Experience classic arcade action in Space Splat

Space Splat is a free retro-styled arcade game based on classic games released in the 1980s for the ZX Spectrum. In it, players take on the role of a shovel-wielding astronaut who must clear an area of its alien infestation.

Space Splat gameplay

In Space Splat, the player takes control of a character who must clear dangerous aliens out of a series of levels. A Space Splat game consists of moving around single-screen levels, digging pits for the aliens to fall into, and then destroying them once they’re trapped. However, there’s a time limit: all the aliens must be eliminated before the player’s oxygen runs out.

What platforms does Space Splat run on?

Space Splat is more than just a modern version of an arcade classic. It’s also designed to run on a modern version of a classic home computer. Space Splat runs on the ZX Spectrum Next, a modern version of the classic early-80s computer, but can also be played using ZX Spectrum emulators.

Similar games to Space Splat

Space Splat is a single-screen platformer, part of a long tradition of similar games. The game that inspired this modern version, Space Panic, was one of the earliest platformers; it inspired later games that would go on to establish hit franchises. Other classic platform games of the era or slightly later include Lode Runner and Bubble Bobble.

A faithful recreation of a classic

Space Splat isn’t an updated version of an older game; it’s an attempt to recreate the original in spirit and structure if not in precise detail. As such, its main strength is also its main weakness. Gamers who enjoy the nostalgia of revisiting an older genre will enjoy the occasional Space Splat game, but by the nature of the exercise, there’s little new here.