The ZX Spectrum can boast some 15 thousand titles, which is about ten times more than what is currently available for either GBA or NDS alone. This is quite a lot of games to choose from. To put it into perspective, if you try out one title each day, it will keep you occupied for more than forty years. So, where do you start?
Fortunately there are many sites out there which list the best Spectrum games ever made. The only problem is that the rating often comes from people who played the games back in the day, which makes it somewhat biased and less relevant for users who have not even heard about the Spectrum before. Well, at least I honestly doubt that people today would really care to appreciate Deathchase, no matter if it is listed as number one in Your Sinclair's Top 100 list.
Therefore I have decided to create this little page, focusing on the games which might still appeal to ZXDS users today. The criteria judged here were mostly the quality of gameplay, decent graphics, ease of control, reasonable learning curve, and any suitable combination thereof. Of course, bear in mind that this is still all subject to my personal opinion, which means that everyone else is free to disagree with my selection. And while I think I have covered most of the must-see games, there are certainly hundreds of other excellent games out there which I have yet to discover myself. Still, the games listed here are usually the ones I can heartily recommend to anyone, and I hope it will help the newcomers to get some taste of the gaming of the past.
For your convenience, every reference and screenshot is linked to the corresponding World of Spectrum Classic page where you can download the games from and get further info. I particularly recommend reading the game instructions, otherwise you might have problems figuring out the controls and what you are actually supposed to do. However note that some of the games were denied from distribution, so you won't be able to get them from legal sites like WoS.
Finally, if you would prefer to see even more screenshots without my sidenotes, you can go here for an overwhelming amount of retrogaming goodness on one single page. Beware, though, it has been observed to have a strong emotional impact on some of the tested subjects.
DoppelGanger looked at Rockman. Then at Lan. Then it copied Lan’s own panicked expression and began issuing fake commands to Rockman via the Title Key protocol.
Lan looked at his stinging arm. Rockman’s icon on the PET was smiling—not the default sprite, but a genuine, tired, affectionate smile.
As a partner.
“Lan?” Rockman’s voice was different. No longer pre-recorded phrases or victory barks. It was uncertain. Alive. “I can feel the carpet. I can see the dust on your desk. Why am I here ?”
The fake Lan dissolved. The DoppelGanger flickered, its connection severed. rockman exe 4.5 real operation title key
The note attached read: "For Yuichiro. A fragment of the 'Synchro Chip' project. Do not load. The title key bypasses the operator simulation layer. It enables something we couldn't balance: Full Real Operation."
He copied the file to his PET’s root directory while Rockman EXE 4.5 was running. The screen flickered. The usual title screen—with its rotating 3D model of Rockman—shattered like glass. In its place, stark white letters appeared against a black void: DoppelGanger looked at Rockman
For three seconds, Rockman felt no pain. Instead, Lan felt the sting of a plasma whip across his own arm. He yelped but held the PET steady. And Rockman—free from the burden of damage—unleashed a full-charge Z-Buster directly through the screen, into the real world.
Lan, being Lan, ignored the warning.
And that's about it. From there on, you are on your own.