The easiest way to calculate value is to strip out all subjectivity and simple work with the numbers. Forget whether the games were any good. Why complicate things when we can simply look at which compilations gave us the most games for our cash.
When we take quality out of the equation it is easy to calculate a winner. Simply take the price charged and divide it by the number of games included. Taking Cascade’s Cassette 50 as an example, that retailed at £9.95 and with 50 games the maths is simple… 995 / 50 = 19.9. So for arguments sake, each game on Cassette 50 costs you 20p. Sounds pretty good when you put it like that.
But Cassette 50 isn’t the best price per-game-compilation released for the Spectrum. In fact there are 3 titles that can beat it…
3rd: BEST OF PCW by Century Software – 17p per game (35 games for £5.95)
Released in 1983 Best of PCW features 35 programs originally pulished in Personal Computer World magazine as type-ins, as well as a book of the listings and explainations of some of the functions, it’s hard not to see the value. Of course te games themselves are all written in BASIC, all less than 16k and are not likely to hold your interest for long. But that isn’t necessarilly the point of a collection like this.
2nd: 60 SPECTRUM GAMES by Murcuty Computing – 14.92p per game (60 games for £8.95)
Whilst this 1986 mail order release did contain a number of type-ins and BASIC games, the advertisement that was published in a number of magazines proudly proclaims that many are written in machine code, many are joystick compatible and some were previously sold for £7.95 each. 15 games on each side of the two cassettes sounds a bit of a pain, but 60 games for 15p each? Sounds great, where’s my cheque book? Has anyone got a stamp?
1st – CAMBRIDGE COLOUR COLLECTION by Richard Francis Altwasser – 14.75p (20 games for £2.95)
Way back in 1982, Richard Altwasser released a companion tape for his book – 20 Programs for the ZX Spectrum. Containing all 20 BASIC programs, the tape was designed to save you time typing all the code in, but still allowing you to access and amend the routines should you see fit. Now you did have to have already purchased the book (£6.95 at all good bookshops), but 20 games on one tape for just £2.95 comes to a fraction more under 15p than 60 Spectrum Games and takes the title of ‘Best Value ZX Spectrum Compilation on Pure Mathematics Alone‘. Take a bow!
But of course if all the games included in the packs are garbage (and if Cassette 50 is our barometer then they probably are), is it really good value? You could argue that if 50% of the games give you a modicum of entertainment then maybe they have earned their asking price. But when you spend more time loading the game than playing it, you have shelled out more than your 15p for the game, you have spent your precious time.
So we have to introduce quality into the equation. But to do that we need to play all the games on all the compilations and do a fair and consistent comparison. So off you trot, 1,143 Spectrum compilation reviews on my desk my Friday. No? You don’t fancy it? Tsk, suppose I will have to do it myself then!
The ZX Spectrum Compilation Chart Challenge is my attempt to do just that and review as many of the compilations as I can before I get too bored or too old. It is going to take some time, but give me a chance, I only started last month (October 2025 that is, for those reading in the future).
Every few weeks I hope to add another compilation review to YouTube (with edited highlights posted on this website too) and over time this will no doubt become the master algorithm to finally answer the ultimate question of life, the universe and what is best value ZX Spectrum video game compilation.