Manic Miner Sprint

[Richard Hallas]

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know about something that I spotted today on YouTube.

A guy has produced a new version of classic (Bug-Byte) Manic Miner called Manic Miner Sprint, in which he's injected 'physics' so that the game can be played quite differently. Now Willy has a variable jump, can adjust his movement in mid-air, and has a 'sprint' ability that allows him to do long jumps and so on. It's quite an interesting mod, and gives the game a new way to play it.

What's especially interesting (if not alarming) is that apparently the coding was mostly done by AI.

Anyway, I'll leave it to you all to watch the video and investigate the updated version for yourselves.

I found out about Manic Miner Sprint by stumbling across this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/gxxNgZgd88I

The code repository for the patch, along with release notes, is on Github: https://github.com/sharopolis/manic-miner-sprint

And since no downloadable .tap file of the patched game is supplied, I'm saving you all the bother of creating it by attaching the copy I made to this post.

The patched game appears to have lost access to the 6031769 cheat (unless it's been changed, but there's no mention of that). But given the changes, and that infinite lives is standard in this version, it's not terribly important.

Manic Miner Sprint [Sharopolis 2026].tap

[JianYang]

That's not easy. I think I'm starting to understand why I suck so much at games with Mario inspired physics.

[jetsetdanny]

Thank you for letting us know about it, Richard, and for making the TAP file! 👍

I have passed the first five rooms of the game and I must say I'm not particularly impressed. The modified way you jump only creates problems when you're not used to it. You have to remember to hold the Jump key longer than normally. It feels a little bit like using the Superjump feature in JSW128 and JSW64 games, only you need to hold the Jump key longer not to go higher but to perform a more or less normal jump. So why would you want to play a version of the classic game where you have to struggle with movement if you can play the original where you don't have to struggle at all? As a challenge, perhaps?

To be honest, I've only used Q for Left and W for right and Space for Jump (as I always do), so if there are any additional movement keys, I didn't use them. I haven't read any description yet (other than Richard's post) or watched the video, I just tried playing the game straight away, so I may be missing something.

Still, it's interesting to see another variant of MM, and the fact that people still want to modify it is a testament to its longevity. I will certainly add it to the list of Versions and minor mods of the original Manic Miner on JSW Central when time permits.

[Richard Hallas]

Hi Danny,

In fact, you ARE missing something very significant. There is a new key to press, and given that you haven't tried it yet, you're missing much of the new movement mechanics.

Like you, I traditionally use Q, W and Space as my preferred keys (well, right Shift rather than Space on a non-rubber-key Spectrum…), but with this particular version of Manic Miner that's no longer a good idea. You CAN still use those keys, but then the new Sprint button is any one of 1–5, which I find really awkward to press with my left hand in combination with the directions.

The keys you should be using with this particular game variant are 6 and 7 for Left and Right, 0 (zero) for Jump and 9 for the new Sprint function. Of course, that corresponds to a Sinclair joystick with Up for Sprint.

It's worth looking at the notes on GitHub, as they're quite brief (just summarising the changes), but they do explain clearly what the new features are.

NB I'm not advocating for this game as such; I just stumbled across it on YouTube and thought I'd let you know about it here. I continue to prefer Manic Miner in its pure form. But… this new version is an interesting experiment and probably worth spending a bit of time with, just because it's so different from any previous Manic Miner mod. It changes the way the game can be played quite significantly and opens up new routes through the caverns.

I must admit that I've only tried playing it once myself, and the new mechanics gave me a bit of trouble, but my overall impression was that it was an interesting new variant rather than being negative about it. It's quite a different take on the game, really, and so adds a certain freshness to it.

[jetsetdanny]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the additional info!👍So I was right in presuming that I was missing something.

I will definitely read the notes and consider all the new features carefully when I "process" this mod to create a page for it on JSW Central. That's at some point in the future when I'm ready to tackle this task.

And then there will come the challenge of playing the whole game using these new features with a view to beating the maximum high score possible in the original "MM". This may be quite a challenge...

Thanks again, Richard, I look forward to experiencing the freshness you've mentioned 🙂 .