This is one of my earliest, and fondest gaming memories.
One day, my Dad came and picked me up from school in his car. He very rarely did this. He told me he had something very special to show me when we got home – I’m sure he then took the long way home, as the car journey that should have lasted 3 minutes seemed to last hours while I tried to guess what it was that had compelled him to come and get me.
We arrived home, and before me sat a ZX Spectrum, hooked up to a little portable TV, with a tape deck sat beside it and a small pile of cassettes in front of it. My Dad asked me which one I’d like to play first, I picked Penetrator (that name would sound so suggestive today – but back then… Ah, innocent times). As you can see from the image of the cover on the right, it promised amazingly fast arcade action, and proclaimed it was the fastest and most exciting game for my 48k Spectrum. And not only that, but it had a training mode and offered a unique customizing feature! No wonder I picked it!
It blew my mind, totally. The only games I’d played previously were on the Vic-20, this was something else. It was quite a simple game, but it was moreish and insanely playable. Bomb the radar dishes so the enemy missiles fired at you are less accurate, survive until the end and bomb the core, WIN. At the time I had no idea it was a Scramble-clone – I had no idea what a Scramble was! I got so good, I found that the last bit of the last level was essentially a kill-screen, with the cavern becoming too narrow to get your ship through. I didn’t really mind though, as with the level editor I provided myself with new maps for new challenges.
Although it wasn’t strictly the first game I ever played, it was MY first game, and I remember it mostly for that. I’m sure the test of time would not be favourable, so I’ve vowed to never emulate it, just to look at it from afar wearing my rose-tinted glasses.
