Deadline time

It's the final Countdown!

It's got to that time again. As I write, a deadline is looming for the one publication that I [still] opine for, and that's the now famous (almost) BreakSpace. My previous record for number of reviews was in the low 20s, but for this issue, I've gone a couple better. One only imagines how many reviews I could have written if I wasn't wasting so much time playing Sinclair ZX Spectrum games.

It hasn't gone unnoticed that the quality of entertainment software is now much better than it was in the early days, and by that, I mean from around 2002 onwards when new wares were in the hands of just a few people. Now we're in a very definite peak. A stock market analogy would be that it's a Bull Market, and there's a feel of the good old days about it, when you almost couldn't keep up with new releases on popular systems like the Spectrum.

What's helped is not just a renewed interest in the rubber-clad micro, but the numerous clones, including The Spectrum which if nothing else continues to be a commercial success, likely far outselling all other clones regardless of how much "better" those [clones] happen to be. I still say the Omni 128 HD is the best clone of all, although nearly everyone disagrees with that sentiment. But I'm used to being an outlier with a different world view than others.

All of this has me pondering a question: when will this Bull Market become a Bear Market?

My own daughter has some nostalgia for Speccy software, she loves the EggHead games; especially EggHead II. But then she is her father's daughter. There is one person who may carry on the 8-bit legacy into this century and who is currently under the age of 35. I suspect that she isn't the only one: her friends enjoy 8-bit games too, because there's something refreshing about them to this new generation of gamers. Most are way more difficult than modern titles, even those inspired by 1980s and 1990s gaming. There is no hand-holding. You are thrown into the deep end and expected to swim right away. No tutorials. No explainers. Just get on with it!

Whatever the future holds, 8-bit computing and gaming has been a part of my life since the 1990s, and if I'm the last person alive still entertaining myself with these ancient technologies, through programming, gaming or whatever they can do, then so be it. But enjoy this time: Bear Markets don't last forever!

The Comfort Blanket of Retro Gaming in the Face of Tragedy

My last post began with the title "Surviving 2025". This one is going to be even tougher to write, I think. But I'll give it a go anyway.

At the time of writing, the final month of January is nearly done, and last week I had the worst news; someone who I was very close to has sadly and tragically passed. As one might imagine, this has put extraordinary pressure on me and my family, but I know I will get through. Time is a great healer. But mostly, I am concerned greatly for my child, and angry at a system that failed the departed. I hope she has found peace.

Before I continue (as I must: writing is cathartic for me), may I remind you, dear reader, that if you are feeling low or are at risk to yourself, it is never too late to seek help. You are enough, and there is always someone to talk to. Help is only a few clicks away: https://www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts/ - I also believe that these hoodies send a positive message too: https://live2lives.org/

The comfort blanket of video gaming has again been a companion for me this week, but this time I went to the Amiga, or, more precisely, THEA500 Mini from Retro Games Ltd. With some WHDLoad magic, there was quite a few games to play through. And I found one that I was still good at: Turrican! This classic game from the great mind of Manfred Trenz is probably my all time favourite. I got to that bit where the platforms are vertically stacked (Level 1-2 I think). This took me an age to learn back in 1990, but I got there. I was struggling though in the here and now. What was I doing wrong? The issue wasn't my skills at this fab game, but that I was using as a controller and not a joystick. I just couldn't get on with Turrican and the bundled A500 Mini control pad here. So I got out my joystick from THEC64 Black Edition. And that was much better. Progress became easier. And my mind, for a short while at least, was distracted.

Soon it was back to reality though: life, like many video games from the 1980s and early 1990s, well it isn't always fair. You're not able to switch to easy mode, and there is no walkthough, except the daily one that we all experience. Please look after yourselves, and look out for anyone who might be in crisis. Your actions could be the difference to make someone's life a little easier.

Surviving 2025: Therapy, Friends, and the Comfort Blanket of 8-Bit ZX Spectrum Magic

2025 was a year I'd rather forget, except for many excellent entertainment software releases for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the likes

2025 might not have been the best year for humanity, and if you forgive the self-indulgence for a short while, it was not for me personally either. Before I get into my usual meandering gaming topics, there is a good reason why I support mental health and anti-suicide charities; without wishing to dwell too much on this sore and often painful topic, I can guarantee that unless one lacks empathy or humanity, seeing suicide, or suicidal attempts, up close and personal isn't a pleasant situation to live through. Even if the tragic loss happens to someone who you have fallen out with, or thought ill of in life, such a desperate final act is no less saddening, indeed heart-breaking. The phrase "I'd rather listen to your problems than attend your funeral" is especially pertinent. So, please, if you are feeling low, or have thoughts of self harm or ending one's own mortal existence, reach out to someone. I find this resource to be useful for those who need it: Suicidal Crisis Support. Reaching out can help; it is never too late to seek support.

