Update 48: Heading into 2025 -- a bit late, eh? · ZX Spectrum Next - Issue 2
We’re well into 2025 and, would you believe, missing updates about the Next! How did this happen? Well, here we are to fix the issue and bring a ton of news for your beloved ZX Spectrum Next. Let’s begin!
Head Over Heels Deluxe hits Steam
In what is a first of hopefully many, a Spectrum Next game made its way to Steam! The venerable Head Over Heels Deluxe, after gathering every accolade under the sun including a Crash Smash and a Retro Sizzler, is now available to millions of PC players out there who didn’t see this coming.We know your heart belongs to the Next, but if you play on a PC now and then, head over to Steam and grab a copy while it’s 25% discounted – you will be helping the dev team a ton with your purchase of a very fine game, and if this project works over there, it can set the stage for others to follow, meaning Next devs can find a new income stream which enables them making more awesome games for the Spectrum Next in the knowledge they can make a living out of it – while we grow the Next community in parallel (more on that below).Head over to Steam (see what we did there?) and get into the adventure with Headus Mouthion and Footus Underium:https://store.steampowered.com/app/3153640/Head_Over_Heels_Deluxe/
Spectrum Next Year 2024 in Review
Bret Bapstarcade Pritchard made a great video recap of 2024, naming it ‘The Best Next Year -- so far!’ It covers games, apps, events and all the important happenings that took place last year, showing how much has been going on. It’s a great watch and sets the bar for what we’ll have to put together for 2025, so let’s get cracking… SymbOS 4.0 multitasking madness on the NextSymbOS, the GUI operating system that made its name on the MSX and Amstrad CPC has been ported to the Spectrum Next a while back, but only now seems to have been properly discovered by the Next community.If you missed it, check out the multitasking madness video below showing it running games, playing music, video and system operations without breaking a sweat.You can download it and launch from NextZXOS as you do with any normal application. Download it from this link: http://www.symbos.de and check out the Apps section for extra exploration!
Solitaire on the Next
D Xalior Rimron-Soutter released a Solitaire demo for the Next back on Xmas, and while we’re technically late in covering it, it seems he has hidden Easter Eggs that have not yet been found, thus the hunt is on – hopefully successfully concluded before Easter is upon us!Go download the demo, play Solitaire (what’s not to like) and let us know if you happen to find the secrets within: https://zxnext.uk/details?item=db1cf3
Platypus Next Peril
Paul Harthen has started his first game on the Spectrum next, documenting every step of the way on this blog. It’s a super cool way to learn more about making games for the Next while following his progress one sprite and line of code at a time.Paul writes: “Platypus Next Peril will be a 2D platformer for the Next, whilst I am learning z80 and all things Speccy. You will also find some other post's on here which hopefully you will find interesting for things like, setting up my dev environment and showing the original 3D game I'm still developing using Unity, Platypus Peril which this game is based on.”Head over to the blog right away and start the journey: https://www.pandapus.com/2025/03/platypus-next-peril-sprites.html
The Lost Temples
The Pat Morita Team has three games in physical format available at the moment, and we would be missing a beat if we didn’t point out that The Lost Temples is an amazing platformer with the heart of ‘WonderBoy’ waiting for you to try it out.The kingdom of Azuria was a place of peace and harmony. Its inhabitants were happy and the economy blossomed. Thanks to the Sacred Temples, the balance between mankind and nature was maintained, allowing everyone to live a full life.However, the Dark Lords overran all the temples, causing chaos and spreading terror across the country with their evil troops. Prince Kalden, heir to the throne of Azuria, is forced to journey throughout the kingdom to release the lands from the control of the Dark Lords.The people's hopes are vested in Kalden. Recovery of the temples now depends entirely on his courage, spirit and strength...The physical game:https://patmoritateam.com/The-Lost-Temples-Standard-Edition-p518153650If you prefer the digital version, it’s available just as well for download right here:https://patmorita.itch.io/the-lost-temples-spectrum-nextGo forth and adventure!
Icebound Odyssey MP
Hannu Viitala has embarked on a journey to create a multiplayer game for the Spectrum Next, inspired by Frogger. But he needs volunteers to help him test the existing proto, and has issued a call for arms on the Facebook Next Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/specnext/posts/2404939736529999/Join the thread, leave a comment and make part of the testing if you can. The game will be fully open source, and could very well become a footprint for other multiplayer games to come! NEXT Frantic DayJohn Weatherley has released ‘Frantic Day’, a Manic-Miner-esque platformer that’s reborn after more than four decades in deep freeze – and well worth the defrosting as it’s a great game to boot.From John’s blurb: “Navigate through various levels to overcome obstacles, avoid enemies, and achieve your ultimate goal of getting Fred back to his bed at the end of his “Frantic Day”.The original version of Frantic Day was written by me over 40 years ago and was published by “Your Computer” magazine. The game was written in Assembly Language for the Z80 processor to allow it to run at a good speed and to create the “Sprites”. The game was MIA (Missing In Action) until earlier this year when it was found on a Spanish website. The source code went missing a long time ago, stored on Microdrive Cartridges that eventually became unreadable.”Download it here: https://chewbakker.itch.io/next-frantic-day
CSpect 3.0.1.0
Mike Dailly has updated the incredible CSpect to version 3.0.1.0 with tons of bugfixes and optimisations – so many, in fact, it now runs full speed on the venerable Pi500 Raspberry Pi-based computer.Here’s the latest version: https://mdf200.itch.io/cspect
Piggy in the woods
Rinus Callenbach brings us a lovely Basic game with an incredible parallax effect that will make people dizzy and… Well, no, actually – but he did in fact nail the retro style, to be fair. Sounds confusing? Well, head over to the download page and see for yourself then!Get the game here: https://rcallenbach.itch.io/piggy-in-the-woods
Kickstarter 3 on the making
Yes, we left this one for last as we didn’t want to take away the attention from the amazing work the community is brewing on the Spectrum Next every day.We are, in fact, getting the plans for a third installment of the ZX Spectrum Next crowdfunding in motion. The main reason for doing this is twofold: the urge to expand the size of the community for the benefit of the developers who are keen to get their games and apps in the hands of more people and; the knowledge some missed out (still!) on the first two, and want a Spectrum Next for themselves – we got constant emails about it and eBay prices keep on telling us there’s more to be done Next-wise.Thus begins the journey of another Kickstarter which, if history is anything to go by, will be full of surprises, challenges and (likely) delays. But if all goes well, we’ll be welcoming a fresh class of users and fans to bolster our ranks, and keep the Spectrum Next’s momentum at maximum. What’s not to like?After all, we wouldn’t want to disappoint Bret Bapstarcade Pritchard: 2024 was the best year ‘so far’ indeed – let’s make sure that’s the case!Stay tuned!
