My favourite isometric Speccy game was the lesser known (probably budget) Rentakil Rita. You play Rita, a maid working in a huge mansion, and you've got to set and trigger traps for an invading army of bugs. Great fun, with some nice puzzles.
I loaded up my cassette of this last week and actually had more fun with it then than I did back in the day. It was great fun getting the sliding blocks all set up ready for you to spring the trap.
That wheel looked like it was from the same team that made the 'Game Handler', a mercury switch 'air joystick' for NES and Megadrive. It was super glitchy to use and this was sold as a feature because apparently a lot of games didn't plan to have inputs on all directions multiple times per frame, so some games had interesting things you could find sometimes. The actual company that made the controller supposedly put out a couple of newsletters featuring tricks that could only be done with the stick, including throwing insanely wild pitches in a baseball game and teleportation in other games and a lot of 'moonwalking' platformer tricks where you could make the main character walk backwards through the stage.
Another great episode. I received the latest copy of Retro Gamer today, and it has a very colourful 8 page spread on Knight Lore, and the other games it spawned.
I made one of those wheels a couple of years ago using mercury switches and a toy, (bright yellow), steering wheel. The whole thing cost £7 in parts. I also put on a switch to swap the up/down movement. It was rubbish. LOL.
@@stefanschomburg8456 The only differences are that the 128k version doesn't need to multiload each track from tape, and that it uses the AY-chip for sound instead of the beeper.
Oh no! No type-in! Hehe oh well... Next time. Fortunately when I was playing Spectrum games back in the day I didn't have money for such a steering wheel, since I would have been rather keen on it. I would have wasted my money... I can't help but think what I can do today with an Arduino and a couple of accellerometers... Hmmmmm
Great video as always Paul. I do look forward to the last weekend of the month to see what wonders you show next. That wheel is intriguing. If the fire buttons had been placed in more of a trigger position, I wonder if t could have been used to play something along the lines of Star Wars or 3D Starstrike or Starglider or even Elite. I liked Isometric games and can appreciate their technical brilliance but I also had a bad time getting my eye in on the perspective so I was rubbish at playing them but still I did play them as they were a challenge for me and I enjoyed that aspect, even if I couldn;t get very far. I agree about H.A.T.E. being the best Zaxxon-like game on the Speccy, just a pity that the music from the CPC version wasn't placed on the Speccy version.
The later Nigel Mansell game you mention was more fun, although the original had a much better frame rate! Unfortunately I'd sold my Spectrum and moved on to Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix on the Amiga by then, and there was no going back.
Sentinels is a clone of the arcade game Kamikaze / Astro Invaders, which was originally developed by Konami (and published by Leijac or Stern depending on region) Barely anybody seems to remember the original but it definitely got its fair share of clones; I guess it must have been very for a short window of time, but quickly faded away. For Isometric games I'm surprised Spindizzy didn't get a mention, I enjoyed how it too some rough ideas from Marble Madness but turned it into a room-by-room puzzle game. Bobby Bearing was good too even if it felt like a cheap imitation.
I always wished I could be good at isometric games, but I just couldn't. Knight Lore, Head Over Heels, Batman... Whichever, I always got lost and\or killed each time, way too quickly. Even Where Time Stood Still and Great Escape, I just got lost and had no idea what to do. Movie was my favourite, even though I never got very far, as, once again, I had no idea what to do. The new Next version of HoH is great, but I suffer with the same problem of not knowing where to go, or what to do, and just not being very good at it. The only isometric game I could ever complete was a much more recent title called Lumo, it's heavily inspired by the old 8-bit games, and way more forgiving.
I just downloaded Sentinels and hacked into it. It is mostly basic with a few small MC routines. The game is similar to, (but not as good as), UFO from Protek on the ZX81.
It's not a glitch as such, it's just a side-effect of using XOR sprites. They have the advantage that you can cleanly erase sprites and restore the background by drawing the same sprite twice in the same location. It has the disadvantage that it makes sprites look a bit odd if they're drawn over complicated background graphics, such as the red and white grid at 10:30
I just love the way Paul sneaks Manic Miner into every show.
I prefer trying to get JetPac into every episode ;-)
I must be watching too many of these. Was whistling the theme tune this afternoon!
Great video to remember the good old days with the ZX--Spectrum and today it's behind me as I write this :-) Ivan from Croatia
Did you have a Sinclair Spectrum or a clone like the Didaktik or CIP?
If there is one thing I have always been envious of the Spectrum players as a C=64 owner it is the vibrant colours.
Yeah but you had better sound and hardware scrolling :-)
My favourite isometric Speccy game was the lesser known (probably budget) Rentakil Rita. You play Rita, a maid working in a huge mansion, and you've got to set and trigger traps for an invading army of bugs. Great fun, with some nice puzzles.
I loaded up my cassette of this last week and actually had more fun with it then than I did back in the day. It was great fun getting the sliding blocks all set up ready for you to spring the trap.
Jon Ritman's Batman was my favourite isometric game, even managed to complete it. Never much like Knight Lore, but Sweevo's World was fun.
That wheel looked like it was from the same team that made the 'Game Handler', a mercury switch 'air joystick' for NES and Megadrive. It was super glitchy to use and this was sold as a feature because apparently a lot of games didn't plan to have inputs on all directions multiple times per frame, so some games had interesting things you could find sometimes. The actual company that made the controller supposedly put out a couple of newsletters featuring tricks that could only be done with the stick, including throwing insanely wild pitches in a baseball game and teleportation in other games and a lot of 'moonwalking' platformer tricks where you could make the main character walk backwards through the stage.
