I've been gaming for a very long time, but I can say without hesitation that I was late to the ZX Spectrum train. Given that it was an 8-bit computer released in the UK in 1983 that's understandable, but strangely enough, various other bits of tech history that allowed me to experience it. My first ZX Spectrum game was Manic Miner on the now defunct Microsoft Zune, which drew me into a whole new world that I didn't know know existed. Soon enough I was learning about the MSX and diving into a rabbit hole of gaming that I could never escape from. If you've ever wikipedia-ed something for hours on end until you end up wasting the entire day away, you know what I mean.
My thirst for gaming history was only compounded over time. As I started to break into games writing I met folks from all across the world that had their own system of choice, and my curiosity only grew from there. Now I'm considering buying a legacy piece of hardware and adding a ZX Spectrum of my own to my gaming collection. Retro preservation is a pretty understated issue in modern gaming, and Z-Exemplar [$3.99] only adds to that conversation.
The folks over at Suminell Studios had a clear mission in mind with Z-Exemplar -- recreate the old school feel of shooters like R-Type and Gradius, but stay true to the 8-bit aesthetic. I think they accomplished that and more, with an incredibly appealing pixelated style that doesn't look quite like anything else on the market, or at the very least, the majority of re...