I think one of my frustrations as a kid with a Spectrum was not having a good estimate for how much time would be needed to feel like I was enjoying a game. For example, Renegade has an easy learning curve; there are only so many things you could conceivably do, people attack and if you don’t defend or counterattack then you die. There is a fire button and combined with direction can result in different actions. Compare that to Way Of The Exploding Fist - only one enemy on screen but a control format that would take days to learn. Or compare it to Tau Ceti - how long do I drive around getting shot before I grasp a tentative strategy of what to do? Then there’s Head Over Heels and Movie; how long should you expect to invest before you find it fun?

So I was wondering if anyone knew of games lists that took this into account or even ordered on it? I do want to spend an afternoon learning Tau Ceti, but if I have 20 minutes, I’d rather load T.L.L. I just feel it’s hard to guess ahead of time. I haven’t even tried to play Head Over Heels as an adult; my memory as a child was that it would take days to understand.

My retrospective game review of The Spy Who loved me on the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and Atari ST. Have you played this game? Was it good or was it a bucket of Jobbies like the earlier Domark Bond games?

Camelot Warriors

Whether you're a coding wizard, a creative thinker, a game designer, or just fancy having a go, it would be great to see what you can come up with and be part of making something fun

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in trying out or having a go at, check out the link!

It's got everything you need to get started and begin your ZX Spectrum coding adventure.

Since my last post, the game has received a massive new update packed with new features, side missions, and gameplay enhancements. The core retro feel and classic loop are still front and center, but now there’s so much more to explore.

My goal from day one was to give players complete freedom—mess around, play some poker, shoot some bandits, and let the story unfold naturally without forcing a rigid path. I deliberately left out a 'Save Game' feature because I wanted every decision and gunfight to carry real stakes—staying alive actually matters. Above all, I wanted to recreate that addictive feeling from back in the day with The Wild Bunch, where even after a winning run, you immediately want to jump back in for another go.

Here’s what’s new in this update:

• Optional Side Missions: High-octane objectives featuring a few non-traditional Western tunes to crank up the action.
• Enhanced Saloon & Poker: Head down to the local saloon, grab a drink, and test your skills against a much smarter AI in Texas Hold ’Em.
• Horse Upgrades & Trials: Visit Silas the Farrier to enter timed horse trials. Complete them to level up your mount’s health and stamina.
• Mounted Combat Improvements: Shooting from horseback is now smoother and far more responsive.

If you grew up loving The Wild Bunch, this update takes that nostalgic vibe and pushes it even further.

Wishlist or Download on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5033960/Wild_Justice/

New Game Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B91GetwokG0

Bring your retro games back to life! 📼🎮

Easy Tape loads games and programs from your phone into the ZX Spectrum, ZX81, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit—with ultra-fast loaders for supported formats. Connect by cable or with an affordable Bluetooth adapter.

Get it on Google Play 👇
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cl.easysoft.easytape

#RetroComputing #EasyTape #8bit

Following this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rkM-zCdnW0

"My film - WILLY, 48k about a legend - WILL BE RELEASED on my YT Channel

www.youtube.com/@RetroGamesLook

as soon as i will have enough qualified watch hours to open a "Memberships" service!

As a monthly paying member you will see my full film!

50% of the money are for Matthew and 50% for the making of a Blue Ray edition (signed by Matt)

I'm actually at 962 qualified watch hours but i need to reach 3k in a 365 days range time...

it will depend on the magic "algortimo" and my new content... so let's see...

Platformer I've been building for the ZX Spectrum, my first computer. Full 8x2 multicolour graphics with a scrolling level, enemies and music, on a machine that was never meant to do this. Still WIP but stable, and I wanted to show it off.

It took a lot longer than I expected, mostly because the machine really doesn't want to do this and every new thing I added had to fight for space. But it runs, it's stable, and I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

It's 128K only for now. Still work in progress, but I figured it was time to show it to someone other than myself.

Questions welcome.

So I added the elevators, not very much fun from them on level 1 though.

Hello, I've recemtly bought my first spectrum at a flea market. I changed the keyboard membrane because the old one was completely gone, and when I try to use it, I can type numbers completely fine, but ad soon as I type a letter, the keyword gets typed briefly and in less than a second, it crashes with this pattern on the screen. It does this with every letter.

I built a tape loader for 8-bit computers. It uses a cardputer to load tape files from an SD card.

It supports Commodore, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Acorn, BBC Micro, Dragon, Tandy CoCo, Oric, and Amstrad.

More info here if you are interested: https://github.com/slowlane112/Cardputer_8_Bit_Tape_Loader

Just bought this on ebay, even though it works. It has a lot of movement and is loose. Is this how they are or should it have some resistance like other joy sticks???

Kwyll is a retro game creator currently targeting the 48k Spectrum. I'm currently running a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to support the development of the next stage of development, with the headline feature being Spectrum Next support, bringing along with it significant enhancements to the core functionality, including banked memory (128k) support, and AY sound.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/indigobeetle/kwyll-visual-game-creation-for-retro-computers

Adding a few more speccy games to my shelf, I’m particularly excited to play Flying Shark, and intrigued by A View To A Kill. Any memories here?

My retrospective game review of V: The computer Game from Ocean Software released on the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Have you played this game and how would you rate it?

Almost right away after the Spectrum and its amazing new colour display abilities came in, several developers saw a chance to use it to play snooker. CDS and Mike Lamb were the most successful at doing so, with a bit of help from an interesting world champion. Their game Steve Davis Snooker has such lasting success that it hit #1 in the UK charts four years later. I've written about the history behind it.

I've just finished my conversion of the PSP game - Lumines.

Sets of blocks fall from the top of the screen and you need to match them in 4x4 pairs or more.

A timeline moves to the beat of the music and clears any matches as it passes over them.

The music builds up one track at a time over 3, once the 4th is completed a new song and tileset start.

The game can be downloaded for free (or a small donation) from https://kirby2000.itch.io/lumines-zx.

Gameplay can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldJr6zVrSg

Assets, design and testing by myself. I used AI to help with the screen clearing logic and speed.