What got me through 2025, aside from Mind, some talking therapies and beautiful, supportive people around me was the comfort blanket of 8-bit gaming. It was a really great year for entertainment software, and joining the Break Space team from issue two really helped me to focus on something positive. Sometimes, because of external pressures, it was all a bit of a blur, and I'd wager that many of my submissions [to Break Space] weren't my best, but then again, as someone who left School without any GCSEs, I suppose I've done quite well. This fact perhaps also explains my err... let's call it unique, clumsy and deviant writing style. This is a self-critique here; one may opine about it using different nomenclatures.

At the time of writing, Break Space issue four has just been released, and I've already authored two pieces for consideration by the editorial overlord Mpk who put in a tremendous effort to get this issue finished. I don't envy him one bit, as this is clearly a passion project not just for him, but for the whole review team. Not to mention that all of this gaming goodness is provided for free, so even if you only have a passing interest in 8-bit computer software, it's certainly worth a look. All current issues are available to download from https://breakspace.itch.io/ - it's certainly the most cost effective 8-bit gaming 'zine currently on the market, so download and [one hopes] enjoy!

THEC64 Mini - Black Edition... it's arrived!

In initial thoughts

In good time for Hallowe'en 2025, THEC64 Mini - Black Edition has arrived. It contains 25 post-commercial Commodore C64 games for you to enjoy (okay, one is essentailly a re-release that has been remastered in the version included). So why this new version? And isn't it just more of the same, but in a more darker colour? And as it's gone black, will you be going back?

There has been a lot of care over this relaunch. The packaging, a matte finish with spot gloss, really makes the box art pop. And unboxing is its usual treat: Retro Games Ltd (RGL) know how to package its products, giving a warm, fuzzy feeling on opening. It states proudly that this is the world's best selling mini home computer... I don't know about that. Maybe the Raspberry Pi has something to say about this, but I think what is meant is that it's done very well (I suspect RGL's best selling product to date), better than all other reimagined mini computers (RGL would know as they have cornered the market here), and it might even have done as well or better than some of those mini consoles too, from bigger companies starting with N, for instance. Now, I think THEC64 Mini is more akin to a mini console, but it does allow an external keyboard, and you can therefore write BASIC and even Assembly/Machine code on the system, but out of the box it is just a console.

The purely cosmetic keyboard is now super shiney, the power light is bright, and the power input is USB C (unlike previous editions). Like other products from RGL, no power adapter is included, however you do have a joystick and all of the cables to get you going, assuming that you have access to a HDMI television set or monitor that is. The model number, despite these changes, is still RGL001. But the big question that everyone wants to know is what about the joystick? Is it still crap?

The answer on the joystick question is a resounding NO. Not only is it fully microswitched, it's also pretty striking too, and feels much nicer to use than the early, non-microswitched efforts bundled with the original Minis (and actually, I didn't mind the old more fragile 'sticks, but this new one is much better). It won't fall apart after one game (or even event) of Daley Thompson's Decathlon for sure.

It's not just the exterior that's darkened either, the UI has been reskinned and it's all rather foreboding if I'm honest, though the bright music from all other THEC64 variants remains, and is now kind of a mismatch to the interface. I'd have liked some dank and eerie SID music to accompany the new personality of it, but I guess that would mean extra licensing and more work.

System updates

Checking the system information, we're now on firmware version 1.7, or thec64-black-1.7.0-inertia to be precise. So, without extensive testing, I'm assuming it'll do everything that's included with firmware 1.6, including Mouse the FourPlayer Adapter support, though on this variant of the console, you'll obviously require a USB hub in order to use more than two joysticks and a pen drive. This is my initial impression though, so if I'm wrong on this, I will provide an update later.

