by Vladimir Vega 👾
◆ Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K was my first ever encounter with video games, way back in 1987. My cousin got his 48K rubber-keyed machine from his parents, and I was introduced to an excellent Space Invaders clone called Space Raiders <1982> from Psion Software, which was an absolute blast to play, instantly turning me into a gamer for life.
Due to its features and hardware, the Spectrum 48K wasn’t something kids were overly eager for at the time, as the legendary Commodore C64 held the honorary top spot among 8-bit computers. On the other hand, the Sinclair machine was a pretty good source of fun and education if you were on a bit of a tighter budget. A trademark of the ZX Spectrum was its distinct visual display, a palette of only 15 colors featuring light and dark shades, as well as its lack of a standard audio output, relying instead on a small internal piezo buzzer. Without built-in joystick ports, the Spectrum seemed subpar on paper, yet it captivated gamers across Europe, especially in its home market of the UK, where it launched in 1982.
As a kid, I didn’t pay much attention to playing on this system because I found my real enjoyment in the C64 and Amiga computers I owned, but that first contact and the very experience of playing a video game will remain forever etched in my brain as a wonderful memory. When I got into retro collecting as a much older man, I returned to the ZX Spectrum after many years and discovered a special and appealing charm that it had always possessed, but that I obviously failed to see because I carried that “love/hate” relationship with the ZX since my childhood. When I faced the choice for the best ZX Spectrum game of 2025, I was in a big dilemma over whether it should be the brilliant Perseus or the excellent Plyuk, and in the end, I decided to review both games because I couldn’t bring myself to leave one of them out. Both titles provide excellent entertainment and represent the very pinnacle of the ZX Spectrum homebrew scene, and what’s even more exciting is that they can be downloaded completely free of charge.
Perseus – ZX Spectrum 128K
◆ Perseus is a RetroBensoft title that quickly caught my eye and made me smile, playing like a charming mix of classics like Gods and Myth. Some might use the popular term “metroidvania” today, but I wouldn’t go quite that far. The game was made for Spectrum 128K and as such requires a memory expansion <128K RAM Expansion> on 48K machines.
Polydectes entrusts Perseus with an impossible mission: to find Medusa in her lair and kill her. On his journey, Perseus must collect 50 gold coins guarded by mythical creatures like the powerful Minotaurs, Cyclops, Grayae and Satyrs. With coins, Perseus will be able to gather from the Statues Of Delphi the six pieces of the Parchment Of Wisdom, which will guide him into Medusa’s hiding place. Various power-ups await our hero on his journey: health potions, knives, speed-up rays, and a shield that makes him invisible.
This is a brief description of what you can expect from the game itself. Perseus boasts good sprites, solid animation, and a variety of terrain, making it a well-rounded package.
◆ The gameplay draws straight from the playbook of classic action-adventure platformers, balancing heavy combat with precise level exploration.
◆ This interesting title, which appeared just before the Christmas holidays, is in my opinion one of the best Spectrum games of 2025. The developer generously released the game for free, available for download in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
On the other hand, the physical edition of the game <cassette> is also available for €8.75, and you can make a purchase on the publisher’s website.
Plyuk – ZX Spectrum 128K
◆ When the name of developer Denis Grachev <RetroSouls> is mentioned, anyone who closely follows the ZX Spectrum homebrew scene will know who is being talked about, as this guy has a pretty good resume stacked with titles like Yazzie <2019>, Tiny Dungeons <2022>, Old Tower <2018>, Gluf <2019> etc. One of his games, Ringo from 2022 was particularly impressive, winning a lot of fans, and it’s also the title that the excellent Plyuk is based on, as the graphics, sprites, and overall execution are somewhat similar. This time, Denis has gone a step further, offering us very smooth gameplay with a great frame rate and fast action. The main character of the game, a small creature named Plyuk <it resembles the character from the game Creatures, 1990>, has the superpower to clone himself.
One day, during an evening walk on the mountain, Plyuk for some reason fell into a dark, creepy cave that turns out to hide a terrifying laboratory where unimaginable experiments are being conducted on small, innocent creatures like him. Plyuk manages to escape the laboratory but has trouble finding an exit from the cave itself and returning to his village. It’s up to you to find your way back, avoid hordes of rampaging mutants, and make it out alive…Aaand what about the other poor creatures? Well, that’s a question you’ll have to ask Denis.
The story itself isn’t particularly original, but that shouldn’t deter you from this very fun platformer that carries the spirit of old classics like Lode Runner <1983> and Miner 2049er <1982>. The game was made for the Spectrum 128K, so the same memory limitations that apply to Perseus also apply here. At first glance, Plyuk looks like a modern-retro indie title for the PS5, PC, or Switch, which says a lot about the quality of the game itself.
◆ The game spans 22 levels where you must avoid enemies, collect keys for new chambers/levels, while your main asset is your cloning power, which allows you to climb up and down from higher platforms by using the heads and bodies of your clones. Yeah, think of that scene in the movie World War Z where zombies try to climb over a high wall.
◆ Character movement is extremely fluid, as is the action itself, and the controls are excellent giving you the feeling that you’re playing an arcade title.
Plyuk is available as a free download, with the option to make a donation to the developer if you wish. Unfortunately, there is currently no physical release.
One response to “Perseus & Plyuk – ZX Spectrum | <mini double-review>”
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