+Steve Hyde Yeah, amateur radio just exploded in those early years of the ZX Spectrum. Two deck tape recorders were really expensive back then, but there was always a neighbour that "kindly" broadcast games for us to copy!! :) Those were the days! He he! Thanks for your comment, Steve! I really appreciate it!
+It's a Pixel THING Wait, I never heard of that - broadcast piracy in the ZX days? We did have radio programs in Brazil experiment transmitting applications in the 80s, but nothing like this. Where in the world was that?
+MetalJesusRocks Hi, Metal Jesus! Many thanks for your comments! I really appreciate it! ;) Your videos are such an inspiration! Glad you enjoyed it! ;) Cheers!
So what would the proper pronunciation be? Is it Zee-ecks spectrum or Zed-ecks spectrum? Coming from the US, I say the final letter of the English alphabet as Zee and not Zed.
+Eric Barlow it's british so zed is probably more correct. but as someone from a country that says zed splitting hairs over something like this is kinda dumb.
Wow, awesome Speccy retrospective! I’m *loving* your channel, Kia Ora from New Zealand. Thanks, so many new games I hadn’t heard of - you’re clearly about four years younger than me, my ZX Spectrum 48K fully-transfixed years were c.1982-1987! So therefore, off the top of my head, without checking my tape archives, my Favourite Games are (in no particular order): Knight Lore (1984), 3D Ant Attack (1983), Spy Hunter (1984), Match Day (1984), Way of the Exploding Fist (1985), Saboteur (1985), Bruse Lee (1984).
+AkAkAkNeil Yeah, Bruce Lee and The Way of the Exploding Fist are so memorable! Those almost made it to my list ;) And Spy Hunter and Match Day were also extremely good and played a lot back then! Thanks for watching my videos, Neil! I really appreciate it ;) Cheers!
When I saw this spanish games, I always remember those times when we in Czechoslovakia as kids learn what is "Arriba, Abajo, Teclado, Jugador" and many other spanish words :) Spanish games was so great.
Indeed! The Spanish industry was huge back in those days! I'm Portuguese, so all their games would be also available in my country :) I have a bunch other videos related to the Spanish golden era of videogames! Check it out! Thanks for watching and for sharing your memories! Cheers!
This is amazing, you just took me back to my youth... kids nowadays have no idea what they missed . I'm so happy like you, we got to live through all these games and titles :)
Hi! Thanks for stopping by! :) I'm a big fan of your work! :) Feel free to check my other content! I have a bunch of other Spectrum and Amiga related videos! Have a great weekend! Cheers!
It's a year old comment I know, but it's just a snap of the fingers in the over thirty years Spectrum history. There is indeed a 128K music hack for Commando, and it's great. Here's some random video of it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0XfLLgThYl8.html
It's always nice to find fellow portuguese people that share an interest for retro gaming, there aren't many of us since there wasn't really a big gaming scene in Portugal until the late 90s, but the Spectrum was definitely where it started, even though I was born almost 10 years after it stopped being relevant. Nevertheless I do enjoy playing these outdated systems and I'm currently repairing a spectrum which I bought at a second hand store. I definitely enjoyed your channel and have subscribed!
Thank you so much for your inspiring comment! :) Really appreciate your gesture! :) Feel free to check my other videos and have fun ;) Have a great day!! Abraço!
I lived with my spectrum rather than go to school! So many hours burnt sitting with it and enjoying the games. I think despite being lost to the spectrum from age 11 to 14 I played probably 3 of the games in your list. Just amazing how many good games there were. However, I blame Elite which I think cost me a year of my life and during which time I played very little else! :)
I can't believe I've never seen your channel before. Just found this today, and shared with all my friends. Man, I wish I had grown up with the Spectrum and other consoles of that generation!!! (I'm more NES/SNES generation myself) I would love to play the games on this list! Can't wait to check out more videos!
Extremely informative and well-produced video. I know you've talked about piracy and amateur software in a couple of your videos, but have you thought about making one exclusively about the homebrew/amateur/pirate scene in the early home computer market? You know a lot about it and it would make a great video.
