This latest piece of modern vintage hardware from Retro Games Ltd makes for an astonishingly nostalgic experience
The first time I played on a ZX Spectrum was at the Stockport branch of Debenhams, which in 1983 had an impressive home computer section that quickly turned into a sort of free creche for bored 13-year-old boys. You could hang out there for hours, typing rude Basic programs into an array of machines while the harried staff rushed about trying to stop them running. Some of the computers, however, ran games for customers to try – and this was where I encountered Manic Miner, the legendary platformer with its strange flashing visuals and surreal enemies. Speccy games looked utterly unique thanks to the machine’s idiosyncratic way of restricting 8×8 sprite maps to two colours, which meant moving objects on screen were usually collections of coloured pixel patchworks, leading to an effect known as attribute clash. Somehow, it was both ugly and beautiful – and it still is.
Unpacking The Spectrum, the latest piece of modern vintage hardware from Retro Games Ltd, is an astonishingly nostalgic experience. It looks exactly how I remember the original machine: a black slab with rubber keys, each one displaying not just a number or letter, but also a Basic programming command. “Rem”, “Rand”, “Gosub”, the mystical words of the home programming era. There is a USB cable to plug it in (though you’ll need a USB plug of your own) and an HDMI lead, but no joystick. The machine is compatible with most USB gamepads – you just need to configure the buttons yourself, which takes a little time but is worth it if you can’t bear using those rubber buttons to control your games.
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