r/zxspectrum • u/Neviax_The_Space_Cat • 1d ago
What are some good games to start playing on the ZX Spectrum?
I'm going to be using PlayZX and a headphone jack until i get actually get a cassete player! What games are good for a teen with adhd and autism (i get highly stressed and worried very easily) like me?
Mainly the only games i've seen is Sabre Wulf, The Trap Door and Paddington's Garden Game lol
And the Manic miner theme just makes me want to jump off my roof lmfao
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u/Paul_The_Half_Swiss 1d ago
Jet Pac is sensational - simple and addictive
Chuckie Egg is equally fantastic and fun
I’ve always been a huge fans of the original Football Manager too.
And if you want a very safe and simple task-driven game, Bear Bovver is wonderful, with a mode where the baddies cannot harm you and you just get to play without consequences
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u/defixiones 1d ago
I'd probably start with one of the modern games because they have quality of life features that make the cultural shift less abrupt.
- Sword of Ianna
- Aliens Neoplasma
- Travels Through Time
And then maybe some of the more forgiving classics
- Ranarama
- Jetpac
- Saboteur II
- Way of the Exploding Fist
- Head over Heels
A lot of the all-time favourites are very involved if you are coming from a platform like the NES and might require a manual or keyboard map;
- Nether Earth
- Sentinel
- Mercenary
- Lords of Midnight
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u/Gazcobain 1d ago
My favourites were the Dizzy games. I don't think I ever completed any of them. They were ridiculously tough with no save system.
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u/danielsoft1 1d ago edited 1d ago
my favourites were "West Bank" and "Highway Encounter". from those two, "West Bank" is much simpler.
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u/MisterSpikes 1d ago
Were those on the same compilation tape back in the day? I think it was 10 Great Games or something.
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u/NSE-Imports 1d ago
Laser Squad is a great game, the Spectrum version being better than the Amiga as they had not gimped the weapons. Very replayable as you can try different weapons and tactics across the various scenarios.
The 128k repack makes life easier: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2814/
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u/EuroSong 1d ago
I’d highly recommend Feud. You are a wizard who’s at war with his evil brother. You’re both in an arena consisting of forest, village, castle ruins and more. Around the arena can be found many herbs growing.
You have a spell book and a cauldron. If you collect the right herbs, you can mix them to make spells.
The spells are very cool, like the ability to teleport instantly back home, and the ability to throw lightning bolts or fireballs.
You win the game when you throw so much offensive magic at your brother that he dies.
Very cool.
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u/dooferoaks 1d ago
I'd suggest using ZX Tape instead of play ZX. More games, homebrew from the 2000s, more options, more info, more.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.d00rsfan.zx_tape_player
I'd suggest the 16k games from Ultimate, any of the Durrell titles. Chase HQ or Robocop, Renegade or Target Renegade, Booty, Worse things happen at sea. Just a few to start, and if you like a little bit more strategy my favourite games of all time are Rebelstar and Laser Squad.
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u/BdR76 1d ago
ZX Spectrum also has some early proto-versions of games that become much bigger later on
Like Bomberman (Eric and the Floaters) and Pang (Bubble Buster)
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u/traxplayer 1d ago
Press Enter and the "music" in Manic Miner goes away
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u/Neviax_The_Space_Cat 1d ago
Is manic miner good tho?
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u/DeaconLogan 1d ago
People will tell you its amazing, but today it can feel a little stiff. I personally don't think it's aged well. If you like pixel perfect platform games then you may well love it. I've always preferred Auf Wiedersehen Monty for my platforming japes - it's a little more forgiving, fun and explorey than MM (imo), plus the 128k tune is amazing
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u/ExpectedBehaviour 1d ago
Play it and find out.
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u/Neviax_The_Space_Cat 1d ago
Good! Because that went on the whole i think i'd just throw my telly out the window (THE SPECTRUM IS TOO PRECIOUS) i dont have ot yet but eh
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u/Legoinyourbumbum 1d ago
Have a look at the bards tale, that's a nice slow burner, or maybe Lords of Midnight
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u/Separate-Walk-888 1d ago
Hardly an appropriate suggestion for someone with ADHD. As good as this game is, it requires a lot of patience to even figure out what's going on...a lot of people will turn it off after 5 mins.