+PhillipOliverWholes Yeah, I have to do something like you've described. It will certainly be a nice theme to discuss ;) Thanks for your comments and for watching my videos, Phillip! Cheers! :)
+Alex Ramos (SirAleXbox) Yeah! :) Where I live was like that, also! And, at school, that was also a common practice ;) Obrigado pelos comentários! Abraço!
I had completely forgotten about the use of the RoboCop game music being used in that Ariston advert. At the time, I thought it sounded familiar, but of course there was no Google back then to help me.
Mine too! But here in Portugal, and during that time period (1982-1985), we didn't know what an original game looked like! :) Thanks for watching and for your feednack!
Great vid! Before I even started watching, I guessed that some of the reasons it was so popular had to dowith the price, the happy, snappy, vivid color palette and the fact that the machine (as well as its software) is just so charming. I could only guess because as a yank, I didn’t have any exposure to this great little system. I am definitely getting my hands on a Harlequin or Uno now. Better late than never when it comes to the Speccy!
Excellent video as always, honestly I don't [didn't :P] know much about the Spectrum and its "relatives", it's not from my time :P Keep on the great work, awesome to see you're getting a lot of fans/viewers and recognition over your videos, you deserve it.
Really good video. As always of course. I learn a lot about the european gaming scene. I'm mexican and I had little to no experience with some of these computers. I had the oportunity to play some games for the C64, and the Spectrum long time ago, and like 2 years ago or so, I started to check music for those which is FANTASTIC (included the Amstrad and the 16 bit computers as well). Jonathan Dunn Rocks! I love how europeans and asians had a very distinct touch when it comes to game and music making, at least at that time. Sorry for extending the comment that much haha, but I appreciate that kind of things and you are one of my main sources to know much more about the gaming culture from the other side of the pond n_n Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
+DANMAKUMAN VGM I thank you for watching my content, DANMAKUMAN VGM! I really appreciate it! :) I believe that, back then, it would be so damn difficult to create 8 bit music for video games and Jonathan Dunn, Ben Daglish, Mathew Cannon, Keith Tinman, David Whittaker, Dave Rogers, and others are simply my heroes! :) In the 16 bit scene, the king of them all is Chris Hülsbeck! He made some awesome and memorable music for, for instance, Turrican 2! :) Cheers!
Yup, I know all of them, well, their work hehe. And yes, it was pretty difficult, but they managed to create such awesome compositions. Don't forget The Follin Bros. and Jochen Hippel. They are awesome too. :D
Very nice video the ZxSpectrum was the first home computer i ever saw and played and was so popular,mainly because it was very cool very small and compact and at the time very affortable and also had some of the best software and games made for any home computer for years !
Indeed! You just said it all! :) Thank you so much for taking the time to watch my video on one of my favorite systems ever! Have a great week! Cheers!
Myth was absolutely fantastic - probably my favourite Spectrum game. Sabre Wulf and Chuckie Egg 2 were also favourites of mine. I seem to remember that Chuckie Egg 2 was one of the first games that allowed you to save your progress rather than having to start from scratch every time you loaded it.
Really good video mate, so many classics for the Zx Spectrum. I've just started doing some game reviews myself and its great to play those old games all over again...👍🏻
I loved 'Halls of the Things', 'Manic Miner', 'Elite' and 'Rebelstar Raiders', with time for 'Arcadia' and 'Jetpac' too. 'Chuckie Egg' for speed, and 'Winged Warlords', for a longer game 'Lords of Midnight', and 'Ant Attack' as 3D on an 8 bit computer. Also a big fan of later releases, but often R-Type, Lemmings, Lords of Chaos, had better versions on 16 bit computers.
Nice video and nice computer / games :) Thanks! We had this for long, first had ZX-81 but then our dad bought the ZX Spectrum 48k and wow! Life wasn't the same anymore heh. Cheers...
Thank you ;) Have you asked why do I shout?.. I thought I saw that in your comment.... well, you know, I think its the enthusiasm that I have for this area ;) Thank you so much for your much appreciated feedback! ;) Cheers!
