Spec-chums rejoice: the ZX Spectrum has been reborn as a plug-and-play TV console
This take on Sir Clive’s rubber-keyed pioneer matches modern smarts with eye-searing hard-as-nails classic games
You know the drill by now. Following plug-and-play TV consoles based on the NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PlayStation, C64 and Amiga, it’s now time for the best of British to shine. In other words, we’re getting a replica ZX Spectrum, dubbed The Spectrum. The unit will cost £89.99 (no US pricing yet) when it rocks up on 22 November.
But why ‘The Spectrum’? Presumably because creators Retro Games Ltd couldn’t get rights to ‘The Proper Name’. Which also explains why this revamp says ‘Retro’ top-left, instead of ‘Sinclair’, and ‘The Spectrum’ instead of ‘ZX Spectrum’. Whatever. Because other than that, this newcomer looks like the spitting image of Rick Dickinson’s memorable design, with its snazzy black case, colourful stripes and chunky keys.
And in a departure from most modern takes on old computers, the keys on this one actually work. Which is just as well, given that you’ll need them to play the 48 pre-installed games.
Keys are good
We’ll have to wait and see just how authentic said keys are to the dead-flesh originals. But since there’s no joystick or gamepad in the box, you’ll be prodding your way through a bunch of classics, including Manic Miner, Head Over Heels, Target: Renegade and The Hobbit. Although if you’ve in the years since 1982 been ruined by countless controllers, you can opt to plug one into one of four USB-A ports around back. You can even fiddle with the controller config, if what’s pre-defined doesn’t suit you.
There are other concessions to modernity too. The Spectrum works with a standard TV, feeding it 720p output via HDMI, saving you having to hunt down an ancient CRT. And you can opt to rewind gameplay on any currently running title by up to 40 seconds, along with making use of four save slots per game. You’ll need them. 8-bit games were brutal – and time is brutal. Even if you could once finish Manic Miner without losing a life, good luck doing the same now with your ageing digits.
Emulation station
So what else is going on inside this little black box? Well, it’s emulation, and so crack it open and you’ll likely find a Pi-like board nestled inside. But it does emulate everything from the original 16k Speccy right up to the 128k models. And it’s extensible. You can add your own games via a USB stick, or even have a crack at making your own by putting the machine into BASIC mode and grappling with the Speccy’s weird keyboard layout, which assigns entire functions to keys.
Not bad for the price then – and you can pre-order it now. A bit more ‘for the masses’ (and readily available) than the hugely ambitious and frankly lovely ZX Spectrum Next, and certainly a whole lot better than previous mainstream attempts to bring back Sir Clive’s rubber-keyed wonder. Although at some point, Retro Games Ltd is surely going to run out of old computers to resurrect – and Stuff isn’t convinced everyone’s clamouring for The Oric or The Dragon 32.
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
