MAIN MENU     INTRODUCTION THE PHOTO CASEBOOK GIG ARCHIVE DJ SETS ANCIENT REVIEWS PRE-OGG-CAST MIXTAPES ZX SPECTRUM PAGES       ASSOCIATED WEB PAGES     THE HAMMER OF RETRIBUTION OGG-CAST HAMMER OF RETRIBUTION PRODUCTIONS THE DIAMOND HAMMER: MINECRAFT CREATIONS RICK DANGEROUS RESURRECTED RZX ACTION REPLAY FILES ZX Spectrum emulation started almost as soon as the last Amstrad-built models had left the shelves in 1993, and in the intervening two decades plus, just about every aspect of the original machines has been emulated. There are tape images, disk images for both the +3 and the later Russian clones, microdrive images, Interface 2 ROMs, memory snapshots, poke files, all of which relate to the original machine and its various peripherals. But one interesting addition was the RZX file format, which could recreate a series of keystrokes at precise times to make an action replay, usually of a game being played, provided the initial tape or disk file is available. This is a much more efficient method of recording action replays compared to video. The RZX of Jet Set Willy II, which takes 67 minutes to play back, is only 413 KB; the equivalent 480p video is 153 MB and at 720p this expands further to 480 MB. Admittedly a video file can be rewound or spun forwards, but for the size of the files, RZX is unbeatable. The RZX Archive hosts a ton of these action replays that have been submitted by avid Spectrum gamers; Spectaculator, ZX Spin and FUSE (which I recommended on the main Spectrum page) can all play them back. I've done a few myself - some are on the RZX Archive, some other bits and pieces that are less suitable for that site I've hosted here. PROGRAM FILE DETAILS Blood & Guts blood.rzx 367 KB / 27m05s Hosted on The RZX Archive A 1984 game from Quicksilva based on the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage - travel round your host's body reassembling your submarine, while killing infections and tumours and steering well clear of the indestructible viruses. This was a game I managed to get a long way into in my younger years, and finally beat without any cheats in my twenties when I figured out how to navigate the intestines logically (and found the last piece of the submarine). It is possible, albeit a lot slower, to hunt down and destroy the eight tumours before taking the first submarine piece to the brain, which then unleashes the viruses. That first submarine piece is obvious on the first screen and can be taken to the brain straight away for a faster time, which is what I have done here. Be very lucky with finding the white cells needed to destroy the tumours and it should be possible to beat the game with under 20 minutes on the clock. Fantastic Voyage fantastic.rzx 573 KB / 36m09s Hosted on The RZX Archive Later in 1984, in anticipation of a film sequel that never arrived, Quicksilva rehashed Blood & Guts, reverting it to its original title - so having beaten one version of the game, I thought I'd crack the other as well. Fantastic Voyage has made the graphics a lot more realistic (for the Spectrum), re-routed some of the more illogical one-way passages in the host's body... and made the game a lot harder. Viruses appear from the start of the game, but can be shot. However, the scenery is all trying to kill you. Veins have valves which are timed to stab you if you fall freely, the lungs have a deadly surface, the kidneys and major arteries are full of sprouting fronds and moving blobs, and all this is on top of the infections, tumours and intestinal worms that the original brought. So, I've had to use the Rollback facility on ZX Spin to record this one to have any hope of getting anywhere, even though the body is laid out much the same way. Monty Python's Flying Circus montypython.rzx 470 KB / 53m45s Hosted on The RZX Archive And now... number one, the larch. The. Larch. And now... an extremely silly game that I knew from the 16-bit version on my cousin's Atari ST. Having played that version extensively (with an infinite continues hack so I made it right the way through), I was in a perfect position to be able to record an RZX of the Spectrum version. It's shorter, due to the more limited memory - maybe about half the length of the ST version - and of course has lower-resolution graphics and none of the amusing sound effects (such as Gumby's granny reading out everything he picked up on the level - spam, spam, spam, beans, spam, sausage, egg, spam, spam, spam, sausage, spam... could have been straight out of the original sketch). It was still worth a punt - but if there's a Let's Play of the ST (or Amiga) version out there, watch that! Ned's Garden ned.rzx 31 KB / 4m55s Hosted on The RZX Archive A short and simple game from 16/48 Tape Magazine in 1985 that was more akin to 1982 in its design, that was packaged on a compilation that came with my Spectrum. There are only nine screens, Ned has to pick up the objects that he left in each screen, take them back to the shed, then find the key and lock up. It is complicated by the controls where Ned moves quite fast in whole character squares but has to be perfectly aligned at a junction - not always easy and the chances are one of the nasties will bump him off. The author might have been a Monty