Speccyholic

Fun with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the 21st century, with guest appearances by the Sega Megadrive, PC Engine and Nintendo handhelds from the original Gameboy up to the 3DS. Where possible, game reviews etc are carried out on the actual original hardware.

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It's taken me thirty years to finally get this one!

[speccyholic]

Right then. Let's win that Porsche!

[speccyholic]

Right then. Let's win that Porsche!

[speccyholic]

Sorry Zipbrik, it might be time to break you down and make something else...

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Be there!

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Greetings from the new Speccyholic nerve centre!

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Unbelievable!

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German Speccy disk magazine. ..

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Doubled the target and still climbing!

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It's time to back this amazing machine!

[speccyholic]

Happy 35th Birthday ZX Spectrum!

The Speccy is 35 years old! Celebrate in style by:- Buying a brand new Speccy game from Cronosoft. Backing the ZX Spectrum Next on Kickstarter! Marching into a petrol station and demanding a game for £1.99, then choosing it based solely on what the cover looks like. Firing up the horizons tape (and not just to play The Wall). Listening to The Spectrum Works by Allister Brimble. Making a giant Lenslok so you can play Elite and Tomahawk on your 55" 4K television. Shaking hands with a Commodore 64 owner and telling them that all is forgiven. Adopting a 'for parts or not working' Speccy, fix it and give it a makeover at ZX Renew. Giving Codemasters a ring and ask them why they aren't writing 'actual PS4 screenshots' on their game cases. Baking a Spectrum Cake!

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What happens when Lego meets Speccy?

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Give your ZX Spectrum a makeover!

If your original rubber-keyed ZX Spectrum is looking a bit tatty then don’t despair.  Thanks to an enterprising team, it is now possible to get replacement faceplates and rubber keyboard mats from ZX Renew.

But that’s not all.

Not only have they succeeded in producing replacements, but also they are offering both products in a surprising range of colours.  There’s even talk of a luminous keyboard mat for playing in the dark.

The quality of the products is frankly quite astonishing - it just goes to show what can be done with perseverance.  From following their development on Facebook group Spectrum4Ever, I’m aware that they have gone through a careful quality control process and ironed out early issues.

On the rear of the products we can see how they have been clearly marked to distinguish them from originals - again a hot topic which was well considered with feedback from the community.

I haven’t yet found the time to fit them on one of my machines (I certainly don’t want to do a bad rush job) but you can see a fully fitted Speccy at:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9cgCAZti98

There was plenty of packaging and even some 3M tape so that it’s possible to do a near replacement job.

I’ll update this when I’ve done the full refit.  Can’t wait!

[speccyholic]

Introducing. .. The Zipbrik!

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Matching dust covers for all three original Sinclair Speccies.

[speccyholic]

Review - Nemesis II (Nintendo Gameboy, 1991)

Well!  Here we have something very special, as I acquire a new copy of Nemesis II, from 1991.  A game I never knew even existed - and so I approach it with little preconception.

Actually, I do have slight preconceptions, owing to Konami's stunning record of quality games in the early Nineties.

The original Nemesis was a stunning early title.   A very polished front end had a great opening screen, which was followed by plenty of great music and addictive gameplay.  The lead programmer was Naoki Matsui, who also worked on the superb (if slightly easy) Ninja Turtles.  The team really squeezed the potential out of the first Gameboy.  It even had a secret level.

I had never even heard of a sequel - yet here it is, sitting next to the original - about to be played for the first time since it was packed up into a box over 20 years ago.  No sign of Naoki Matsui this time - so how will it measure up?

The packaging is here in its entirety, there's more great artwork on the box - and some tantalising screenshots of more end-of-level bosses.

I fire up my Nintendo Advance SP (the last machine capable of playing the original Gameboy games) and take a look...

Starting up, the player can choose to start from the beginning or practice any of stages 1 to 4.  There may be one or more un-selectable stages afterwards (my Japanese is a little rusty so I was not able to penetrate the instructions).

One new feature is the ability to customise the weapon configuration (for example different types of lasers, and multi-directional missiles).  This is a good thing - because the weapons and ship are basically the same as the original game.

So without the weapon configuration, this could have been disappointing. 

Fortunately, this means that fans of the original will slip this sequel on like a comfortable glove which hasn't been worn for years and has just been found at the bottom of a drawer.

[speccyholic]

Lots going on at Revival Solstice (2016), in Walsall, UK.