Bitmap Books all started with a crowdfunding campaign. Launching on April 1st (we know!) 2014, Sam’s first Kickstarter proposed much of what would become Bitmap’s publishing DNA. The campaign proposed a new look at a well covered machine: the Commodore 64. But the focus of Commodore 64: a visual Commpendium was to be visual, with meticulously reproduced art, cutting edge printing and production methods, and ornate design – all backed up, of course, by informed writing and expert interviews. The concept struck a chord with retro gamers, who eagerly pledged a total of £35,594, soaring past the £20,000 goal. This wasn’t only the start of Bitmap Books; our community was also born at that moment, validating Sam's idea for a new kind of retro game book.
Few classic gaming companies court a reputation like that of SNK. The Japanese outfit is behind some of the most impressive retro hardware and software, with icons like Metal Slug and THE KING OF FIGHTERS, and the Bitmap team are huge fans. But we managed to hold it together when SNK granted us the licence to create NEOGEO: A Visual History, and then Metal Slug: The Ultimate History and THE KING OF FIGHTERS: The Ultimate History. SNK gave us access to their incredible materials vault, and let us interview some of their most talented staff. We love the resultant books, and working with SNK was profoundly rewarding.
The idea for The Art Of The Box had rattled around in Sam’s mind for years. A visually-led volume gathering the best game box art and interviews with the most influential cover artists was about as ‘Bitmap’ as a book could get. And yet it would be a tremendously ambitious process. Something of a personal project for Sam, The Art Of The Box eventually saw release in the summer of 2023. After so much hard work, the response from readers and press made it beyond worthwhile. There’s a lesson in The Art Of The Box’s creation too; if you’ve got an idea you can’t quite stop thinking about, have a go at making it a reality. We can’t tell you how good the results can feel.
For the production of our book The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games, Sam himself got involved in the 50-plus interviews included, curating the list of expert contributors, and doing initial introductions that connected our writers with various genre luminaries. An adventure game fan from the early days, Sam spoke to game making icons including Dave Grossman, Charles Cecil, Jane Jensen, Éric Chahi, and Ron Gilbert. 'Meeting' your heroes in that way never gets tiresome, and was a true highlight of Bitmap's first decade. Want to learn more? Head over to the book’s store page to check all the adventure game icons we spoke to for the book.
A book selling out is always a double-edged sword for a publisher. It’s great to see the popularity – and a shame not to see everybody get a copy. Still, when our book A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games sold out within 48 hours of release, it was a very special moment for Bitmap Books. It didn’t only validate the work and passion that went into that title; it gave us a chance to see how far we’ve come, and the reputation and trust we’ve built with our readers.
The visual compendiums series has been a backbone of Bitmap Books since that first Kickstarter. But that made it all the more exciting when we released not only our first title that was not part of the visual compendiums line, but also an English language edition of an international book. The title was Generation 64, and it told the fascinating story of the role of the Commodore 64 in inspiring a group of Swedish computing fans who would go on to become some of the most influential, important figures in the global game industry.
At Bitmap we love going that little bit further, whether we’re creating lenticular slip cases, matching bookmark ribbons with game platform colour schemes, or even releasing a special edition of Metal Slug: The Ultimate History that came with a cover that let rip with sound effects from the games (sorry; that edition sold out long ago). Creating those things happens behind the scenes, with little fanfare in the moment. But pushing creativity in books is what Bitmap is about – and has spawned some of the most treasured moments in our ten-year history.
Brothers Chris and Tim Stamper are some of the most influential figures in game development – especially in the UK. They founded Ultimate Play the Game in 1982, and then the mighty Rare three years later. Their contribution to gaming – and particularly an era now framed as a golden time for retro – is immense. So imagine our delight when they agreed to contribute to our book Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a visual compendium. To get the elusive Stampers on board? That was a really special moment for everyone involved in Bitmap Books.
Putty Squad’s Amiga ‘release’ is rather infamous. In 1994 demo disks made it to players via magazine covermounts. The press raved about the game in numerous glowing reviews. The hype was real. The Putty sequel was done, and ready – and then never saw release on Amigas. Only SNES fans got a retail version, with MS-DOS and Mega Drive ports also canned. Then, as a Kickstarter perk for our 2014 campaign for Commodore Amiga: a visual compendium, we worked with original Putty Squad developers System 3 to finally release the game on floppy. Sam got to design the disk art, box art and more, sewing up a famed piece of game history, and tasting the thrill of 1990s game publishing.
To be honest, just getting to be involved in designing Royal Mail stamps that celebrated UK video games would have made this list. Our work was eagerly collected by stamp fans and retro gamers alike, but also placed on letters and parcels across the UK. To become part of the fabric of everyday British cultural life like that was a true privilege. But then to win a DA&D award for the effort? The D&ADs are one of the world’s most recognised awards for design and advertising excellence. And we received one for our work. Experiences like that will stay with us forever.
So there they are. The moments we made, that made Bitmap Books what it is. We also got contributors, designers, photographers and retro game legends together for a celebratory party, which you can get a taste of here.
Thank you sincerely for being part of our journey, and we look forward to making many more decades of memories with you.
*Dates, details, and occurances of the events listed here are TBC and subject to change.
]]>For this feature, long-suffering N64 fan Graeme Mason looks back at the eight games he thinks defined the Nintendo console. Disagree with his picks? Please feel free to let us know! You can read about all these games and more in the forthcoming book, N64: a visual compendium.
Party Like It's 1998
The Nintendo 64 was home to three Mario Party games, and each features the same core gameplay, combining the spirit of family board games with cute minigames featuring famous Nintendo stars. With several gameplay modes available and dozens of minigames, the series rightly forged a reputation for not only multiplayer entertainment but an experience that all the family could enjoy.
Defining Gameplay, Development Hell
DMA’s Body Harvest underwent wholesale changes to its gameplay, staff and core ethos. That it survived is a miracle in itself – that the game also introduced several groundbreaking elements is a wonder and a testament to the dedication and perseverance of its developer. Dropped by Nintendo and finally delivered years after the N64’s release, Body Harvest’s open-world and vehicle-based gameplay was a firm step towards the gaming behemoth that would become Grand Theft Auto. It also defined a mature direction for the console and the games industry.
Grappled By The Ghoulies
Wrestling games were highly popular on the N64, mainly thanks to AKI Corporation’s series of officially licensed WCW releases. It reached its pinnacle in 1998 with this sequel to WCW vs. nWo World Tour, becoming the top-selling third-party Nintendo 64 game in the process. With its improved grappling system, graphics and roster of wrestlers, this was the one to go for if you could only play one wrestling game on the N64.
Flying Out Of The Shadows
This flight action game wasn’t the first Star Wars game on the Nintendo 64 – that honour goes to Shadows Of The Empire – but it was the most popular and spawned a further two games, albeit on Nintendo’s next console, the GameCube. Unlike Shadows, Rogue Squadron focuses on vehicular combat and ties in more closely to the movies, as the player takes on the Empire throughout a series of famous locations. Like WCW, Star Wars had an essential run on the Nintendo 64, breaking the legendary film franchise into the modern age of console gaming.
A Jurassic Smash
Valiant Comics was one of the better second-tier comic publishers to emerge during the industry’s 90s boom period, and a few of its properties made their way to the N64, thanks to its owner, Acclaim. Armorines and Shadowman appeared later in the N64’s life, but it was the Native American warrior and dino hunter Turok that made the biggest splash. Perhaps influenced by a lingering interest in dinosaurs following the mega hit Jurassic Park and its sequel, Turok’s exciting first-person gameplay and rampant dino-slaying secured a bright future for the time-travelling hero. Its Nintendo exclusivity meant the series became synonymous with the N64.
Linking Up With 3D
While a Nintendo 64 Zelda game was inevitable, few anticipated quite how remarkable Ocarina Of Time would be. Thrust into 3D, the series blossomed, its beautiful landscapes complemented with much innovative gameplay that we take for granted today. Often cited as one of the best games of all time, Ocarina Of Time hugely boosted the Nintendo 64’s standing and re-cemented the RPG’s reputation, which has continued to flourish to this day.
