I loved Manic Miner but was terrible at it. I still love Manic Miner...and am still terrible at it (as the video evidence shows;-)). I remember the expectations and general buzz about Jet Set Willy and was absolutely gobsmacked when I first saw it...but I was terrible at playing it. I still am. I'm so bad, in fact, that I don't think I can get through a single screen beyond The First Landing without cheats! But I do love them both. If I was being dangled off the Conservatory Roof and forced to choose my favourite (a weird theoretical scenario, granted!), I'd have to go for JSW...for its ambition, for its originality, for its grand madness!
think my all time record on JSW is something like 60 items. as mentioned it's just a great explore-em-up regardless of the actual mission. I was vaguely obsessed with it for ages. like Horsey said the way you could see bits of the house leading off to unknown sections that you hadn't figured out how to get to yet, added mystery
I also remember my brother completing JSW (with cheats, hem hem) and we were both blown away by the fact that the ending is revealed on the cover of the game! Sheer genius.
JSW deserves a mention just for its ending. The way that Willy initially sets of running feels like a bug, and the way that the woolen bobbin thingy on The Landing is avoided is really neat. One of the best Spectrum game endings.
Comments
This is really clever. Kudos to Matthew Smith for working all that out - some fine tweaking there.