// RETRO GAMES ARCHIVE :: MANIC MINER
// DESCRIPTION & HISTORY
Released in 1983 for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Manic Miner is a landmark in home computing history. Written by the legendary Matthew Smith and published by Bug-Byte (later Software Projects), it was the first game in the "Miner Willy" series.
The game was inspired by the arcade title Miner 2049er, but Smith added a unique British surrealism and high-stakes platforming that made it an instant classic. Players guide Miner Willy through 20 increasingly difficult caverns, collecting keys to escape before his air supply runs out.
This is the Manic Miner Construction Kit, a C/SDL2 port built on Steve Clark's (fawtytoo) SDL2 version of the original ZX Spectrum game. It adds a hi-res 512×256 playfield, OGG music and sound effects, five save-state slots, replay recording, an options menu, a demo mode and controller support. All 20 caverns are stored in a JSON file you can edit in the browser with the level editor. It runs in the browser, with touch controls on phones and tablets, and on Linux, Mac and Windows.
// TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
[SYSTEM] Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, 1983
[CPU] Zilog Z80A @ 3.5 MHz
[LANGUAGE] 100% Z80 Assembly
[GFX] Tiled 8x8 character blocks. Attributes (color) applied per block.
[AUDIO] "The Blue Danube" played via the internal 1-bit beeper.
[MEM] Fits entirely within 48KB of RAM, including all 20 levels.
[PORT] C99 + SDL2, hard fork of Steve Clark's SDL2 port (zlib licence)
[GFX] hi-res 512×256 playfield with 32×32 PNG sprites; 16-colour palette, per-pixel colouring (no colour clash)
[AUDIO] SDL_mixer, OGG music and sound effects
[LEVELS] all 20 caverns, NPCs and portals in levels.json
[SAVE] 5 save-state slots, replay recording, per-level high scores
[EDITOR] browser level editor: tiles, NPCs, portals, sprite designer, gap check
[BUILDS] Linux x64/arm64, macOS arm64, Windows x64, WebAssembly
// CONTROLS
MOVE ....... D-pad / left stick ... Left Right (touch: ◀ ▶)
JUMP ....... A or B ... Space (touch: ▲)
START ...... A or Start ... Enter (touch: ⏎)
PAUSE ...... X or LB ... Tab (touch: ❚❚)
MUSIC ...... Y or RB ... Alt
SAVE STATE . U (cycles slots 1-5)
REPLAY ..... R (start / stop recording)
TITLE ...... L load game, S high scores, O options
BACK ....... B or Back ... Esc (touch: ✕)
>_ The game's engine was revolutionary for its time, managing to play music while simultaneously processing sprite movements and collision detection—a feat previously thought difficult on the Spectrum's single-tasking CPU architecture.
>_ Source, builds and release packages are on GitHub. Build your own caverns in the level editor.