TX-1696 - A nod to Shoot 'em up classics for your ZX Spectrum Next [UPDATE]

Yet another Shoot 'em up to grace our home computers, is the awesome looking side scrolling Shoot 'em up of TX-1696 by Lucky Red Fish for the ZX Spectrum NEXT. A game that is a nod to classic retro games such as R-Type and Project-X, to modern inspirations such as the fabulous Super Hydorah. While the game is available to purchase at the link below, for those of you are unsure if it is that good, then check out the feedback such as "Don’t purchase this on a ‘skool night’. I purchased this on a Thursday night and could barely work on Friday" and "The game is excellent and a nice nod to the past, with hints of Xenon2: Megablast".

THE SECRET OF BARRON WOOD - A supernatural short story text adventure for multiple systems including Amiga, C64 and more!

Developer Alan Pemberton has released The Secret of Baron Wood via itch io, an atmospheric text adventure that brings supernatural mystery to a massive lineup of classic 8-bit and 16-bit systems. Systems such as the Amiga, Amstrad, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, and the modern ZX Spectrum NEXT are all featured that can play this game. Furthermore, The Secret of Baron Wood serves as an interactive supernatural short story. Players are tasked with journeying into the heart of a dense, shadowy forest to unearth a dark mystery that has remained hidden for over a hundred years.

Sonic Spectrum Next - Sonic The Hedgehog comes over to the Spectrum NEXT via dave18

Sonic the Hedgehog has made its way onto the ZX Spectrum Next in an exciting new release titled Sonic Spectrum Next, developed by prominent retro community creator dave18. The game is a direct conversion of the classic Sega Master System (SMS) version. This ambitious port follows hot on the heels of the developer's prior game, where they successfully translated the brilliant Sega Master System shooter Astro Warrior over to the advanced FPGA architecture of the Next. To coincide with this exciting news story, Saberman has done a gameplay video.

Astro Warrior - A classic Sega Master System game arrives on the ZX Spectrum NEXT

The ZX Spectrum Next library continues to grow, this time breathing new life into a Sega classic. Developer dave18 has successfully ported the iconic Sega Master System (SMS) shooter called Astro Warrior over to the Next, a project born out of a nostalgic desire to test the architectural boundaries between the two machines. The developer chose Astro Warrior because it was the first game they ever owned for the SMS. While the port was created "just for fun," the result is a polished conversion that highlights the impressive technical overlap between the Sega and the modern(like) Sinclair hardware.

Vice City Blues - A Gritty Noir Evolution for the ZX Spectrum Next as a port from the ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum Next continues its renaissance with the highly anticipated release of ViceCityBlues, a noir-inspired adventure that pushes the boundaries of the platform’s capabilities as a port from the ZX Spectrum by award winner Mário Armão Ferreira, creator of Star Carrier Ruffien, and Quivira: The adventure. Built on an improved version of the Quivira Engine, ViceCityBlues represents a significant leap forward in the developer’s work. It offers a much more evolved adventure experience, leveraging the Next's advanced hardware to deliver a deeper, multi-day story for retro enthusiasts.

Captain Square Jaw - A new game demo for the Spectrum Next which pushes the machine to its limits!

Another game is worthy of a mention on Indie Retro News which looks equally enjoyable and graphically superior for the system it's being played on, is BCW.Design's upcoming ZX Spectrum NEXT game of 'Captain Square Jaw'. A game in which the creator describes as "a fast paced, action, puzzle platformer for the Spectrum Next which pushes the plucky 8 bit machine to it limits. To coincide with this news, we've got some more info about the game as well as some footage from the demo which can be played right now.

Xeno Brigade Extinction - A rather cool looking turn based strategy game for the Spectrum Next (Physical Release Preorder)

Something slightly different for today's retro heads up, as we were kindly informed on our Facebook page, that if you love high quality turn based strategy games, AND have either a ZX Spectrum Next, N-go, or XBerry-Pi (50Hz) then it might be worth checking out Greenman Soft's upcoming game of 'Xeno Brigade Extinction'. A game in which you play as the Xeno Brigade on a hunt for the last Queen of her kind, imprisoned within ancient ruins. To coincide with this news, we've got some more info about the game as well the latest screenshots from the physical release preorder.

Aliens Neoplasma II - The sequel to an amazing game for the ZX Spectrum 128K and ZX Spectrum Next!

It wasn't long ago now that we had the pleasure of playing the awesome game 'Aliens NeoPlasma ' on the Spectrum which was developed by Sanchez crew (Russian Federation); a horror platformer as their own take on the Aliens movie theme complete with friendly face-huggers. Well fast forward to this month however and as a great heads up by ℝ𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨𝕤@Tezmondo74. We've been told this great game has got a sequel for the ZX Spectrum 128k and ZX Spectrum Next called "Aliens Neoplasma II".

Saboteur! - A brilliant ZX Spectrum game is coming to the ZX Spectrum NEXT

The original Saboteur is a bit legendary. Not only was it one of the best, and most expansive, games on the Speccy, C64 and CPC, but it also had the most balls to the wall awesome cover art literally ever! But now after much excitement in the retro community from those who loved the classic Saboteur and as a heads up by Tez Rowlands. Will be pleased to learn that this all time classic game will be coming to the ZX Spectrum NEXT as of November 2023.

Atic Atac Remake - A classic Utimate Play the Game title arrives on the ZX Spectrum Next!

