Spy Games Pt. III – The Prisoner on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Girl Who Was Death Spectrum ZX Cover
As with the Prisoner games released for the Apple IIe that we discussed last week, I’d never heard of the following games, nor even the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, until I did some Googling.
The ZX Spectrum is apparently the first mainstream home computer in the UK, was easy to program, and stored games and software on cassette tape cartridges. I believe it to be similar in capabilities and time of release to the Commodore 64 I enjoyed as a kid.
A number of Prisoner text-based adventures, of the open door / get item variety were released on the Spectrum, and thanks to website World of Spectrum, most of them are now playable online!
In chronological order, with as much info as I’ve been able to dig up on them:
The Prisoner (Bradbury) Loading Screen
Date Unknown – The Prisoner – Carol & Paul Bradbury (Text adventure with illustrations)
World of Spectrum gameplay page
The Prisoner (Flame) Loading Screen
1984 – The Prisoner – Flame Software (Text adventure with illustrations)
World of Spectrum info page
Comments from the author, Stephen Preston:
Having watched the Prisoner repeats on the new Channel 4 in 1984, I became inspired to write a game based on the series. The format suited the adventure game very well – an enclosed island from which you must escape. What was different about this game from other adventures though was it had rather a lot of complex discussion about freedom and individuality mixed into the “take plank, use plank on hole” type cliches. Unsurprisingly, the concept and solution to the game was actually written by my dad, upon which I coded it into the final product. As such it is a rather peculiar game with many odd moments that baffle and then surprise, however the solution is best kept close at hand as the game is incredibly difficult to solve, therefore I should pay a visit to my attic to get the solution for you guys if you ever fancy meeting “Number One”! If the solution is listed, you’ll know I’ve done it!
Game map from the author, Stephen Preston, at World of Spectrum
Hints and walkthrough at The Tipshop.
Scanned instructions from World of Spectrum
World of Spectrum gameplay page.
The Prisoner (Shailes) Loading Screen
1985 – The Prisoner – Spoof Software (Text adventure)
Written by Francis A. Shailes, additional design by Gregory D. Shailes
World of Spectrum gameplay page
Hints and walkthrough at The Tipshop (might not be accurate — I saw no mention of the need to regularly eat or ways to deal with darkness)
Review from Sinclair User Magazine
Review from Computer & Video Games Magazine
Number 6 in the Village Loading Screen
1987 – Number Six in the Village – P.R. Software (Text adventure)
World of Spectrum info page
World of Spectrum gameplay page
World of Spectrum gameplay page for second edition
Game map from World of Spectrum
Hints and walkthrough from the Tipshop
Scanned instructions from World of Spectrum
The Girl Who Was Death Loading Screen
1987 – The Girl Who Was Death – Stephen Preston (Text adventure with illustrations)
Based on the single episode from the Prisoner that was taken from an old Danger Man script
Comment from author, Stephen Preston:
This adventure is probably my best achievement and was actually written over 18 months without much break. The game got so large that it had to be divided into two parts, with a data loader allowing the user to bring his time used and inventory over from part 1. Originally each part was on either side of a cassette. Overall the game added up to something like 92K of data, huge at the time! The game was positively reviewed by a couple of magazines at the time, but the greatest thing for me was beating the Scott Adams score for his latest adventure – for it was Adventureland on the Vic 20 (owned by Gareth Davies!) back in 1981 that first introduced me to the concept of the adventure game, one which I found thoroughly exciting. Looking back, the game could have been a lot better. It is linear in its strategy, and follows the adventure of the Prisoner episode it is based on very strictly. As such it is atmospheric and faithful, but loses flexibility and mystery. The input syntax is also a little limiting. Despite all this, it retain a lot of charm and proved popular with fans of the series.
Game instructions from World of Spectrum
World of Spectrum gameplay page
Walkthrough from the Tipshop