The Platform Game Comes Of Age
Highly anticipated by fans and heavily promoted by Nintendo, Mario’s jump into 3D, like Zelda’s, had to work exceptionally well. And boy, did it work, supplanting the tried-and-trusted 2D graphics with a brand-new 3D display, yet retaining the glorious gameplay that had made the earlier games so compulsive. Critically, Mario himself is given a new lease of life, jumping, crouching, kicking and swimming his way around the gorgeous world. As a link between Nintendo’s old world and new, there is no better example than Super Mario 64.
Licence To Thrill
GoldenEye brings together so many trailblazing aspects, it’s difficult to know where to start. A maturer approach to console gaming; one of the finest 90s FPS’ to grace any games console; a film licence that, for once, is both a great game and an accurate recreation of the movie; and finally, an incredible multiplayer experience, uniting players in split-screen deathmatch inside the James Bond world. Gaming perfection, and the one game, more than any other, that defines the Nintendo 64.
That’s Graeme’s eight games that he thinks defined the Nintendo 64. Disagree? Let us know on social media, and don’t forget to check out N64: a visual compendium, available soon from Bitmap Books, the premier publisher of quality gaming titles.
]]>We're sorry to announce that from today, we will be suspending shipping to Australia and New Zealand. On top of already expensive fees, we have been told that an 'Emergency Surcharge' has recently been added. This increase makes the prices unworkable. Once this surcharge is removed, we will activate again.
We know that the price of shipping is a constant cause of frustration for our Australian and New Zealand friends, so we suggest that until we activate again you check out Pixel Crib who carry some of our books and are based in Australia. As a gesture of goodwill, we will pass on the free PDF to any Pixel Crib customers. All you need to do it email us with a copy of your receipt.
]]>Source: Medium
Despite all that, to this day, Apple computers (if not iPhone) are not particularly associated with gaming. That in part comes from a concession made in favour of their user-friendly leanings. Unlike Windows PCs, Macs offer less flexibility around upgrading or customising graphics cards. Ease of use has long been Apple machines’ greatest strength, but that made it a little harder to support users getting at the guts of their slick machines. Which in turn made things a little tougher for users wanting to constantly keep in step with the rapid technological advances and demands seen in gaming.
And then there were those undersized black and white screens of the early Macintoshs – though many retro Mac gaming fans will tell you that limitation inspired both brilliant visual and distinct game design. Afterall, creativity so often thrives under restrictions.
In time, Macintoshs and the Apple computers blossomed as creative machines, and were eagerly embraced by those in fields like video editing, graphic design, and animation. Eventually, though, a great many game developers found themselves working on Windows PCs, making releasing to that OS a little more appealing and straightforward than publishing to those Macs with their limited capacity for gaming-focused graphics cards and such.
It wasn’t always that way, however. For a golden time Mac jostled shoulder-to-shoulder with the PC in a battle to claim the gaming market. For a period in the 1980s and early 1990s, so appealing were Macs both in terms of their technical muscle and audience, that many now iconic games made their debut on the Machines. Will Wright’s definitive urban management game SimCity first released on Mac in 1989, months before its migration to Amiga, IBM PC and MS-DOS. Famously, Robin and Rand Miller’s eerie adventure Myst also began life on Mac, in 1993, pulling on the power of the Apple HyperCard software stack. Windows users would have to wait another year to lose themselves to Myst’s meticulously confusing location.
And then there’s the fascinating story of how Halo – a Microsoft-exclusive sci-fi FPS that would spend years defining Xbox gaming as distinct from its rivals – actually started out life targeting the Mac. Founded in 1991, future Halo developer Bungie had become a bit of a sensation after the impact of its early games, Mac exclusives Gnop!, Operation: Desert Storm, Minotaur, and first-person shooter Marathon. The latter did particularly well, its success fuelling growth for the company that allowed two further Marathon titles as well as multiplatform success in the real-time tactics game Myth. Subsequent experimentation with the Myth engine led to the now infamous moment when Steve Jobs took to the stage at Macworld 1999 to announce a new strategy game starring a character named Master Chief.
That take on Halo was fairly distinct from the FPS we know now, which came to be after Microsoft purchased Bungie for themselves in 2000. And so it was that one of the biggest game series there is was born from Mac into a life of service to Microsoft products.
In fact, in the early days of the Macintosh, the idea of facilitating games wasn’t entirely appealing to the powers that be. Even the idea of a graphical user interface was considered less than serious as a computing concept. The original 128k model couldn’t run more than one software programme concurrently, but – in something of an innovative prelude to apps on smartphones many years later – it could host multiple ‘desktop accessories’, meaning undersized applications that offered the likes of calculators and alarm clocks. And then there was Puzzle, a sliding block game that came preinstalled on so many Mac machines, and as such the very first Macintosh game. Puzzle, however, almost wasn’t to be.
“By the fall of 1983, it was time to make decisions about what to include in the shipping product,” wrote software engineer and original Macintosh development team member Andy Hertzfeld, remembering his creation of Puzzle. “We had shown the Mac to a number of industry analysts, and while most were enthusiastic, some didn't really get the graphical user interface and thought it was ‘game-like’, not suitable for serious computing. This made some of the Macintosh marketing folks a bit leery about the more whimsical aspects of the design, and the Puzzle, being an actual game, became somewhat controversial.”
However, Hertzfeld was told that if he could rework Puzzle to take up just 600 bytes, it could be slipped on to the first Macintosh. Something told the team a playful app was needed. And so it was included, with various versions being pre-installed with Mac computers until its last version, Tile Game, which arrived with OS 10.4 in 2005. When Puzzle came with the original Macintosh, it was more than a simple game. It was part of Apple’s statement about computing becoming more intuitive, friendly, and fun, and it wasn’t the only great game to make use of the Macintosh’s distinct offering.
Titles like 1985’s action-arcade outing Crystal Raider (which later spawned the hit sequel Crystal Quest), or text adventure A Mind Forever Voyaging, released that same year, or Robert P. Munafo’s 1984 Missile Command port each showed that the Macintosh could be a home for playful, creative, entertaining experiences. Or there was Icom Simulation’s 1985 hardboiled detective drama point-and-click Deja Vu: A Nightmare Comes True, which inspired numerous ports from Mac, or 1987’s The Fools Errand, a delightfully innovative puzzle game informed creator Cliff Johnson’s previous life as a filmmaker. Years on, with many thousands of games that support Macs available on Steam, the Apple machines still aren’t really considered a gaming machine. And yet just as Macs innovated the way we live our daily lives, so too do they host some of the finest gaming experiences there are.
And so it is that we wish a happy birthday to the computer that delivered an impact that can still be felt in daily life 40 years on. Still want to know more? Then do check out The Secret History Of Mac Gaming.
You can read about point-and-click games in The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games.
Before there was any pointing or clicking, the best way to get immersed in a story was with the humble text adventure. Via a series of interlinked locations, each described in as much detail as the developer wished (within memory limits, of course), the player journeyed throughout these worlds, and few early adventures came as impressive and memorable as Melbourne House’s The Hobbit. Across the pond, Massachusetts-based Infocom was doing great things with various themes, notably, its series of dungeon crawls, Zork. Yet while the typed input and written word format may appear aesthetically different, the genre’s basis in exploration, puzzle solving, and a graphical depiction of each scene is a stepping stone to point-and-click games as we know them today. You can read about The Hobbit inside Bitmap Books’ beautiful book, Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a visual compendium.
King’s Quest’s popularity made it an early flagbearer for the graphical interactive fiction genre. Most previous examples contained static images, mere set dressing for the written scenario below. King’s Quest furthers this concept, putting the player character into the graphical area while the familiar command line is underneath this window. Instructions for your character are typed here – as in classic adventures such as The Hobbit – yet the game reacts on-screen to the player’s prompt instead of the traditional written reply. King’s Quest was a notable advancement in player interaction in 1984 and is today seen as a crucial stepping stone in the development of point-and-click games, even though there isn’t any actual pointing or clicking going on.
