ZX Spectrum vs. Amstrad CPC - 8 games from 1988

Hello and welcome to the fifth episode of ZX Spectrum versus Amstrad CPC games.
In this video, 8 games released in 1988 are shown running on both machines so you can see how different (or similar) they were. Games like Operation Wolf, Last Ninja 2, Cybernoid and more.
Thanks for watching and let me know in the comments section below who "wins".
And, of course, see you in the next RetroNoName episode

[@mikeclark7002]

Some games used split mode on the CPC as well. With the ability to use colour per pixel with no clash or slowdown (if done properly) the CPC 160x200 mode could look a lot higher res due to very subtle colour graduation. Also when used properly the 320x200 mode looked a lot more than 4 colours but it was more time consuming but the effectiveness was great. As 2 examples look at Het Dexter 1 & 2 for smart low res high colour and Batman and Head Over Heels for high res low colour.

[@Maxozavrmp3]

I like late ZX era.

[@renaudg]

The Amstrad wins every single one that isn't a Speccy port, simple.

[@deadstoned]

I really like both computers but back in the day (and even today) I couldn't understand why the ports from Speccy to CPC (Yes, I know, delivery time to sell the games but Amstrad capabilities were destroyed) When I bought a CPC game and figured it out that it was a merely port I felt disappointed with programming team. The same occurred with MSX games. A pity. Thankfully, the retro scene programmers take ol' computers one step beyond. Thanks for your video.

[@retrononame]

Nicely written and I agree 100% Thanks for watching!

[@pablo_p_art]

Somehow CPC graphics is closer to Amiga.

[@tyruiiederttree3074]

🤣

[@davidfernandezsabio3844]

The Speccy had more screen resolution and the CPC more colors in the palette but some Amstrad ports shown here were lazy Speccy ports a shame as the CPC could be a better machine if developers really did proper programing.

[@IsaacKuo]

Spectrum resolution of 256x192 was less than CPC resolution of 320x200 in four color mode, but for various reasons it was more common to sacrifice resolution for extra color in CPC games. Mainly, it was a late arrival, so gamers were used to seeing 16 bit games (even if they couldn't afford an Atari ST or Amiga yet, themselves). When trying to get closer to that 16 bit look and feel, the 160x200 graphics mode was generally a better fit. The annoying issue, though, is that during that era, nice looking screenshots were more valuable for sales than smooth motion, and the CPC's more detailed graphics really taxed the poor little Z80 CPU. So generally, frame rates suffered compared to the Spectrum and C64 alternatives.

[@retrononame]

Agreed. As I mentioned in my reply to Edgel1234, quite a few CPC full color games are really nice to look at, but feel a bit sluggish compared to the Spectrum version.

[@Edgel-in6bs]

Such a chasm between the amstrad games which use the colour palette of the machine, and the odious speccie ports. They should have been ashamed of the cpc last ninja 2.

[@retrononame]

Agreed, although I have a feeling with lots of CPC full color games that they can be a bit "sluggish". Not all of them though - some of them.

[@Edgel-in6bs]

@@retrononame always thought that problem existed in both modes on the cpc because of the effort to move stuff around (the speccie ports tend to run slower than the speccie). Just lazy porting from software houses doing the bare minimum to capitalise on a license!

[@trocoloco]

@@retrononame it doesn't matter if its colorful or monochrome games, a regular screen ram is the same no matter the mode, 16kb, . The challenge is how to move all that data around without help of specific hardware

[@mikeclark7002]

@@retrononame That was only in bad ports or quick "re-colours". Generally if coded for properly 16 colour games on the CPC moved very quickly.

[@tofik5939]

👍👍

[@dennyhaynes3]

1. Operation Wolf plays at a better speed than the Amstrad but i like the colours best on the CPC. Great conversions and good graphics. 2. Cybernoid, great graphics, sound and gameplay. I'd say this is a draw. 3. Micky mouse, again a decent showing from both machines. The only difference is the CPC is more colourful. 4. Last ninja 2 I'd give to the Spectrum as the Amstrad version is just a port. 5. Beyond the ice palace, Amstrad wins due to its more colourful graphics though the Spectrum version is good too. 6. Crazy Cars 2, besides the difference in colour to the platforms another draw. 7. Northstar, decent again on both platforms. All depends if you like the bigger sprites on the Spectrum or the more smaller colourful graphics on the Amstrad. 8. Pacmania, Spectrum wins due to the Amstrad version being a port.

