AI Reviewed 16 August 2026
Ocean Software, 1987 · Jon Ritman & Bernie Drummond
IsometricPuzzle-platformerClassic Two heroes, one destiny: swap between Head and Heels — or fuse them together — to out-think a whole planet's worth of isometric puzzles. Widely regarded as one of the finest games the Spectrum ever ran.
█████████▌ 9.5/10
AI Reviewed 16 August 2026
Ultimate Play the Game, 1984 · Tim & Chris Stamper
IsometricArcade adventureClassic The game that invented an entire genre: Sabreman's race against his own lycanthropy, told through Ultimate's revolutionary isometric "Filmation" engine.
█████████░ 9/10
A second, independently-built take on the same premise: a bargain hunter, a security guard called Big Dave, and a legendary discount tin sealed away in Aisle 13. Same isometric-engine idea as the original, a different story, and its own fresh set of bugs a screenshot caught that the test suite alone never would have.
Is it possible to build an isometric engine of the same real technique as Knight Lore and Head Over Heels on a 48K Spectrum, not a simplified imitation? Yes. Height-aware projection, painter's-algorithm depth sorting, and genuine masked sprite compositing, proven with a before/after screenshot of exactly the bug masking exists to fix.
A genuine isometric engine for the 48K Spectrum: three connected rooms, a patrolling security guard, a countdown clock, and one very important Christmas Eve toy. In the spirit of Knight Lore and The Great Escape, built and tested from scratch — including four real bugs a screenshot caught and a logic test never could.