Hi there :) Ah about that shouting comment, I actually felt like you did that at the start, seems when I deleted that comment (as being not that important, as I understood your enthusiasm :) it was still sent to you. I do not take my words back, but when I watched the whole video more, I wanted not to post it. You're welcome of course and thanks again for this video. Spectrum ment a lot to me years back and, well still does, even though I don't have that computer (well it was my dad's) anymore. Take care and keep up with the good work! Cheers...
You too! You can only improve of course, but so far what you have done, is great. I hope you keep on making more videos, I will follow them that's for sure. Ah you know, I might get some Spectrum emulator to try and play some of the favs. games again. Cheers...
Another excellent video. Another which remind me how old i am:) Can't belive that i was playing with my Timex more than thirty years ago...Unbeliveable.
It's a Pixel THING Yeah! Amazing memories. We are lucky that we witnessed that all "Video Game" thing almost since its beginnings. My son is 5, he's deep in love with video games (just like father) so i can't wait to see his passion growing (or not, everything is possible) for them and the time when he will be ready to take my whole collection for himself. Not only games, systems but also magazines and other stuff from 80s/90s. If then he will appreciate it, my "video game" life will be complete :)
+Michał Marek My little one is almost five and he likes Sonic (megadrive) and Pang (through mame) a lot! :) I guess I have created a future gamer ;) Cheers!
Ocean Soft was, back then, one of my developers/publishers ;) Thank you so much for watching and for leaving your feedback, Martin! Appreciate it! Cheers!
Indeed! Bruce Lee is an awesome game! Still have my original copy ;) It's, definitely, on my Top 50 :) Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment! Appreciate it!
Cheers from Canada. Great video. :-) Reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to go visit my Grand-parents in England. But I didn't want to visit Grandma. I used to play School Daze with my cousin on his Spectrum. Awsome game and so funny. :-)
It's a Pixel THING - We went a few times to England on DC10 and VC10. I was about 8, 9, 10, 11 years old. Taking off in the plane seemed like Thunderbirds Are Go. :-)
Indeed! Another gem of the Spectrum :) A huge accomplishment for a 48k machine ;) You can watch my full review of The Great Escape by watching my episode number 25 ;)
Those were the days, when games released on several platforms and all graphically different, nobody complained as long as your machine performed the best it could.
I find your take on the Speccy really interesting, I had no idea that its market penetration was so widespread, well not then in 1982 when I first got mine and it blew me away with the potential. I'm a pretty lame Basic programmer to be honest but I'm 69 and it still holds my imagination like no other machine ever did, not even the mighty Amiga. I can't wait to get my hands on the Spectrum Next I just hope it gets built. I also owned the Timex 2068 which no one has a good word for, it seems but I thought it was better even than the 48 Speccy, heresy though that is. Keep up the interesting vids, I'll subscribe.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Mike! Appreciate it! :) Yeah, those Timex machines were never very welcomed... the TC-2048 sold well here in Portugal, though! :) Thanks again for watching and for subscribing! Cheers!
One of my earliest gaming experiences were on the ZX Spectrum. Back in the day, it wasn't so easy getting games for it, and me being just 6 y.o. didn't help :) Anyway, games that stuck to my memory are Manic Miner, Chuckie Egg, Jet Set Willy, Saboteur, Trapdoor...
Nice list. Maybe I miss "Abu Simbel Profanation", "The Way of the Exploding Fist", "Saboteur", ... buf, man, I think I could make ten different lists :-)
+meetoo594 Yeah, three pretty awesome titles, but not good enough for my personal top 26 ;) Definitely on my top 50! :) Thanks for watching and for leaving your feedback! Appreciate it!
It's a Pixel THING same to you mate have a good weekend. Watched your Amiga video as well and appreciate you making them. Great memories of growing up in the golden age of gaming. Gutted I sold my Spectrum 128k +2 and Amiga as a kid.
