Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
IV. Jet Set Willy 128 (JSW128)
Games using John Elliott's JSW128 game engine for the 128K Spectrum
9. Soul Miner
Author: Edward Martland
Year: 2002
Language: English
Soul Miner - "an adventure starring Jet Set Willy" - was the second of three JSW games released by Edward Martland between 2000 and 2003. It was released in September 2002, with a bugfix following three days after the initial launch of the game.
Willy activates a mysterious machine with spare parts, only to find himself, after a drop down from a great height, transformed into a wild animal in a distorted version of his house, now partially buried in a mountain and constantly slipping in and out of the Netherworld. His hands have become paws, and he discovers that his soul has split in half. To reunite his soul, Willy must venture through the chaotic environment, collecting magical energy called "genru" from various items. This task is complicated by the presence of dangerous religious sects, giant mushrooms, and eccentric robots, all eager to see him dead. Racing against time, Willy must gather genru and return home before midnight to bring his soul back together.
The game's title was inspired by the album "Soul Mining" (1983) by the British post-punk band The The. The name then suggested the plot (rather than the other way round), and Edward grafted a fitting adventure and the prerequisite musical references onto the story ideas he already had. According to the author, "there are quite a few in-jokes and deliberately pretentious moments scattered throughout the game", which really are "just a bit of colour."
Unlike in his first game, The Time Hole, this time Edward used his own graphics, with only a couple that were borrowed from the original JSW or other games. An important feature of Soul Miner is teleporters, which are very numerous and constitute a significant part of Willy's progress throughout the game. Generally, their presence is hinted at in some way, such as a panel in the floor or an item to lure the player into it, or some other clue.
The game uses Hacklevel 8 of the JSW128 game engine.
Number of edited rooms: 64
Number of items to collect: 256
Bugfix needed after original release? YES
Official bugfix released: YES
Spare lives at the start: 7
Completable without loss of life? YES
Starting time: 7:00 am
Best documented completion time with no loss of life: 8:07 am
Download links
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Game file in TAP and TZX formats |
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The game's page on WoS |
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The game's page on Spectrum Computing |
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The game's map on Speccy Screenshot Maps |
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RZX walkthrough of the game showing the best documented completion time |
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RZX walkthrough of the game on the RZX Archive (showing a completion of the game which is inferior to the best publicly available recording) |
Video
A walkthrough of the game on the JSW Central YouTube channel
A complete screenshot gallery will be presented on this page in the future.
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