The games

The 25 games are really some of the best released, not just post-1990 releases, but best ever. Joe Gunn, one of my most favourite platform games, is still a delight to play (hint, use the onscreen keyboard to start the game with F1 for unlimited lives, though the save states kind of negate this now I guess). A list of all 25 games included may be viewed on the website linked above, so I won't mention all of them here, but I will give you a brief overview of the six best as I see it.

Conclusion

The joystick is good, the unit itself is rather dashing, there's a new UI and new firmware, and the games are excellent. What's not to like?

Well, in purely numeric terms, you may pick up a regular THEC64 Mini at not very much money, and this Black Edition is more than the launch price of the beige original. But if you buy all of the 25 titles on the carousel, you'd probably be paying as much or more. A Pig Quest by itself would set you back €8.99. So, there is value in this. In procuring your unit you are also supporting these developers as each is no doubt paid a commission for each unit sold. So, unless you already own all of these games (and if you do, you likely already have a C64 solution that you're comfortable with using), then this is pretty good value. But here's a small complaint, one or two of the games start after the lush introduction sequences, so keeping A Pig Quest in mind, there is no "Piggy 18" splash (which never gets old) before the title screen, which is a shame. This has something to do with how the games are "fast loaded" from the carousel, I suspect.

Looking at this new THEC64 Mini from afar, it's not a leap to imagine it as THEC16 Mini, though I think one issue with making such a device might be the lack of quality games from the Commodore 16s commercial life, and despite selling a million units or more, it was very much an entry level system. Don't get me wrong, I like the C16 and Plus/4 computers, but very clearly there are way more titles available for the C64, and way more good games too. Anyway, that aside, here are what I reckon to be the six best games included with this new edition.

Six of the best

It’s a difficult choice, is this; the team who chose the games for THEC64 Mini BE have done very well indeed. How do I get this down to six? With some controversy, no doubt.

Joe Gunn: Gold Edition

Joe Gunn has taken hours of my life. Graphically, it harks back to a simpler time, unlike Sam’s Journey, for instance, which shows the best of the C64’s VIC-II chip, Joe Gunn looks like it could have been released in 1986 or so. Look beyond the aesthetics and you have a very deep platform adventure game with some teasing puzzles along the way. Undoubtedly inspired by the famous Indiana Jones movies (the good ones, from the 1980s), this epic sports superb chip music and great gameplay. And with the save slots on THEC64 Mini, I might actually complete it this time.

Hunter's Moon Remastered

Hunter’s Moon Remastered is very much a reminder of our past, originally released in 1987 to a broad critical acclaim, and even now managing a healthy score on online outlets like https://lemon64.com. This is something of a psychedelic space-based blast fest; not quite as off the wall as some Jeff Minter games, but out there enough. On board the ship Hunter, you find yourself lost in a strange and unexplored part of the Galaxy; Hives are constantly renewed, regardless of how much fire power you use to obliterate them, and the way back home often requires a quick trigger and skilful navigation.

It's Magic 2

Perhaps not the most obvious side-scrolling platform game to be included here, but if you don’t like it, then write your own review, won't ya!

It’s Magic 2 stars Tom Cat, a cute, yellow and white upright feline who must navigate Dream Islands, a beautifully pixelated game world; collect diamonds and other goodies, and remove the roaming [and rather cute] creatures by bouncing on their heads to take them out, or avoid them altogether if you’re trying for a speed run.

Collect all diamonds to exit each level. It’s an excellent platform game with great presentation and music.

Runn 'N' Gunn

Carleton Handley’s Runn 'N' Gunn, another from the Thalamus Digital stable, is an explorer-type scrolling shoot-em up in which you play as one of two interchangeable characters: Runn or Gunn (ah, now the title makes sense).

Runn is more agile and can do "double jumps", whilst Gunn has a more powerful arsenal; find keycards to further open up the game world in this slickly executed piece of entertainment software, containing well animated roamers and some ear-catching SID tunes.

p0 snake

It’s always nice to hear digitised speech from the SID chip, and p0 snake has some great samples along with bright and rather jolly music.

This is actually a "one button" game; and only the fire button needs apply. You control an ever hungry snake around a static screen tasked to consume food pellets. Moving clockwise by default (and to move anti-clockwise, you press the fire button), you must guide your never still snake around each level; for every food pellet consumed, your body grows, thus limiting the space left on each level. This is a really fun take of the classic Snake adding puzzle elements, and has excellent and progressive learning curve. I love it.

