Ever since I came across the ZX Spectrum game Jetpac as an unlockable in Donkey Kong 64, I’ve been a big fan of it. Maybe it’s a little bit because DK64 itself is not an amazing game but I always loved that there were arcade games you could unlock and play in it like the original Donkey Kong and the ZX Spectrum classic. Since I grew up in the US and was born in the late 80’s, I didn’t really know about the Spectrum until quite a bit later but it’s been fun coming across games from that era that were considered highlights of the platform. Since Jetpac is my favorite, this means I end up playing any remake I come across on Itch.io and I think the new one by Langford Productions is the best I’ve seen yet.

If you haven’t played Jetpac, it’s a very simple arcade game where you’re an astronaut with a jet pack on a planet and must rebuild your rocket by flying around, grabbing parts, and dropping them off at the base of your ship. Once you do that you refuel your ship by grabbing cans of fuel and dropping them off at the ship too. All of this is done while dodging or shooting enemies that bounce around the screen. It’s all very simple but I think the game really holds up. The remake has a lot of additional options you can toggle on and off, which include:

• Three graphic styles switchable in-game: the original ZX Spectrum, ZX Spectrum limitless colour, and new HD graphics. The new HD graphics are fine, they’re what you kinda expect with any HD remake of an old game. I don’t use them but they’re fine. I don’t really understand the limitless colour thing but it does make Jetpac look like an early 90s VGA DOS game, which I think is neat. Swapping the styles also changes the audio to match the fidelity of what you’re looking at, which I think is a nice touch too.
• The platforms can randomly re-arrange with each new level
• Fuel pods can explode when shot.
• Lunar Jetman missile launcher. I’m less familiar with this one since I never played Lunar Jetman, the second game in the series, and only played the other sequel, Solar Jetman for the NES. But basically you have a missile launcher that stays on the ground and shoots homing missiles at you.
• Swapping the enemies from the developer’s other ZX Spectrum games Cookie and Pssst. Again, I never played these but it basically gives you more variety by swapping out the original game’s enemies with new ones.

It’s a very nice remake and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a fun arcade game to play, whether you’ve played the original or not, and then you can check out the other ZX Spectrum remakes by Langford Productions.

The Jetpac remake by Langford Productions is available for Windows on Itch.io.