Punchy is set, as the name might suggest, in a theater setting. It is an adaptation of “Punch & Judy”: you are the hunchback Bobby, your goal is to make your way across sixteen theater stages to rescue the beautiful Judy from the Punch. Each stage is filled with the typical hazards of a traditional play, like crocodiles, custard pies and rotten tomatoes, as well as the pits that must be crossed via moving platforms. You’ll sometimes have the chance to catch a sausage flying around in the air as you move along.

Even though it is a rather early game, the Spectrum version features some interesting speech samples using a technique that was very uncommon at that time.