Level 9 Rarities
SCAPEGHOST (DISK)
Level 9’s last adventure for the Spectrum was also one of the hardest to find. A minty fresh disk example complete with poster and paperwork could cost you upwards of £60. Being on a multi-format disk, you’ll also be battling with the Amstrad CPC and Amstrad PCW collectors for this rarity.
32K BAGGIE RELEASE
This trio of Level 9’s earliest Spectrum adventures in the original first release tape-in-a-baggie packaging are extremely hard to come by. Available only by mail-order and in limited numbers, expect to stump up to £100 each for a complete example.
GNOME RANGER/INGRID’S BACK(DISK) SNOWBALL
The Spectrum/Amstrad disk combo release strikes again with Gnome Ranger and its sequel, Ingrid’s Back. Both are multi-format disk games wanted by Spectrum and Amstrad adventurers alike and both are tough games to find on disk. Should you find either expect to splurge £50+ on each.
(CRASH VARIANT)
Snowball with the CRASH Readers Award Winner 1984 logo emblazoned on the spine and front cover is something of an oddity as Level 9 games covers and inlays were always unfussy and uniformly similar across all games and formats. Finding a CRASH logo Snowball could you cost £40+. this was to be the beginning of the end for the short-lived Level 9 and Rainbird lovein…
Level 9 now reverted back to publishing their own output and a new humorous adventure theme evolved with Gnome Ranger and its sequel Ingrid’s Back. A third instalment was planned but never released.
There was to be one more publishing agreement to be signed in 1988, this time with Mandarin Software, the software division owned by publisher Europress Group, the parent company of Database Publications. Mandarin Software published just two titles for Level 9. A compilation of Lords Of Time, Red Moon and The Price Of Magik entitled Time And Magik and the standalone adventure Lancelot.
Level 9’s final software release for the Spectrum was Scapeghost in 1989. They persevered for two further years before finally shutting up shop in 1991.
While the company may have long since gone, their superb back catalogue lives on. Many Spectrum gamers who only had a passing interest in text or graphic adventures dipped their virgin adventuring toe into the warm welcoming waters of a Level 9 game and became adventure converts and Level 9 collectors. Invariably a market for
Level 9 games has evolved and, sadly, it’s not a cheap software house to collect for. Prepare to be relieved of much wonga…
Good news however — there are just 13 original releases to locate. Bad news though — there are many packaging variants. There are also three Rainbird compilations, two Mandarin Software titles and five Mosaic Publishing games to find, if you want to be a Level 9 Spectrum adventuring completist. And what’s that
The three clamshell releases; Red Moon, The Price Of Magik and The Worm In Paradise are not that a difficult game to obtain. However, the two latter games have inlay variants that are. The usually uncluttered L9 logo bordered inlay has an award splashed version featuring commendations from Sinclair User, Your Sinclair and CRASH.
A standard Price Of Magik or The Worm In Paradise would cost around £10. The award festooned oddities would be nearer £20. Oh, and don’t forget to check The Price Of Magik clamshell still contains the Lenslok doobrie.
The almost universally loathed anti-piracy device had the game and company names embossed on it in real plastic gold and is often misplaced… probably thrown away in frustration as you squint, tilt your head and get the access code wrong… again… gah… you say? Are there tape and disk versions too? You bet your broadsword there are.
There are distinct stages of packaging design for
Level 9 games. The very earliest packaging was a simple affair. A tape, almost always a TDK, that was hand copied complete with loading instruction slip, instructions and a pre-paid stamped address envelope so you could send off for the hints sheet should you get flummoxed. This was put into a small plastic bag with a cardboard header stapled to the top of it. Unassumingly effective and now very collectible.
Next came the cardboard box with the familiar L9 logo encompassing its border. There was no painted inlay art just yet with Level 9 utilising the line drawn instruction booklet artwork as the box art via a large window in the front of the box.