A crap version of...

[PeteProdge]

Start with a really good (or at least fairly beloved) game, then bring up a crap version of it.

Here's some off the top of my head...

Nemesis
Transmuter


Renegade
Subway Vigilante


Barbarian
Highlander

[Lethargeek]

i won't call Transmuter crap and Nemesis is really too good at being choppy
also why you need Subway Vigilante as a crap version of Renegade when we have Renegade3

[Einar Saukas]

From SC homepage, click on RELATIONS and look at section INSPIRED BY:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/relations.php

You will find several examples. For instance:

Exolon
Shuriken

[Sokurah]

Knight Lore / Head over Heels
Rentakill Rita & Greyfell (and many others ... including all the crap made the 3D Adventure Designer ... or whatever it's called).

[Joefish]

I'll call Transmuter crap if you like, but then that's largely because it really is crap!

Mind you, Speccy Nemesis isn't exactly a miracle, so I'll concede that the relative crapness is questionable, but it is still distinctly downwards. At least in Nemesis when you blow up a mini-base, a fleet of drones doesn't still just appear out of thin air as if the base was still functioning.

[bluespikey]

Most certainly Yeti is a crap version of Exolon.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

We must not go too far from it to find a crap version:

[zup]

Afterburner > Mig-29 Soviet Fighter (although this is enjoyable).

[stupidget]

JetSet Willy is a crap version of Fahrenheit 3000

[Lee P]

I've been playing a few of the titles from the 60 Spectrum Games compilation by Magnum Software, and so far there's been:

A crap Jumping Jack (Head-Banger)
A crap MM (Ian's Night Out)
A crap Moon Alert ( Escape From Alderon)

Maybe "crap" is a bit harsh - they're not Cassette 50 material, just not as good as the games that inspired them.

Only 57 to go, I might start a blog!

[Ralf]

Some more:

Chase H.Q II is a crap version of Chase H.Q:

---------------------

Mountie Mick's Death Ride is a crap version of Stop the Express:

---------------------

E-swat is a crap version of Robocop:


Captain Pytron is a crap version of Savage:

[zup]

Street Fighter (I or II, doesn't matter) is a crap version of Yie Ar Kung Fu

(I was going to write The Way of the Exploding Fist, but Yie Ar Kung Fu has different enemies on every stage).

[R-Tape]

A crap MM (Ian's Night Out)

There's also Winer Milly on the same cassette, which is even more on the nose! As you say, neither MM nor CGC material. I've got a soft spot for both. Winer Milly might even be all BASIC, which makes it a pretty good attempt at a MM clone all things considered.

Only 57 to go, I might start a blog!

[R-Tape]

JetSet Willy is a pre-acid casualty version of Fahrenheit 3000

FTFY

[Lee P]

There's also Winer Milly on the same cassette, which is even more on the nose! As you say, neither MM nor CGC material. I've got a soft spot for both. Winer Milly might even be all BASIC, which makes it a pretty good attempt at a MM clone all things considered.

I gave that a play after posting, it's bloody difficult to get past the baddie at first because I was expecting MM game mechanics which obviously isn't possible in BASIC. The giveaway that it's BASIC (apart from being able to break into the thing) is Caps Shift for Jump, so z and x for left and right, and Z and X for jump left and right. I'm sure I've played another BASIC MM/JSW clone that uses that trick.

Much better at double speed but then again most of these games are.

[Nick]

Harry Price time....

Although pretty much all of his games qualify for this thread, the one that, for me at least, sticks out the most is Crimebusters Inc.

Why? Well Mastertronic noticed that was such a crap rip off of Spellbound that they actually got it withdrawn from sale.

[equinox]

Any Dizzy game => any Spellbound game.
(Carried out by PeterJ)

[equinox]

All right, here's a more philosophical one:
Knight Lore, Alien-8, Pentagram
They are all the same producer of course (Ultimate) but I think any Speccy game player would separate them into 1 and 2.
For me: Knight Lore is the "good" one: Pentagram is playable, Alien 8 is playable, but they are both rather weak shadows, "we got an isometric engine..." -- I'm always surprised how much Ultimate milked that Filmation engine when they had previously always created really radical new technology. We know they had Knight Lore stored in the bank back when they released Atic Atac (or whatever it was) -- yes -- but what is one to assume -- did they just keep pumping out mediocre isometrics while planning an amazing Nintendo game? I doubt it because they didn't actually burst onto the Nintendo scene with a great game (though they did great things later of course -- Donkey Kong Country...).

screenshot to make my post more lovable:

[blucey]

We must not go too far from it to find a crap version:

was going to post the exact same thing, Juan.