The Macintosh was an early home for many interactive fiction games, and it would not be long before developers expanded the genre's breadth on the Apple computer. Enchanted Scepters evokes King’s Quest in its initial moments, the player summoned to the king, who has an uncomplicated fetch quest for them. Unlike King’s Quest, however, there’s no on-screen representation of the player character – instead, each image is static, with a written description to the right. So, much like the text adventures of yore, except for one key difference: in Enchanted Scepters, the player can use the mouse to click on objects inside each image and interact with them accordingly. Surely it wouldn’t be long before someone combined the on-screen avatar of King’s Quest with Enchanted Scepters’ new form of interaction? You can read more about Enchanted Scepters inside The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition.
As text adventures slowly died out, the rise of graphical interactive fiction took up the mantle. Finally, in 1987, someone had the idea of combining the twin facets of King’s Quest and Enchanted Scepters, or at least do it with a good measure of success. With the latest in Sierra King’s Quest series, King’s Quest III, still stuck in the typed-command mould, Lucasfilm made the leap to a keyboard-free point-and-click experience by employing its SCUMM engine, exhaustively listing the available commands below the image window. The player could string simple commands together by clicking on one of these, then the relevant object above, and also directly move their character using the mouse. This jump led to Maniac Mansion appearing on consoles, specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System, something previously impossible due to the genre’s reliance on a keyboard.
Inevitably even that list of words beneath the image panel would ultimately disappear. Games such as Revolution’s Beneath A Steel Sky dispensed with these clickable phrases, allowing the player to interact directly with the environment. This enabled developers to increase the size of their pictures to full screen, employing pop-up menus for the player’s inventory and conversations. The whole process worked seamlessly, with the player’s eyes fully focused on the imagery rather than the written word.
Westwood stunned gamers in 1997 with its technically advanced point-and-click adaptation of the dystopian sci-fi movie. In truth, it’s more a ‘sidequel’, exhibiting a new story inside Blade Runner’s world and moody vibe. The puzzle-based gameplay of previous games has a novel detection bias (most notably in the brilliant recreation of the film’s visual analysis machine, Voight-Kampff), but it’s the graphics that mark Blade Runner as another critical step in the evolution of point-and-click games. Presented in pseudo-3D, Blade Runner’s real-time graphics, operating independently of player input, work marvellously in immersing the player in its world.
Released in an episodic format (evincing its television origin), Telltale’s The Walking Dead brought point-and-click gaming into the modern age. An on-screen option wheel, fully-animated display, branching storylines and time-sensitive scenarios combine to form a new style for a more action-orientated audience. While the original Telltale Games is defunct, its legacy continues today, as the point-and-click genre continues to blossom. Whether nostalgic pixel-based indie games or sleek, fresh experiences with a modern sheen, there can be no doubt that the point-and-click genre is here to stay.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about these eminent and influential point-and-click games. Read about these titles and more inside The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games.
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Way back at the opening of the eighties, the arcade era was still in full swing. As such, home gaming machines asserted their relevance by offering up the most accurate arcade ports they could muster. 1980 itself marked a decade since the original release of Atari’s iconic arcade shooter. Over that period, it had become a cultural and commercial phenomenon. At the turn of the new decade, a Space Invaders port was finally ready for Atari’s own home console, the 2600 (AKA the VCS), offering the already three-year-old console its killer app. The proposition of having access to Space Invaders at home was clearly tremendously appealing, with the game topping the Christmas charts for both 1980 and 1981.
It was a similar story in 1982, following Space Invader’s two years at the top, with the Atari 2600 port of another arcade icon taking up the most space in Santa’s Tardis-like sack. Pac-Man – famously an early attempt at making gaming more inclusive and less violent – brought a sensationally popular gaming IP to living rooms while appealing to a much wider audience, further establishing the 2600 as a pivotally important contributor to the evolution and cultural presence of the medium. As such, it marked an important moment for the home gaming industry, making clear that diverse appeal was starting to matter just as much as the link to arcades.
By 1984 the home computing movement was enjoying life at full momentum, and licensed games based on the likes of popular movies were making publishers handsome profits across devices like Commodore’s C64 – a machine amassing a remarkable software library at the time. So it’s little surprise that the year’s hit movie Ghostbusters was the source material for the year's most popular game – which thrived on both Commodore and Sinclair’s computers. With a near impossible-brief six-week window to make the game, Activision chose to rework their existing rough game concept Car Wars. With the game selling two-million units by 1989, that Car Wars concept clearly had some chops.
Following a round of Christmas gaming number ones based on licensed IP such as WWF Wrestlemania and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, in 1992 a certain SEGA hedgehog mascot took the number one spot with his second outing. Released across Mega Drive, Game Gear and Master System, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a game inspired by the best in game design, and free from the stifling needs of matching a movie or sports release. In fact, for the following five years a FIFA game would take the top spot. But although the era of major series was dawning, there were still a few Christamses left that wouldn’t all be about Call of Duty, FIFA or… well… Call of Duty and FIFA.
As the new millennium dawned, a Nintendo icon (and one of the greatest games yet created) finally got a shot at the top of the gifting list. Ocarina of Time offered perfect fodder for filling the holidays, with its world being so immersive, charming and – relative to the time – vast. By late 1998 – around 18 months after launch – the new Nintendo machine had truly found its footing, and there was so much hype around the arrival of the new Zelda, it was almost inevitable it would be the most unwrapped video game on Christmas day 1998.
The Last Revelation certainly isn’t Lara Croft’s most critically esteemed outing, nor her most famed. But in 1998 games had truly become a permanent stalwart of mainstream culture. While she had three previous adventures behind her, as the millennium dawned Croft captured the spirit of a movement that saw games starting to influence fashion, nightlife, style, product design, celebrity culture, and more. So, as a true celebrity of that era, it was her game that made its way down the most chimneys in 1998.
Following Lara Croft’s moment at the top, to date FIFA has taken a further seven Christmas number ones, taking its total to 12, while Call of Duty has seized nine. Between those, occasionally a title such as Red Dead Redemption or Assassin’s Creed will punch through. Perhaps, once another 20 years has passed, those very chart placements will fill us with all manner of warm nostalgia for a better time. The fact remains, however, that Christmas number ones once offered gamers a more diverse spread of options, even within the context of the rise of licensed IP. Of course, games aren’t only about the number one releases. Whatever your most treasured gaming gift was, why not whip it out this year as the rest of the world opens copies of EA FC 24 (FIFA’s rebranded iteration), or perhaps Hogwarts Legacy?
To find out more about Gremlin, check out the wonderful A Gremlin In The Works, available now from Bitmap Books.
Monty On The Run (1985)
Formats: ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and more
Having inadvertently involved himself in the raucous Miner’s Strike, poor Monty is, as the title confirms, on the run from the authorities. His one hope is to gather up his freedom kit, head for the English Channel and the relative safety of continental Europe. With plenty of surreal humour and intense platforming action, Monty On The Run is a shining light of the early Spectrum scene in particular, and a game that helped thrust Gremlin into the big time.
Mark says: “After Chris Kerry’s non-Monty Monty sequel Monty Is Innocent, the Mole’s monocle was handed back to Peter Harrap, who honed his platforming pedigree with the best game of the series. Tough as nails, and cruel as hell with the unforgiving introduction of the freedom kit, Monty on the Run is best remembered for its terrific level design and Rob Hubbard’s masterpiece of a music score.”
Formats: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and more
“It’s b-b-b-bound to be a hit” chimed the Gremlin advert for this bouncing ball game back in 1985 – and it was! Highly original and technically superb, Bounder puts the player into a tennis ball, bouncing across the roofs of various cityscapes. The work of a trio of young freelance developers, Bounder was a critical and commercial smash, cementing Gremlin’s position, especially on the Commodore 64.
Mark says: “Chris Shrigley, Rob Toone and Andrew Green bounced this game of parallax perfection through Gremlin’s letterbox in 1985 after working on it all summer. It was the C64 original that really shone, with Shrigley and Co making impressive use of the Commodore’s hardware scrolling capabilities.”
