Chapter 2

ZX Spectrum 48K

A year after release, in 1983, the price of the 48 KB model was reduced to £129. In addition, existing 16 KB users could increase their memory to 48 KB by buying an upgrade kit. The 48 KB Spectrum became the ‘standard’ model.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K / Jack The Nipper (1986) by Gremlin Graphics

In Jack The Nipper, you play a scurrelous baby, out to cause mischief. Sort of a spiritual predecessor to The Untitled Goose Game.

// JSSpeccy configuration
emu = JSSpeccy(
    document.getElementById('jsspeccy'),
    {
        machine: 48,
        openUrl: './Jack_the_Nipper_1986_Gremlin_Graphics_Software.z80',
        uiEnabled: false,
        autoStart: true,
        zoom: 2,
    })

The configuration above, selects 48 KB Spectrum model (“machine: 48”), and pre-loads a .Z80-format memory snapshot of a game, copied from The Internet Archive, which has a very extensive library of historical ZX Spectrum games.

Please note that since we’ve enabled autostart: true, the game starts when this webpage loads, but there is no audio. This is a limitation of web browsers: Scripts are disallowed from playing audio if they start automatically on page load, to avoid irritating the user.