!

[@KorenLesthe]

If I had this game on my CPC, oh boi I would’ve LOVED IT (as a big Turrican & Metroid fan) ! Thanks for this video, Kim !

[@robsmall6466]

Not sure if it's mentioned in the video but this is available on the Amstrad as well

[@KorenLesthe]

@@robsmall6466 I'm gonna check ASAP ^^, thanks.

[@DenofWonder]

Love your videos Kim! Never heard of Rex before but I’ll be trying it out now.

[@schneil]

Is the end credit music from Ultimate Combat Mission? Not a great game, but it had great music.

[@jasonlam9017]

It certainly sounds like it's the menu tune for UCM. In fact I'm very sure it is.

[@pkaulf]

The artwork on Slaine made me instantly think of Dreamweb despite being unaware of the connection. The artist must have a very distinctive style!

[@jasonlam9017]

John Anderson is Jason Austin Neil Harris is Neil Dodwell Richard Alan is David Dune From Creative Reality

[@rluis]

Another great video. Well done!

[@stephenr3187]

Love your spectrum videos. Never had them in the states.

[@mandosmanta]

Finally someone point a light on this hidden masterpiece , one of my favorite speccy game

[@Paul29Esx]

I wasn't a fan of Rex when I purchased it back in 88/89. But I totally agree when you revisit it now it plays better than back then. As well as the graphics there's a good amount of noise coming out for a 48k game!

[@Tossphate]

Coincidentally, the day after this video was posted, The Retro Hour podcast have posted an interview with the programmer of Rex.

[@RunplaysinHD]

I don't think that Rex was ahead of its time, but it surely breaks the limit of ZX Spectrum. It was already 1988 and the most advanced games of the era were in arcades. Just look at After Burner, Outrun, Super Hang-On and then look at Rex again. Basically, its an ordinary multiple screen action-adventure without scrolling. But this game made everything right: good controls, nice graphics, good level design, total destruction (but still there were games before Rex which also allowed you to destroy everything).

[@blsof8bc]

Great review. Remind me, what is the music playing in the background? I believe the first one is Marauder but the second one? I know it but can't recall the game! Thanks.

[@tumppigo]

Big brain video, thanks!!

[@goport]

Hi Kim, have you got any videos on the Bifrost/Nirvana engine games on the Spectrum? If not check them out as its quite something to see games with smooth scrolling multi colour graphics on a humble Speccy.

[@RRRRRaa]

Rex reminds me somewhat of Ethnipod, which was released via Your Sinclair and was hugely visually impressive with similar sprites etc.

[@ShroudedHand]

Imagine how many kids got to the end of the first half and wrote down the code wrong before resetting their machine

[@craigix]

Shrouded hand here ^ :)

[@Mandrax1138]

I remember playing the demo of Rex to death! Absolutely loved it! ❤️

[@StuAA78]

Creative Reality: We'll use fake names so nobody knows it's us Your Sinclair (4:30): lol, lmao

[@lower_case_t]

Looks like a game I need to check out. I've never heard of it before, and I thought I've played all great Speccy games. I literally wasted my youth with them.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

Pushing the Spectrum's graphics to near/beyond their limit is a most impressive skill.

[@Alianger]

It's a stretch to call this a metroidvania but it's a solid shooter/platformer with some neat ideas like the rechargeable shield, and great visuals for the system.

[@hotdogsoup-nl]

Loved it at the time and still want to play it!

[@Shaltai_Alexander_Boltai_DIY]

REX 1 и 2 одни из моих любимых игр на спектруме, обе части не по разу проходил. Спасибо за обзор.

[@acertainshape]

What a coincidence. The Retro Hour podcast just had Jason Austin on this week for an interview.

[@notsuoh16Bit]

What an amazing game, truly beautiful to look at and it would amazed my pre-teen brain if I had of been lucky enough to have a copy as a child.

[@opiejaye]

This looks great, I'll have to give it a go soon.

[@ZXSpectrumHotel]

Beautiful, but hard as nails. The only way I can stand it is playing with infinite shield. There was a bad ripoff called Ethnipod also.

[@nednettapp]

I never thought something like this would be possible on an 8 bit machine.

[@RobsonRoverRepair]

When you said this was a 48k game I was all in on it. Very impressed

[@robsmall6466]

Rex is also available on the Amstrad

[@jamesaitchison9478]

Stunning looking game from 1988, plays a great game too.

