Original Imaginative Playable
Which Spectrum games fit all 3 of these criteria?
Original - Games that were out first or most famous for their Spectrum version AND offered something new in terms of game development (not seen something quite like it before). So not games like Elite or Lemmings which though original and groundbreaking had their most famous outings on other systems and not Alien 8 because its originality was cosmetic
Imaginative - games that had a spark of creative genius, exciting/involving the imagaination of the player.
Playable - not just original for the sake of being different, but actually with a game (so probably not Deus X Machina or Fat Worm)
I'm putting up for debate:
Atic Atac - to me it fits the criteria, but I don't know if a game just like it came out on C64 or something, just before it. I doubt it though.
Jet Set Willy - Was this the first platformer with a big imaginative map to explore? Certainly the trippy rooms create an original feel.
Eric and the Floaters - Did the Speccy invent Bomberman? Perhaps this game just doesn't meet my imagination criteria?
Deathchase - Some say inspired by something in Star Wars or similar but I'd still say this one really brought something new
The Alchemist - was it the first Dizzy style game?
Ant Attack - A breakthrough in 3D and atmosphere on the Speccy. Was it ahead of other systems too?
Do you agree with these? What others are there? I've nt mentioned any adventures. strategies, puzzle or vector games for a start, but I'm sure several of these will pop into my head just after I submit post!
Original - Games that were out first or most famous for their Spectrum version AND offered something new in terms of game development (not seen something quite like it before). So not games like Elite or Lemmings which though original and groundbreaking had their most famous outings on other systems and not Alien 8 because its originality was cosmetic
Imaginative - games that had a spark of creative genius, exciting/involving the imagaination of the player.
Playable - not just original for the sake of being different, but actually with a game (so probably not Deus X Machina or Fat Worm)
I'm putting up for debate:
Atic Atac - to me it fits the criteria, but I don't know if a game just like it came out on C64 or something, just before it. I doubt it though.
Jet Set Willy - Was this the first platformer with a big imaginative map to explore? Certainly the trippy rooms create an original feel.
Eric and the Floaters - Did the Speccy invent Bomberman? Perhaps this game just doesn't meet my imagination criteria?
Deathchase - Some say inspired by something in Star Wars or similar but I'd still say this one really brought something new
The Alchemist - was it the first Dizzy style game?
Ant Attack - A breakthrough in 3D and atmosphere on the Speccy. Was it ahead of other systems too?
Do you agree with these? What others are there? I've nt mentioned any adventures. strategies, puzzle or vector games for a start, but I'm sure several of these will pop into my head just after I submit post!
Post edited by Jumping Stack on
Comments
I think Eric and the Floaters might have started life on the MSX, being a Japanese game.
Although there were a few isometric arcade games before Ant Attack, such as Zaxxon and Crystal Castles, it was certainly the first to put it into an arcade-adventure context. I've no arguments about any of the others.
Jet Set Willy: Also brilliant, I have to say this game, it's hardwired into my cerebrum :D
Bandersnatch: So original so groundbreaking that the company were scared to release it, and went bankrupt ;)
And the game is supposed to be placed in Hell or somewhere underground, not a very common game place...
wrong Wrong WRONG!
[/pkmode]
You could not be any wronger!!!
You are so wrong on this I am going to grant you the benefit of the doubt-thingie and declare this the day when you got a head-bump ... now ... go investigate thine own head thoroughly in a mirror (preferably not a warped one) ... go on! There's a bump or three there ... probably ... because what you just said is all wrong ... Wrong WRONG!!!!
[/znorxman]
Psytron: The feel of that game hasn't really been replicated yet.
Bugaboo: This game is pretty much unique, it's so simple yet it's such good fun that you still like to come back and play it again even after you've got out of the cave.
...and I'm surprised Cuchulainn hasn't sniped this one in yet, but Tir Na Nog, groundbreaking stuff, and still quite good now, although it is quite slow and a little monotonous these days (sorry, just being honest :D).
An extraordinary achievement. Very cleverly done, if somewhat hard to get into.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
I don't suppose in all that you'd care to tell me why I was wrong? :confused:
Ah yes, forgot about fatman Joe being ahead of JSW.
Your avatar reminds me that I wondered during my original post about Tau Ceti. I don't know it well though...
If I had that particular answer I would tell you but I do not know why you were wrong. I don't know your specific brain pathways and how all that is connected upstairs in yer noggin ... but I can tell you that both Zaxxon and Crystal Castles were not published before Ant Attack.
But don't worry ... I'm wrong ... usually all the time ... so perhaps I am very wrong in thinking this ... it is almost possible that both those games were somehow magically published on the Speccy before Ant Attack.
I think that on other platforms(coin-op) Zaxxon was released a year before Ant Attack but not C.C., that one might have came out the same year(?)
But don't worry ... I still think you're a cool dude!
I wouldn't say that it was terribly original; I've always seen it as more of an evolutionary game that took ideas already present from games such as Gyron, Elite and Star Wars and came up with something that was more than the sum of the parts.
In terms of original ideas, I'd think the most significant was the use of illumination and shadows which weren't commonplace in 3D games until quite some time later.
Matt_B: I was wrong and you were right!
I noticed how you had magically slipped the word "arcade" into the sentence when I thought you were referring to the Speccy versions.
Sorry!
And stop being so sneaky! ;-)
What confused me is that there is an argument for Ant Attack being the first true isometric game as the earlier ones essentially just used it for visual effect; they restricted your movement in some fashion and didn't give you the full three degrees of freedom that Ant Attack allowed. I was just wondering if you were going to bring that up...
Zaxxon allows you to control your left-right and up-down motion, but not forwards-backwards; you're always moving ahead at a fixed speed.
I'd consider this just about enough to make it a proper 3D game, but other people might wish to disagree. Certainly, I recall Sandy White saying something along those lines on his web page.
Newby/lurker here (please be gentle with me) :)
On this topic I thought Room Ten was quite original and nice to play at the time of its release.
SKR
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Agreed about Knight Lore and Tir Na Nog but I thought Bounder was a C64 game first and certainly the Spectrum version is the poor relation of it.
Manic Miner does have the Miner 2049er connection, although it's far from a blatant ripoff.
Driller - Sometimes dismissed as a "simple" arcade-adventure transferred to 3D but I'm sure there'd been nothing quite like this before, the sense of freedom of movement and the realism of the environment felt completely new.
Bandersnatch was barely started when Imagine went bust. I doubt it'd have been much good anyway, a lot of the ideas were decanted (is that the right word to use in this context?) into the Atari ST/Amiga title Brataccus which, whilst full of ambition, completely failed to set the gaming world alight on its release a year or two after Imagine fell to pieces.
I think Imagine were hoping to use hype to sell the "megagames" anyway, all of their boasts about them revolved around graphics and sound and how much RAM they would need (which, from what I can gather from the Commerical Breaks documentary, would have been largely used creating fancy graphics). More likely than not they would have been the Rise of the Robots or Metal Gear Solid IV's of the 1980s.
No , breakout was far earlier.
As for original spectrum ideas that are playable - worse things happen at sea.
Oh well strike that one off the list then! I thought it was a speccy game first. Well then I will pimp for Tau Ceti as well then.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Perhaps Trashman is also a fit?