Formats: ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and more
Few games encapsulate the pure Britishness of Gremlin’s games than this tale of a delinquent tot’s escapades throughout his home town. From his house to the molar factory, local park and launderette, the player guides Jack on his rampage, pea-shooting pedestrians, glueing teeth and frightening a poor cat. Full of Beano-style characters and cartoon antics, Jack The Nipper is an experience like no other.
Mark says: “Greg Holmes was working nights as an electrician in Barrow-in-Furness when he dreamt up Jack The Nipper. Drawn from his love of British comics Whizzer and Chips and Sweeny Toddler, Greg’s errant infant captured the essence of a perfect Gremlin game: a central character full of personality, unique gameplay and a break from the film and arcade licences that other companies were so heavily reliant on. Any game that features a naughtyometer as a score and nappy rash was destined to become an instant classic.”
Formats: Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and more
Top-down racing came to Gremlin as it ushered in the Nineties with this superb driving game. Inspired by the arcade hit Super Sprint, Super Cars also represents the start of the publisher’s excellent relationship with developer Magnetic Fields. Full of different cars, tracks and options, Super Cars and its sequel are among the top tier of 16-bit motoring games.
Mark says: “Magnetic Fields (and Mr Chip) built a solid reputation of quality games throughout the 80s, and they established a good relationship with Gremlin thanks to Trailblazer and Super Scramble Simulator. Their Super Cars series is often overlooked when looking at their best games because of the success of Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, but these rip-snorting Super Sprint clones were polished, super-fun games showcasing graphic artist Andrew Morris’s love of all things motoring.”
Formats: Amiga, Atari ST, PC and more
Gremlin entered the football management genre in 1992 with the first of this successful series. Up to four players take control of a club each, balancing financial stability with on-field formations and tactics. The beauty of Gremlin’s Premier Manager is its amiability and accessible icon-driven display – subsequent releases further bolstered the series and it even made it onto consoles with 1995’s SEGA Mega Drive game.
Mark says: “After Gremlin’s development director James North-Hearn labelled playing Premier Manager akin to ‘watching a spreadsheet’, producer Tony Casson saved the football management game from relegation. Written by John Atkinson, who had built a career from writing footy games for D&H, Premier Manager offers a simpler, more accessible pick-up-and-play and just-one-more-season hook that helped it stand out from its overly complicated competition.”
Formats: Amiga, Atari ST, Mega Drive and (many) more
An attempt to create a genuine mascot for the 16-bit computers, Zool is the fast-paced story of the eponymous speedy Ninja of the Nth dimension. Full of charm, colourful graphics and manic action, the success of Zool further strengthened Gremlin’s position as a premier UK developer-publisher. Zool’s popularity ensured it spun out onto many platforms and inspired a sequel.
Mark says: “The Nintendo and SEGA consoles both had their mascots, and wily Ian Stewart, along with the creative genius of Ade Carless and the solid programming of George Allen, plugged the gap on the 16-bit home computers with Zool. With its hyper-fast gameplay, boundless energy, inventive level design and a thumping soundtrack, Zool captured the hearts and minds (and broke a thousand teeth with its chupa-chup licensing) of Amiga fans up and down the land.”
Formats: PC, PlayStation, Saturn
Learning quickly from its Premier Manager games, Gremlin released this action football game to much acclaim in 1995. Featuring motion-captured players, multiple audio innovations (including expert commentary from Barry Davies) and some sleek and smooth gameplay, Actua Soccer kicked off a whole range of Actua-styled games.
Mark says: “For a brief moment in time, Actua Soccer was king of the football games, beating EA’s FIFA with its revolutionary use of motion capture, true 3D rendering and a brilliant, expansive commentary from Barry Davies. The best of the series was probably Actua Soccer: Club Edition with its Premier League licensing or Actua Soccer: Euro 96, coinciding perfectly with England’s hosting of the competition of the same name. Eventually, the series couldn’t compete with EA’s financial clout, but for a few seasons, Actua Soccer was top of the league.”
Formats: PlayStation, PC, Saturn
Gremlin’s gritty sci-fi shooter Loaded reflects the change in videogame demographics instigated by the Sony PlayStation. Powerfully violent and featuring a range of flamboyantly discordant characters, Loaded is an instantly playable and frequently hilarious run ‘n’ gun game, and its success inspired a sequel, Re-Loaded, the following year.
Mark says: “The PlayStation heralded a new era in gaming, and developers started writing for a more mature audience. Gremlin’s Loaded tapped into that zeitgeist and took the best of the arcade hits Gauntlet and Smash T.V. while ramping the violence up to 11.”
These are the games that defined Sheffield’s Gremlin. To read more about Monty Mole, Loaded and everything in between, buy A Gremlin In The Works by Mark Hardisty, available now from Bitmap Books.
Our thanks to Mark for his time – stay tuned for another post soon!
]]>The Fatal Frames games – also known as the Project Zero series away from Japan – are packed with tortuous, terrifying moments. And the fact that you have to fend off all manner of aggressive spirits by fumbling with the settings of a camera obscura while trying to get them in frame to deal damage only accentuates the frantic fear the series expertly induces.
These games are, frankly, difficult to play. That the ghost of a mother trapped in a box with her baby isn’t the series’ scariest moment says a lot. So many scenes are harrowing, but the infamous ‘falling woman’ in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly must be the toughest moment. Trapped in a looping moment of tumbling to her death over and over, when she falls on you, she deals significant damage. She’s damn hard to capture on film too, and the violent, relentlessness of her eternal death can stay with you for years.
Perhaps gaming’s most famous jump scare, the moment the dogs suddenly dive through the window in the original Resident Evil had to be on this list. An exemplary moment of horror direction, it’s all about tone and timing; elements that defined the 1990s survival horror game design movement.
As you move down a hallway, already fairly frightened by the build up, in a moment the camera turns, just in time to catch a dog to burst through the window, sending broken glass scattering. The first time you play it – even if you think you’re prepared – it’s delightfully startling. Scary as hell, for sure, but after the nerves settle you should feel a smile creep across your face, perhaps from the relief that the horrors are contained within a games console.
ICOM System’s 1986 Macintosh point ‘n’ click Uninvited sure isn’t as famed as Resident Evil. And in all honesty, it doesn’t deliver the scares modern games can achieve with all their 3D polish and binaurally recorded sound. But retro gaming is in Bitmap Book’s (oozing) blood, so we had to go back to the classics.
For a black-and-white release that’s primitive by today’s standards, Uninvited does an impressive job of fostering dread, if not jump scares and juddering harrowing moments. Following a car crash caused by a mystery figure, you find yourself outside a mansion looking for your missing sister, who had not long before been your passenger. Stepping into the mansion for the first time really is a moment that can test the nerves.
Not convinced Uninvited carries horror clout? Some have speculated that the original Silent Hill’s opening is a homage to ICOM’s gem of a classic.
While the noirish Max Payne games aren’t horror games in the strict sense, they have their moments. One of the most challenging comes in the original 2001 Remedy Entertainment game when Max experiences the first of his drug-induced nightmares, producing visions of his murdered family that become deeply disturbing.
As you work your way through a series of corridors, blood starts pouring through the walls, as chiming nursery music feels the air. The wails and voices of Payne’s baby and wife fill the air, accompanied by creaks and groans. Soon the corridors vanish, leaving Max following a trail of blood through the darkness surrounded by danger. It becomes remarkably hard to make yourself move forward to what comes next.
Silicon Knights 2002 action-adventure title Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem brought a fair share of traditional frights and terrifying tone. But it was when it toyed with the idea of letting the horror seep into the player’s reality that it offered up one of gaming’s most iconic horrifying moments.
Let the game’s Sanity Metre drop too low, and Sanity Effects would begin to kick in, testing your mind as much as any in-game entity. Fake crashes, twisted camera angles and worrying noises that suggested they might come from your television or console were just the start of suggesting your own reality was being impacted. Things got really affecting when the game made out like it was deleting your precious save files. If you were caught out by this moment before ever reading about it, you know how real it felt for a painful moment. What’s more, in severing your trust with the game’s sense of reality, the Sanity Effects start to make you question everything; even in the moments after you step away from the controller and back into your own life.