Manic Miner with a steering wheel? Oh that must have a run through!
I can't even do it on a keyboard or joystick!
I always liked the look of the isometric games, but the only one I really enjoyed playing was Gunfright.
Quazatron & Magnatron were pretty good isometric adventures.
Thanks for another great show. Not really isometric but I though Tornado Low Level was brilliant.
I preferred Cyclone.
Cyclone as an amazing game!@@BuckingTheTrend2008
Anti Air looks right up my street!
Been looking forward to this episode
Another great episode. I received the latest copy of Retro Gamer today, and it has a very colourful 8 page spread on Knight Lore, and the other games it spawned.
Yes, it spawned a hell of a lot of games.
I made one of those wheels a couple of years ago using mercury switches and a toy, (bright yellow), steering wheel. The whole thing cost £7 in parts. I also put on a switch to swap the up/down movement. It was rubbish. LOL.
Probably better than mine ;-)
@@BuckingTheTrend2008 LOL
Thanks for this new episode, Paul! Always a highlight! Would have loved to see the 128K version of Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix.
This was shown on the video
@@SabretoothBarnacle Are you sure? I thought the 128K version was just mentioned, but no differences were shown.
@@stefanschomburg84567:12
@@stefanschomburg8456 The only differences are that the 128k version doesn't need to multiload each track from tape, and that it uses the AY-chip for sound instead of the beeper.
@@gwishart That's what I was hoping to see/hear, especially when Paul said "Let's start with the 48K version"
Oh no! No type-in! Hehe oh well... Next time. Fortunately when I was playing Spectrum games back in the day I didn't have money for such a steering wheel, since I would have been rather keen on it. I would have wasted my money... I can't help but think what I can do today with an Arduino and a couple of accellerometers... Hmmmmm
Type-ins coming soon.
That Mansell game looks like Chequered Flag - wonder if they used that as a starting point!
I preferred Continental Circus, (Formula one), a much better racing experience, also the fantastic Enduro Racer. (Motorbikes).
6:08 - that looks to be the CPC version in thr screenshot.
Great show as usual Paul, thanks.
Another great show
Great video as always Paul. I do look forward to the last weekend of the month to see what wonders you show next.
That wheel is intriguing. If the fire buttons had been placed in more of a trigger position, I wonder if t could have been used to play something along the lines of Star Wars or 3D Starstrike or Starglider or even Elite.
I liked Isometric games and can appreciate their technical brilliance but I also had a bad time getting my eye in on the perspective so I was rubbish at playing them but still I did play them as they were a challenge for me and I enjoyed that aspect, even if I couldn;t get very far. I agree about H.A.T.E. being the best Zaxxon-like game on the Speccy, just a pity that the music from the CPC version wasn't placed on the Speccy version.
Now there's an idea.. starstrike/star wars with that wheel... I just might try that!
@@BuckingTheTrend2008 If you do I'd love to know how it turned out.
The later Nigel Mansell game you mention was more fun, although the original had a much better frame rate! Unfortunately I'd sold my Spectrum and moved on to Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix on the Amiga by then, and there was no going back.
Big News I Brought a ZX Touch the other day and Love it.
Excellent. Still using mine. A great bit of kit.
@@BuckingTheTrend2008 Totally agree 👍
Great reviews!
Thank Clive Sinclair's ghost for some sense in the world. The spectrum show.
Looks like the Sentinels is written in BASIC.
Sentinels is a clone of the arcade game Kamikaze / Astro Invaders, which was originally developed by Konami (and published by Leijac or Stern depending on region) Barely anybody seems to remember the original but it definitely got its fair share of clones; I guess it must have been very for a short window of time, but quickly faded away.
For Isometric games I'm surprised Spindizzy didn't get a mention, I enjoyed how it too some rough ideas from Marble Madness but turned it into a room-by-room puzzle game. Bobby Bearing was good too even if it felt like a cheap imitation.
There are always more games in any category than you realise... until someone mentions them 🙂
Strapped in
I always wished I could be good at isometric games, but I just couldn't. Knight Lore, Head Over Heels, Batman... Whichever, I always got lost and\or killed each time, way too quickly. Even Where Time Stood Still and Great Escape, I just got lost and had no idea what to do. Movie was my favourite, even though I never got very far, as, once again, I had no idea what to do. The new Next version of HoH is great, but I suffer with the same problem of not knowing where to go, or what to do, and just not being very good at it. The only isometric game I could ever complete was a much more recent title called Lumo, it's heavily inspired by the old 8-bit games, and way more forgiving.
Welcome to my world!
Thank you
I just downloaded Sentinels and hacked into it. It is mostly basic with a few small MC routines. The game is similar to, (but not as good as), UFO from Protek on the ZX81.
What's that graphical glitch at 10.30 (Scumball) ? Seems hardware related...
Or is it part of the game?
It's not a glitch as such, it's just a side-effect of using XOR sprites. They have the advantage that you can cleanly erase sprites and restore the background by drawing the same sprite twice in the same location. It has the disadvantage that it makes sprites look a bit odd if they're drawn over complicated background graphics, such as the red and white grid at 10:30
Best isometric game: Ant Attack
Those pesky ants!
Scumball is a lovely budget game from Software Creations. The instant death room is a poor piece of game design, though.
Hate instant death rooms 😞
This is 40 years out of date! 😆