The ZX Spectrum 48K
I bought my ZX Spectrum in 1988. This was at a time when it was being phased out and the Spectrum Plus was being produced. (I was forever just behind the current trend).
As far as I can tell, I bought the last available ZX Spectrum computer in the Poole/Bournemouth area. (I phoned every shop that stocked spectrums during that time and there was only one machine left in one shop in Ashley Road, Poole). The shop was 'Densham Computers'.
As any Spectrum owner will tell you, the machine had many weakneses. A dodgy power socket, a blazingly hot transformer pack, colour attribution clashes, weak sound etc, but despite all that, it was a true titan amongst gaming machines! There was such an incredible variety and abundance of software - so much choice, that as an owner, there was always something interesting to play on it and to do on it.
As far as I can tell, I bought the last available ZX Spectrum computer in the Poole/Bournemouth area. (I phoned every shop that stocked spectrums during that time and there was only one machine left in one shop in Ashley Road, Poole). The shop was 'Densham Computers'.
As any Spectrum owner will tell you, the machine had many weakneses. A dodgy power socket, a blazingly hot transformer pack, colour attribution clashes, weak sound etc, but despite all that, it was a true titan amongst gaming machines! There was such an incredible variety and abundance of software - so much choice, that as an owner, there was always something interesting to play on it and to do on it.
My ZX Spectrum 48k
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To the left is my original ZX Spectrum 48k. It now sits proudly on my toilet wall entombed in a glass case! If it wasn't for the emergence of emulators, I would still use it occassionally. I remember getting it out as late as 2003 to play some games on it. The difficulty came in loading games from that period, as some of the tapes hadn't quite stood the test of time that well. (And many were tricky to get to load when they were new!) Aside from that, my trusty Boots tape recorder needs a good clean! |
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Keyboard
What a strange and delightful keyboard the Spectrum had! Surely one of the oddest computer keyboards ever created. (I remember that the Oric computer also had a strange one.) But I don't remember myself or my friends complaining back in the day. And playing on it just felt normal to us. We had never even seen or heard of a traditional keyboard in those days remember. Some of the more obscure commands took some rather weird keyboard combinations to induce. For example, the 'Verify' command would require you to hit the Caps Shift key, and the Symbol Shift key, then let go of the Caps Shift key (keeping Symbol Shift held down) and then hitting the 'R' key on the keyboard!! - Only in Britain would such a system be created! |
My Spectrum keyboard
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ZX Spectrum power socket
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To the left is the power socket on my Spectrum (click for full size). Unfortunately, the Spectrum did not have a power switch. So there was no controlled way to switch the machine off. This meant that the power cord itself had to be pulled out and pushed back in again thousands of times during the machine's lifetime.
Needless to say, this meant that the majority of most peoples' spectrums had very delicate power sockets. Some ended up only working if the cord was in a perfect position. With others, the slightest nudge to the cord would cause the machine to reset! With the release of the Spectrum plus, as well as (supposedly) upgrading the keyboard to be plastic, a 'reset' switch was finally added. However, no-one I knew had a Spectrum Plus anyway. (I believe the internals were exactly the same). |
Games
No other gaming machine of the time could hold a candle to the number and variety of games that the Spectrum had to offer. For sure, there were a lot of crap titles. But there was also some awesomely good ones. People tended to be in one of two camps:
I was in the second camp. One advantage of being so, was that I didn't have to own 4.5 million cassettes and store them in a container ship. However, despite this, I still had a burgeoning cassette case.
Below are some of my very favourite games that I spent a lot of time playing. For my review of a particular game, click on a picture. Also check out my in-depth analyses page!
I will add more over time.
No other gaming machine of the time could hold a candle to the number and variety of games that the Spectrum had to offer. For sure, there were a lot of crap titles. But there was also some awesomely good ones. People tended to be in one of two camps:
- Collect every possible game you can, no matter how rubbish it is, irrespective of whether you will actually play it, or even if you can get it to load
- Collect only games that you want to play and that work
I was in the second camp. One advantage of being so, was that I didn't have to own 4.5 million cassettes and store them in a container ship. However, despite this, I still had a burgeoning cassette case.
Below are some of my very favourite games that I spent a lot of time playing. For my review of a particular game, click on a picture. Also check out my in-depth analyses page!
I will add more over time.
Skool Daze - In depth analysis
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Matchday II
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Back to Skool
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