What games satisfy you in a way similar to MM/JSW?

[JianYang]

For me the closest match I have found are Meat Boy/Super Meat Boy that are puzzly, platformy and have quite minimal inputs. The next closest thing would be The Lost Vikings. Puzzly, platformy, but far from minimal inputs.

 

On the non-platformer side maybe Hill Climb Racing. I guess it`s mostly the three button inputs and difficulty in getting over obstacles.

 

What are your favourite somewhat-similar-to-MM-or-JSW games?

 

[Spider]

Frankenstein is an interesting platform game. Get the bug fixed version as otherwise it will falter at about level 8 or so (had this back then when it was new) 

Surprisingly good perhaps one of the best compiled Basic games actually.

Although one post long ago along with others on the WOS forum helped spur the author into an updated version , I still sometimes prefer the original for its simplicity.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1849/ZX-Spectrum/Frank_N_Stein

 

[JianYang]

Guys,

 

I feel you're holding out on me.

 

Just to be absolutely clear: I don't expect you to justify why you think a game is in a similar category as MM/JSW. I'm not going to judge you, if I disagree. I'm just curious and hoping to discover a few good games.

 

@Spider : Thank you. Good game. I was aware of its existence, but had never given it any significant play time. The bottom half of the main character looks suspiciously familiar.

[jetsetdanny]

My favourite game somewhat-similar-to-MM-or-JSW games is "Monty on the Run". I absolutely love the somersaults that Monty makes, and the atmosphere. I used to play it on the real hardware back in the 1980s, but never managed to complete it back then. I only completed it recently for the first time. I made a separate page for it on JSW Central where you also have the links to the video of my playthrough (to watch on YouTube or to download from Internet Archive).

On the non-platformer and PC side, Zuma's Revenge is a game that I have spent countless hours playing, mostly the three-minute runs at high scores at a given level (after unlocking them via the adventure mode or whatever it's called). This game has a mesmerising quality for me. When I start playing these high-score rounds, I just can't stop. My high scores are so elevated now that it's very difficult to improve anything (only the top 5 results at each level are recorded in the game), but I could still spend hours playing them. Time seems to stop when I'm at it. I play and fail (to improve the high score), play and fail, play and fail, but with every failure it seems that I was so close (even though the score is very far away from the top one), so close, that I can achieve what I want with the next game. So I go on. I could easily stay up all night doing this. It's the closest to an addiction I have in life. I generally try not to fall into temptation (because it robs my JSW time), but periodically I feel like playing the game, and then find it difficult to stop...

[jetsetdanny]

On 2/12/2026 at 3:48 PM, Spider said:

Frankenstein is an interesting platform game. Get the bug fixed version as otherwise it will falter at about level 8 or so (had this back then when it was new).

Thanks, Andy!

Where can we get the bug-fixed version? The game's page on Spectrum Computing you linked to provides a description of the bugfix (what needs to be modified) but not an actual bug-fixed file as far as I can tell.

[JianYang]

I don't think I've ever played an original Zuma game, but I've played several clone games. After a few levels it always seemed to get impossible and I could only progress with luck.

So I just got curious and wanted to see what that game looks like if played by people that know what they're doing.

 

Holy moly!

 

I never thought of me having a slow brain, bur I cannot even follow what's going on there.

[jetsetdanny]

Thanks for the video! It's interesting to know how someone really good is playing "Zuma's Revenge" 🙂 . I've spent a lot of time playing the game, but I'm very far from this level of efficiency 😮.

Whoever played the game in the video shows both speed, accuracy and an extremely fast thinking related to where to place balls that will later cause a "chain reaction". It looks extremely impressive 🙂 .

[Spider]

14 hours ago, jetsetdanny said:

Thanks, Andy!

Where can we get the bug-fixed version? The game's page on Spectrum Computing you linked to provides a description of the bugfix (what needs to be modified) but not an actual bug-fixed file as far as I can tell.

Frank N Stein - Bugfix.tzx

Zero modifications other than the patch applied. Note there's very very little room in the Basic to insert any cheats (there's no space to insert the patch this way as pokes) due to ramtop location. Are ways around it such as sticking them into the screen and calling it but that's a 'mod' I suppose.

NB: May need loading in 48K mode only. I could 'fix' this but that would be a modification lol.

[jetsetdanny]

Thank you, Andy! 👍

[Trullybug]

Probably VVVVVV for me. It has graphics just like JSW, the controls are almost identical, it's difficult and very fun.