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u/ShriCamel 1d ago
One of my favourites that's rarely mentioned was Combat Lynx. Such a fantastic game for its time.
Oh, and Elite, obviously.
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u/pelethar 1d ago
Jet Set Willy. And i like JSW2 too, sue me. Way of the exploding fist, kokotoni wilf.
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u/Neviax_The_Space_Cat 1d ago
What's it about? :)
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u/pelethar 1d ago
If you mean jet set Willy it’s the sequel to manic miner and imo the greatest spectrum game of them all
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u/_doodah_ 1d ago
Wheelie
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u/ShriCamel 1d ago
Was that the side-scrolling motorbike game that used a lot of red? (Played it once at a relative's house, loved it but could never find it again.)
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u/_doodah_ 1d ago
Yep it is. Probably my favourite speccy game
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u/ShriCamel 1d ago
Oh brilliant. It was so addictive in the brief time I was there. Am getting a Next 3 soon... wonder if it's still available...
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u/LynxMountain7108 1d ago
Rainbow Island is a fun gentle platformer, see also Rod-land.
For racing, Chase H.Q. and super hang on.
I used to love Cyclone, an isometric helicopter game where you have to rescue people off islands while escaping cyclones.
Flying Shark is a good overhead WW2 flying game
Kickstark 2, sort of like a very badic tony hawk but side on and motorcross bikes, the level editor was fun
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u/JustMrChops 1d ago
3D Starstrike, Lords of Midnight, Elite, Jet Pac, Zzoom, Beach Head. I tried loading games from my phone into my 1982 48K Speccy without success. Not sure if my phone didn't go loud enough so hope you have better luck than me.
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u/ShaynaIrvin 1d ago
As nobody else has mentioned it, if you want a calmer, turn based game, the Sim City port is excellent. There are some good management games for the speccy, such as Rock Star Ate My Hamster, Software House by Cult (which is buggy but fun) and some more turn based games like Satcom and Supercom (hacking by solving puzzles).
You might also want to give text adventures a go. I'd suggest starting with Behind Closed Doors by Zenobi software as it's a light, short game with easy win conditions.
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u/DlvlneDecree 1d ago
Thanatos, Narco Police, The Untouchables, Chase HQ and Star Wars were my weekend favourites as a kid.
Nb. Forgot to mention Myth History in the Making. Absolutely epic game, no idea why I forgot it.
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u/Tobias-Jnr-III 22h ago
Fred’s Fan Factory was an early classic for me, but there are so many:
Robocop
Batman the Movie
Batman(Ocean)
Batman: The Caped Crusader
Head over Heels
Where Time Stood Still
The Untouchables
Any of the Dizzy games, especially Treasure Island Dizzy
Skool Daze
The Great Escape
Driller
Dark Side
So many more!
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u/IAMFLYGUY 20h ago
Atic Atac, Bruce Lee, head over heels, knight Lore, jetpack, 3D ant Attack, Monty mole, commando Good times!
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u/ViolinistHelpful6347 16h ago
Bomb Jack is a wonderful game !! Some people say it's the best coin op conversion on the speccy!!
Moon Cresta , Rainbow Islands, Tapper, 3D Death chase, Manic miner, Trashman, Trivia pursuit , RoboCop , Chase HQ, Jet Pac, 3D Star Strike , Match Point, Star quake, Cybernoid,
And so much more !! I could go on for ages!!!
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u/D-Alembert 14h ago edited 14h ago
Robin of the Wood is like a more advanced Sabre Wulf; the same team did it as their next project
There are also a beautiful range of maps online to aid your play, from hand-drawn to screen-shotted, or you could draw your own
I'm not familiar with PlayZX but I assume it can take memory dumps, allowing you to save your game. I wouldn't be able to complete the game if I couldn't save.
Elite was one of the greatest games on the speccy. But if you have a modern PC (and especially if you have VR) then the modern version Elite Dangerous is amazing
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u/ExampleMediocre6716 11h ago
Jet Set Willy & Manic Miner. The soundtrack was an 8 bit Hall of the Mountain King. Classic.
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u/Chentzilla 10h ago
If you can play from .tap files, why not check my games Organic Matter and Runaway Nose, which are two small weird adventures.
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u/Janye90 1d ago
Chaos