Spectrum Games - 3D Combat Zone - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

3D Combat Zone ZX Spectrum
Here we have a version of the classic Atari arcade game Battlezone on the ZX Spectrum by legendary game coder Jon Ritman.

This game and Realtime's 3D Tank Duel are the best versions I ever played on the Speccy. If you are a fan of Battlezone and wireframe graphics arcade games then this version may be right up your street...

Just like the arcade original you begin the game with three lives. The game takes the viewpoint of looking outwards from the front of your tank, the battlefield complete with various landmarks and of course, enemies to evade and destroy.

The game was predominantly 'green screen' (with enemies in cyan) and used a suitable arcade style font to display current score, menu options and so on.

As far as I know there is no end to the game, you just keep going until you run out of lives. As you destroy an enemy each subsequent bad guy is more difficult to kill than the last. Again this is matching the arcade game.

There is not much else to say. For a 1983 game the 3D graphics were very impressive and it certainly wowed a lot of home gamers. The vectors move nice and smoothly and explode nicely when you score a direct hit.

If you like Battlezone and games of this ilk then you can't go far wrong and this is a great example of fine early ZX Spectrum gaming. Jon Ritman would go on to be responsible for many classic games on our favourite 8-bit machine...

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download 3D Combat Zone for the ZX Spectrum. You may even be able to play it online.

It's vector-tastic.

GENRE: 3D vector graphics arcade game
RELEASE DATE: 1983
RELEASED BY: Artic Software
DEVELOPER(S): Jon Ritman
PRICE: £5.95 - UK

Classic Arcade Action:

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games