My path was:

Vic20
C=64
Atari 520 ST (don't even ask)
Amiga 500+
Amiga 1200 HD (an object of true beauty, with the best OS I've ever used, and I still emulate to this day!)
and finally PC (XP Pro, Linux)

Otherwise, great post that brought back a lot of nostalgia. I still get a bit teary-eyed thinking about my Spectrum days. I actually had a game published in Sinclair Programs, called Builder, which was a poor man’s Manic Miner ripoff, but still, the recognition meant the world to me. I became a fairly accomplished BASIC/machine code programmer and used to write all manner of football/basketball management games, essentially for my younger brother, who would only play them so he could find an exploit some bug I’d overlooked.

In fact, I’ll take this opportunity to improve your code:

10 PRINT “SCOTT “;
20 GOTO 10

Loved Ultimate. Underworld is still one of my all-time favourite games. And as you say, video games back then were *hard*. No saves, no continues, no anything. I remember being obsessed with Ranarama, a kind of early D&D/Gauntlet clone, and getting all the way to the end – which took HOURS – and then the Spectrum just decided to reboot itself. You know, like it did. Good times. So I started over, and more of my life ebbed away. Not that I regret it.

Jet Set Willy. Absolute classic. I was one of the first to own that game, I think, as I got a preview copy from (the now-closed) CB Centre in Hastings. Is Matthew Smith on Twitter? He bloody well should be. We must perform a Quirkafleeg, indeed.

The Hobbit. Those blasted ‘pale bulbous eyes’ that you could never evade, no matter how many times you inputted HIDE into the frickin’ terminal. That game was so bug-ridden, but it had enough of an impact for me to pass the stupid in-jokes on to my kids, who have no idea what I’m going on about, but still understand what “Thorin sits down and sings about gold” is all about. And I’ll make sure *their* kids understand, too.

A good, and enjoyably familiar read. Cheers Scott.

Apart from the desperate lack of software. The cack keyboard. The unreliable casette loader……