The tales of Miner Willy

New versions of the classic ZX Spectrum games Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are being made all the time. These games have been a fascination for players since their first inception in 1984/85.

The game is one of simplicity wherein Miner Willy has to defeat his enemies and overcome all sorts of obstacles, whilst at the same time collecting things of value on his route through to the surface of the mine.

It was among the pioneers of the platform game genre and became an instant success. The hazards he encounters are many, and if he uses up all his lives then he must return to the beginning of the game.

Players experienced extreme frustration, together with excitement, and it became a game played by teenagers everywhere.

Jet Set Willy was the sequel to Manic Miner, and encompassed many more horrors to overcome in Miner Willy’s mansion which he’d bought with the proceeds of his success in the mine.

The whole idea of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy came from 17 year old Matthew Smith, and in a very short time made him an extremely wealthy young man.

Despite the intervening years, these two games are experiencing a fantastic revival, and the originals can be seen again thanks to the accessibility of ZX Spectrum emulators which enable these classics to be played on your computer.

Manic Miner was the first game on the ZX Spectrum with in-game music, which was achieved by alternating CPU time between the music and the game. It’s incredible to think that despite the fact there are so many computer games now available, these two classics are still played and enjoyed by so many enthusiasts.

Initially released by BugByte in 1983, Manic Miner was later released by Software Projects. There were several differences between the BugByte version and that of Software Projects i.e., at the end of the computer belt in the processing plant the BB version had a bush, whereas in the Software Projects version it was a ghost. Octopuses were changed into smiling beetles and so on.

Some remakes today remain faithful to the original but by adding new stages and giving the game a graphical and aural makeover they’re brought up-to-date for modern day players. This does not take away the broad appeal of the addictive game play and the series still stands up to close scrutiny even in today’s high tech genre.