Computing presents the definitive list of the all-time top games on one of the best-loved home computers
7. Knight Lore
And since we've mentioned Atic Atac, it's only fair we also give some love for the brilliant Knight Lore. Another from the Ultimate stable, its graphics were a step up from earlier release Atic Atac, but it kept the idea of missioning through individual rooms. In the game, the player (controlling Sabreman, a beautifully realised pith helmet-wearing explorer) must collect various objects scattered throughout a castle and brew a cure for his lycanthropy within 40 days.
The game is remembered for its innovative technology; it employed a revolutionary (for the Spectrum) image masking technique known as Filmation, which allowed images to pass in front of and behind one another without corrupting (so no more blue sprite clumsily and temporarily painting the background in his colour).
It was also unusual for its slow release. It was completed a year before it went on sale - being held back in order to protect sales of another Ultimate title, Sabre Wulf (also great), but also to allow the developers to complete another Filmation title before any of their competitors could copy the tech.