Jet Set Willy was a computer game for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was released during the height of the computer's popularity in the early 1980s — 1984 to be exact.
The game is a follow on from Manic Miner (1983) and is largely credited with bringing the platform game to the home micro scene. It was published by Software Projects . In the game a very tired Miner Willy had to tidy up all the objects left around his house after a party before his housekeeper Maria would allow him access to his bedroom.
The game was written by Matthew Smith who was hailed at the time as a games writing genius but who would eventually vanish, allegedly turning up in a Dutch commune some years later.
Ports to other computer platforms were also made: Jet Set Willy II , an expanded version for the Amstrad CPC, was later converted back to the ZX Spectrum. Both games were also released for the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and the Commodore 64, with some minor differences. A port of Jet Set Willy to the Atari 8-bit family of computers was released by Tynesoft . Apparently, the game was not as good as the original, but the music for this port was done by Rob Hubbard [1]. Software Projects made a port to the Atari ST but it was never released [2].
Trivia
It was rumoured that, due to bugs, the game could never be completed and various POKEs (low-level memory-writing hacks) were necessary to correct this. There were also other pokes that would allow Willy infinite lives or invulnerability to monsters.
See also
External links
Last updated: 10-11-2005 08:38:40