[@retrononame]

Agree with all but Cybernoid - which in my opinion plays better on Spectrum.

[@MephProduction]

Amstrad looking like a proper machine. Spectrum looking and sounding completely out of date

[@Avrelivs_Gold]

on CRT ZX looks much better than on LCD simple colors look striking

[@gabormiklay9209]

04:55 Pac-mania is mind-blowingly low FPS on both platforms.

[@retrononame]

More-so on CPC. On Spectrum, Pac-Mania is quite playable, on the other hand, CPC port is just sluggish and a pain to play.

[@mikeclark7002]

@@retrononame Thats because it is a literal code dump, almost the CPC running a Speccy emulation. Generally dumping code like this with no optimisation would always make the port slower and the way the Amstrad handled scrolling with it's variant of the 6845 chip was different.

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

IBM PC vs Atari ST when?

[@retrononame]

Can do. Sounds interesting and I did have some exposure to Atari ST back in the 80s (friend had one). Which year would you recommend to start with? 1985 (year ST was released I recall correctly)?

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

@@retrononame Thanks. And yes year 1985 is what I choose

[@madd20]

i believe that will be easy - Atari ST - no hardware scrolling :> and choppy graphics

[@BAZFANSHOTHITSClassicTunes]

@@madd20 The ST wankerd the PC back in 1985.

[@obregr]

A se sam e zdi da ima cpc vwč barv in niđjo resolucijoo?

[@retrononame]

Če so hoteli programerji na CPC uporabiti 16 barv naenkrat, so morali uporabiti "mode 0" ki dovoli zgolj 160 horizontalnih pixlov (160x200) Če so se sprijaznili z zgolj 4 barvami, so lahko uporabili mode 1 ki je dovolila 320x200 pixlov Obstaja še monokromatski (dvobarvni) grafični "mode 2" ki dovoli 640x200 pixlov.

[@Avrelivs_Gold]

with its simplicity ZX appeals to beginner programmers games are much easier to understand and imitate, simple graphics and gameplay Amstrad looks like a mainstream product for entertainment and it doesn't make you want to program...

[@trocoloco]

it was sold as a all round machine, not really made for gaming and also orientated for business, it has a nice built in Basic tho

[@jlklein3905]

Good idea, but look worst than original because too blocky, can you please record with scanlines? crt and composite look better, but is hard and expensive now...

[@johnny5805]

All the Spectrum versions are better, the CPC gfx are too blocky. If you could build a machine that combines the resolution of the Speccy, with the colour palette of the CPC , and the sound of the C64, then you'd have the perfect 8 bit gaming machine.

[@retrononame]

The problem was that in order for programmers to use 16 colors at once on CPC, they needed to "drop" horizontal resolution and use "mode 0" which is 160x200 pixels.

[@IsaacKuo]

The problem with combining the resolution of the Spectrum with the color depth of the CPC is that you end up taxing the 8-bit CPU a lot, so the graphics are generally sluggish and choppy. You can see this with the MSX2 computers - the graphics look competitive with 16-bit systems ... in a static screenshot. But motion suffers, even with the help of hardware sprites and tile based graphics (which require much less CPU to push around than bitmap based graphics).

[@trocoloco]

as blocky as a C64 which shared same resolution. On the other hand a CPC renders a 320x200 screen (mode 1) 4 colours any colour any pixel, many times games where ported and used speccy resolution, speccy fixed 256 x 192 attribute colours by cells. Max res on CPCs using overscan , 192x272 mode 0, 384 x 272 mode 1

[@tyruiiederttree3074]

@@IsaacKuo"in a static screenshot. But motion suffers" Have you played many MSX2 games? For example, Space Manbow...?

[@FatNorthernBigot]

Nothing from 1988 should have that such low-res colours. This is the era of Amigas and STs. We're a long way from Manic Miner, here.

[@MQsto]

It may sound surprising, but releases of Amiga & ST did NOT increase colours and resolution in Amstrad nor Spectrum.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@MQsto I am, of course, shocked by this revelation. However, I was merely pointing out both systems were well past their prime.

[@madd20]

amstrad had resolution like gameboy adavance :P and zx spectrum most games looks like gameboy games :>

[@hamphlet]

​@@FatNorthernBigotand yet in some ways they were just reaching their prime. Particularly in terms of the coders abilities to get the best out of them.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@hamphlet indeed. Some of the more recent C64 games look like megadrive titles.