[@bboboneill]

This looks really good, My first computer was the small rubber keyed 48k spectrum, still at it now with a series x 🤣

[@SelfIndulgentGamer]

I still find Myth to be a feast for the eyes on the Speccy. :) * I typed this 10 seconds before it was mentioned :)

[@wingleburt3146]

How have I never heard of this game?

[@robsmall6466]

Also available on Amstrad

[@prowokator]

Is the 1st track of background music from Death Wish on c64?

[@goldensyrupgamingshow2978]

Nice! Very interesting never seen this one :)

[@Midwinter2]

Hmm, I'm afraid I was never really a fan of Spectrum graphics - except for Knight Lore and Lords of Midnight, which were gorgeous. This game, Rex, doesn't really change my mind - though I give the creators credit for dealing with the colour clash. What I liked about Spectrum games was the completely bonkers ideas you'd get in them - and the utterly daft and random enemy sprites: flying ice-cream cones, swiss army knives come to life etc...

[@DnBclassictunes]

hi kim. Have you ever done a video of Cyclone by Vortex Software? Great channel

[@hardcorealienpg]

Just heard on the retro hour podcast that he making Rex 2 for Spectrum next :)

[@randy7894]

This game is art.

[@IapetusRetroStuff]

My fave game on the speccy 48k.

[@bjornh1527]

Thank you for telling a Nintendo kid like me about all of these cool home computer games! I’ll have to track dow Rex!

[@cyberhard]

This looks like a great candidate for a modern remake.

[@HappyCodingZX]

This is indeed a superb game for the Spectrum, especially technically - but ahead of its time? I'd have to disagree. This was 1988 after all - Contra was well established in the arcades, Metroid had been out for two years and Castlevania even had a sequel. In the small pond that was the Spectrum in 1988 it was certainly a very gorgeous looking big fish, but in the wider world of gaming, it's not the gameplay itself but the fact that it's running on 1982 hardware that is the most impressive thing about it.

[@Midwinter2]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, actually...

[@MS-ho9wq]

If I'd seen this in 1988 as a C64 owner, I would have been jealous of Speccy owners (for about 5 minutes). But in all seriousness, this is mindboggling. Can't believe I've never heard of it. Might fire up the emulator tomorrow.

[@robsmall6466]

There is an Amstrad version as well

[@Mantakev]

Rex is great. Mega hard but Head over Heals is still my favourite ZX game.

[@BrainDamageComedy]

top channel on the youtubes

[@bgeek]

Is there a connection to the games Exolon or Cybernoid? It reminds me of them.

[@Audionautas]

Yes. The team behind Rex, especially Jas Austin, loved Cybernoid (I think they didn't like Cybernoid II). But the Raf Cecco's game was a huge inspiration gameplay wise and also graphically both have a very similar style. I have always thought that probably Rex would have done better commercially speaking if Hewson had released it instead of Martech. It was the kind of game that wouldn't be out of place at Hewson's catalogue. I got it in my collection alongside the Hewson games, in fact.

[@duckhive]

You have to feel so fortunate to grow up with gems like these in 1988! What a time. This would be perfect for a remake.

[@themarchinggoblin8294]

Omg dreamweb!! I remember that!

[@RetroAmateur1989]

Do you know what would be an interesting concept for a video? Games that push the hardware to a point where even the hardware's creators didn't know it was possible. Example the CGI juggler demo for the Amiga.

[@gateroozeink5061]

I kinda like having an easy final boss - better than an impossible one, anyway!

[@davidrobertson5700]

TLL by Costa Panii was ahead of it's time

[@djcactus]

Nice, never heard of this

[@robsmall6466]

Available on Amstrad as well

[@djcactus]

@@robsmall6466 how the hell did you know I had a CPC 464?????

[@robsmall6466]

@@djcactus Bothan spies 😅 ( lucky guess 🙂 )

[@djcactus]

@@robsmall6466 not even a joke. I gen did have one 😂

[@david-spliso1928]

Not one mention of Mel Croucher 😕

[@iantellam9970]

It's quite a nice little game but marred by sluggish controls and finnicky platforming. Not sure it was 'ahead' of its time in the grand scheme of things, but it holds up a little better than most Spectrum games of the era.

[@coyoteartist]

Son in Nu-Who, they made space police that looked like Rhinos. And here's a game with a space "cop" who looks like a rhino. Well it does kinda to me anyway.

[@aberdeenkiko]

That super ZX Spectrum game called "Rex", from 1988; is still ahead of the time, from this youtube comment. Because, not another video-game as functional as "Rex", is yet outhere. Therefore, a post-modern reboot, still aint necessary.