As someone who owned neither a C64 or Speccy I think Spectrum colour-clash visuals look better than C64's horrible colour palette. Everything always looked dingy and depressing, last thing you wanted to see in 80's Britain was more dingy and depressing. Amazing sound for the time on C64 though.
Fun fact; C64 has 16 colors, but 5 are white to black (white, 3x grey and black). So you have just 11 colors. From these 11 colors, brown, red and orange looks like a brown. In combination with C64 160x200 pixels, ZX Spectrum looks simply better sometimes. In case of snapshot from R-Type (no sound and animation), C64 will be like "black and white picture" compared to ZX Spectrum.
Bruce Lee and Rainbow Islands...definitely not. Others fairly subjective (I prefer the c64 Type) except for the racing games...way better. Chase HQ missing :)
I was hooked on Bomb Jack in the Arcade mate had it on the spectrum it was dredful 64 version better. Spectrum version of Bruce Lee my my mate was hooked until he played it on the 64 then he bought a 64. Rainbow Island better on spectrum ... what drugs are you on??? I forgot how bad the spectrum was for colour clash on the redefined keys. I just picked myself up from the floor after laughing at r-type..
Exolon is pretty much a wash - more colour on the C64, more detail on the Speccy and it does not use any of the C64's fancy hardware scrolling etc. R-type, whilst the Speccy version is amazing for the hardware and the C64 version is just par for course for its hardware is STILL miles better on the C64 - the graphics are better, the scrolling is miles smoother and the music is fantastic.... which is totally missing on the Speccy. it is a total myth that the Speccy version is better. Rainbow Islands looks and sounds better on the C64 and plays exactly the same. Zynaps again looks and sounds better on the C64 and plays exactly the same. The other games I agree with.
OK. Bruce Lee on the Spectrum is virtually identical to C64 version (albeit slightly less buggy). The deal breaker with this version is Green Yamo not being green. I can't really claim R-Type being "a better version" on the Speccy. Some may claim that it is a better game, but it does not feel or sound like R-Type. Exolon is better on Sinclair than on Tramiel machine... But it is even better of Alan Shugar's hardware!
I completely agree with you about R-Type! I grew up with the c64 version, so that for me is the superior of the 8-bit ports. However, I could never get into Bruce Lee. It's not a game I played back in the day, so it doesn't hold much nostalgia for me personally.
It's not a small thing, actually :) Everybody who owned C64 would probably agree that music in many games was probably half of the experience. Some tunes are legendary, and unforgettable decades after ;)
The ZX Spectrum was not meant to be a games platform. Sir Clive was never happy about the main usage of the Speccy: "... and all we ever got was f..king Jet Set Willy!" Thus it had hardly any sound capabilities. That is no main feature of a machine designed for programming in BASIC plus some macine code, maybe.
I must say, you were much more objective, and rational in your assessment of what was better on Spectrum than these nostalgic users :) Really, whoever thinks Bombjack, Rainbow Islands or even Bruce Lee were better on Spectrum than on C64 is smoking a really good stuff. Again, Bombjack?? I had to check I was watching "better on Zx" video and not vice versa. Sorry guys, but it's patently ugly, the sound would make me pull out my hair after 10 seconds, and I don't see anything in the way of playability either, sorry. The C64 version was almost arcade-like, fast, and with great tune. Same for the Rainbow Islands.
I'd have to play both versions of Bomb Jack back to back to give a proper verdict but from what I noticed about the Spectrum one was it played a little faster. The sprite's smaller too so it was easier to avoid enemies. I agree that Rainbow Islands is better on the c64 as I grew up with that version. The same goes for R-Type - far better on the c64!
I was never able to adapt to the weird color palette of the spectrum and the utterly crappy sound capabilities. But it's definitely true that some games have better playability on the spectrum than on the 64. Bomb Jack is a very good example. But I have to admit, that I am from Germany, where absolutely everybody had a C64 with a disk drive and only outcasts had a spectrum with tapes.
