30th birthday of the ZX spectrum today.

According to google anyway. Having spent many hours waiting for the thing to load and then many more hours playing on it lets celebrate… 😀

Man I feel old. 🙁

In my school you were either C64 or Spectrum. I was C64 and revelled in the better graphics.
Oh… then there were the kids that had Acorns or BBC Micros, they all went on to be computer programmers, or let them sit gathering dust as there were not as many games to distract from the learning element.

I was firmly in the C64 camp but my mate who’s mom baby sat me had 48K and then a 128K. Best of both worlds.

I did wonder about starting a Spectrum v C64 thread.. had to move mine the other week, it’d been up in my gran’s loft for well quite a long time.
Now safely stored in our loft!

Spectrum 48+ owner and proud!
TBH I never actually saw a C64 run, as everyone had Spectrums

Atari 400/800 and then Xl here.

Then Atari ST… and an Amiga 500

Then a PC ever since.

PS: Still play games from the above XL and Amiga/ST on emulators.

The three dreaded words:

Tape Loading Error 🙁

New games are still being released for the speccy – roughly 100 new ones in the last year or so

LOADING……..

C64 all the way. Rather liked the ZX though.

64 then Amiga here.

As an aside, in what must have been 1992 ish there was a 64 still running the ticket queue in the Leeds HMRC buliding. I remember being shocked at the time.

Not surprising that STW is populated by former C64-ites. Middlde class all the way innit?

I’m sitting at work all misty-eyed over crappy rubber Speccy keys and shaking my fist at the yoof who tell me I’m old. Sabre Wulf and Jet Set Willy FTW.

Manic Miner has to be one of the ALL time great games.

Many, many an hour was spent trying to finish that sodding game.

ZX Spectrum 48+ for me.

Zynaps, Code Name MAT 2, Cybernoid, etc

Rose tinted memories…

Brilliant – but now I just feel OLD.

What will it be like in the next 30 years.

Speccy and Speccy +2 boy here.

The only C64 game I liked involved bombing damns with lancasters I think.

Then we went on to Amstrad 464 and 664, before out first PC.

Amiga boys always had the best graphics though.

Best game in the world, eva

enjoy
http://www.zxspectrum.net

How could I have forgotten the VIC 20. Can’t for the life of think where they ended up.

We had a Spectrum ZX 48k and a Commodore 64. Started playing when I was three years old, my earliest game memories are of Jet Set Willy, Booty, Horace Goes Skiing and The Perils of Bear George. It pretty much set the course for my entire life.

Mrs Toast, Games Designer.

BBC micro?

I’ve still got a fully working ZX Spectrum 48k with rubber keys.

Always wanted a BBC micro, to play Elite on.

Only game on the C64 that was worth playing was Slap Fighter.

Cracking days they were.

Vic 20 > Speccy 48k > C128 (why?) > ST > PCs etc.

BBC micro?

Elite was the only decent game – it was all a bit too ‘educational’ and didn’t get the game development the others did.

One of my colleagues has admitted to having an Oric 1. The nicheness.

I had one after a ZX81 then upgraded to 48K so I could play the Hobbit 😎

I think I had an Oric too, it was crap.

And an Atom (? – cheaper BBC) but I’d got bored with it by then.

How could I have forgotten the VIC 20. Can’t for the life of think where they ended up.

Easy to forget the VIC 20 – they didn’t really do very much, there were hardly any games for it, and hardly anyone had one. Just you.

And errm, me.

We had a BBC Micro, and yes my brother went on to be a computer programmer. Was always a bit jealous of the games on other platforms though.

Happy birthday speccy, bought a 16k version (yes 16k!!!) direct from sinclair research mail order, cant think of a game since that i have been addicted to like some of the speccy games , Manic Miner,Jetpac and Atic Atac to name a few, youth of today dont know how much they owe to this little piece of plastic and rubber!!!

The marvin phone app is superb for playing spectrum games – linked to the wold of spectrum website for downloads. The gameplay is timeless for some of those classic games. Only drawback is the the touchscreen on most phones is a bit cumbersome when you’re trying to control Miner Willy or Daley Thompson.

We never had a Spectrum. We had the lesser known Commodore 16, and an Acorn Electron. Which was amazing.

And now I’m a computer programmer for my sins 😮

Check out ZX Spectrum Orchestra on Youtube, few cool tracks on there.

Dungeon Master on the ST was the best game ever and OID’s. If you had Automation97 😉

and check this EPIC AwEsomness out…. TOTAL Dungeon Master Clone. Who needs Call of Duty etc.

Invoke FUL for magic torch 🙂

http://www.grimrock.net/

Had a +2 then bought a 48K years later at a car boot sale. Epic memories of

Gauntlet
Dizzy
Jet Set Willy
Enduro Racer
Green Beret
Target Renegade
Double Dragon
Yi Ar Kung Fu
Skool Daze
Mental Mikey
Daley Thomson’s Decathlon
etc

Etched in the memory for life

Wow, memories! Had a Spectrum then a C64. Manic Miner, brilliant. Mrs Toast comes in with Horace goes skiiing! I havent’ though about that game for, well, probably 30 years but I absolutely loved it.

Jetpac, Atic Atac, I’m going to have to go and have a little cry – where have the last 30 years gone?!

How to destroy the rubber M&N keys on a orignal 48.. install Daley Thomson’s Decathlon 😀

You also forgot Commando off your list Bob!

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew – BIP

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew – BIPaBIPaBIPaBIPaBIPaBIPa

etc.

cynic-al – Member
I had one after a ZX81

I remember trying to play 3D Monster Maze on a ZX81. Never knew what was happening until a t-rex shaped bunch of blobs would kill me. I don’t remember ever getting out of the maze.

I made an ar$e of re-programming Football Manager to use Scottish team/player names. Don’t think I’ve ever been quite forgiven for that by my wee brother.

Playing Elite in a darked room whilst wearing a puffer jacket for that extra space man realism… it would have been less embarrassing if my mum had caught me having a hand shandy.

I used to code on the C64. When we got an Amiga, I tried Amos, but the book was boring and grey and Deluxe Pain III was much cooler and had Tutankhamen on the cover. I had loads of floppy discs of animations I’d created. Most of them were rather short, as I watched Rolf’s cartoon club when they visited the Disney studios during the making of The Little Mermaid, and they said how they were doing 24 frames per second.

“HA!” I thought. “I TOO SHALL MAKE MY CARTOONS 24 FRAMES PER SECOND!”

Sadly, at 24 frames per second the Amiga 500+ was capable of about three to four seconds before it ran out of memory. 🙁

I’ve still got a couple of 48K Spectrums up the loft along with my ZX81 and it’s wobbly 16K RAM pack. Got a couple of BBC Micro’s as well.

Back in the mid 80’s as well as the usual Spectrums and C64/VIC20’s there were quite a for others around as well – Dragon’s, ORIC’s etc. I remember wanting a Jupiter Ace – can’t really remember why!

30 years on, and we’re still having the Spectrum vs C64 debate. I love you guys.

I was a Spectrum owner. First computer was a 48K issue 3, then I was an early adopter of the Atari ST. Went via a 1040STe to the PC. I have an Amiga these days too, but it’s a relatively recent acquisition, I never had one in the day.

But, the Spectrum was my first love. Halcyon days. Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, Sabre Wulf, Atic Atac, TLL… Many many text adventures; The Hobbit, Subsunk, Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle, Questprobe (Hulk and Spider-Man)… good heavens.