Thanks for putting this together guys. I was 15 in 1983 and loved my speccy. What great memories. I played Manic Miner on Christmas morning. Looking forward to more episodes in 2024!
In the summer of 1984 my family stayed on a caravan park that had a small video arcade on site, and I lost countless hours and even more 10p coins to _Phoenix._ On one day out I passed a local computer game shop and I saw a copy of _Pheenix_ for sale but, having been stung by some really crappy arcade conversions, I elected to give it a swerve rather than face disappointment when I got it home to my Speccy. It was close to a decade and a half before I eventually played _Pheenix_ on an emulator, after I spotted it on WOS and idly wondered just how bad a bullet I'd dodged in '84. I could have cried. It's amazing. Not arcade perfect, but the gameplay is _so_ close and the difficulty pitched just right. It may not look exactly like the original (the player ship is completely different for a start) but it is a sterling effort and it captures the feel perfectly. For a game written in 1983 it's really something. To think, all that time I wasted playing _Arcadia_ when I could have been playing this... 😁
Fun fact: the game Bugaboo 13:45 was produced by Jose Luis Dominguez, and its CPC version opened him the doors to Amstrad - he got one of the 50 CPC464 prototypes; then gave the game to Alan Sugar as a 'gift', to get his attention and the distribution rights for CPCs in Spain. Roll forward to 1984 and... he was running Amstrad's operations in Spain!
I remember typing in that Quasimodo game as a kid. Very impressive for a type-in. And I liked Bugaboo. Completed it once although it was more by luck than skill.
Great video as always. Interesting to see those games in the infancy of the Spectrum. I have a real soft spot for Chequered Flag. I got it as part of a 6 pack of games that was being sold with the Speccy back in 1984. Its the first game I ever loaded up on my Speccy and I enjoyed it and thought it was interesting to see something that was more of a simulator than an arcade racer. Best racing game on the Speccy? No but I still like it and still play it today.
i did that hunchy typein and never got it to work, probably the start for my interest in writing games as a wee lad! Thanks alot for doing these vids, always gets me in a nice mood. happy new year! ( and amazing how bad my english become after a few beers)
Really enjoying this episode, I'm happy to stick my neck out, and mention how much I enjoy playing, 'Pheenix and Bugaboo.' Especially Bugaboo, played it for ages, I never escaped, and yes, Geoff is correct about the dragon, but anticipate being located, then divert Asap. Btw, Jumping Jack, another extremely difficult but very addictive game, I think. Who would've thought Electronic messaging would become anything, they absolutely nailed that! Actually I still don't like Mouse for anything, especially since keyboard shortcuts/ get dumped, because the mouse can do the same command, typically slower, and more effort than striking key-combos.
Xmas shows are hard to work out. All festive games gave been covered before, and there is nit much else we can do (ideas?). Using magazines seems to work well.
The ORIC bashing takes me back. As an oric user at one point, I have to say it was quite nice, if you ignore the frustrating method of applying colour using an eight pixel block which then can't contain graphics. The spectrum graphics were better, and didn't "drift in sync" dependent on luminosity. I must say the ORIC power supply did work for longer than 10 minutes though.
The DLT, ad, was that £45 quid in 1983, yeah the RPI table must make an interesting conclusion to this question, especially for a set of games that were probably never fully available to buy???
Great episode as always, but these sudden LOUD beeper music was very annoying ( Still very enjoyable though. By the way, Paul, what microphone are you using? And what about Jeff, if it's not a secret?
Talking of YC games that were ripped off by software houses, there was Scorpio Gamesworld's "Mushrooms from Mars", a thinly disguised copy of "Crazy Climber". YC reported that Scorpio were none too pleased when this was pointed out... That Spectravideo was the precursor to the MSX machines, that were very similar to it. Also, the Speccy has 41K of BASIC memory available to the user, not 32K, I'm rather surprised by this error coming from this channel of all things! Both the Speccy and Oric allowed 48K minus the screen and a bit of OS overhead, but the Oric's text mode only took up half a KB IIRC. If you needed graphics the two machines were almost identical in the available memory regard.
Geoff has contributed in various ways over the years, and the chat has been part of the show for ages. He will return in the next series and have already got things in this series to come.
Wow that type-in Hunchback game looks almost as good, if not better than the actual shitty hunchback game I owned and hated as a kid. (or was it Punchy?.. either way.. this looks better)
Remember, a Spectrum is for life and not just Christmas. 🎄
Thanks for putting this together guys. I was 15 in 1983 and loved my speccy. What great memories. I played Manic Miner on Christmas morning. Looking forward to more episodes in 2024!
It took almost 40 years and the invention of TH-cam for me to find out that Bugaboo had more than 1 level,
Whaaaaaaaaaat!?
You start at the 82nd level, so there's already a clue when you start playing. The levels are just platform heights though.
Making Oric owners cry over Christmas. You cruel soul!
I'm sure both Oric owners will forgive him.
@@gwishart Savage!
Love the Christmas specials - thank you!
Happy holidays lads, thank you for keeping the Speccy alive!
Father Christmas looking into a crystal ball does make sense with the Spirit of Christmas to Come article, but it's still a rather dull picture
In the summer of 1984 my family stayed on a caravan park that had a small video arcade on site, and I lost countless hours and even more 10p coins to _Phoenix._ On one day out I passed a local computer game shop and I saw a copy of _Pheenix_ for sale but, having been stung by some really crappy arcade conversions, I elected to give it a swerve rather than face disappointment when I got it home to my Speccy.
It was close to a decade and a half before I eventually played _Pheenix_ on an emulator, after I spotted it on WOS and idly wondered just how bad a bullet I'd dodged in '84.