Weird color pallet and crapy sound?. Really?. The graphics of the ZX are an unique style and they look great, a lot better than c64 and these games on the video are just a minor display. There's probably only an handful of games that are better in the c64. These games on the video, on the c64 look like game and watch graphics.
I agree with you. I grew up in the US where everyone who had a home computer also had a disk drive and tapes were obsolete. The C64 ruled the 8 bit scene here. Timex even tried to release a Speccy over here and it flopped miserably due to being so underpowered. It's true that gameplay can vary widely which is mostly due to the skill of the individual developer but it's just a fact the C64 has better sound and graphics.
@@phantomharlock999 The c64 might have better sound capabilities but that doesnt mean it has better sound. Like you say, its up to the developers. Americans got it wrong twice. First you chosen the c64 over the ZX and then you chosen the Atari ST over th Amiga. Of course this is my opinion but the ZX is a better computer than the c64 and between the St and the Amiga, its not even close. Search youtube for ZX music and graphics/ new games. You will be surprised.
@@pnvgordinho I'm a collector with dozens of retro game consoles and home computers from not just the USA but also Japan and Europe and I have to say... Even when it comes to newly developed games the C64 absolutely destroys the Speccy. Take off your 80s colored glasses the console wars (or micro wars in your case) ended decades ago. It's okay that the system you love isn't technically as good. For example I love the Atari 2600 more than the NES but would be delusional if I somehow claimed the Atari was a better system technically. Also as an American C64 user I still got all the killer UK games with soundtracks by the likes of Ron Hubbard because of crack groups like Fairlight.
@@phantomharlock999 Maybe you should put some 80s colored glasses on because there´s no way games done today destroys Speccy. Please send links to videos. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PUE4yboY5hk.html You can check this video and the others. And for the console wars, Im not the one saying that c64 is better in graphics and sound because of this chip or that chip. The ZX has better games in graphics, playability and even sound. And again, its my opinion, I dont have to take my 80s colored glasses.
Sry speccy funs, but Bruce Lee looks like crap. I am pretty sure it was better on C64/Atari. Also it would be nice to have videos from C64 to compare. I don't remember Bomb Jack for example, so I am not sure if it was better.
Does anyone has any doubts that the ZX was and still is a better machine? And I dont care about things like the c64 had this chip or that. What matters are the games. Even in 2022, the ZX is a more "loved" machine, just look ate the amount of games being made.
Sorry man, you just lost all your credibility. I bought myself a Spectrum as well because I always wanted to have one. I just love the looks and the form factor and always muse about how much did they manage to squeeze out of such a little. I would also have been ready to kill as a kid to play Renegade on ZX, which completely sucked on 64. But you see what you want to see and ignore all the rest. Apart from the fact there already are veritable audio-video masterpieces like Last Ninja 1-3, the C64 scene of today is as lively as ever, and in some regards even more than ever with demos, SID music scene, commercial games (yes, those you have to pay) still in production, pushing the boundaries of the machine further than ever, and even incredible hardware like C64 Ultimate. There are cross-developing environments CBM prg Studio, and even new commercial languages like Vision Basic. There are collectors, fantastic magazines like Freeze and Reset 64, and frontend and preservation systems like Gamebase64, C64 Forever or C64 Dreams. Sounds like love to me...
Bomb Jack - yes Bruce Lee - absolutely not, C64 better Enduro Racer - yes Exolon - draw Rainbow Islands - no R-Type - hell no Never played the others...
These all look and sound absolutely horrendous, compared to the C64. Now, I can't tell about playability from a youtube video, but I've actually played some of them on the C64, and they were very good for the tme. Spectrum games are (and were) horrible to watch and listen to. But I'll be honest, I never used one, so probably many games actually played great, no doubt about it. But never for the life of me would I have wanted to own one. I'm very sensitive to sound, and in the early 80s, the only choice for an 8-bit machine with good sound capabilities was the C64. The Spectrum was just laughable. It was big in the UK, but was just a laughing matter in other countries (Germany, Scandinavia, France, for instance). But sure... it was cheap. Imagine for one second that the Spectum and the C64 had been sold at the same price... nobody would have purchased a Spectrum. It just means one thing: people bought it because it was cheap, not because it was good. That's a perfectly good reason, but that's the only reason.