The Amstrad version of Paris Dakar looks exactly the same. I remember to be completely lost with it!! Perhaps it is time to give it another opportunity!
Some classics, some I have never seen before which look pretty amazing, but plenty of games missing but that's because there are so many top games on the Zx. Some of my favourites Kwik Snax (has the best intro screen ever made on the spectrum) Dizzy, Bubble Bobble, Gothik, Gauntlet, GhostBusters, Dan Dare, the list is just endless.
+MephProduction Yeah, ZX Spectrum's library is huge!! All those you've mentioned are extremely good games, and, some of them, almost made it to my personal Top... I'll certainly get to those in the future! ;)
Boas Pedro.... muito bom video,grandes informações e grande edição como sempre, e tou sempre a aprender com os teus videos de uma epoca que não vivi,como as frequencias da radio a certas alturas com programas e jogos,para difundir,muito bom,não conhecia o Paulo Dimas hehe,wainting for loading,voltou outra vez no tempo com a ps4/one,todas as vezes que se liga a consola,temos sempre updates... do que ouço,porque não tenho nenhuma dessas consolas, grande top,so jogos de grande filmes classicos,Robocop,comando,total recall,tb gosto muito,essa edição de colecionador do Last Ninja 2 muito fixe,cheia de goodies,muito Ocean software nesse top hehe,a mostrar a qualidade da companhia nessa epoca,tenho um jogo na minha colecção o Break Point da ps1.. muito obrigado por nos trazeres estes videos cheios de informação historica pra quem nao viveu essa epoca... Grande Abraço Amigo!
+spap putop É um prazer partilhar convosco esta informação! Foram realmente anos memoráveis que é sempre bom lembrar! :) Em relação às rádio pirata, havia inclusive casos em que o pessoal não tinham gravadores de duplo deck (bué de caros) para fazerem cópias diretas e, assim, havia sempre um vizinho com jeito para esse hobby dos rádios amadores que colocava o jogo no "ar" para os restantes vizinhos copiarem ;) E assim se propagou este "vírus" que foi o Spectrum! :) Graças à pirataria que se fazia, não só, nas feiras e próprias lojas, mas também pelo ar via frequências de rádio (AM, se não estou em erro)! Abraço, Simão! E obrigado pelos comentários!
Excellent as always! I like Narcopolice, not because it was programmed by my fellow countrymen (and friends) ☺ but for the fact that it was a breakthrough in videogames and an amazing game, un juegazo che! Viva rodelu!
I surprised at some omissions (Elite, Lord of Midnight, Atic Atac, Alien 8, Pyjamarama, Sabre Wulf, Ant Attack, Chuckie Egg, Boulder Dash, and a few others), but I get that this is a personal list so I can respect the choices. Thanks for the enjoyable look back :)
+Falconhoof And I thank you so much for watching and for sharing some of your favorites! Really appreciate it! Feel free to check my other related ZX Spectrum videos! ;) Cheers!
I was always a C64 and Amiga guy when growing up but have full respect for the ZX Spectrum, thanks to that computer, it really forced down the price of the rest and if I recall, the Spectrum was £99 on release whereas at the time I think the C64 was something like £600, can't remember exactly but I remember it being a lot more expensive but that soon change as the C64 and other computers at the time soon got big price drops and mostly thanks to the ZX Spectrum, not bad for a computer that wasn't really that far behind the C64 and was better in some ways like the cpu. Anyway, was supprised no Dizzy games ware on your list, I remember many of them being really good even on the ZX Spectrum.
Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us, Paul! Truly appreciate it! Played pratically every Dizzy game there is. Fantasy World Dizzy is probably my favorite and is certainly on my Top 50 Speccy games ;) Cheers! Thanks, once again!
No problem and I'm sure a lot of us have good memories from that time, as for Dizzy, I think I played them all but can't remember as there was quite a few of them, the one I remember the most was Treasure Island Dizzy on the Amiga, it was one of the early games I got for the Amiga, such good times :)
Eu e os meus amigos faziamos grandes campeonatos do jogo "Emlyn Hughes International Soccer". Que jogão na altura. E também campeonatos do jogo "Match Day". Jogão também!