In reality a ‘rat king’ describes a rare phenomena where a group of rats’ – or sometimes squirrels’ – tails become so entangled they are doomed to writhe about as a connected whole, likely until death. It is so unusual some consider it to be apocryphal. However, in 2021 a live example was apparently recorded in Estonia.
That’s plenty unpleasant enough. But in the acclaimed The Last of Us Part II the Rat King is something much more gruesome. A ‘super-organism’ that takes the forms of a congealed mass made up of other infected creatures from the game, it ups the ante of the horrors on offer considerably. The game has darker moments, but few scare like the Rat King’s first appearance.
If you’re looking for more terrifying experiences from the world of games, or are a devotee to gaming history, horror, or retro culture in general, be sure to check out Bitmap’s coming book, From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror. Follow that link and sign up for email alerts to be sure you get every update on our most frightful release yet!
]]>As every gamer in their mid-40s and beyond will tell you, back in the eighties, we had to use our imagination regarding video games. Consoles such as the Atari 2600, while legendary in their own right, featured blocky visuals and gameplay limited by a single-button joystick. So, it was up to artists such as Atari’s Steve Hendricks to conjure the images that sparked our imaginations. Hendricks’s career and art are detailed in The Art Of The Box; this cover of the 1982 game Haunted House is possibly his most famous.
It's a fascinating composition that echoes several elements from the game. A colourful spider lurks in the top right, waiting for prey to wander into its web; bats hang upside down, the one to the left cloaking its wings in a Dracula-esque pose; and finally, those eyes, so imbued with fear and terror at the spooky mansion before them.
In a sense, this cover doesn’t overpromise – after all, both bats and spiders feature in the game, and the only part of the player character you can see is their eyes. However, the background, a fierce and emotive blend of crimson and white, and those petrified eyes suggest a level of shock and dread that Haunted House, as good as it is, had no chance of replicating.
Unlike Steve Hendricks, our next artist, Ken Macklin, worked freelance, predominantly for Lucasfilm Games. This early piece follows Lucasfilm’s earlier efforts, Ballblazer and Koronis Rift and features its trademark fractal graphics, a level of tech and presentation that wowed reviewers of the time. The Eidolon is unquestionably an important title, yet its gameplay fails to convey the breadth of excitement and steampunk theme of its Macklin-drawn cover. The player’s craft, reminiscent of the time machine from the 1960 George Pal movie of the HG Wells novel, plummets into a dark void, with the cave walls barely visible. A helmeted troll, a comical half grin on its face, stands out, suggesting a cheerful vibe to The Eidolon. Behind it are further wacky creatures, all of them indicating an amusing and vibrant gameplay experience. The Eidolon’s cover is definitely a dash of overpromising combined with a pinch of promising something somewhat different.
Ex-Special Forces soldier Marc Ericksen switched careers to art in the mid-seventies, inevitably specialising in military-themed covers. In The Art Of The Box, you can marvel at his creations, such as Afterburner and Choplifter!, but here we look at his cover for Activision’s naval combat simulation, Ocean Ranger. In this aerial shot, the small attack boat is under constant assault from opposing forces. Enemy jets roar above, plumes of flame reflecting successful hits. More seacraft patrol in the distance, and rockets and explosions are everywhere throughout the image. Ericksen is a talented artist who infuses a scene with extreme exhilaration and thrilling combat. While Ocean Ranger is an excellent game, it never quite evokes the perils of sea warfare as much as its cover.
Vehicular combat games were popular in the eighties, and The Fury was an ambitious attempt at creating a mix of Mad Max and Rollerball. Artist Rodney Matthews had a fascinating backstory, as detailed in Bitmap Books’ The Art Of The Box, and here we focus on his work for the 1988 Software Communications/Martech game. Futuristic vehicles charge around a circular track, weird alien creatures at the wheel. Laser fire shoots out from a white car in the background while a poor unfortunate plummets into the abyss, their car on fire, and in pieces. This picture shows an admirable expression of both violence and speed, twin principles that the game fails to epitomise.
Known as Galdregon’s Domain in Europe, the legendary Frank Frazetta firmly influences this cover’s fantasy themes and characters. A brace of heroes occupies the lower half of the image, and neither appears appropriately dressed for a dangerous battle. Artist Lee MacLeod employs some excellent shadow effects as the male warrior repels a fiery blast with his one item of defence, a shield. Death Bringer is a decent slice of eighties RPG that in no way contains the glamour and close-up shots of flesh as suggested on its cover. Strangely, only the US Commodore 64 release featured this cover – the other versions portrayed just the musclebound hero in a pose that will be mightily familiar to fans of the Conan The Barbarian movies.
The original release of this horror movie adaptation features the famous ice hockey mask and copious amounts of blood. Bug-Byte employed David Rowe for its re-release of the game four years later, and the veteran artist created another fantastic piece for the cover. The mask once more takes centre stage, this time presented in pristine white, with wisps of smoke curving around it, lending a mystical look to the item of facewear. Unfortunately, the Bug-Byte logo obscures the cottage from which the smoke emanates; in the Bitmap Books’ book, The Art Of The Box, you can view the original painting in its complete glory. Nevertheless, even in its obstructed form, this is a powerful and intense cover, promising a horrific, terrifying and panic-stricken game that’s very far from the actual experience.
Don’t forget you can read all about these brilliant artists and more in Bitmap Books’ The Art Of The Box.
]]>The Art Of The Box features 26 biographies of artists who, at some point in their careers, found themselves illustrating video game packaging.
That’s not to suggest game box art hasn’t evolved. As we’ll see here – and as told in much more detail in Bitmap’s new title The Art Of The Box – the very opposite is true. In the earliest days, a game’s cover art really had to do some lifting. During the 1970s, when game visuals were blocky and minimal, a game cover artist’s task was one of helping the imagination, guiding players in interpreting what all that early in-game pixel art was trying to communicate.
It’s something early Atari cover artist Steve Hendricks knows well, having joined the gaming outfit to work on illustrations to support the likes of Asteroids. These many years on, speaking in an exclusive interview for The Art Of The Box, Hendricks remembers the process well; and the inherent challenge in representing early video games in illustrated form.
"First of all, it was important that we talk to the game designer, to figure out what the heck the game was all about, and kind of fill in the blanks,” Hendricks says. “To me it was like doing a cover for a paperback book. My wife would buy those books, and I'd go, 'Does this cover even relate to what's in the book?' And she'd go, 'Well, kinda’. And for us, you look at the screen and it's just a bunch of little pixels, and I was like, 'Hmm, I don't know about this.' But that was just the nature of video games at the time; they were really primitive. And so our artists would try to give them some life and stimulate the imagination of those who were interested in buying the game."
Steve Hendricks helped to create some of the iconic early examples of video game cover art
Indeed, some artists would have to bring together a cover image before the game was in a playable state, instead relying on the likes of written information and concept art from the development team.
‘Stimulating the imagination’ of players remained key to the cover artist’s role for many years – across boxes for console and home computer games (while arcade releases used similar art on flyers to do the same job of communication and promotion). For decades, airbrushes, inks, acrylics, and oil paints were the favoured form, as seen across remarkable covers such as that of 1980’s Video Game Checkers, 1982’s Night Driver, The Last Ninja half a decade later, 1992’s Last Resort, or the following year’s B.O.B.
It was in fact game industry icon and Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell that is credited with the notion of giving individual title’s boxes their own distinct covers, using representative artwork in place of generic packaging, or images pulled directly from a game. Bushnell’s motivation was simple; as more and more companies threw their hats into the gaming market ring, more effort was needed to differentiate and distinguish individual products. In other words, what had worked for albums and books for decades was replicated over in the realm of video games.
