Playable Vectrex game
About Spike
Guide Spike through ladders, pits, enemies, and the rescue of Molly in Tom Sloper’s character-driven 1983 Vectrex platform game.
- Collection
- Games
- Classification
- Official library
- Catalog year
- 1983
- Programmed by
- Tom Sloper
- Designed by
- Tom Sloper
- Publisher
- GCE / Milton Bradley
- Genre
- Platform, Action
- Players
- 1 player
- Research confidence
- verified
- ROM editions
- 1
- Browser controls
- Keyboard, joystick, or gamepad
Development and history
Spike was designed by Tom Sloper and released in 1983. VGDB credits Sloper with the game, and the title became one of the Vectrex’s most recognizable character games rather than an abstract vehicle or ship simulation.
The cartridge also used the Vectrex’s sound hardware for recognizable speech-like vocal effects. Spike later became a recurring figure in homebrew titles, including Spike Hoppin’, Spike Goes Skiing, and Spike’s Water Balloons.
This page uses one stable canonical URL for the title and loads its embedded ROM directly into the emulator after the Vectrex BIOS is ready.
Gameplay and background
Move through platforms and ladders, reposition ladders where the level permits, kick left or right, jump hazards, collect Molly’s bows, and open the path toward the final rescue. The action is more deliberate than a typical raster platformer because every object is built from vectors.
How to play in Vectrexia
- Move with the Arrow keys or WASD. Compatible controllers can use the left analog stick or D-pad.
- Vectrex buttons 1–4 map to Z, X, C, and V, and to the standard face buttons on most gamepads.
- Press a controller button after connecting it so the browser can expose the gamepad to the page.
Audio may begin after the first click, key press, or controller input because browsers can restrict autoplay.
Research sources
Available editions
Alternate dumps and revisions share this canonical page to avoid duplicate search pages. Choose a specific edition from the in-app Library.