I agree, however some of the Spectrum games do actually play better than the C64, for example Bomb Jack, Enduro Racer & Super Hang on. My mate had a Speccy & I had a C64 when we were at school and I always took the piss out of it! 😂
@@RetroOrBust I guess it's more a question of bad programming than actual machine capabilities. Nevertheless, if a game plays better on a Spectrum, then all good for Speccy owners!
Bruce lee better on the speccy??? Sorry, but what the actually f**k??? It’s terrible Kwik Snax ain’t possible to be judged against as totally different games.. love the c64 version Super out run- definitely agree the speccy is better as the c64 version is utter dog sh1t!!! Rainbow islands???? Nerrr mate… the c64 version kicks arse! R-type??? Really??? The speccy version is garbage.. the c64 is brilliant!
The Speccy version of R-Type is fantastic and stands up as one of the greatest arcade conversions on the system in my opinion. I've never played the C64 version so i can't comment on which one is better.
I don't remember playing Bruce Lee on C64. I know I have played it there but don't remember how it felt so can't compare. On Speccy it was one of the best playing game of the early ones. So maybe that's why people brought it up. From the games on the list that I played and cared about (unlike those motorcycle racers - I never liked this type of games) were Exolon, R-Type and Rainbow Islands. I think I haven't played any of them on C64 so I'm only judging by gameplay videos. Exolon - seems prety similar, it was relatively well made for a speccy game. R-Type - C64 version seems more "arcadish" in your craft movement (speccy's version limits your ship position to discrete char-sized (8 pixels) units) so it looks more dynamic. And of course has better sound (I don't remember if R-Type had AY music on speccy or if it had separate 128k version; I had 48k+ay and I don't recall any music). Yet the gfx on c64 has (as usual with c64 games) lower resolution and suffers from the ugly VIC palette whereas speccy version due to discrete object positioning doesn't suffer color clash and has colourful and vibrant look. Rainbow Islands - again c64 presents a dull VIC palette while speccy version has vivid colors with higher resolution. I admit, the player and enemies are monochrome but that's what speccy gamers were used to. All those games have their pros and cons on each platform and I suppose it's up to the fact that - at least some of them - were at the time a pinnacle of what could be achieved on speccy and people looked on those games from this perspective. For example, I love R-Type on Amiga. It's superior to both speccy and c64 ones obviously but I still like to play the speccy version from time to time. Just because it was such a well done game for this platform. It's really hard to compare games on different platforms if they are decently made (so I'm not talking of cases where a port was completely butchered by the studio like if I remember correctly was the case with Bionic Commando for C64).
For a machine that cost less than half the price of the Commodore, the Spectrum performed remarkably well. The (at the time) untapped potential of the machine, was the only limitation to the customer being able to get a virtually equivalent (or possibly even _superior)_ experience, on the Sinclair. The discoveries made since that time have essentially nullified any "disadvantages" that the less than half price machine ever had - with the BORDER _perhaps_ being the weakest (though definitely stronger with intelligent planning) area of the computer. Any of these games remade in 2022 - with the knowledge that any programmers willing to set their mind to it could accomplish - would result in breathtaking results that would put an end to any question of the Spectrum's deficiencies altogether. I don't know anywhere near as much about the C64 - other than that the border area limitations, were overcome and made redundant a long, long time ago... Perhaps also the duller colour palette, which certainly can't be enhanced by graphics tricks, whereas the Spectrum can subdue *its* colour palette, through interlacing/dithering. Anyway, wrong video for me to be getting into the finer details between the two machines. :)
