Retrospec
Encyclopedia
Enhanced remake
A video game remake is a game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game for newer hardware and contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and story elements of the original game...
.
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
. A post the day before by Jeff Braine, one of the founders, called for like-minded programmers, graphic artists and musicians to express their interest in a formalised group working towards remaking classic computer games. The name Retrospec was suggested by Richard Jordan, another of the founding members.
The first game released under the Retrospec banner was Klass of '99 (an unofficial sequel to Skool Daze
Skool Daze
Skool Daze is a computer game created by David Reidy for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985. A Commodore 64 port was subsequently made...
and Back 2 Skool), released on 14 August 1999. This was accompanied by a number of other remakes (Manic Miner PC, Jet Set Willy PC, Splat PC) which had already been previously made available prior to the formation of Retrospec. A steady stream of new games has been released ever since.
Retrospec's favoured platform for original games is the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, although remakes based upon games from several other platforms have been written too. The remade games are available without the need of emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Apple Macintosh and BEOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
. All Retrospec's games are released as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
.
Some notable example of games that have been remade by Retrospec are Manic Miner
Manic Miner
Manic Miner is a platform game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 . It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the pioneers of the platform game genre. The game itself was inspired by the Atari 800 game Miner 2049er...
, Jetpac
Jetpac
Jetpac is a ZX Spectrum, VIC-20 and BBC Micro video game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1983. The game is the first in the Jetman series, and was the company's very first release. The game was written by Chris Stamper with graphics by Tim Stamper...
, Head over Heels
Head Over Heels (game)
Head Over Heels is an arcade adventure, released in 1987 for several 8-bit home computers, and subsequently ported to a wide range of formats. Originally, the working title for the game was Foot and Mouth....
and Atic Atac
Atic Atac
Atic Atac is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1983. It takes place within a flip-screen castle in which the player must seek out the "Golden Key of ACG"...
. Additional games have been released that have built on the concepts of earlier games, such as Klass of '99 (an enhanced version of Skool Daze
Skool Daze
Skool Daze is a computer game created by David Reidy for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985. A Commodore 64 port was subsequently made...
) and Highway Pursuit
Highway pursuit
Highway Pursuit is a computer game remake of Spy Hunter created by Adam Dawes in association with Retrospec, initially released in 2003.Highway Pursuit puts players in control of a powerful sports car, in a world filled with enemy agents, seeking to take control of the road. Their mission is to...
(an enhanced version of Spy Hunter
Spy Hunter
Spy Hunter is a 1983 arcade game developed and released by Bally Midway. It has also been ported to various home computers and video game systems....
).
Over the years, Retrospec has had the following members: Neil Walker, Allan Bentham, Graham Goring, Andy Noble, John blythe, Jeff Braine, Dan Condon Jones, Adam Dawes, Peter Hanratty, Russell Hoy, Richard Jordan, Peter Jovanovic, Tomaz Kac, Arif Majothi, Ignacio Perez Gil, Matthew Smith (no relation to Matthew Smith (games programmer)
Matthew Smith (games programmer)
Matthew Smith is a British computer game programmer. He is best known for his games Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the ZX Spectrum, released in 1983 and 1984 respectively...
of Manic Miner
Manic Miner
Manic Miner is a platform game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 . It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the pioneers of the platform game genre. The game itself was inspired by the Atari 800 game Miner 2049er...
and Jet Set Willy
Jet Set Willy
Jet Set Willy is a computer game originally written for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time....
fame), Andrew Zariffis, John Dow, Tero Turtiainen, Chris Wilde, Darren Salty.