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ZX Spectrum vs Commodore 64 - My Computer is Better Than Yours
Thursday, 19th May 2011, 15:19

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Games
Surely this category is the one and only place that can deliver us a true winner in this debate? After all, when I was a kid it was ALL about the games. Trouble is, looking back things are less than clear. On the 64 there is no doubt that The Last Ninja series, Wizball, Impossible Mission and Armalyte are fantastic games typical of the system. Yet many games like Starglider, Tau Ceti and Elite were better on the Spectrum.

All I can really offer here is the unfair salute to the Spectrum on sheer numbers alone. It had more games, so looking back the number of classics written would inevitably be more. Of all the innovative titles that created new genres that I can remember, nearly all of them appeared on the Spectrum first, and were better on it too.

The Conclusion
I'm sorry C64 fans, but the Spectrum was the better machine. If it could have had a SID chip in it as well, it would have been the most clear cut decision that nobody could argue with. That isn't to say the 64 wasn't brilliant itself, and I do so love it too. I just look back at all the games I used to play at home and round friends, and more of them were Speccy titles than 64 ones.

Sure when it came to pure arcade graphics, the C64 had an advantage with its funky audio and hardware sprite/scrolling assistance, but so many of the best games from the 8 bit era went beyond such things. Whilst I loved a shoot-em-up like R-Type, and still do, I also enjoyed isometric puzzle games, the bizarre school adventure that was Skooldaze, and I cannot tell a lie... I especially enjoyed 3D titles like I, Of the Mask.

And what's more, it's a trend that has continued with me through to this very day, with me shunning the NES and SNES in favour of the Amiga with it's more interesting catalogue of titles. I preferred the Dreamcast to the PS1 for the same reasons, and even now I'm glad I have a Wii rather than a PS3 or XBox 360, because the latter are what you get if driving games and FPS are your bag, and the former if you want oddball titles that the others just don't really offer in enough quantities.

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Posted by Robert John Shepherd

Comments on this Item

ChangesPosted by Si Wooldridge on 19-5-2011 18:13

Excellent article, Rob. My first true love was also a Speccy (48k with Kempston Joystick Interface) and there really was nothing like it in those days. I was never jealous in the early days of C64 owners, the only thing I wanted to get into that they had were the Scott Adams adventure games - but it didn't take too long for adventure games to appear on the Speccy, especially The Hobbit which was immensely popular (and hard).

Skool Daze was one of those classic games that followed in the wake of US Gold and Ultimate, amongst others. Once played, never forgotten. I had some emulators a few years ago but haven't fired them up in ages, I really need to dig them out I think...

ChangesPosted by Robert John Shepherd on 19-5-2011 18:16

I think I still have my guide book for The Hobbit somewhere. Remember how it drew the locations with lines and then coloured them in using a flood fill? Those were the days.

ChangesPosted by Retro Brothers on 26-5-2011 10:09

Great article!
I too am on the side of the Speccy as I was an avid Speccy user until 1991 when I finally upgraded to an Amiga.

I agree with a lot of what you say - some of the Spectrum games have aged very nicely and I return to many to play such as Exploding Fist, Green Beret, Exolon, Missile Defence, Manic Miner and Uridium.

A great and balanced article - and I have to take my hat off to the SID chip. Some of those tunes are nothing short of brilliant.

ChangesPosted by Jitendar Canth on 26-5-2011 11:42

10 / 10

That was my upgrade path too, Speccy 48, Speccy 128 and then Amiga 1200, although the Speccy is still my gold tinged nostalgia fest of choice. My best friend had the C64, and I had the Spectrum, so we had the best of both worlds. I sort of envied the sprite graphics and the SID chip, while he liked my Speccy for its versatility.

When I think about it though, we spent far more time around my house playing Spectrum games than we did playing C64 games around his.

ChangesPosted by Robert John Shepherd on 26-5-2011 11:51

Very similar here too, ZX81, to Spectrum 16k, upgraded to 48k, my dad got a BBC Micro Model B which I enjoyed in parallel, then +3, a Sega Master System which I had at the same time, Amiga 500, upgraded that to 1MB, then it was PCs from there on.

I think I might have to write about how programmers these days don't know they're born!

ChangesPosted by Jitendar Canth on 26-5-2011 11:59