Come the 1990s, and the next major shift in the convention of video game covers came, as artists began to put down their airbrushes and pencils in favour of the new generation of more available, flexible computer art tools. Way back in 1985, the first Deluxe Paint released for the Amiga 1000. The Deluxe Paint series was eventually used for all manner of graphics, including within games like The Secret of Monkey Island. By 1989, Deluxe Paint III was a wildly popular tool for computer art and animation, and saw use for album covers, music videos, comic strips, and much more. Artists of all kinds were increasingly valuing the potential of computers as a worthy alternative to traditional art tools. Ultimately, in 1994, a then-lesser rival known as Photoshop 3 would introduce the ability to separate out images into several layers, letting artists have much more finessed control over what they created; and how it was reproduced when printed on the likes of box card stock.
One of the video game cover artists to spearhead the adoption of digital tools was Denis Loubet, who delivered his first entirely digital cover a year before Photoshop 3, with Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. He already brought a handsome reputation in traditional art, meaning his move on digital said to other artists of the time: ‘this is a credible process’. In fact. Loubet had also served many hours working on in-game graphics, meaning he was familiar with much of the fundamentals of creating with computers. However, it was back in 1968, during a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey, that Loubet became convinced wonderful things could be done with computer art.
One of the video game cover artists to spearhead the adoption of digital tools was Denis Loubet
Many years later, working in a tool called Fractal Design Painter, Loubet created that Ultima Underworld II cover, and showed why computer art tools were up to the box art job.
"There was a brush that did a really good kind of oil paint feel, so I used that for the painting and it worked great,” Loubet remembers, speaking in his The Art Of The Box interview. “And then in Ultima 8, I did the cover using 3D to make the pentagram, and the fiery background was done in Painter. I basically did a bunch of white, yellow, orange and red lines across the painting and then brushed up and down with the distortion brush and made it look like a wall of fire, and I just composed the two images."
Over time, a great many more artists would migrate to digital, though today tools like Pixologic’s digital sculpting and painting tools like ZBrush – along with art and design offerings such as Photoshop – are now the standard.
That has seen an explosion over the last two decades of covers that brim with meticulous detail, offering up far more faithful interpretations of the games they promote. Increasingly, whole teams or creative agencies had begun to work on covers, integrating them into wider marketing and ad campaigns, with considerably more collaboration with developers and publishers becoming the standard. As video game box art became a team effort, the process itself evolved, and more focused roles emerged. Prolific cover artist Charles Bae found himself, for example, busy creating concept art for covers – sometimes using traditional methods – which would be signed off by stakeholders before being passed on to separate artists to flesh out into a final digital form. Other times a piece of work intended for a cover might also – or instead – be used in a print advert, or some other marketing materials.
Bae is known for the remarkable quality of his digital covers and other game art, as seen in his work for game properties such as Assassin’s Creed, Dishonored, and Civilisation. And yet, over his many years of service, he’s also seen a more recent return of hand illustration in game covers.
Charles Bae is known for the remarkable quality of his digital covers and other game art
“Illustrations have become much more acceptable as an option for key art." Bae offers, speaking in his The Art Of The Box interview. "Certainly a heavily illustrated look isn't always appropriate since it's largely dependent on a game's art direction. However we are at a point where a more illustrative look can be used on AAA titles and it's a great option to have. Besides, in-game graphics are looking almost as good as the CG that's used for box art. So an illustrated representation of the game by an artist can sometimes be visually more appealing and a more accurate depiction of the game. This helps a game stand out against competitors on retail and digital storefronts.”
Standing out, of course, is what it’s always been about. And now things have arguably gone full circle in the medium itself, with games that offer up hand drawn graphics making quite the impact in recent years. Titles like Cuphead, Gorogoa, Hollow Knight, and Hades each provide stunning examples of hand drawn in-game art.
Ultimately, though, perhaps it is immaterial if a game cover is crafted using an airbrush or ZBrush. Each, in reality, is operated by the artist’s hand. And the job of the game cover remains the same regardless of the method used for its creation. Communicating what games are has always been the cover’s job, and even as the rise of digital thunderous on, that fact remains the same.
For much more on the incredible story of game box art – as well as hundreds of high quality prints of the best game covers – check out The Art Of The Box.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
Fire Truck was an early beast of the arcades, jutting out from the rows of standard cabinets. The game itself is black and white, with the players controlling the eponymous truck as it negotiates the streets on its way to an emergency. An early example of cooperative gameplay, one player sits down and controls the front steering; the other player stands up and steers the rear axle. With its narrow streets and occasional hazards (such as oil patches), it’s a tricky, if uncomplicated, game designed for two players and quite unlike anything else before or since.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
Atari was a true innovator of the early arcade scene, and Missile Command is another classic that broke the mould, combining a trackball controller with an opportune theme of nuclear destruction. Missile Command’s rolling control method particularly lends itself to the game as the player launches anti-ballistic missiles against an endless rain of enemy fire. Expert players soon learned how to use the controller to their advantage, creating an umbrella of explosions in times of particular desperation.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
Few arcade cabinets evoke memories like Battlezone. Leaving aside its beautiful graphics – a clean and glowing wireframe display that has never gone out of fashion – the quirky use of a viewfinder helps define Battlezone as a true legend of the arcades. The design is ingenious in its ingenuousness: the player places their eyes into the viewfinder, transporting them into the game’s abstract world. At the same time, they control their tank using a brace of joysticks, and it’s perhaps no surprise that the US military approached Atari to adapt Battlezone into a genuine combat simulator.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
As anticipation built for the third film in the Star Wars franchise, Return Of The Jedi, Atari released what many consider the definitive Star Wars experience. Like Battlezone before it, the immersion factor is key here – the overarching unit and unique control yoke overcome the slightly uncomfortable seat to provide a thoroughly absorbing arcade game, thrusting you right into the first movie’s climactic space battle. And who can forget those gentle tones of Obi-Wan, encouraging the player to use The Force as they enter the Death Star’s narrow trench?
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
By the mid-eighties, there was plenty of competition to bring bigger and more physical experiences to the arcades, and SEGA led the way in 1985 with this on-rails shooter. Not only is Space Harrier a technologically impressive videogame – incorporating scaled sprites at an unprecedented speed and offering a wonderful soundtrack – the addition of a hydraulic cab makes it more simulation than a game. A prime example of the arcades providing a totally exclusive experience.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
During the Golden Age Of Arcade Games, players used to crowd around arcade machines as they watched an expert or friend notch a high score. In 1985, Atari released Gauntlet, bringing the spectators into the game, as up to four players congregated around the massive coin-op machine, scrapping against demons, ghosts and even Death itself. The gigantic, 29-inch control panel houses a joystick and buttons for each character, from the brawny Thor to the lithe elf Questor. The cartoon artwork perfectly complements this famous cabinet, inspired by the then-recent Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
Of course, sit-down driving games had been around for donkey’s years – there’s even one earlier in this list – and it’s a bit of an open goal for a driving game to incorporate some type of seating to help immerse players. Nevertheless, nothing defines the genre like Out Run, SEGA’s affectionate homage to The Golden State. There’s nothing exceptional about Out Run’s gameplay or the concept of a sit-down arcade machine; however, there’s no doubt it promulgated the genre, its beautiful deluxe hydraulic cabinet paving the way for rivals such as SEGA Rally and Daytona USA.
Image courtesy of The Arcade Flyer Archive
Ikari Warriors mines the famous trail trod by Capcom’s Commando, albeit with two fundamental alterations. The game introduces a pleasing simultaneous two-player mode, while the machine’s control panel quarters two rotary joysticks that allow the players to move their avatars directly by pushing or rotating by turning. The game’s artwork famously suggests Sylvester Stallone – unsurprising when you consider the Rambo movies were its inspiration, especially First Blood Part II, known in Japan as Rambo: Ikari no Dasshutsu.
As with Out Run, Operation Wolf was not the first, but the most famous, the game that popularised its genre. So how did Taito’s game tap into the arcade-going public like no other light gun shooter? As with SNK’s Ikari Warriors, Operation Wolf exploited the eighties' affection for violent military combat, even citing Commando on some arcade flyers. The cabinet’s mounted gun is similar to an Uzi, and this grounding in real-world combat, combined with its visceral gameplay, helped Operation Wolf become one of the biggest light gun games of all time. For an audience of primarily teenage boys, it was the number one target.
