| Game title | Genre | Rating | Downloads
|
Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space Cavern (19xx)(G. De Ruiter Products) | 3,5 | 632 | 2.1KB | |
| Ski (19xx)(-) | 4,5 | 632 | 526.0B | |
| Perilous Swamp (1981)(Psion Software - Sinclair Research)[16K] | 4,1 | 625 | 5.1KB | |
| Packman (1983)(Gammasoft)(nl) | 5,0 | 617 | 4.8KB | |
| 3D Monster Maze (19xx)(J.K. Greye Software)[a] | 4,5 | 613 | 5.5KB | |
| Memory Test (19xx)(-) | 4,2 | 610 | 483.0B | |
| 3D Defender (19xx)(J.K. Greye Software) | 5,0 | 605 | 5.0KB | |
| Hi-Res Chess (1985)(Psion Software) | 5,0 | 604 | 5.2KB | |
| Crazy Kong (1983)(Ch. Zwerschke) | 4,5 | 587 | 4.2KB | |
| Assembler (19xx)(-) | 4,8 | 586 | 5.3KB | |
| Car Crash (19xx)(-) | 4,9 | 582 | 800.0B | |
| 2D Labyrinth (19xx)(-) | 4,5 | 580 | 643.0B | |
| Maths (19xx)(-)[a] | 4,3 | 580 | 672.0B | |
| U-Boot (19xx)(-) | 4,0 | 578 | 721.0B | |
| RTTY Rx (19xx)(G40IK - G40IL) | 4,7 | 574 | 640.0B | |
| 3D Grand Prix (1982)(DK'Tronics) | 4,7 | 569 | 6.0KB | |
| Collectors Corner (19xx)(-) | 4,2 | 554 | 3.6KB | |
| ZZZ-UNK-mondri3 (nl) | 4,5 | 552 | 1.5KB | |
| Maze Chase (19xx)(-) | 4,9 | 549 | 1.0KB | |
| 3D Highway Race (19xx)(Tarusoft)(nl) | 4,8 | 548 | 2.4KB |
The Sinclair ZX81 is a home computer, launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981. It was designed and manufactured by Sinclair Research Ltd. The "ZX81" started out as a project to make a low-cost TV interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer. When the Spectrum itself failed to take off, however, the project evolved into a full-blown computer that was launched on its own as the ZX-81. It has been branded as both "Britain's cheapest computer" and "The Wonder of '80s Technology". With only 3K of memory, an external monitor socket (miniature), ROM cartridge slots and audio cassette storage, it could be described as a limited machine even by 1980s standards. However, the ZX81 was hugely successful in the UK (where it was marketed with the slogan "The Wonder Computer of the '80s"), selling over 1.5 million units; primarily to buyers in kit form by mail order for whom cost was a priority. 300,000 units were sold in 1982 alone, its best-selling year.
The ZX81 found commercial success as well as popularity among hobbyists and hackers, primarily in Great Britain and France, where Sinclair Research never had large market penetration. The ZX81's limitations appealed to some programmers who developed ingenious software products that could be implemented within memory limitations or complemented its minimalist features. Such is the iconic nature of this handful of programs that they have since been emulated for more capable platforms.
If you have a collection of Sinclair ZX81 Roms, you can use it on your computer with emulator. The best choice is to download emulators from this site. You then just have to open the emulators, select rom and click "emulate" or something similar. In case of problems try alternative emulators.
When using an emulator for Sinclair ZX81 Roms on a Windows system, consider downloading rar or zip software which will allow you to extract a zx81rom file from a .rar/.zip archive which might not be supported by some versions of windows.
You can also download Sinclair emulators for Mac and Linux systems, but I do not recommend it as Mac and Linux users usually have the option to give a shot at other emulators.
One of the advantages of using an emulator is that you can save your games so you don't need to worry about breaking them anymore. There are many sites where you can download zx81roms, but there are lots of fakes too. You can find quality Sinclair ZX81 Roms on romsify.com, use search function to locate "sinclair" category if necessary or type a particular game name in the search box.
You can find many Windows emulators for Sinclair ZX81, but my favorite is WinZX. It is free and easy to use (although it has a pretty crappy GUI). Installation instructions are in readme file inside zipped folder after downloading, make sure you follow them carefully or else you might end up with a mess on your pc.
The emulator works mainly like this: open rom -> click "emulate" button -> wait till emulation finishes - usually takes few seconds -> play your awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome game. I do believe that it is worth downloading emulator and roms if you want to enjoy Sinclair gems like me.
If you own an android phone, try WinZX emulator. It's definitely the best choice if you have a smartphone and love old games like ZX81! The emu was developed by Genti Kestler and uses SDL system libraries which makes it run on most platforms as Windows, Linux, Mac etc.
Just use the WinZX Emulator but launch it in WineBottler by double clicking it, otherwise you will have problems with sound. The emulator is still under development so don't expect high compatibility with all games, but it works just fine at least in my experiences! Oh and, please note that there are viruses around in some emulators that claim to be ZX81 emulators.
I hope this article was useful to you. Don't forget to download emulators and roms for Sinclair ZX81 games ! Have fun with old school games like me :)