I could have cried. It's amazing. Not arcade perfect, but the gameplay is _so_ close and the difficulty pitched just right. It may not look exactly like the original (the player ship is completely different for a start) but it is a sterling effort and it captures the feel perfectly. For a game written in 1983 it's really something.
To think, all that time I wasted playing _Arcadia_ when I could have been playing this... 😁
Merry Christmas guys! 🎅🎄
Thanks chaps! Compliments of the season to you, Another great show! :)
Devils of the Deep - think I played it once and straight back to John Menzies Argyle Street Glasgow the next day.
I acquired a copy of it somehow, horrendous thing it was but I did try to wring some enjoyment out of it - failed to find any though!
Thanks Paul always enjoy your videos. Merry Christmas and a Good New Year
Fun fact: the game Bugaboo 13:45 was produced by Jose Luis Dominguez, and its CPC version opened him the doors to Amstrad - he got one of the 50 CPC464 prototypes; then gave the game to Alan Sugar as a 'gift', to get his attention and the distribution rights for CPCs in Spain. Roll forward to 1984 and... he was running Amstrad's operations in Spain!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year🎄
I thoroughly enjoyed the dual presenters 🎉
I really really enjoyed this. Thank you
Chequered Flag is the reason I play AMS2 VR today. Thanks for the Spectrum Show.
I remember typing in that Quasimodo game as a kid. Very impressive for a type-in. And I liked Bugaboo. Completed it once although it was more by luck than skill.
Great video as always. Interesting to see those games in the infancy of the Spectrum.
I have a real soft spot for Chequered Flag. I got it as part of a 6 pack of games that was being sold with the Speccy back in 1984. Its the first game I ever loaded up on my Speccy and I enjoyed it and thought it was interesting to see something that was more of a simulator than an arcade racer. Best racing game on the Speccy? No but I still like it and still play it today.
Again A nice Episode. Merry Christmas Paul & Jeff. Have a nice new year.
Bugaboo was my first Speccy game not counting the pack ins. A classic.
Merry Christmas Paul.
i did that hunchy typein and never got it to work, probably the start for my interest in writing games as a wee lad!
Thanks alot for doing these vids, always gets me in a nice mood. happy new year! ( and amazing how bad my english become after a few beers)
Love the Lawnmowerman sound FX.
Merry xmas thanks for another good one
Great episode!
Really enjoying this episode, I'm happy to stick my neck out, and mention how much I enjoy playing, 'Pheenix and Bugaboo.' Especially Bugaboo, played it for ages, I never escaped, and yes, Geoff is correct about the dragon, but anticipate being located, then divert Asap. Btw, Jumping Jack, another extremely difficult but very addictive game, I think. Who would've thought Electronic messaging would become anything, they absolutely nailed that! Actually I still don't like Mouse for anything, especially since keyboard shortcuts/ get dumped, because the mouse can do the same command, typically slower, and more effort than striking key-combos.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I really liked the format of this video, please do another one, maybe around a C&VG issue next time.
Xmas shows are hard to work out. All festive games gave been covered before, and there is nit much else we can do (ideas?). Using magazines seems to work well.
Bugaboo was put out on the Amstrad as Roland in the Caves :3
21:15 I wonder if that's the same Paul Hargreaves that went on to create Strontium Dog and other commercial games?
The ORIC bashing takes me back. As an oric user at one point, I have to say it was quite nice, if you ignore the frustrating method of applying colour using an eight pixel block which then can't contain graphics. The spectrum graphics were better, and didn't "drift in sync" dependent on luminosity. I must say the ORIC power supply did work for longer than 10 minutes though.
The DLT, ad, was that £45 quid in 1983, yeah the RPI table must make an interesting conclusion to this question, especially for a set of games that were probably never fully available to buy???
Great!!❤
Love Bugaboo, great game, completed it a few times, but it is frustrating.
When will the type-ins from this episode be added to your website? I really want to download a few of them.
I'm pretty sure the 48k Spectrum had 41k of usable RAM, not 32k.
Ahh Christmas mag hunt, I thought you said ma c…
Great episode as always, but these sudden LOUD beeper music was very annoying ( Still very enjoyable though. By the way, Paul, what microphone are you using? And what about Jeff, if it's not a secret?
I use a Rode NT USB, not sure what Geoff uses.
Talking of YC games that were ripped off by software houses, there was Scorpio Gamesworld's "Mushrooms from Mars", a thinly disguised copy of "Crazy Climber". YC reported that Scorpio were none too pleased when this was pointed out...
That Spectravideo was the precursor to the MSX machines, that were very similar to it. Also, the Speccy has 41K of BASIC memory available to the user, not 32K, I'm rather surprised by this error coming from this channel of all things! Both the Speccy and Oric allowed 48K minus the screen and a bit of OS overhead, but the Oric's text mode only took up half a KB IIRC. If you needed graphics the two machines were almost identical in the available memory regard.
Is the chat with the other fella a thing that will continue throughout every episode?
Geoff has contributed in various ways over the years, and the chat has been part of the show for ages. He will return in the next series and have already got things in this series to come.
I was researching Autism and somehow ended up here.
Bugaboo you need to learn the path out its a puzzle you cant just hop n hope
Wow that type-in Hunchback game looks almost as good, if not better than the actual shitty hunchback game I owned and hated as a kid. (or was it Punchy?.. either way.. this looks better)
Hi !!!!
Enable ***"SUBTITLES IN SPANISH LANGUAGE"***
👉 PLEASE !!!!!!!
👍 👏 👏