ZX Spectrum Game - Horizons - ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum Horizons
It was all connected up - the cassette recorder linked to the Spectrum, the ZX Spectrum linked to the TV, and after half and hours messing around the TV was finally tuned in (usually on channel 8) and the following was displayed:

(C) 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd

Excitedly you press the rubber 'J' key, the soft click sound that accompanies the word LOAD appearing invokes both awe and wonderment.

After working out how to add "" you finally had what you wanted. You inserted the Horizons tape and pressed play on your tape deck.

Multi coloured lines, strange screeching noises, was this normal? Was the tape ok? You wait for a few seconds, then magically a picture of a rainbow appears. How nice it looks. A few seconds later it is replaced by a picture of a ringed planet and the words 'PSION'. This is it - you're in the space age. Already you are a technological wizard.

A menu with eight options appears, and one leaps out at you and catches your eye.
Top of the list is

• Thro' the wall

The classic game of breakout re-created on a ZX Spectrum. Written in BASIC with little in the way of sound effects, for many users this will be the first ever game they play on their new and trusty rubber-keyed friend.

The game is simple yet you probably played it for hours and hours. The other programs on the Horizons tape probably intrigued you too, but you probably kept returning to Thro' the wall - desperate to knock out those two 1/2 blocks that were almost impossible to hit.

Once you had played the likes of 3D Deathchase and Manic Miner the Horizons cassette was most likely consigned to the back of the cupboard, slowly gathering dust as it was left behind to the advances in gaming and your own ZX Spectrum prowess.

But you know what - despite their simplicity and being written entirely in BASIC, the Horizons programs weren't half bad...

Thankyou Psion for making my introduction to the wonderful ZX Spectrum just that little bit easier.

Not bad for a BASIC progam - a nice a simple version of classic breakout, this classic arcade game kept us going for hours on end...