ZX Spectrum Game Trashman

Trashman ZX Spectrum

Trashman for was released for the ZX Spectrum (our favourite of the 8-bit retro computers) in early 1984 by New Generation software.

They were already a famous name in Spectrum gaming for their (quite revolutionary) title 3D Monster Maze, which had earlier appeared on the ZX81.

Anyway, the aim of this game was highly original and also very simple (as you would expect given the year it was released).

So let's take a brief and light-hearted look at one of the most fondly remembered games on the good old Speccy...

In Trashman you play the role of a bin-man and you had to amble up and down a street entering the gardens of the houses and collect the dustbin or trashcan.

Then you would take it out to the dustcart, empty it and put the bin back in exactly the same spot that it was uplifted from.

You had to empty five bins in the first road (Montague Road), all against a falling Bonus score.

If the bonus reached zero a message would appear up to tell you that complaints have been received regarding your slowness on the job.

Receiving three such ticking off's and in true Alan Sugar style you would be fired. A bit on the harsh side eh?

This classic game was viewed in a traditional 'bird’s eye view', looking down on a nice looking suburban housing estate, with the road running through the centre, complete with parked cars and your dustcart creeping up the left hand side.

The road was also busy with traffic running in both directions.

Problems encountered included being hit and killed by a car, walking over the grass in the gardens (which would quickly reduce your bonus score), and on later screens hostile dogs and wayward kids riding their bikes on the pavement.

If you met a dog or a bike your poor trashman would start to limp - thus slowing your progress down as he shuffled around the screen.

The overhead perspective view is was slightly isometric, showing the houses on either side, the gardens, hedges, and even the shadows of the houses (it did seem to be a sunny day!). On later screens there were also cafes and pubs.

These could be entered to increase your points, but over-eating or drinking too much would cause trouble - you couldn't skive too much! It was possible to add bonus points to your score in another ways, such as householders giving out a tip for your good and speedy service.

There were levels to progress through such as Pulteney Road.

To do this you were required to collect six bins. Your trashman’s progress was slower when carrying a full bin and you would have to chase after the bin truck which moved up the road a small distance every few seconds.

The playing area was much larger than the display so the screen would cut from scene to scene as you went after the truck to dump your bins contents.

ZX Spectrum gamers liked this title when it was released due to it's colourful graphics and different gameplay.

It was pretty addictive and it certainly had that 'one more go' factor. Trashman went on to be a cult classic on Sinclair's 8-Bit machine.

33 years on it is still worth another look.

Trashman on the ZX Spectrum is a cult classic that, in my opinion, does not quite get the recognition it deserves.

New Generation are probably a 'less remembered' software house too; names such as Imagine, Ocean Software, Ultimate, Durell, Hewson and US Gold roll off the tongue with ease.... but New Generation, despite having an impressive portfolio of Spectrum games, are not the first to leap to mind.

If you are a fan of retro games then this is one title that is definately worth a look.

New Generation Software also created some other well known titles for the ZX Spectrum such as 3D Monster Maze, 3D Tunnel and the excellent sporting simulation Jonah Barrington's Squash.

Jonah Barrington's Squash was one of the few titles to feature synthesized speech via the currah microspeech unit, making New Generation one of the few software houses to ever use that technology.