Não sabia das rádios que transmitiam jogos... é bom descobrir estas pequenas informações. :) Gostei do teu canal e das saudades que trouxe. Obrigada. :)
+ it's a Pixel THING It's Great, I love It! Simple plug & play, instant gaming, no loading times. With the 1,000 built in games there is plenty of choice, albeit that there are plenty of poor games included. Apparently they couldn't get the licence for some of the more popular games. However, not a major problem as all you need to do is go to ZX Spectrum World and download games to a micro SD card which you simply slot into the Zega. The only other thing is that with some of the downloaded games you have to program the keys using the virtual keyboard which isn't difficult. It is possibly a little overpriced but personally think it is worth it for the nostalgia.
Nice video. I still have my ZX Spectrum and still works perfectly. I remember hacking the portuguese version of Srip Poker in a way that you didn't had to play cards anymore... the lady just asked what you wanted her to do (undress that is). Gotta find that copy... Total Recall done in only 2 weeks? I didn't knew that. That explains why there's not much variety of levels and why the ending is only a congratulatory text. Do you have an opinion about Action Fighter? I love that game.
+Daniel T. Yeah, Total Recall was made in just "two weeks" ;) It's a fact and it's mentioned in various magazines and in worldofspectrum(dot)org ;) I think I only played Strip Poker one and only time.. never knew about that cheat code, or sort of. I'll surely make an episode dedicated to the video games industry in Portugal.. Just have to gather all my info and be sure that I'm not making any mistakes ;) I always liked Firebird games and I've spent many hours playing Action Fighter, with such a nice scrolling effect. It only missed a tune during play.. just hearing those sound effects wasn't enough for me.. I would place a music cassette on my hifi whilst playing the game ;) Thanks!
It's a Pixel THING Believe it or not I never actually come across any such info about Total Recall back in the day. About the Strip Poker it was not a cheat code but you programmed the code yourself in basic. Remember that back in the day one could learn a lot just from reading programming books. Oh those happy days! :) If you do such an episode about the videogames industry in our country don't forget about the ZX Spectrum clones manufactured in Costa da Caparica at the time: The Timex Computers 2048 and 2068. I have both... timex.comboios.info/ Thank you and keep up the good work! ;)
+Daniel T. Yeah, talked a bit about those Timex machines manufactured in Portugal, but have to explore that a bit more ;) Grande abraço, Daniel! Thanks!
Sem dúvida! O Spectrum tem tantos títulos bons que é difícil reduzi-los a uma lista como esta! :) No que diz respeito ao Commando, devias estar distraído, pois ele encontra-se em 18º lugar neste top ;) De qualquer forma, garanto-te que todos os outros que mencionaste estão no meu Top 50 :) Talvez faça um novo top no futuro :) Grande abraço, Sandro! Obrigado por assistires e por deixares o teu fantástico comentário!
+pkj77 Thank you so much for stopping by and share those memories with us! Truly appreciate it! Feel free to check my Amiga and C64 related videos! Have a great weekend!
It's a Pixel THING ok had a little think and came up with 20... Jet Set Willy Super Cars Emlyn Hughes International Soccer Sabre Wulf Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop Krakout Skool Daze Rockstar Ate My Hamster Hypersports Turbo The Tortoise Stack Up Konami Ping Pong Rainbow Islands Rod Land Thrust II Star Paws Gunfighter Kane Daley Thompson's Supertest Steve Davis Snooker probably some Im forgetting... don't get me wrong, there's some great games on your list too. there were just so many games published for the speccy, with so much variety.
Hello ! Regards from Russia ! Spectrum clones were here the most popular home computer in late 80's, early 90's... It was "people's computer" here... Mostly home made kits....
@@itsaPIXELthing By the way I've been to Portugal for 4 times. My brother lives in Lisbon. Made a lot of pictures there. Also have found there just on the street a thron out P1 server in 2009 - took ram from it and bought a Compaq laptop PII Armada 1590DMT for 50Euros then...)