I would imagine a console owner would just look at Speccy R-Type as a poor horizontal shooter. The MD has some amazing horizontal shoot-em-ups , and whilst R-Type is incredibly technically impressive, it pales into insignificance alongside titles like Thunderforce IV.
funny i mentioned thunderforce 4 to some megadrive/genesis denier the other day :)
pick a game which is a awful conversion on amiga vs the speccy version
commando comes straight to mind
renegade series is good also
moon cresta
8 bit generally
kikstart ii c64 (amiga port is yuk)
mayhem in monsterland... c64
wizball / parallax (remind him of sensible's roots ;) and a poor conversion)
bionic commando c64 wipes the floor with amiga version
rodland and bubble bobble are good ports, but also good on amiga / c64... so best pick some crud
I think it's easier to impress the younger generation, who started gaming after the PlayStation, than it is those who started on 16-bit consoles.
When the kids at school see me ZX Spectrum rzx screensaver kick in (it's set to 20 minutes), they become mesmerised. I've had to run lunchtime clubs where they get to play Spectrum games. One of their favourites is Exolon.
Spectrum games are simplistic things to control generally, and are not too far removed from modern tablet games in that regard. The kids don't seem to be that concerned about the graphics.
The other day they saw 3D Monster Maze, and were very interested since it was a precursor to so many of the FPS games they play today. I also think that because we do far more computing in school now, rather than ICT, they have a better grasp of what goes into making a game, and appreciate the effort that was made to make these titles in less than 16/48/128k.
As for impressive a 16-bit guy, you'll have a tough job. They came along when gaming became mainstream and all the effort had been removed thanks to cartridges. There was also a fair few titles that appeared across the 8-bit/16-bit platforms, so all they will see are inferior versions sadly.
Him: What the buzz about this Manic Miner? It has poor graphics, annoying tune and I can't complete 1st screen. It is very wrong.
Funnily enough though, this is what loads of people said about Manic Miner when it had been out a few months. It got old very quickly, but we still went back to it for a sneaky go... not that we told anyone!
It's worth showing it off. It's legendary, and despite falling in and out of favour during its lifetime, it has remained a pillar of Speccydom. We love it for its quirky existence, and although we cannot quantify why, it actually is rather good! Someone totally new to the Speccy should at least see it for themselves.
Him: No man, it is very wrong. To die 100 times before you achieve anything. I have hundereds of better games to play instead.
*loads up Dark Souls*
The main reason people like the Dark Souls games is because they are old-school hard, dying over and over again till you get it right. It's something missing from modern games, especially ones that hold your hand and auto-save and throw checkpoints at you every few metres.
... modern games, especially ones that hold your hand and auto-save and throw checkpoints at you every few metres.
... or let you save and reload anytime, like Deus Ex:HR or Dishonored. As much as I these games, it is just too tempting to simply reload whenever your stealthy approach or attempt at hacking went wrong.
Him: What the buzz about this Manic Miner? It has poor graphics, annoying tune and I can't complete 1st screen. It is very wrong.
Me: It was good for 1983. And you aren't expected to complete 1st screen on your 1st go. You need to practise to be good. Hours, weeks.
Him: No man, it is very wrong. To die 100 times before you achieve anything. I have hundereds of better games to play instead.
So if some average joe could enjoy zx game even a little bit shown, it must be really easy by Spectrum standards.
Unfortunately from the list above many are not easy at all.
Context is everything, there's no getting around it, I'd explain that it's like that because they had 48k to work with and couldn't have ten beginner levels, it started on medium+ difficulty and progressed from there. It's what makes us superior gamers in general. ;) Plus the first level of Manic Miner isn't so bad, I've seen Super Mario World levels that make it look like a cake walk.
Comments
Agree about Pssst! Found it a bit of a chore to play. The 16k Ultimate I never liked at all was Tranz Am, though.
pick a game which is a awful conversion on amiga vs the speccy version
commando comes straight to mind
renegade series is good also
moon cresta
8 bit generally
kikstart ii c64 (amiga port is yuk)
mayhem in monsterland... c64
wizball / parallax (remind him of sensible's roots ;) and a poor conversion)
bionic commando c64 wipes the floor with amiga version
rodland and bubble bobble are good ports, but also good on amiga / c64... so best pick some crud
It's a computer not a console :)
Gameplay and longevity makes a great game...not empty shooters and pretty graphics.
When the kids at school see me ZX Spectrum rzx screensaver kick in (it's set to 20 minutes), they become mesmerised. I've had to run lunchtime clubs where they get to play Spectrum games. One of their favourites is Exolon.
Spectrum games are simplistic things to control generally, and are not too far removed from modern tablet games in that regard. The kids don't seem to be that concerned about the graphics.
The other day they saw 3D Monster Maze, and were very interested since it was a precursor to so many of the FPS games they play today. I also think that because we do far more computing in school now, rather than ICT, they have a better grasp of what goes into making a game, and appreciate the effort that was made to make these titles in less than 16/48/128k.
As for impressive a 16-bit guy, you'll have a tough job. They came along when gaming became mainstream and all the effort had been removed thanks to cartridges. There was also a fair few titles that appeared across the 8-bit/16-bit platforms, so all they will see are inferior versions sadly.
Funnily enough though, this is what loads of people said about Manic Miner when it had been out a few months. It got old very quickly, but we still went back to it for a sneaky go... not that we told anyone!
It's worth showing it off. It's legendary, and despite falling in and out of favour during its lifetime, it has remained a pillar of Speccydom. We love it for its quirky existence, and although we cannot quantify why, it actually is rather good! Someone totally new to the Speccy should at least see it for themselves.
*loads up Dark Souls*
The main reason people like the Dark Souls games is because they are old-school hard, dying over and over again till you get it right. It's something missing from modern games, especially ones that hold your hand and auto-save and throw checkpoints at you every few metres.
... or let you save and reload anytime, like Deus Ex:HR or Dishonored. As much as I these games, it is just too tempting to simply reload whenever your stealthy approach or attempt at hacking went wrong.
Context is everything, there's no getting around it, I'd explain that it's like that because they had 48k to work with and couldn't have ten beginner levels, it started on medium+ difficulty and progressed from there. It's what makes us superior gamers in general. ;) Plus the first level of Manic Miner isn't so bad, I've seen Super Mario World levels that make it look like a cake walk.
I played this a few years ago and thought is was a TR-DOS game and was gobsmacked that it was a published game. Great animation and gameplay.
I'd also have to agree with:
- Head over Heals
- Green Beret
- Exploding Fist
- Fairlight
- Dun Darach