jd games | take the challenge

Welcome to the website of Jetman's Dad (aka David Cooper), showcasing my attempts to remake some classic Sinclair ZX Spectrum games for the PC platform. My goal in doing this is to update the games' speed, graphics, sound etc., whilst retaining the essential gameplay elements that made them great in the first place.

There are a bundle of screenshots around, and all the games can be downloaded and played, in full, for FREE - no registration/subscription fees, no paying for a CD ... nothing, so have fun and let me know what you think of the site, and the games, by leaving a message in the Forum before you leave.


Stop The Express has been declared a *Retro Gamer Sizzler*	27 May 2006 On finally getting the chance to sit down and read my copy of issue 25 of Imagine Publishing's wonderful Retro Gamer Magazine I was astonished to see that Stop The Express had been declared remake of the month and a Retro Gamer Sizzler with a rating of 94%. The review by Mike Tooley is very complimentary, and he nicely summarises exactly the reasons that I chose to remake this game. If you haven't yet checked it out, give it a whirl ... what have you got to lose. Click here to read the full Retro Gamer review. And if you love retro games, you really have to subscribe to the magazine. It is brilliant.

Hang From The Straps *Stop The Express*	15 December 2005 Six months since the last update (prolific I am not!), and there is finally something to talk about in the JDGames universe. Version 1.2 of Stop The Express has been released, with a couple of new features: a score-bar indicator to remind you when JD is carrying a snakebird or knife: and JD's ability to hang from the straps when inside the train, just like in the original. The hanging from the straps thing was picked out as an important omission by the judges of the 2004 Retro Remakes competition, and as with all of these things when it came down to it, it was pretty easy to implement. Click here to go straight to the downloads.

PHEENiX *The Next Generation*	14 June 2005 After several dormant months without doing much in the way of game remaking, an updated demo of Pheenix: The Next Generation has now been released. The demo release now features three complete stages making up a complete game in and of themselves, complete with increasing difficulty as the levels are recycled. For those who know the game ... the three complete stages are 1, 2 and 5, leaving only the bird stages to complete. I am currently trying to work out the best way of blowing the birds wings off, before I attempt to put the stages together. Click here to go straight to the downloads.

The 'award-winning' *Stop The Express*	2 December 2004 Much to my surprise, Stop The Express managed a total score of 88.5% and placed 2nd overall in the recent Retro Remakes competition. I was hoping for a top 20 (but expecting between 20 and 50) finish, so I was suitably stunned. The current version is 1.1a, which includes some changes based on feedback from the competition. Click here to view the results and read the judges' reviews of all 73 entries. Trevor "Smila" Storey has put together an excellent PDF magazine covering the competition results and reviews which is now available via the Retro Remakes and Mersey Remakes websites. It was also included on the coverdisk of a recent issue of Retro Gamer Magazine.


I have flirted with many gaming platforms over the years, including the Sega Megadrive and Saturn, Playstation and PC, but the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, with its multitude of graphically challenged but immensely playable games, remains my favourite to this day, and my discovery of emulation and the web's dedicated community of classic game remakers have allowed me to indulge this passion all over again.
	This website is designed to showcase my remake(s) of some of those classic computer games, all made with GameMaker - an excellent shareware game creation utility by Mark Overmars (not the former Dutch International Footballer ... at least I don't think it is!). Gamemaker uses a simple click and drag interface (for those of us duffers with no idea how to program using a "proper" language), but also includes a powerful scripting language of its own and can create large, complex games without unnecessary blood, sweat and tears once you've got the hang of it.
Your feedback on the games - good, bad or indifferent - is positively encouraged, and bug reports will be particularly welcome. Click here to go to the Feedback Forum. Most important of all ... I hope you enjoy playing these games!