Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
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Message: 3912
Author: andrewbroad
Date: 01/02/2004
Subject: Retro Gamer magazine (Issue One)
I recently found Issue One of new quarterly magazine Retro Gamer [
http://www.livepublishing.co.uk/retro/retro1.shtml ] in WHSmith. It
gave me an amazing nostalgic glow, covering no fewer than three
areas of fascination for me!
Firstly, there's an eight-page mouthwatering article about the
Sinclair range of computers, from the ZX80 to the ZX81 to the
various Spectrum models and the Sinclair QL. I just wish I could
have been a bit older in the 1980s! ;-)
Secondly, there's a six-page article "Return of the Rings" about
Tolkien computer-games, including the Spectrum games Moria,
Shadowfax, the so-called Middle-earth Trilogy by Level 9 Computing
(Colossal Adventure, Adventure Quest, Dungeon Adventure), and of
course The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings (Game One and Game Two: Shadows
of Mordor), as well as the non-Spectrum games (including Lord of the
Rings Game Three: The Crack of Doom). No mention of Manic Miner: The
Hobbit and Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings! ;-(
Thirdly - and this is what made me shell out £5.99 for a copy of the
magazine - there's a six-page article "Hall of the Miner King" about
Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy!!
It concentrates mainly on the commercial MM/JSW games, including
such esoteric material as the official Software Projects POKEs, what
a Quirkafleeg is, The Gaping Pit, the original hoax in Your Spectrum
about a raft at The Bow, Matthew Smith's legendary abandoned sequel
to JSW, and a comparison of different-computer versions of
MM/JSW/JSW II. It mentions that Jester Interactive now own the
rights to MM and JSW, and released a "jazzed-up version of MM" for
the GameBoy Advance in 2002.
There's even a mention of the unofficial JSW sequels:
"In fact, the game's room format was so easy to exploit that two
publishers, Spectrum Electronics and Softricks, released Jet Set
Willy editors in 1984. These editing tools allowed users to design
their own rooms, and many used them to create complete Miner Willy
adventures. The best were Jet Set Willy III, an unofficial sequel by
Michael Blanke and Arno P. Gitz, and Join the Jet Set, a
surprisingly faithful spin-off by Richard Hallas."
What they fail to mention is that JSW III and JTJS were the /first/
two of 48 unofficial JSW sequels (plus 11 unofficial MM sequels) to
surface on the Internet to date. I maintain a complete and up-to-
date list of these games on my website [
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/list.html ].
The article credits Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy with several
notable firsts:
* Manic Miner was "perhaps the first Spectrum mega-game", "released
at a time when many Spectrum games were simple affairs, often
written in BASIC".
* Manic Miner had an almost unprecedented number of "completely
unique" rooms (particularly in graphical terms).
* Manic Miner was the first game to feature in-game music.
* Manic Miner's innovative pseudo-animated (FLASHing) loading-screen
was a Spectrum first.
* Manic Miner was "the first very difficult game!"
* In Jet Set Willy, "The level of freedom offered was unprecedented,
and the sheer scale was unparalleled."
* The official Software Projects POKEs are "generally regarded as
the first ever software patch!"
* Jet Set Willy is "the most hacked game ever".
The magazine also has Top 10 Games charts for the Atari 2600,
Commodore 64, Spectrum (#1 Jet Set Willy: "Every room was a wonder,
every second playing it a joy"), Amstrad CPC, BBC, Sega Megadrive,
SNES, Atari ST, Amiga and arcade.
There's also an eight-page article about emulators of various
machines: Spectrum, Sinclair QL, Commodore, Vic 20, Jupiter Ace,
Oric-1, Atari, Apple Mac, Amiga, Acorn, GameBoy, Nintendo and Sony
PlayStation.
And I have yet to try out the cover CD, which includes over 200
games (including Top Hat Willy) and 75 emulators.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
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