ZX Spectrum: Celebrating 40 Years of the greatest little games machine ever made
Today's gaming geeks can keep their Playstation 5s and their XBox Series Ss – there's only one machine that holds a place in my heart, the ZX Spectrum.
Although it boasted only about a millionth of the capacity of 2022's behemoths (48k was big in its day though), the ZX Spectrum, first produced by the British-based Sinclair Research Limited in April 1982, caught the imagination of users and game designers for the better part of a decade, leaving an incredible legacy of more than 14,000 software titles.
With the late Sir Clive Sinclair's baby this month celebrating its 40th birthday (and interest in the machine reinvigorated by crowdfunded plug-n-play, hand-held consoles and an updated replica of the machine itself), it seems like a good time to dust off the tape deck and hit Load "" on eight of the greatest games made for "the Speccy".
* Handheld ZX Spectrum console announced * Happy 30th birthday, ZX Spectrum
Originally an arcade game staple at video parlours and fish-and-chip shop's around the land, this platformer provided endless hours of addictive fun whether using the Spectrum's trademark rubbery keyboard or flimsy joysticks.
Essentially an upgraded form of Pac Man, it was one of the many titles where the Speccy version was far superior to the rival Commodore 64's, even if they had Jean-Michel Jarre as its soundtrack.
Without it there would have been no Championship Manager, or arguably even Fifa 17.
Yes the football action looks like the barely upgraded version of Pong, but the ability to manage your favourite English club from the fourth division to the first (this was well before the Premier League remember) meant many hours were lost to picking teams, organising transfers and watching the nail-biting "match
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