After watching Manic Miner Ports by RetroGamerDiaries I wondered if it would be possible to convert these levels back into the original Spectrum format.
The levels are from the Oric-1, Dragon 32, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro and the Gameboy Advance releases and tries to replicate them as close as the original 48K game mechanic allows.
Here is the screen from the Dragon 32 against the Spectrum conversion, one of the limitations is that the level Guards all need to be the same sprite, so they are all Penguins.
Here is the screen from the Gameboy Advance against the Spectrum conversion, the level Guards can’t move over other objects, so the Seal is above the conveyor.
The Space Shuttle level from the Oric-1 uses the lever to remove a section of wall and The Meteor Storm level from the BBC Micro has a beam effect that I wasn't able to replicate.
As with the original version there are only 20 levels, but apart from that all the gameplay is identical to the original. As far as I have tested the usual pokes and the 6031769 boot will work.
This is the gameplay order and where all the levels came from.
Level
Title
System
Level
01
Not Central Cavern
Oric-1
Level 28
02
The Dragon Users Bonus
Dragon 32
Level 21
03
The End Of The World
Oric-1
Level 22
04
Flunky Punky Munkie
Gameboy Advance
Level 1
05
The Catacombs
Gameboy Advance
Level 4
06
Mummy Daddy
Gameboy Advance
Level 7
07
Nightmare Before Last Night
Gameboy Advance
Level 10
08
Helium House on the Highlands
Gameboy Advance
Level 13
09
Metropolis Bingo
Gameboy Advance
Level 16
10
Eugene’s Other Lair
Gameboy Advance
Level 19
11
Tokyo Uh Oh
Gameboy Advance
Level 22
12
Jester Under the Bed
Gameboy Advance
Level 25
13
Clockwork Satsuma
Gameboy Advance
Level 28
14
The Space Shuttle
Oric-1
Level 23
15
The End
Dragon 32
Level 22
16
The Meteor Storm
BBC Micro
Level 19
17
The Channel Tunnel
Oric-1
Level 27
18
At The Centre Of The Earth
Oric-1
Level 21
19
The Final BBC Barrier
BBC Micro
Level 20
20
This, folks, is the Last Cavern
Amstrad CPC
Level 20
While making The Lost Levels I found out that there was a port for the Nintendo DS that includes all the Oric-1 levels that I hadn’t converted along with some of the ones that I have already done (typical) but missing most of the Gameboy Advance versions.
So there are 2 versions, it’s a compromise.
This follows the DS level order the levels that are missing from my first attempt are highlighted.
Level
Title
System
Level
01
Home at Last?
Oric-1
Level 17
02
The Airlock
Oric-1
Level 24
03
The End of the World
Oric-1
Level 22
04
The Hall of the Mountain Kong
Oric-1
Level 20
05
Back to Work
Oric-1
Level 18
06
The Dragon Users Bonus
Dragon 32
Level 21
07
Not Central Cavern
Oric-1
Level 28
08
Down the Pit
Oric-1
Level 19
09
Metropolis Bingo
Gameboy Advance
Level 16
10
At The Centre Of The Earth
Oric-1
Level 21
11
Eddie’s Forest
Nintendo DS
Level 11
12
In a Deep Dark Hole
Oric-1
Level 26
13
The Channel Tunnel
Oric-1
Level 27
14
Tokyo Uh Oh
Gameboy Advance
Level 22
15
The Space Shuttle
Oric-1
Level 23
16
Where's the Hyperspace Button?
Oric-1
Level 25
17
The Meteor Storm
BBC Micro
Level 19
18
The End
Dragon 32
Level 22
19
The Final BBC Barrier
BBC Micro
Level 20
20
This, folks, is the Last Cavern
Amstrad CPC
Level 20
Both versions are intended to give the experience of what these versions could have been like if they had been coded for the spectrum and try to follow the originals as closely as possible.
This is my first attempt at something like this and there are some things and people to mention.
This version was made using the JSWED v2.3.7 by John Elliott, and a big thanks to John for his support with some of the questions that I had when first using the editor.
The loading Screen was created in Multipaint by Tero Heikkinen.
All the levels were tested on original hardware from Cassette and 3” Disk as well as the ZX Spin v 0.666 and ZXBaremulator version 3.2 emulators.
The .tap and .tzx files were assembled in BASin release 14b.
Labels for Cassette and Disk were created in LibreOffice Impress.
One Final Credit:
A big thanks to Daniel Gromann at JSW Central for testing all the levels, all the advice about the gameplay. It would not be possible without his support.
For me this was just a bit of tinkering to just see if it was possible and It was a great learning experience putting these levels together.
I’m thrilled to see it made available to anyone that wants to give it a go.
All the best,
Byron
Lost Levels DS.zip
Lost Levels.zip
