Miner Willy is the protagonist in a series of

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

s for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

, MSX,

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

and the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

home computers. The first two games - ''

Manic Miner ''Manic Miner'' is a Platform game, platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith (games programmer), Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 in video gaming, 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It ...

'' and ''

Jet Set Willy ''Jet Set Willy'' is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time. The game is a sequel to ''Manic ...

'' were written by Matthew Smith during the early 1980s. The Willy saga was to be a trilogy and a third game in the series was planned, ''Miner Willy Meets The Taxman''. The series started in 1983 with the release of ''Manic Miner'', and was followed up a year later with ''Jet Set Willy'' and ''

Jet Set Willy II ''Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier'' is a platform game released 1985 by Software Projects as the Amstrad CPC port of ''Jet Set Willy''. It was then rebranded as the sequel and ported other home computers. ''Jet Set Willy II'' was developed ...

''. Another game in the series, ''The Perils of Willy'', was released solely for the

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PE ...

. ''Andre's Night Off'' was published as a type-in listing in the June 1984 issue of

Computer & Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website w ...

. In addition, quite a few unofficial sequels,

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

s, homages and updates have been released.World of Spectrum
listing, showing the large number of fan-made ''Jet Set Willy'' sequels.

Games in the series

*''

'', (1983),

Bug-Byte Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of 8-bit computer games during the early 1980s, for Sinclair, Commodore and ...

Software Projects Software Projects was a computer game development company which was started by ''Manic Miner'' developer Matthew Smith, Alan Maton and Colin Roach. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was able to take the rights to his recent ...

*''

'', (1984), Software Projects *''The Perils of Willy'', (1984), Software Projects *''Andre's Night Off'', 1984, Matthew Smith *''

'', (1985), Software Projects

References

Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1983 category:Video games with available source code Fictional miners {{fict-char-stub