Python fan as one of the areas is a shrubbery and I'm sure those are supposed to be swallows in the herb garden (African or European?). Either way, I probably liked it in my youth more than others as I managed to get part of the way through it even then. Rick Dangerous rick1.rzx 166 KB / 19m47s Hosted on The RZX Archive Probably my main reason for building websites in the first place, this game - I mean, just look on the menu bar to the left - although, like Monty Python, this was one I discovered via my cousin and his ST. The 8-bit versions were always going to be missing something, and in the Spectrum's case it's realistic colours (not too surprising, that), the musical interludes between levels, some of the levels themselves... and the "waaaaaaaaaaa!" sound effect whenever Rick or a baddie dies. If it looks like I'm rampaging through the game at any point (particularly South America) or taking a weird route, it's because I knew the game inside out at the time - with essential details such as the position of the hidden traps. Rick Dangerous II rick2.zip 384 KB / 35m52s Hosted on The RZX Archive With a website chronicling the complete adventures of Rick Dangerous, I had to do the second game in the series as well. Unlike the original, this version cut very little of its level structure compared to the 16-bits - the second, third and fourth levels have a couple of screens missing, but that's all - which means it came as a multi-load tape and at the time, ZX Spin couldn't handle one single RZX file over several loaded blocks, hence it's in five parts in a ZIP package. And don't be fooled by the level select menu - you'll have to start at Hyde Park and get through all four of the initial levels to reveal the fifth! And if you've got a low threshold for pain, don't say you weren't warned about that last level... Roboto roboto.rzx 338 KB / 37m53s Hosted on The RZX Archive Roboto was a game I enjoyed when I was a nipper - it's another one that came on the 90-odd games compilation bundled with my Spectrum - but it was diabolically hard. There were 63 rooms to deactivate - shoot the power orb and leave via a different exit if one exists - but until that was done the room would be full of one-hit-kill floors and walls, crushers, traps, hails of bullets, landmines - in short, if it moves, it's deadly, if it doesn't, it might still be. There were even switches that had to be hit that activated a closing door - which was also lethal to the touch. Oh, and Roboto was mounted on a floating platform that sank slowly so good luck getting through narrow horizontal gaps with death floors and death ceilings. That's probably why I came nowhere even close to beating the game without an emulator and save states - normally I might be able to deactivate ten rooms or so. Still, that's what Rollback is for, right ? Wibstars wib1.rzx 28.1 KB / 36s wib2.rzx 27.6 KB / 55s wib3.rzx 26.2 KB / 50s Hosted on this site And now for one of the most universally derided games of all time - but one that kept me amused in my youth for far longer than all the critics tell me it had any right to. Apparently it was a pun on a delivery service called Webster's (don't think they exist now) who must have had a dreadful reputation. These three (short) RZXs show each stage of the game. In stage 1 (wib1.rzx), you can buy tapes, floppy disks and Spectrums at the depot and load them into the van - only thing is, they're dropped down a chute, far too many at a time, and most of them will smash and be wasted. Don't do this. Just buy one Spectrum, like I did, and have done with it. In stage 2 (wib2.rzx), you drive the van to one of the suppliers at the end of each street. They pay different prices for each of the goods so it helps to know which one you're going to and what they pay. Argus's pays double what each is worth, so that's where we're going. But a rival is driving in front of us and has carelessly left his back doors open, and is dropping damaging rubbish onto us which has to be avoided to keep the repair bill low. Amongst the trash, though, are some useful goods - tapes, disks and the occasional Spectrum which can be sold at the supplier; sometimes it's worth diving in amongst the stream of garbage to grab a Spectrum if it appears. In stage 3 (wib3.rzx), the van arrives at Argus's and has to deliver the goods to the office. This time there's a package of three Spectrums; into the lift they go, onto a rising platform, and a conveyor, over the bridge, onto a falling platform that re-emerges at the top of the screen, onto another bridge, over another conveyor and a huge hand will grab them and deposit £600 in your pocket. Sounds easy, right? Well it would be, except that not only does your timing have to be spot on, but there's the random hazards of a section of the bridge giving way under the package before you can get to it, or the lift going mental at the most inappropriate time. I've only gone and made a crude ASCII map of where the suppliers are and what they pay. Visit Hanif's for a great deal on disks but get ripped off for Spectrums; visit Ziff's for the best deal on Spectrums but a terrible return on all the other goods. And Patel's should be avoided whatever you're carrying; how do they stay in business?