Games That Push the Limits of the ZX81

Does anyone ever remember the ZX81 playing music of sorts? I do. It was a brilliant bit of lateral thinking. What you had to do was slightly off tune your TV then run the program with the volume up. Because of the way TVs worked back then, interference created different sounds. So by changing the image on the screen you could change the buzz from the interference. One chap wrote code to play about 15 different tunes. Just brilliant

Never played 3D Monster Maze in my life but, come on, look at that... that is straight up survival horror. Even in it's very simple nature, it nails what makes horror effective: The unseen. The tension of the T-Rex hunting for you and all you get for feedback is messages at the bottom is why it works so well. He's around you somewhere and you don't know where or when he'll get you. The minimalist visuals also means your imagination fills in the blanks which compounds the feeling of tension.

I was surprised at how easy it is to avoid the T-Rex when playing 3D Monster Maze on an emulator. I remember it being really panic inducingly challenging to escape after he'd spotted you on the actual ZX81. Looking back, I think a lot of the difficulty came from the ZX81's terrible keyboard. In the heat of the moment, watching the screen for the ominous words "REX HAS SEEN YOU", it was easy to slip off those flat buttons and waste precious seconds faffing around with the controls as Rex came closer.

Holy cow. These are amazing. I remember spending hours typing junk in from magazines, and could never imagine something like this on my Timex Sinclair. (I'm in the States) I think the most advanced game I had was some low res version of Centipede. I remember seeing Flight Simulator on an in-store display, and it blew my mind.

I think you should have included the game MAZOGS; I clearly remember seeing it for the first time, it was literally a jaw-dropping experience for me, seeing how fast those monsters were animated.

Wow. Bringing back so many memories! A time when computers themselves were interesting. A time when school lunch was a discussion about games played, typed in out of magazines or wanted asap. Those were the major concerns in life. I feel so old lol. Thanks for the video.

This little machine triggered my 30+ year career in IT. Fond memories.

Still to this day I'm amazed at seeing how coders problem solved with these memory restrictions. True pioneers

Programming for limited capability machines like the ZX81 aka Timex Sinclair 1000 or the Atari 2600 is a practice in artwork.

3D Monster Maze was all about panic and adrenaline. Great, great game indeed, I don't know why weren't more versions for other computers.

Finally, found the complete opposite of the rising inflection.

Well done for including 1k Chess. Whilst its certainly not pretty it's no mean achievement fitting a viable chess program in < 1k (not unlike fitting Elite into <32k).

You missed out Sea Mines, a Hi-Res submarine game I played a lot in the 80's. And still play to this day. What a wonderful machine the ZX81 is.

Oh my God i was specificaly looking for a video about the Rocket Man and 49ers, a friend lend me a tape with these games, it just blow up my mind with the "high resolution stuff" ... so cherished memories ...

I have a broken ZX81, my grandfather bought it loooong ago and tried to learn computer with it. He was going to throw it away because some keys weren´t working, but i took it and had it there for decades. I once detached the keyboard membrane thinking the problem would be there, just to later learn that the keys not working was a commonn issue related with the bottom of the case shortcutting the thermal isolator, or something like that. But at some point it didn´t work anymore. I dream with fixing it and fixing the tunner of an old black and white 12´ televisor i have and to play these games with them. I know the knowledge to solve those issues is down a long road, but I dont lose my hopes. Archaic analogic electronics have an irresistible charm for me. It´s so nice to know i am not alone!

good to see 3D monster maze again - It looks how I remember but it's surprising to believe how thrilling and immersive it seemed at the time. The other one I remember was Bomb BA ... which had its brief moment in the sun during the Falklands conflict.

Great memories and really well put together video. I loved my ZX81, learning Z80 machine code at about 14 to make my own games gave me the skills to make a good living doing something I enjoy. Clive Sinclair is a living legend!

Recently stumbled upon your channel and I've been binge watching your Push The Limits content. Absolutely love it, thank you very much!

awesome video. although, can emulation ever provide the true experience without the screen flickering and the whole thing crashing if you jog it too hard

Excellent work! I now feel slightly unfaithful abandoning my 81 when the Spectrum arrived, so the best i ever saw from it was 3D Monster Maze...