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JSW vs Manic Miner

def chrisdef chris
in Games
poll time, which one do you prefer?

its weird, nearly every time Id choose 'complete-the-level, time limit, arcadey platform' style games over adventure walk-aroundy ones, but while theyre both classics I think JSW is the easy winner here. MM almost seems like a jsw spin-off to me, even tho it came first.

also JSW was my first exposure to willy (erm hold that thought), so i might be biased due to that... didnt play manic miner till about a year later iirc
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Comments

  • i love the z80si love the z80s
    edited January 2017
    I'd go with MM here, it's more of an arcade-style experience. JSW is too freeform for my liking. I didn't really play it to win but to see all the screens. It has evil permadeath loops if you go the wrong way and it's also bugged so actually completing it without POKEs is impossible (not that I completed either BITD)
    Also the ropes are crap and hard to figure out how to use properly.
    Post edited by i love the z80s on
  • JuanF. RamirezJuanF. Ramirez
    edited January 2017
    JSW for me. Both are great games, but the adventure and exploring elements tip the scale.
    Post edited by JuanF. Ramirez on
  • def chrisdef chris
    i love the z80s wrote: »
    JSW is too freeform for my liking. I didn't really play it to win but to see all the screens.
    thats kind of what I like about it. I gave up actually trying to complete it quite early on tbh.

    agree about the looped death syndrome thing, although entrance to hades was a fascinating room. used to be obsessed with finding out if you could actually survive/walk around in there...
  • ewgfewgf
    I used to prefer JSW back in the day, but now it's MM. Both fantastic games though (and so is JSW2), but MM just seems more fun nowadays.
  • LunyLuny
    MM had more defined screens and challenges, but the linear approach makes it easier for me to get bored quickly.
    JSW gave more scope and wandering around, when playing for the first time gives you that discovery surprise for each new screen.
    Sod it!

    @luny@mstdn.games
    https://www.luny.co.uk
  • AndyCAndyC
    MM is probably one of the few games i can literally finish with one hand behind my back and I think that takes some of the arcade feel away from it. Wandering the mansion in JSW has still not lost it's touch.
  • cmonkeycmonkey
    MM every time for me. That's probably because I actually managed to finish it back in the day, and can still do so now, but have never finished JSW, even with the pokes that iron out the bugged rooms.
  • def chrisdef chris
    ewgf wrote: »
    Both fantastic games though (and so is JSW2).
    never got into jsw2, can't put my finger on why because it's essentially the same game just tweaked, but something about how it plays seemed off to me. its too fast, and I didn't get the same JSW X Factor from it somehow?

    some of the later clones/mods are really good though
  • Antiriad2097Antiriad2097
    In pure gameplay terms, I'd put MM first. Being able to complete a screen and have measured progress through the levels works better for me. With JSW, it seemed more like exploration was the goal and I'd rarely make progress with collecting, more aiming to see new screens.
  • joefishjoefish
    ewgf wrote: »
    I used to prefer JSW back in the day, but now it's MM. Both fantastic games though (and so is JSW2), but MM just seems more fun nowadays.
    Same here. It was nice to spend time exploring in JSW, but once you'd see it all, actually completing it (even assuming corrective POKEs) was an insanely higher level of challenge. There are a lot of rooms where the skill required to collect every object is way beyond anything you were called upon to do in MM.

    With MM it's a much more manageable thing to learn each screen one-at-a-time, and then work through just 20 of them in one sitting without taking a break.
    Joefish
    - IONIAN-GAMES.com -
  • MysterionMysterion
    For me... Manic Miner, by a mile.

    JSW just seems quite badly designed in a lot of places. Perhaps Smith's motivation was starting to slip during the time he was making it but there's a few bits that bug me when I play it that could have, and I think shoud have, been fixed before it went out the door.

    MM is far better in terms of both gamelplay and structure, IMO.

    M
  • Maroc's Other ProjectionMaroc's Other Projection
    edited January 2017
    Manic Miner for me. I love the level design and it's just a very well-crafted game.

    If I want an explore 'em up I prefer Techie Ted to JSW. It's not like I'm going to finish either of them anyway :)
    Post edited by Maroc's Other Projection on
    Cheeky Funster (53)
  • MorkinMorkin
    One that I honestly can't decide.

    I was originally tempted to go with Manic Miner as it seemed more completable at the time (for me at least), but assuming you POKE away the attic bug, and after watching Geoff Neil's walkthrough, I reckon they're pretty even.
  • dm_boozefreekdm_boozefreek
    As much as when I was on the JSW modding scene I focused on JSW (and occasionally included MM style parts within my games) I chose MM. Without it JSW wouldn't exist, and it's easier to pick up and play, you don't have to commit to mass wanderings to finish it. It's also certainly less annoying losing all your lives, and having 20 screens to go through again.

