Say the words MJ Estcourt to any hardcore ZX Spectrum fan and 99% will reply with “Deathchase!”, 1% may mention Full Throttle but that comes later.

Deathchase is a 16, 48, 128k game that plays to perfection. Dodge trees, shoot Big Riders and battle Tanks and Helicopters in your efforts to protect your forest from other mean and nasty people who want it! We don’t really know why they want it but they do and they are not bloody having it!

Short loading times help, it runs in 16k after all, and then you just start. Slowly at first, building up speed whilst dodging trees and shooting when in range of the bikes (for some reason the Tanks and Helicopters are always within range but hey, game logic) to the sound of your Bike engine as it growls. It is not a complicated game but by heck and a handbag its a bloody fun one that never gets old.

Day and Night cycles (no pun intended) rotate as you get deeper and deeper into the thick, dense Ewok forest (Lets be honest, this is a Star Wars game really and came out just after Return of The Jedi) and you keep going, getting that high score up as bragging rights. Screw Donkey Kong, it isn’t how high can you go, it’s how far!

One of my all-time Spectrum favourites that I still load up roughly once per Speccy stream and never feel I have had enough. Emulate it. Use Real Hardware, just experience the game and you will not be sorry.

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