TURBO ESPRIT, Durell, 1986 "You're actually driving down real streets in a fully-mapped city...you could see the ordinary people. The ones who didn't get to zoom around in a cool car. It gave you something to measure your escapades against." As featured in Speccy Nation: amzn.eu/d/aBq5Ir4

Name a game with a 10/10 soundtrack: Agent X

Hey lovelies! It's another year around the moon for this old Sheepy, and to 'celebrate', my ZX Spectrum games are now 50% off! Hurrah! Hope you find something you love! :D #retrogaming #ZXSpectrum #TheSpectrum #Gamedev #Retrodev itch.io/s/138690/the...

DRUG WATCH, Nottinghamshire Constabulary, 1985 "Grass is depicted as actual grass – a twiggy sort of thing that looks nothing like the iconic marijuana leaf. LSD apparently comes as a cyan bar of soap...sometimes, it’s just the word DRUG." As featured in Speccy Nation Vol 2: amzn.eu/d/8GIqKrr

Your regular reminder that the opening screen of the Super Gran text adventure is like something out of a Saw movie.

THE FALL GUY, Elite Systems, 1985 "The decision to render the masculine icon that is Lee Majors as a sort of pot-bellied stick man certainly doesn’t help..." As featured in Speccy Nation Vol 2: amzn.eu/d/7nCFOkJ

DRILLER, Incentive Software, 1986 "Driller's victories may have been technical rather than creative in nature, but there's no denying that it represented a staggering achievement in Spectrum coding." As featured in Speccy Nation: amzn.eu/d/4LO6YrF

DEUS EX MACHINA, Automata, 1984 "With each section of the game carefully timed to match up with the narration on the tape, the experience is downright eerie and utterly immersive" As featured in Speccy Nation: amzn.eu/d/dTQlVPp www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZS6...

EVERYONE'S A WALLY, Mikro-Gen "There are moments of whimsy, of course, but the whole game groans with bone-deep sadness. If Mike Leigh had gone into game design rather than film making, this is the game he would have made." As featured in Speccy Nation: amzn.eu/d/cIsnzMx

WEETABIX vs THE TITCHIES "A crude Space Invaders clone...simple and utterly tedious. Still, it has the distinction of being the only Speccy game, and perhaps the only game ever, based on a breakfast cereal which is some small achievement." As featured in Speccy Nation Vol 2: amzn.eu/d/aKkQDpB

Okay! A day later than usual, but a new issue of our retro gaming 'zine, Between the Scanlines, is out! Memories of all the feels from game music, a feature on @infernulls.bsky.social's 80's/90s-inspired light novel, and Space Hulk on the Amiga! betweenthescanlines.itch.io/issue-twenty...

Incredible news from Alan Turvey, fans of top notch modern Spectrum games and supporting worthwhile causes rejoice!!

Speccy Sunday Trivia Time: which well-known ZX Spectrum-connected artist drew the comic pages featured at the start of Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster Superman: The Movie? For more Sinclair trivia, check out the official Speccy Nation Quiz Book: amzn.eu/d/fBMIIZW

MANIC MINER, 1983, Bug Byte Software "Few were able to clear all twenty screens without help from a POKE or two, but that doesn't dim Manic Miner's importance or the beautiful clarity of its design" As featured in Speccy Nation: amzn.eu/d/9LuyLqL

Dip back into a more innocent gaming age with Speccy Nation, an ongoing series of books exploring how Sinclair's scrappy 8-bit computer helped to define British game design and reflect 80s pop culture. Volumes 1 and 2 available now, plus a Speccy quiz book! Buy here: shorturl.at/VRNjy