With today’s release of “The Spectrum” from RLG we’ve been keen to put together an FAQ to help new owners with their issues and offer help / advice on using these new little machines. We’ll continue to update it as things progress and do our best to help our fellow “The Spectrum” enthusiasts.
Essential Links
The most important link is the support page on the Retro Games Ltd website. You can access it below
https://retrogames.biz/support/thespectrum/
It features
The site provides an essential guide to getting started with the mini. We’d recommend checking it out to ensure you’re making the most of your new machine.
We’ve also got a copy of the manual linked below
Facebook groups
With nearly 4,000 members already, “The Spectrum” Facebook group is a great place to also get help and advice on the system. We’ll be very active on the group to help further improve this guide and also offer our help to others.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1705033550328291
Download Games
We’re not brave enough to host the download files for the Spectrum but please see the link below to the Tosec download on Archive.org
We have tested the torrent and confirm that it is being seeded and is a legitimate download. At the point of publishing there were 86 seeds. It’ll be interesting to see how that increases over the next few days.
https://archive.org/details/zx_spectrum_tosec_set_september_2023
This 4.0GB file contains
- Applications
- Books
- Compilations
- Covertapes
- Demos
- Documentation
- Educational
- Firmware
- Games
- Magazines
- Music
We understand that some people may not be able to download and extract the files at home, we do offer this as a writing service. You can pick up your pre-installed USB stick using the link below
https://www.retro32.com/product/the-spectrum-pre-loaded-usb-drive-64gb
How to load and play games from USB
Unlike the Amiga a500 Mini, the Spectrum doesn’t come with a controller. You can pick up “The Gamepad” or even worse – the abomination that is “The C64 Joystick”. Both are crap. We’d recommend you pickup an Immortal Jotsticks USB adapter and either use one of their epic sticks or an original zipstick / Competition Pro. We cover using their USB joystick adapter later in this article.
Support Developers, buy games
As for new games, please don’t pirate or share them. Support developers and the development of new games.
Top new Spectrum Games
Like many of your, we’re in the process of reliving our love affair with the Spectrum. We’ll report back of our favourite new Spectrum games very soon
What’s inside?
Before I even turned mine on – it was apart. Here’s what’s inside the box.
As you can see below, the membrane ribbon is much like the oroinal with the 5 and 8 pin connectors. Does this mean it could be used on an original Spectrum?
The unit certainly feels like it’s got some weight to it. Hence, the metal plates.
Looks like this board may be or could be used in another product. I spot two unused USB connectors on the left.
That ribbon cable. Here’s what it looks like on an original.
A fitting tribute to Sir Clive on the inside case. Although it’s somewhat disappointing that it wasn’t on the base. I doubt many people would open theirs up to see it.
Common Questions
It’s still very early days of “The Spectrum” we’ll update this section as we’re asked questions but please feel free to leave a comment below or contact us.
Can I use an Amiga / DB9 Atari joystick?
Yes, Retro Games Ltd pad is only good for the bin. We ONLY use Immortal Joysticks for our retro gaming and their joystick combined with their USB joystick adapter is perfect!
You can pick up an adapter here – https://www.immortaljoysticks.co.uk/product/usb-adapter/ and use any retro DB9 stick / pad from your Amiga, Atari or even a megadrive pad.
Personally, I’ll stick with the genuine Sanwa components in my Immortal Joystick, the rest is just mush.
Common Issues
Likewise, it’s a little too early for guides on common issues with the Spectrum so we’ll update this as needed.
Let’s hear from you!
This article will be nothing without your feedback and help to make it a great resource for “The Spectrum” owners. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, advice, problems or suggestions.