Knight 'N' Grail

Wide Pixel Games have come up with some really immersive C64 software, and this is definitely one of them. At first, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s a Ghosts n’ Goblins clone; let’s be clear, it is far more than this.

It seems a plodding and slow-paced game initially, with moody and atmospheric music in the background, which comes and goes so as not to be too repetitive. Unlock this sprawling game world, find different projectiles (some of which are harmless against some of your malevolent foes lurking in the game world), and save the Princess cursed to be a Dragon by finding the Grail. It’s well designed, eerie and sometimes tense, with some excellent graphics, and 200 screens to explore. Go ahead, adventurer. Be the hero you know you were born to be!

BubbleBack: The Story of Forward to the Past 2

I'm only happy when I'm grumpy!

When I was much younger, which might as well be sometime 100 years back at this point, as my health sometimes makes it feel like that, I used to ponder the expression aimed at men of a certain age "he's only happy when he's grumpy"; now I've got here, I understand this all too well. I like being grumpy too. So leave me alone and I'll go back to live under my rock. Okay!

As one might imagine then, anything that makes me even think of a smile is well avoided. Reading through the latest issue of BreakSpace I noted that the guys seem to really like this 'ere Bubble Back game for the old Speccy. It has a coveted Ace award from this publication (disclaimer, I'm one of the writers for it, by the way), and it does looks good. Maybe I'll give it a go too, as I missed out on reviewing it for the mag.

Before I continue, it would be somewhat remiss of me not to include some back story, so here goes:

This is the much anticipated follow up to Forward to the Past, in which Dave has attempted time travel, specifically to go back to 2021 (which I recall the UK and much of the world was on lockdown, so why travel back to this time is unknown). As we all know from Star Trek, people who mess with the space time continuum get into all sorts of trouble, so you can guess what's happened to Dave here then. No? Well, some evil force has kidnapped him and turn Nate into a bubble dragon from Bubble Bobble, with all of the ferocious abilities of such a formidable creature... err, I mean, he can blow bubbles in your general direction. Well, that can be fatal to at least some of the onscreen roaming baddies anyway.

Of course, it's up to you to save the day. Guide Nate's spritely bubble expelling and bursting dragon to collect 86 bubbles (though not the ones you generate as that'd be too easy); doing so will break the Baron's spell and return everything back to normal, or something. More importanter than this, Dave will be rescued in the process. Right, sounds like a typical excuse to a run-of-the-mill, by-the-numbers platform game to me. Well, yes. And no.

Loading this title nearly got me, turning my glum morning into something cheery and fluffy. The music! So bright, jaunty one might say; I was almost singing along to it, a rendition of "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News. No, not gonna smile... it's just a Speccy game, I've played loads of them. So, it has nice music? Okay. Concentrate. Now to redefine the keys and start the game. And... Finally... I broke. The in game tune is even better than the title music (and there's more than one, depending on the location in the game world) which is mostly a medley of the Back to the Future theme, and Bubble Bobble. This arrangement is excellent, for sure. As for the rest: the graphics are silky smooth and the game play is a delight, responsive, and it's true testament to great design. Aside from this, I appreciate the little touches, the Amstrad Green Screen simulator room, for instance, and the Break Out screen (which brings me to my one complaint; surely one should score points for taking the blocks out before the bouncing ball does?). My conclusion is thus: if you've ever used a Sinclair ZX Spectrum for entertainment purposes, and remember at least some of the 1980s, you must play this game. It's so delightful, so sickly sweet that I cannot help but recommend it wholeheartedly. I mean, if it can make me smile, it must be good, right?

Before I finish this short review, I'd better mention who did what, and where you might get your copy, hadn't I? Right. Bubble Back is carefully and lovingly crafted by Sloanysoft. See sloanysoft.itch.io for this and other titles by the same author. Music is by the award winning Lee Bee, and it's built using something called MPAGD by Jonathan Cauldwell.

That's me done. I've had enough of this cheeriness. I'm going back under my Rock, and I'll bid you a good day.

21 reviews.

I never knew there was so much in it

Back in 2004 or 2005 (citation needed), I was briefly writing for a British magazine called Retro Gamer. And earlier than that, I had the opportunity of writing a retro computer column for Micro Mart magazine, but I choose to do things differently: not to focus on nostalgic articles, but to report the developments that were happening there and then on various 8-bit home computers such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore C64. Of course, there was enough to write about for a weekly column, and by the time I got to Retro Gamer, enough across multiple 8-bit formats to review four to six games per issue (monthly).

