The 9 ZX Spectrum Games We Want to See Again

To many younger gamers, retro gaming is the original Playstation or the N64. But to those of us who have been waggling our joysticks for a few more years, the ZX Spectrum brings back fond memories. Emulators can often disappoint those who think that they don’t make games like they used to, but here at TheGamingReview there are a few Spectrum games that we’d love to see brought kicking and screaming into 2010.

We’ve probably missed your favourites, so let us know what you’d like to see!

In no particular order…

The Hobbit
Arguably the most famous adventure game on the Spectrum, the Hobbit gave an atmospheric adventure that was both challenging and extremely enjoyable. Obviously text adventures are a little off the menu nowadays, but as a point and click adventure? The very thought of it is enough to get us a little excited.

IK+
Working your way up through the various belts, this karate game was great fun in multiplayer and is crying out for a 3D version. Giving a detailed training mode, customisable characters and a suitable career mode, IK+HD (as it probably wouldn’t be called) would be a force to be reckoned with. As long as it kept the bonus round where you batted away bowling balls with a dinner tray, obviously.

The Great Escape
Based on the infamous film, this is one that seems like an obvious choice for Rockstar. Gaining the trust of the guards and other prisoners, plotting daring escapes with others, even setting up other prisoners to take the suspicion off your own actions… imagine a deep conversation tree with variable outcomes based on what you say to people. Could be epic.

Dizzy
The series of Dizzy games were much loved by a huge number of people. The challenge of only carrying one item at a time, the momentum of jumping and ending up rolling off a cliff, all contributed to a lovable and challenging game experience. So how would this work on modern day consoles? Well, think of Ratchet and Clank with an egg and you’ll get the idea.

Dan Dare
Playing a game that looks like a comic from start to finish was really unusual in the 80s, and that hasn’t really changed. The original was a side scrolling platformer, and a reboot could easily be in exactly the same style (3D wouldn’t really suit the comic styling). I’d just really like to see something a bit different, and a playable comic would be exactly that.

Operation Wolf
One for Playstation Move, this. Saving hostages, shooting down helicopters, throwing grenades at people, what could be better? Sure, Time Crisis will soon be giving us a bit of lightgun-style action, but it wouldn’t have Operation Wolf’s music. Nor will it have huge blokes popping up right in front of your face asking for trouble. I want to shoot a jeep. Now.

Target Renegade
There have probably been quite a few games along the lines of Target Renegade over the last few years, but nothing where you could grab a sledgehammer and clobber people, knee them in the groin then turn round and perform a flying kick to knock someone else off an incoming motorbike. Be honest, that does sound pretty cool.

Barbarian
Imagine Soul Calibur with the ability to slice someone’s head off. Need I say more?

Chase HQ
The latest Need for Speed has sort of taken this one on, but chasing bad guys through busy streets trying to ram them off the road was always fun. Add in a range of cars from police squads across the world, some real world streets to race through and a voice over from the guy from World’s Wildest Police Chases and you’ve got a sure fire winner.