Manic Miner

Manic Miner is a 1983 video game written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum and converted to numerous other platforms. It was published by Bug-Byte and then Software Projects, and became one of the best-remembered games on the Speccy.

Miner Willy has discovered an automated, abandoned for untold centuries, mine in Surbiton.

The good news is, the mine machinery has been piling up wealth which is there for the taking; the bad news is, it's still active and doesn't take kindly to intruders...

This game became controversial when a number of Bug-Byte programmers left to found Software Projects, and Matthew Smith used a contract loophole to take Manic Miner with him.

Manic Miner is also famed as the first Spectrum game to feature a backing track alongside the sound effects, a feat previously considered impossible as the Speccy only had one sound channel. This was done by arpeggiated multiplexing: the tune and the effects were both played as a rapid staccato, and interleaved with each other. The title screen also features an attempt at two note chords using a similar method. The resulting rendition of The Blue Danube did not work quite so well.

Spawned a sequel, Jet Set Willy. A second sequel, Miner Willy Meets the Taxman, was announced but never released -- indeed, probably never even started, so fans had to make do with Jet Set Willy II, which was really just Jet Set Willy with more rooms.

Tropes used in Manic Miner include:
  • Alliteration: The title.
  • Agony Beam: While you're being hit by the sunbeam in "Solar Power Generator", your air supply will deplete four times as fast as usual.
  • Classic Cheat Code: 6031769 (in the Bug-Byte version), which activates the Level Warp system. Later used in Grand Theft Auto. Also TYPEWRITER in the Software Projects version.
  • Endless Game
  • Enemy Mine Underground Level: The whole game is a mine full of enemies.
  • Every Ten Thousand Points
  • Everything Trying to Kill You
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Take a wild guess as to where "The Sixteenth Cavern" and "The Final Barrier" fit into the sequence of levels.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder
  • Platform Game
  • Port Overdosed: Similarly to Lode Runner, was one of the universal names of 1980s computer gaming.
  • Rule of Funny: Surbiton is nowhere near any past or present mining areas (although quarrying has been carried out in that part of the world). Also, it's a suburban area surrounded by other suburbs for miles in every direction, hence looks nothing like the picture on the title screen.
  • Shout-Out: Several.
    • The mobile enemies in "The Processing Plant" are Pac-People.
    • "Eugene's Lair" is a Take That at Imagine programmer Eugene Evans.
    • The two "Kong Beast" levels refer to Donkey Kong, which had been released two years earlier.
    • "Attack of the Mutant Telephones" is a reference to cheesy B-movies, as probably are the two "Amoebatron" levels.
    • "Endorian Forest", complete with ewoks.
  • Timed Mission: You have to complete each level before your air supply runs out.
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