Ultimate Play the Game released many incredible titles in the 80's, games such as Knightlore, Jetpac, Sabre Wulf and Gunfright to name but a few. But today's news is something special for ZX Spectrum NEXT owners, as the rather famous ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro game of Atic Atac, which was also released as a stunning unofficial overhaul for the C64 by Steven Day and Tomcat, has been released as a remake for the ZX Spectrum NEXT by 9bitcolour! To coincide with this news, we have some footage of the game which can be viewed below.

Aliens NeoPlasma - A great Aliens themed ZX Spectrum game that should be experienced on a ZX Spectrum Next!

It wasn't long ago now that we had the pleasure of playing the awesome game 'Aliens NeoPlasma ' on the Spectrum which was developed by Sanchez crew (Russian Federation); a horror platformer as their own take on the Aliens movie theme complete with friendly face-huggers. Well fast forward to this month however and as a great heads up by Liqmatrix in our inbox, we've been told this great game has been uploaded to itch.io for both the ZX Spectrum and ZX Spectrum NEXT. Although do be aware these are not NEW games, I just didn't get the chance to feature the NEXT version until now.

Vradark's Revenge - A new Action RPG to enjoy for your PC and ZX Spectrum Next!

Crater Crawler isn't the only game to grace the ZX Spectrum NEXT system as another game is worthy of a mention on Indie Retro News which looks equally enjoyable, and it's Sanchez Crew's latest release of Vradark's Revenge; An Action RPG in which you need to enter the ancient and dark Tomb to meet Vradark face to face, to defeat him and to carry out the soul swap to free his captive. To coincide with this news, we also have some footage of the game which as ever can be viewed below.

Crater Crawler - A rather nice version of Moon Patrol released for the ZX Spectrum NEXT

As we said before : In 1982-1987, Irem with licensing by Williams released the fantastically enjoyable game of' ' Moon Patrol ' for the Arcade gaming community. A side-scrolling shooter that is widely credited for the introduction of parallax scrolling in side-scrolling video games, as you drove a buggy across a landscape, jumping over ditches and rocks while also shooting at enemies both above and in front made this such a great game to play.

Castle Escape - A lovely looking game for the ZX Spectrum Next by IrataHack

Welcome to a new game for the ZX Spectrum Next called 'Castle Escape' by IrataHack. In this game which is also available to try out on a standard ZX Spectrum. You play as a Knight struggling with the weight of his armor, as he must make his escape from a haunted Castle by collecting lots of loot and avoiding dangerous enemies!  It's just a shame his armor gets in the way because without the purple eggs, which give him a limited amount of anti-gravity, he's just too damn heavy to jump high enough and may even be crushed as he falls from a great height.

Galactus - A fast paced, classic arcade-style shooter for the ZX Spectrum NEXT

Dougie Do isn't the only game to grace the ZX Spectrum NEXT system as another game is worthy of a mention on Indie Retro News which looks equally enjoyable, and it's Kevman3D's new game of Galactus; An arcade game in which you must defeat the Galactus empire, battling wave after wave of relentless attack craft and alien creatures. To coincide with this news there's a new gameplay video to view before you load up the game and blast away the alien scum!

Bomb Jack - A brilliant version of a classic developed by ManuFerHi for the N-GO and ZX Spectrum Next

I can still remember in the late 80's on my Amstrad CPC 464 playing the brilliant Arcade port ' Bomb Jack '. It is a game that required you the player to high jump and float about getting rid of all the bombs on the screen before they are used to blow up historic places of interest, which is made more difficult by the enemies on screen. Thankfully if you too remember this game and have a ZX Spectrum Next or N-GO, you'll be pleased to know that as of just recently you can download this classic, which has been made with Nextbuild and ZX Basic Boriel by ManuFerHi.

Golden Seas - A high quality text adventure game from Sunteam for the ZX Spectrum NEXT

Text Based Adventure games are still very popular, especially with the latest games mentioned such as Survival Messenger Adventure, and those included in the Halloween and Treasure Hunt Jam. But now we turn our attention to another text adventure game that's worth a look in, as according to Sunteam, they have released a high quality adventure game for the ZX Spectrum NEXT called 'Golden Seas'; a game that was originally written using Adventuron and converted to the Spectrum Next using DAAD Ready (converter by @uto_dev).

The Level 9 Compilation - An unofficial compilation of all of Level 9 Computing's text adventures for the ZX Spectrum Next.

Something slightly different for today's retro heads up instead of all the challenging arcade games we've been featuring over the last couple of weeks. As we've recently found out through a detailed Facebook post from Stefan Bylund, that if you head on over to the github link below, you can download The Level 9 Compilation; an unofficial compilation of all of Level 9 Computing's text adventure and multiple choice games for the ZX Spectrum Next. All in all, there are 19 games; 16 text adventure games and 3 multiple choice games.

Space Invaders - The all time classic game 'Space Invaders' arrives on the ZX Spectrum NEXT

Yet another Space Invaders game has appeared in our Indie Retro News inbox, as we've recently informed through Facebook, that the classic game of Space Invaders which was previously in development by SplinterGU for the ZX Spectrum NEXT, has now been released. Yes indeed this game which was also created for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis by the same programmer, has been converted/ported over to the NEXT as a game developed in C and ASM. To coincide with this news, a new video has been shown which can be viewed below.

Dougie Do - A brand new Arcade release for the ZX Spectrum NEXT by Robgm!

Space Invaders isn't the only game to grace our ZX Spectrum NEXT systems as another game has been released which looks equally enjoyable, and it's Robgm's new game of Dougie Do!; An arcade game in which you need to collect Diamonds throughout the many levels while avoiding enemies. To coincide this this news not only can you download the game right now, but there's also a gameplay video showing you what the game is like before you buy.