The classic home computer returns
In the early 1980s, Sir Clive Sinclair masterminded Britain’s home-computing revolution. Eschewing the American big-business thinking of the Apples and Commodores of the day, he unleashed a tiny plastic DIY microcomputer, the ZX80, followed by the ZX81 and then his breakthrough: the ZX Spectrum.
This rubber-keyed wonder, with its eye-searing colours (courtesy of your parents’ TV) and burping speaker, introduced a generation to programming and became a powerhouse of the video-games industry, unleashing thousands of titles from bedroom coders. Among the fondly remembered results were platform games such as Manic Miner, isometric adventures such as Ant Attack and the seat-of-the-pants, shoot-’em-up 3D Deathchase.
And now we can relive it all with this crowdfunded replica, produced with help from Sir Clive. Today, the electronics that filled the Speccie’s black box would fit in a thimble, so the Vega looks more like one of those retro TV plug-in games you used to get for 20 quid in Argos – but with a £100 price tag.
The unit seems hostile to ergonomics, its hard, rectangular form battling against your hands. The directional buttons are fairly responsive, but don’t hold a candle to even a 1980s game controller. The Spectrum-style action buttons on the right are awkwardly positioned, and the four tiny menu buttons below these (not seen in the picture, which shows an earlier version) don’t help much. Two huge leads trail from the small box, one to take video and sound to the analogue jacks on your TV, the other for power from a smart TV’s USB port or a USB mains adapter.
More impressively, 1,000 classic games are included. If you have a favourite that isn’t here, and can find it on retro game emulation sites, you can play it from a microSD card, but the default control setup may not work well; the makers have said they’re working on improved key mapping.
The built-in titles have been configured to suit the limited number of buttons available, but the absence of a full keyboard makes games such as Back to Skool a chore rather than a nostalgic treat. An on-screen keyboard is cleverly implemented, but it’s just not usable enough for typing commands in text adventures.
While the software may get updates, you’re stuck with the hardware. At a lower price, we’d be kinder, but the Vega feels cheap and not especially cheerful.
VERDICT
A plug-and-play Spectrum emulator is a lovely idea, but even an excellent list of built-in generic games can’t rescue this one.
SPECIFICATIONS
Composite/RCA video output • microSD card slot • USB power input