Which Spectrum is best Spectrum?
Which Spectrum is best Spectrum?

GameCentral reviews the two new competing Spectrum consoles and names the 10 best Speccy games you must play on them.

You know how it is with retro console versions of classic ’80s computers: you wait decades for one and suddenly two turn up at once. How and why the Spectrum Vega and The Recreated Spectrum have arrived almost simultaneously we don’t know, but we’ve played on them both and we’re here to tell you which is best.

As you’d imagine you no longer have to spend 10 minutes waiting for the games to load in off a tape, and you can pause and save your progress at any time. But given the high price that both are going for are they really worth the money?

Return of the king... of '80s gaming

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega
Price: £99.99

There must be some demand for these machines because although it only came out on August 24 the Vega is already sold out, and they’re not expecting stock back in until the end of this month. As you can see it takes a fairly liberal approach to the Speccy’s ’80s aesthetic and doesn’t try to replicate the keyboard or any of the ordinary computer functions of the original. Instead it’s basically just a custom gamepad with 1,000 built-in games.


It’s not a very ergonomic or well-made gamepad though, but instead a cheap-looking slab of black plastic with a D-pad on one side and four buttons placed rather awkwardly on the right. These are made to look like the old Spectrum keys but they’re not as spongy and insubstantial as they used to be. There are another three ‘auxiliary’ buttons beneath them but they’re tiny and not suitable for action. A fourth is used to bring up a menu and an onscreen keyboard.

The Vega plugs directly into your TV via a composite cable, but there’s no HDMI option and not even a power plug – just a USB socket that never seemed to work properly when plugged into our television. The picture quality is poor whatever you seem to do and the whole device appears to have been designed without any awareness that HDTVs actually exist nowadays.

It all seems exceedingly cheap for what is basically an emulator in a box, which would be fine if it was actually cheap, but it’s not. It’s £100. You do get those 1,000 games but these are essentially free anyway, as we’ve been advised that it’s perfectly legal to download and play (by putting them on a SD card and slotting it into the Vega) any of the games from World of Spectrum. But if that’s the case the lack of curation on the ones that are included is baffling, as it’s missing dozens of major classics and is filled with tons of no-name games we’ve never heard of.


Vega does what it says on the tin, but none of it particularly well and all of it for an outrageously undeserved price.



The Recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Elite Systems
Price: £99.95

The Vega’s rival came out this week and takes an entirely different approach to reliving your childhood (or your dad’s at least). Just as it implies it’s an actual recreation of the original computer, with all the keys and even the ability to program in BASIC. It’s essentially a Bluetooth controller, but for some reason it’s obsessed with getting you to play the games via your phone or tablet – rather than a TV. Why you’d want to do that we’re not sure but the only option at the moment for using a television is to stream it to a smart TV.

You can also use a PC monitor but the whole set-up seems needlessly restrictive to us. But it is worth it because the device itself is a considerably better made piece of kit than the Vega. If you’re a crazy person you can even use it as a normal keyboard on your PC, although using it as such on an iOS or Android device is a lot more useful and the makers boast it’s the most responsive physical keyboard available for phones.

The buttons still don’t seem to register sometimes, but that’s how it used to be in the ’80s and in that context it seems perfectly allowable. Considering it’s the same price (well, 4p cheaper) The Recreated Spectrum is a considerably better proposition than the Vega in terms of hardware. The sticking point though is the games, which have to be added via a mobile app.


The Spectrum itself really is just a controller and the app currently only has around 40 games available – with a similarly random mix of all-time classics and unloved obscurities as the Vega. The real issue though is that you have to pay for some of the games. Not much admittedly, but it’s not the open house that the Vega offers. Although that’s because in this case Elite (who as a retro bonus used to publish games themselves back in the ’80s) have officially licensed them.

If you want the full nostalgia hit then The Recreated Spectrum is the best option at the moment, although it may be worth waiting a few weeks to see how often the app gets updated.