Don’t forget to check out Artcade to discover all about classic arcade games and so much more!
]]>With regards to Australia and New Zealand, the shipping prices are still higher than we would like, but please be reassured that this is as cheap as we can possible go. As surcharges continue to drop, we can hopefully pass these savings on in the coming months.
With regards to Malta and Cyprus, as both these countries are within the EU, any VAT due is charged at the point of purchase, which avoids any unwelcome customs fees.
We are aware that we still don't ship to certain countries, such as Ukraine and Serbia. These are under constant review, and as soon as we can, they will be reinstated.
]]>Every good gamer knows that this wasn't the first title to feature Mario. Still, as it was released in North America along with the NES, it's how most gamers of that era came to know our friendly Italian plumber.
As this was long before the modern internet, players kept up to date with the latest titles, reviews and cheat codes through reading popular magazines like Nintendo Power.
Anyone who thumbed through to page 56 of the December '88 issue of the magazine would have seen a very peculiar entry in the "Classified Information" section headed:
Contributor "Agent 826" provided step by step instructions on how to get there. It involves standing Mario on the very last pipe in World 1-2. Players then have to master the tricky manoeuvre of jumping backwards through the wall. Those able to successfully phase through will come to a warp room, the outer two pipes of which will take them to World -1.
Enter the Minus-verse
For Western players using NES cartridges, the title screen shows "World -1" before Mario is transported to an underwater level, which repeats in an endless loop.
The disk-based Japanese Famicom version transports the player to a different "Minus World" altogether, where Mario floats on thin air, exactly as if he's underwater. This stage can be completed to progress to World -2, then -3 and so on. The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. contained no fewer than 256 of these enigmatic hidden levels.
The first 'minus' secret level was printed in issue # 3 of Nintendo Power magazine in 1988. It sparked a quest by players to discover more secret levels. Source: Internet Archive
The Minus Mystery
In a 2010 interview with Famitsu magazine, Super Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about these mysterious minus levels. He replied:
"That's a bug, yes, but it's not like it crashes the game, so it's really kind of a feature, too!"
He also said that these levels weren't deliberately placed there for fans to find. Still, it sparked the imaginations of players. If 'Agent 826' had been able to discover this secret level via a glitch, could there be other secret levels out there just waiting to be unearthed?
Mario Madness
By the time the December 1988 issue of Nintendo Power had been released revealing the Minus level/s of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3 had just appeared on shelves in Japan.
Like its predecessors, it contained some well-placed secret areas and warp rooms but there were also some levels that officially didn't exist. That is to say they were there in the game's code but there was no way for someone playing the game ordinarily to access them.
In North American versions of Super Mario Bros. the 'minus' level is just a clone of World 7-2. But going through the pipe at the end just returns to the start of the level.
To date fifteen of these levels have been documented by players eager to scour the game's source code. Many are glitchy and unfinished but some can be played through.
Clearly not all these levels were there accidentally. The 1993 SNES game Super Mario All Stars even includes a remake of Super Mario Bros. 3 complete with these mysterious minus levels.
Charting the Minus World
Sharp-eyed readers will already have noticed the paradox facing players determined to explore hidden levels like the minus worlds. How can you go somewhere you can't locate? Even if you do know where it is, how do you get in if there's no entrance?
The 'debug room' in Final Fantasy VII was meant for developers only. It's filled with links to test game content like FMVs, towns and battle mechanics. Source: Final Fantasy Wiki.
While the very first "minus world" in Super Mario Bros. was probably discovered by chance, in the late 80's the fastest way to discover hidden secrets in code was through a technique known as 'ROM Dumping'.
This involved using a specialised device (such as the official "Famicom Disk System") to make a copy of the game's code to a disk or computer, from where the code can be examined.
The Famicom Disk System could also write to media and to this day there are unofficial disks of the Famicom Super Mario Bros. with modified code which allow players to access all 256 'minus' worlds hidden in the original version of the game.
One of the 15 documented levels which can only be accessed by hacking Super Mario 3's source code. This giant mystery block contains a rare 'tanooki' suit.
The Tennis Trick
Using specialist equipment to chart the minus-verse was feasible but expensive. It also required enough programming knowledge to tell the game to stop executing its code in the normal way and jump straight to the hidden levels.
Gamers without access to ROM dumping and code editors tried putting in cartridges at different angles and even breaking out soldering irons. Eventually Family Computer Magazine came to the rescue with a workaround that uses both a Super Mario Bros. cartridge and one for the 1984 NES game Tennis.
Nimble fingered players would fire up with the NES with the Mario game inserted. They'd then quickly switch cartridges to Tennis and reset the console. They'd play Tennis briefly, tossing the ball twice, serving, walk their character around, then quickly switch cartridges again.
YouTuber Sharopolis uses a Famicom to discuss the Mario/Tennis glitch in detail. The games share certain memory addresses, so swapping carts in a specific way allows players to access the Minus Levels.
If the gamer then reset the console holding A + Start, they'd start in a new Mario world - the level depends on the number of steps taken whilst playing Tennis. As the first 'minus' world officially counts as world no. 36, it and others can be accessed in this way.
For players unable to play this cartridge hand jive, inexpensive cheating devices like the Game Genie and Action Replay could modify the game's source code to jump to hidden levels using special codes.
The 'Hidden Palace' Zone was removed from Sonic 2 due to memory limitations but was later finished and restored for the 2013 remake. You can also play the original unfinished 'Proto Palace' level (pictured) via a cheat code.
The Minus Legacy
It's very easy to dismiss 'minus' or 'hidden' levels as junk data. In some cases they're removed from the game for a good reason as they're too difficult or unfinished. In other cases, such hidden areas may exist for the benefit of game creators, such as the "Debug Room" in Final Fantasy VII.
Part of the intrigue of these hidden levels is that game creators are notoriously cagy about them. For instance, for years the mysterious secret multiplayer "Citadel" level in GoldenEye existed only as a name in a couple of memory addresses in the game's code.
It wasn't until 2004 that skilled programmers found the necessary 'Gameshark' codes to load the background and textures of the level itself. This was done despite claims by developer Rare that Citadel wasn't in the final game in any shape or form.
YouTuber Nathan Spielman walks viewers through the unfinished 'Citadel' map in Goldeneye for the N64 using a GameShark Pro.
Other game creators are more candid. The "Hidden Palace Zone", which was originally removed from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Mega Drive was later restored in the 2013 mobile version of the game.
If you're intrigued by lost levels lurking in the code, don't forget to explore the untold mysteries and gripping tales of those titles that never saw the light of day in The Games that Weren't which is currently reprinting and due in August.
]]>Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
This spin-off from Square’s famous series was released in 1992 and is the ultimate entry-level RPG for anyone wishing to dip their +1 sword into the genre. With the American market in mind, its developers focused on altering the gameplay for an audience assumed to have less patience. Gone are the random battles and pre-defined save points; now, the player can travel the land without fear of sudden attack and save their game whenever they feel like it. Also absent is the overarching ability to explore freely, the player funnelled into specific areas as the game progresses. While many decried these decisions, there’s no doubt that they make Mystic Quest an ideal starting point for anyone just entering the world of SNES RPGs. Also try: Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars.
The 7th Saga
Conversely, you may be an experienced RPG player, your plate armour flecked with the detritus of a thousand turn-based battles. Weary of inconsequential enemies that are mere fodder for your blade, you yearn for an opponent that will challenge every fibre of your being. What you need, brave warrior, is Enix’s The 7th Saga, an RPG of such extreme difficulty that it reduces even veterans such as yourself to tears. The 7th Saga takes place on a world called Ticondera and is an epoch-spanning story of betrayal and lust for power. Playing the Western version of The 7th Saga is an exercise in persistence, its legion of enemies able to absorb an outrageously massive amount of damage. As such, it’s a game only for those willing to grind, grind, and grind. And then grind some more. Also try: Wizardry V: Heart Of The Maelstrom.
