Horace Goes Skiing

8-bit hero Horace is often considered the unofficial mascot of the ZX Spectrum. His first game saw him go hungry, in his third he battled spiders… but 1982’s Horace Goes Skiing – remastered for your gaming pleasure – saw the instantly recognisable character don his skis and hit the slopes.

Your first task is to cross a busy road that lies between you and the ski shop – not such an easy task considering the volume of traffic you’ll encounter. Dangerously large trucks, crazy speeding ambulances and short-sighted drivers all add to the fun. Having made it across alive, you can pick up your skis… and now you’re going to have to cross back over. Which idiot built the shop there in the first place?

The second stage sees Horace pelting his way through a flagged course; stay within the race zone and you’ll score plenty of points, but watch out for bumps in the course that’ll send you zinging off in the wrong direction.

Finish the race and you get the best news of all: you get to do it all over again. But watch out for Horace’s nemesis – you never quite know when he’s going to appear!

Despite its apparent simplicity, Horace Goes Skiing cemented its place in gaming history with its mix of simplicity, arcade-action gameplay and a unique graphical style that many retro fans still hold a candle for to this day.

This lovingly remastered version is faithful to the original, offering retro fans and casual gamers alike a chance to experience the same thrill as the first generation of players had back in the day. Players can choose to control Horace either using the on-screen touch zones or by using a compatible Bluetooth device.

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According to the original instructions:

Horace Goes Skiing is a sequel to the very successful Hungry Horace. The Horace series pioneers the idea of inter-active cartoons. Help Horace to slalom down the mountain course between the flags and avoiding the trees - but first he must cross the busy roads to get to the ski slopes. A complex, colourful and outstanding computer game.

Before Horace can get to the ski-slopes he must fetch his skis from a hut on the other side of the busy road. Horace will move in one of four directions: Up, Left, Down and Right.

At the beginning of the game, Horace has $40 to spend. If he is knocked down it will cost him $10 in ambulance fees. After Horace has successfully crossed the road, guide him into the door of the hut where he will fetch his skis. The charge for ski hire is $10. Horace should not enter the ski hut unless he can afford the hire charge. If Horace has spent all his money on ambulance fees, then he can accumulate points and money by crossing the road repeatedly, as at every 1000-point boundary, Horace receives a $10 bonus. Horace should not linger on the road longer than necessary, since the traffic becomes progressively more congested. After fetching his skis Horace must return across the road to the ski slopes.

In the second part of the game Horace must ski down the Hannekon run, avoiding the trees and slaloming between the red and blue pairs of flags. If Horace fails to pass between the flags a warning note is sounded and Horace will lose points. Horace can parallel left or right using the chosen control method. Horace increases his points by passing between the flags and he can also receive a 100-point bonus by passing through the finish barrier. As in the highway section, there is a $10 bonus at every 1000-point boundary. If Horace should hit a tree then he can continue on the slope provided that his skis do not break. If his skis do break then Horace must again cross the road for a new set of skis and then return across the road to the ski slopes. If Horace successfully completes the course with his skis intact then he must cross the road once with his skis to the next slope.