    I still love JSW though.
    Every night is curry night!
  • VampyreVampyre
    Definitely MM for me although back in the day it would have been JSW.
    ZXSR - Speccy Mags Reviews
  • PegazPegaz
    If there is a game that defined Spectrum, then it's Manic Miner.
    JSW is also great, has a good atmosphere, but will never be a real competitor to MM.
    http://retrospec.sgn.net/users/tomcat/yu/index.php
    http://zx-pk.ru/
  • def chrisdef chris
    edited January 2017
    getting very one sided now... wasnt sure how it would turn out really
    dm_boozefreek wrote: »
    As much as when I was on the JSW modding scene I focused on JSW (and occasionally included MM style parts within my games) I chose MM. Without it JSW wouldn't exist, and it's easier to pick up and play, you don't have to commit to mass wanderings to finish it. It's also certainly less annoying losing all your lives, and having 20 screens to go through again.

    I still love JSW though.
    I am dissapoint :( btw im just trying to find your 'still stealin' one in the archive, doesnt seem to be there? was it even called that? prob my fav jsw clone tbh, along with 'mind control'

    also 'eugene lord of the bathroom' is the best MM clone Ive seen.
    Post edited by def chris on
  • dm_boozefreekdm_boozefreek
    edited January 2017
    You gotta opt into the adult section....Apparently my games are a bit naughty for regular Wossers :))

    There's only 2 I think that have wanking in them?....and maybe tits? :))

    I notice Reaper doesn't get an adult tag with it's "F**K off! Wankhead!"....Boo urns boo!
    Post edited by dm_boozefreek on
    Every night is curry night!
  • def chrisdef chris
    oh right its in the video nasties section :)

    im over 18 honest..
  • F_ClowderF_Clowder
    Your avatar indicates that you are a dog. Therefore, according to this dog-to-human calculator, and given your comment, you are approximately over 1,714 years old in human years.
    Go away and play with your Commodore, you baby!
    You baby dog!
    YOU PUPPY, YOU!!!!!!!!!
    def chris wrote: »
    oh right its in the video nasties section :)

    im over 18 honest..

    This message brought to you courtesy of Tej imbibables, Inc.
    What now?
  • ivanb303ivanb303
    dm_boozefreek wrote: »
    You gotta opt into the adult section....Apparently my games are a bit naughty for regular Wossers :))

    There's only 2 I think that have wanking in them?....and maybe tits? :))

    I notice Reaper doesn't get an adult tag with it's "F**K off! Wankhead!"....Boo urns boo!
    dm_boozefreek wrote: »
    You gotta opt into the adult section....Apparently my games are a bit naughty for regular Wossers :))

    There's only 2 I think that have wanking in them?....and maybe tits? :))

    I notice Reaper doesn't get an adult tag with it's "F**K off! Wankhead!"....Boo urns boo!

    You have a JSW game with tits and wanking ? Where ? I'm totally immature even though I'm nearly 40 :)
  • saddestmoonsaddestmoon
    I voted JSW, because that was the one that started it all for me.

    MM came much much later on - and although a close second, JSW takes the cake by a whisker!
  • def chrisdef chris
    edited January 2017
    F_Clowder wrote: »
    Your avatar indicates that you are a dog. Therefore, according to this dog-to-human calculator, and given your comment, you are approximately over 1,714 years old in human years.
    Go away and play with your Commodore, you baby!
    You baby dog!
    YOU PUPPY, YOU!!!!!!!!!
    rumbled at last... and I wouldve got away with it, if it wasnt for you pesky grown ups

    edit- or is it meddling? either way ive never played a commodore. ever! :)
    Post edited by def chris on
  • GedlionGedlion
    I never managed to complete Skylab Landing bay, even with infy lives pokes. (Thank god there's a level skip cheat). So I always had an issue with the game on that one.

    (I do have a rep as a terribly bad games player though)
  • def chrisdef chris
    well of you think youre bad it took me ages to get past eugene's lair back in the day. never even got to the skylab level until emulation/snapshots
  • grey keygrey key
    What is a Jet Set Willy ?
    Every time I read that the oldest person in the world has died, I have to do a quick check to see it isn't ME..........
  • F_ClowderF_Clowder
    A member of the Mile High Club.
    grey key wrote: »
    What is a Jet Set Willy ?

    What now?
  • zx1zx1
    This old chestnut again :))
    Personally i would have picked JSW 2 as it was bigger than the first, bugs were fixed and had some very funny nasties but it isn't there so i went for JSW 1.
    I found MM a bit too hard and never got past the third screen, but it is still a great game.
    The trouble with tribbles is.......
  • Rebelstar without a causeRebelstar without a cause
    Jet Set Willy if I had to choose. But I don't really like either game.
  • Bad HorseyBad Horsey
    JSW. The triumph of getting past a difficult screen and unlocking an unseen area was part of the joy, as well as seeing hinted-at bits like the bottom of The Security Guard. I remember how long it took to get past Nomen Luni and The Drive, and discovering how to get up to The Priest's Hole.

    And then there's Entrance to Hades...

    I also remember the mystique around JSW, particularly when that letter was published in YS. It seemed plausible that there were these extra screens hidden in there, and I was taken in when YS joined in (An Ice Volcano Under Hades would have been a plausible addition).

    When I saw the extended version on the Amstrad, I wanted an one just to play it. So when JSW 2 came out, I was over the moon, and still rate that as one of the greats.

    Manic Miner was and still is awesome. But JSW was the one for me.
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