The 10 best Spectrum games ever

Considering the less than definitive range of games on offer from both consoles the following is our list of the 10 best games on the Speccy. It’s not necessarily the list that would’ve been drawn up in the computer’s heyday, but we’ve ignored arcade conversions and those games that have not stood the test of time as well as you might hope. We’re sure you’ll let us know exactly how wrong we’ve got it, but here are our favourites to play in the modern day:

1. Head Over Heels (1987)

A peerless classic no matter when it was made, this is the ultimate isometric adventure of the 8-bit era and an endlessly inventive mix of puzzles and platforming. The big gimmick is that you control two characters at once – one who can glide through the air and shoot doughnuts, and the other who’s faster and better at jumping. You can team them up to become one giant-sized character but the game is clever enough to ensure you’re constantly forced to split them up again. The fact that there’s never been an official remake or sequel is a travesty.


2. Back To Skool (1985)

The sequel to Skool Daze is even better than the first and a prime example of the ’80s approach to open world adventure. In this case the open world is just a school and its surroundings, but you’ve still got complete freedom to do whatever you like – assuming you can get away with it with the teachers. The big addition for the sequel was a nearby girls school, which you have numerous ways to gain access to and unleash your armoury of stink bombs, water pistols, and mice.


3. The Great Escape (1986)

Another classic isometric adventure, with some of the best graphics the good old Spectrum could offer. This is one of the only games that has a modern day equivalent, in the purposefully retro The Escapists. Both have a similar premise, as you try to avoid the attention of guards and slowly put together your escape plan. Developer Denton Designs followed the game up with the equally good Where Time Stood Still.


4. The Lords of Midnight (1984)

Although almost none of these games have a modern day equivalent or remake a few have ended up on smartphones, as basically ports of the original. One of these is the classic Tolkien-esque adventure from the late lamented Mike Singleton. It’s a staggeringly ambitious mix of strategy game and text adventure, that has you attempting to recruit an army to save a fantasy world. Almost none of its original appeal is lost playing it today and the attempts at a first person view still have their quaint charm.


5. Underwurlde (1984)

The only place to find any of these old games on a console is the recent Rare Replay collection on Xbox One, which includes a few of Rare’s old Spectrum classics – from back when they were called Ultimate Play The Game. We could’ve chosen any number of classics for this spot, including Knight Lore, Lunar Jetman, and Alien 8, but we’ve plumped for Sabre Wulf sequel Underwurlde. The mix of platforming and action is far more nuanced than most of its contemporaries, with different enemies being vulnerable to different weapons.


6. T.L.L. (1984)

Probably the ugliest looking game on our list to the non-beliver but this was quite the technical revelation at the time, as you control an aircraft manoeuvring at very low altitude (the name stands for Tornado Low Level). The fact that you can actually see the shadow of your plane on the ground was as advanced as 3D graphics got at the time and the 8-way scrolling levels were again proof that open-ended gameplay is not a new invention.


7. Laser Squad (1988)

Like the Rare games this slot is really an all-in-one homage to all of the Gollop brothers’ 8-bit games, especially Rebelstar and Chaos. But it’s Laser Squad that’s always been our favourite: a fantastic turn-based strategy game whose competitive mode is as tense and exciting as any modern day shooter. Even if the other guy has to sit and wait while you have your go, while repeatedly insisting that they’re not looking at what you’re doing.


8. Chuckie Egg (1983)

For our money this super simple platformer has aged better than Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, even though it’s just as prehistoric. In fact it’s one of the first platform games on any format, as you run around the single screen stages trying to collect eggs and avoid angry hens (and an equally furious duck in later levels). It’s also supposed to be exclusive to The Recreated Spectrum, thanks to a deal with the original creator.


9. Fantasy World Dizzy (1989)

There are an awful lot of Dizzy games out there but we think most fans would agree that this has always been the best one. One of the later games on our list, almost squeaking into the ’90s, it’s the perfect implementation of the game’s formula of 2D platforming, obscure puzzle-solving, and charming humour. But unfortunately it’s not available on either of the retro consoles at the moment – presumably because publisher Codemasters are still going and they haven’t licensed it out yet. Thankfully though all the games are available to play on your web browser at this fan website.


10. The Hobbit (1982)

This beloved text adventure is a nightmare to play on the Vega, because it doesn’t have a proper keyboard, but it’s arguably the best of its breed on the Spectrum. Typing commands such as ‘go north’ and ‘get lamp’ may seem bizarre to modern gamers but the parser was very advanced for the time and the atmosphere is far more authentic than the recent Peter Jackson films. Interestingly this is also the only non-British made game in our list, as it was made by Beam Software in Australia.

