10 Great Arcade Clones For The ZX Spectrum

West Bank – Dinamic Software

Do you remember the classic 1984 Sega arcade game Bank Panic? Well if you do you then you’ll be pleased to hear that West Bank is that very same game in all but name!

In this game you are cowboy trying to protect a bank from being robbed. On the screen you see three separate doors that will all open in turn. Behind each door will either be a genuine customer or a bank robber. You must shoot the criminals before they shoot you and try not to shoot the customers! Once twelve customers have managed to deposit their funds you move onto the next level.

Sometimes a door will open with a punter only for a criminal to push them out the way and trick you! So you really do need to keep your wits about you here if you are going to get to the next day. At the end of each stage you also have to complete a shoot out against three cowboys, if you take them all out then you’ll earn yourself an extra life. Another bonus you can earn is achieved by shooting off people’s hats, but consider if the risk is worth it because sometimes there’s a bomb underneath!

West Bank wasn’t released until 1989, some 5 years after the arcade game, and many argue that it actually approves upon it. I’m not so sure about that but it’s certainly a huge amount of fun to play!

Invaders – Artic Computing

No list of arcade game clones would be complete without a version of Taito’s seminal Space Invaders right? So here you are, Artic Computing’s effort that is definitely the best of a very large bunch from the early years of the ZX Spectrum.

Ok, Space Invaders was a fairly simple game to start with but seems that Artic got everything right here. The graphics are big bold and colourful, the speed of the game increases correctly, the bonus UFOs appear from time to time for bonus points and those handy bases are there to help protect yourself.

Invaders even features a high score table, which is pretty unusual for a game of this time (it was released in 1982, the same year as the Spectrum itself!) and also offers nine difficulty modes, four gameplay variations and a two-player too!

If you love Space Innvaders (and who doesn’t?) and want to play it on your trusty ZX Spectrum then Artic’s version of the game is definitely the way to go!

Oh Mummy! – Gem Software

This ZX Spectrum game from 1984 is probably the least obvious title in this list, as although it’s very much a clone of the classic 1981 Konami coin-op Amidar, Gem’s game does have quite a few differences.

In Amidar you had to run around the screen to cover the entire grid and avoid the enemies. Once you had moved round the exterior of each box in the grid it would light up. Once they were all lit you move onto the next stage. The difference between Amidar and Oh Mummy! is that in this game you don’t have to reveal every square, you just have to find the scrolls hidden inside several of them and then also find key to escape.

The boxes now take the form of tombs and moving around them reveals the contents. The game starts off quite tame with just one stupid enemy chasing you but as more monsters are added the game gets harder and more intense.

Many people who owned a Spectrum +2 will remember this game fondly as it came bundled with the machine. It might look very simple but don’t be fooled because Oh Mummy! is a still a hugely enjoyable and highly challenging game.

Guardian II: Revenge of the Mutants – Hi-Tec

For the final game on this list we have a direct clone of the hugely popular Williams arcade game Defender II (also known as Stargate) that first debuted to much anticipation in October 1981.

While most Defender clones on the Spectrum copy the first game, this title chooses to ape the superior sequel that features more enemy types, more levels and the highly useful star gates. The fact they were trying to copy the sequel and not the original Defender arcade game becomes even more obvious when you consider there is no Guardian I!

The basic gameplay is pretty much the same in both games however – fly over the planet surface shooting down the alien attackers and rescuing the humans. Perhaps this shows a lack of originality but I say that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

When it comes to hidden gems for the ZX Spectrum this budget title has to be top of my list. There were very few original games in the £2.99 price bracket that were better than Guardian II back in 1990.

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