Now, I've offered my writing skills, such as they are, to the ZX Spectrum gaming 'zine BreakSpace, and for issue three, I've completed a total of 21 reviews across a variety of game genres. Sure, BreakSpace is not a monthly periodical. It has a single focus (the Sinclair-branded ZX Spectrum Next Multi-System need not apply here) on the original Spectrum models, from the 16K upwards to Amstrad's 128K varieties. And, of course, the entertainment software that is opined about is new and recent releases (less two re-releases); this isn't just a nostalgia trip. My 7 reviews for each month of the quarter might not sound a lot, but there have been more than double that amount of releases. We're in a new golden age of 8-bit software, with the Spectrum and Commodore C64 leading the way, like it was and as it should be (though I don't keep up with the Atari 2600 scene anymore; that might also be doing well too).

Just a small note: issue three of BreakSpace includes a very special guest reviewer, whose contributions are golden, and I've been lucky enough to see them first (along with the other guys on the team). So, look out for the Autumnal release of issue three; it's going to be a right corker!

A bit about my blog

It has come to my attention that people disagree with some or all of my opinions. Which is nice

It appears that not everyone agrees with my ramblings. In fact, hardly anyone does. And I have no issues with this. For the avoidance of doubt, I write these pages as a form of self therapy: nothing here is meant as a source of truth, and should not be relied upon as such. And whilst there may be some factualities buried here, like a newspaper, those truths are surrounded by a lot of hyperbole, misinformation, half truths and opinion. The difference here is that I am not now - nor have I ever been - any kind of journalist, whereas those writers for those newspapers often claim to be. I am a creative writer, and the only thing that one might ascertain from reading one or more of my blog posts is whatever was in my head at the time of writing, expressed in English words typed out and wrapped in HTML tags for your entertainment purposes. Or not. You could be here equally to hate read and rage, though as someone who has had high blood pressure, I wouldn't recommend that.

In any case, even if you might disagree with me, my opinions, or my conclusions about any given subject matter, then that's healthy. That's called reading. If what I say upsets or offends you, my advice is not to read. But I take a lead from what is being read according to the statistics for each blog post here, and almost certainly some of my most read pages are regarding the Sinclair-branded ZX Spectrum Next, or the ZX Multisystem as it should now be more accurately called.

I guess here that I'm managing a skill that some parts of the Internet are all about: click bait. But in my defence, my views on the ZX Spectrum Next ZX Multisystem computer are honest to my experience of the platform and what I see that is happening to it. Other opinions are available. You may trust, however, that it's not just the ZX Spectrum Next ZX Multisystem in which my views differ from some of the mainstream of the wider "retro community". A caveat here is that I've not been active in said community since around 2012; and when I started to get interested again, as one might expect, everything had changed, and not necessarily for the better.

When I did return (and I'm not saying here that I'm actively and overtly involved like I used to be), I was happy to see that Retro Gamer magazine was still a thing; although it's not a magazine that I would read nor purchase on a regular basis. I think I've procured around 4 issues since 2019 or so. Whilst I could offer my services to it again (and it is just a case of dropping an email to the editor with a proposal of one or more futures, it's not a little more complicated than that), it would be fraudulent to do so. Why write for a publication that one does not read oneself? The last issue I saw didn't give me an impression that this magazine was for someone like me. That's my opinion anyway. It has it's audience, and I'm not one of them.

This is why I ended up joining the BreakSpace team: reading issue one of that was and is pure joy; it is a publication with heart by people who review ZX Spectrum games for all of the right reasons. Thankfully, I was let in to opine on the latest Speccy entertainment software from issue two, and at the time of writing, I've already written 18 reviews for issue three, with some more to do before the looming deadline.

It's great to be writing again and for a publication like BreakSpace, and it's good that I have this blog as an outlet. As already stated, the purpose here is, or has latterly become, to entertain. This blog is so old, I don't remember why I started it in the first place: the likely reason though is because I could. I'm surprised that people still read blogs: like printed magazines, I thought they'd be dead by now, but I do understand Vinny Mainolfi's point about printed matter: landfill sites now have too many waste electronic devices, including tablets, eBook readers and smart phones, so the printed press might not be as environmentally damaging as publishing electronically after all. Anyway, I have more games to review and a deadline to hit. So, I'll leave it there.