The ZX Spectrum is 40 years old today. So what better way to celebrate than with a mix tape of Spectrum games? The ZX Spectrum 40th Birthday Game Mix Tape is a cassette-bursting collection of 40 games from 29 creators that you can buy before April 30th.
Better still, proceeds from the sale go, Humble Bundle-style, to a very good cause: Special Effect. This is a charity that aims to improve the quality of life of the physically disabled through videogames. You should visit www.specialeffect.org.uk to learn more about this amazing project. At the time of writing, the mix tape has raised $3,582.00 of its $4,800.00 goal.
What’s on The ZX Spectrum 40th Birthday Game Mix Tape?
40 ZX Spectrum games is undoubtedly a lot. Then again, for just $10 and a warm feeling in your heart that you’ve done some good, this is possibly the bargain of the century so far and certainly the best way to honour the genius of the late Sir Clive Sinclair.
On the The ZX Spectrum 40th Birthday Game Mix Tape you will find:
Robot 1 in.... THE PLANET OF DEATH!! | by prefim | |
Escuela de Ladrones / Thieves School | by World XXI Soft Inc. | |
Unhallowed | by Blerkotron | |
Quadron | by Cosmium | |
Ninjakul 2: The Last Ninja (ZX Spectrum 128k) | by Pat Morita Team | |
Multi-Platform Arcade Game Designer | by Jonathan Cauldwell | |
Albatrossity | by Jonathan Cauldwell | |
Black & White - (ZX Spectrum 128K) - Full Game! | by Pat Morita Team | |
Cursor Draw Reborn (ZX Spectrum) | by chernandezba | |
Ninjakul in the AUIC Temple (ZX Spectrum 128k) | by Pat Morita Team | |
Laserbirds (ZX Spectrum) | by Teknamic Software | |
TRASHMAN Crisis Time ZX Spectrum 48/128k | by PCNONOGames | |
Last Train To Tranz-Central (ZX Spectrum) | by Quantum Sheep | |
Alien Girl - ZX Spectrum | by Javier Fopiani | |
Main Course - The Retro Cut (ZX Spectrum) | by Quantum Sheep | |
Vegetables ZX Spectrum | by MikeRichmond | |
The Seance | by Quantum Sheep | |
Cocoa 2: Twenty Four Hour Parsley People (ZX Spectrum) | by Minilop | |
SOMEWHERE IN HELL | by Packobilly | |
SubBlitz | by Jim Blimey | |
Bat Boy - (ZX Spectrum 48/128K) | by Pat Morita Team | |
Misifu Remeow (Zx Spectrum) | by jordi | |
Retro-Adventure Collection | by Evan Wright | |
ADVENTURES CONTINUE ZX Spectrum 48/128k | by PCNONOGames | |
Forward to the Past | by Sloanysoft | |
FORG WANT LOVE | by Bee Bush | |
Project Vaelius | by TokuSoft | |
The Swarm is Coming... (ZX Spectrum) | by Minilop | |
Shovel Adventure (ZX Spectrum 128k) | by Pat Morita Team | |
DOOM PIT | by zanklesoft | |
Cosmic Space Attack 48K | ZX Spectrum | PC | by Vintage Software Systems Ltd | |
Tokimal (ZX Spectrum 128k) | by Pat Morita Team | |
Alien Slaphead | by ZXDavies | |
Chez Maxime ZX | by highriser | |
Where Did The Moon Go? | by 80sNostalgia | |
Chopper Defence - ZX Spectrum homebrew | by PsychicParrot | |
The Lava Birds (ZX Spectrum) | by Quantum Sheep | |
PRIMA DERE ZX | by AppSir Games | |
SpecialEffect | by SpecialEffectCharity | |
Ooze : The Escape | by BubbleSoftGames |
You’ll also likely need an emulator to play the games. The team behind the bundle suggest:
- Fuse: https://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-emulator/?source=typ_redirect
- Retro Virtual Machine 2: https://www.retrovirtualmachine.org/en/
- ZXSP (Mac): https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/24529/zxsp
- ZEsarUX: https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux
- Additional Emulators: https://worldofspectrum.net/emulators/
It is worth noting too that some titles requirethe 128K Spectrum, so be sure to set the correct emulation mode.
Grab the ZX Spectrum 40th Birthday Game Mix Tape on itch.io now and help them achieve the $4,800 goal.

Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine and MakeUseOf.com.