Soul Blazer
The Action RPG genre found its feet on the Super Nintendo, and there are few finer examples than this excellent game from developer Quintet and publisher Enix. Thematically, little differentiates Soul Blazer from standard RPGs: an evil spirit named Deathtoll – the clue is in the name – has devastated the land of Friel, packing each village and town with its monstrous creations. Deathtoll resides in the appropriately-named World Of Evil, and only once the player has gathered six magic stones can they open the path to Deathtoll’s realm and end his reign of terror once and forever. As with the Zelda series, Soul Blazer eschews turn-based battles in favour of direct combat. There’s no more waiting as the enemy strikes – get in there and hack! Also try: Terranigma.
Dungeon Master
Back in the nineties, the third-person semi-overhead viewpoint dominated the genre, as did colossal open-world environments. The SNES isn’t particularly blessed with fine examples of old school dungeon crawlers, yet there are still plenty of this type of RPG for anyone keen to explore dingy underground locations one grid square at a time. Top of the pile is the classic Dungeon Master, adapted from the Atari ST original. Inspired by the legendary Ultima series, the player forms a party and descends to the depths in search of fortune and glory. Dungeon Master utilises a point-and-click interface for combat and movement, giving a finer sense of immersion into its dark, grimy world. Also try: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye Of The Beholder.
EarthBound
Cited by many fans as one of the greatest videogames ever made, EarthBound (known as Mother 2 in Japan) is also an excellent RPG for anybody looking to escape the traditional swords and sorcery fantasy setting. The player is Ness, a young boy living in the fictional country, Eagleland. A malignant alien force has shrouded the world in evil, turning innocent people and animals into vicious and spiteful creatures. Across the world and time, Ness and his friends take the fight to Giygas, the alien slowly going insane through power. While it features many traditional SNES RPG elements (random battles, dungeons, experience points), EarthBound’s contemporary locations and fantastical sci-fi fundamentals, such as the Phase Distorter device, mark it as a novel experience away from the standard fantasy setting. Also try: Robotrek.
Shadowrun
This cyberpunk-infused RPG is based on a tabletop game from FASA Corporation and is quite like nothing else on the Super Nintendo. Set in the year 2050, Shadowrun is the story of Jake Armitage, suffering from amnesia following a near-fatal assassination attempt. Throughout its dystopian world, Armitage discovers clues to his identity and why his mysterious nemesis wants him dead. Shadowrun successfully blends the RPG and point-and-click genres to create a wonderfully atmospheric and innovative game that’s perfect should you fancy something a little different. Also try: EVO: The Search For Eden.
Don’t forget, you can read about any of the above SNES RPGs in our SNES/Super Famicom: a visual compendium and The SNES Pixel Book, both available at www.bitmapbooks.com. Love RPGs in general? Then check out the imminent reprint of A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games.
Over 600 games were released on the PC Engine over its HuCARD and CD-ROM formats. With the Bitmap Books’ first release of 2023, PC Engine: The Box Art Collection, available shortly, we thought it was about time we had a peek at six of our favourite covers and their TurboGrafx-16 equivalents together with PC Engine collector and enthusiast, Lee Thacker, AKA @superplay on Twitter.
Bomberman – Hudson Soft, 1991
For our first comparison, it’s apt that we focus on a game from Hudson Soft, co-developer of the PC Engine alongside NEC. These two covers could not be more different both in content and tone. The PC Engine cover is stark and eye-catching, featuring just the head of Bomberman. Despite its simplicity of expression, there’s still a look of panic on this face – maybe he’s trapped between two bombs! Meanwhile, TurboGrafx-16 owners got something a little more descriptive on their cover of Bomberman. Two combatants are locked in mortal battle, the crumbling walls demonstrating the power of their bombs. The man in red appears unaware as blue creeps up on him, a bomb raised as explosions rock the maze. So, drastically diverse images, albeit with one common theme – those slightly-perturbed eyes…
Lee says: “I find the cover artwork of Bomberman interesting. The Japanese cover is quite plain, with the USA cover using a pseudo-realistic representation of its gameplay.”
Dead Moon – TTI/TTS, 1991
This shoot-‘em-up’s art is another example of an unfussy PC Engine cover versus a busy and more descriptive TurboGrafx-16 effort. There’s a strong Blake’s Seven vibe to the Japanese picture (thanks to the player’s spacecraft’s resemblance to the Liberator from that show) and some fine detail in the cracked surface of the eponymous satellite. This clashes tremendously with the TurboGrafx-16 cover, where an epic space battle is taking place. The player’s craft is there again, this time firing its powerful lasers at an unseen enemy. Beneath this is a beautifully intricate planet leading to a futuristic domed city. Finally, the titular moon is in the top left of the cover and is not quite as impressively detailed – or dead – as its PC Engine counterpart.
Lee says: “The artwork of the Japanese version depicts a ‘dead moon’ and highlights the game’s genre with the text ‘hyper-shooting’. However, the moon in the US version is not so dead and indicates its genre more through imagery.”
Dungeon Explorer – Hudson Soft/NEC, 1989
This PC Engine action RPG is visually reminiscent of the old Atari dungeon romp Gauntlet. The Japanese cover is another less-is-more style of image, albeit with a title that’s not the easiest to read, its letters etched to the paved slab floor of a murky dungeon. Standing over them – perhaps taking in their significance – are four adventurers, only you can’t actually see them. Their four shadows add mystery and an ambience to the picture that far surpasses the cartoonish and impressionistic TurboGrafx-16 cover.
Lee says: “While both clearly show the game's title, my preference is the Japanese cover, a more atmospheric design, focusing on the dungeon floor with the characters lurking in the shadows.”
Magical Dinosaur Tour – Victor Musical Industries/NEC, 1990
Magical Dinosaur Tour isn’t really a videogame, more an interactive encyclopedia of our scaly reptile friends. This is reflected eloquently on its TurboGrafx cover as a young boy strolls through the prehistoric paradise, gazing wondrously at the friendly-looking dinosaurs around him. Contrast this with the PC Engine cover – gone is the lad, as a menacing Tyrannosaurus Rex takes centre stage, a fiery blood-red sky amplifying the raw, primitive power of the scene.
Lee says: “I wonder how many people purchased this thinking it was an action-adventure game rather than a dinosaur reference program!”
Time Cruise/Time Cruise II – Face/TTI, 1991
The origins of this sci-fi themed pinball game are a little muddy – hardly any mention exists of the original Time Cruise from Face, leaving us to wonder whether it was anything more than mere concept and advertising. This Japanese release was undoubtedly named a sequel to avoid confusion, but there were no such qualms for its TurboGrafx-16 version. Both covers are fascinating in their own respect: Time Cruise II’s central image is a bumper-like spacecraft as objects and themes from the game float around it. The stateside game, now named Time Cruise, is more unconventional, an image of four planets overlaid by a weirdly translucent pinball table.
Lee says: “Time Cruise is one of those rare instances where I prefer the USA cover – it clearly projects that the game is in the pinball genre. On the other hand, the Japanese cover could indicate that it’s a compendium of games due to the variety of objects shown.”
Vigilante – Irem/NEC, 1989
Lastly, we have another interesting pair of covers, again massively different in tone and imagery. Vigilante is Irem’s pseudo-sequel to its biggest arcade hit of the Eighties, Kung-Fu Master. Its PC Engine cover is a powerful and terrifying picture: a young woman is held hostage by an unseen captor. Pressed against her cheek is a small yet razor-sharp blade, and you can feel the terror in this poor girl’s eyes. Like most of the western conversions of Vigilante, the TurboGrafx-16 game has a vague and curiously undramatic scene on its cover. Two thugs (bearing little similarity to the in-game villains) are threatening the boiler-suited hero in the ruined streets of downtown New York. Despite the action, there’s no sense of pace or fear in this picture; the frightening PC Engine cover does a much better job of evoking the dread of these lawless streets.
Lee says: “Personally, the Japanese cover wins here. It highlights the kidnapping of your girlfriend, which forms the backdrop to this arcade conversion.”
Our thanks to Lee for his comments and box art scans. Also thanks to Paul Weller of the PC Engine Software Bible – check out his fantastic resource to the PC Engine.
These games and many more feature in the Bitmap Books’ upcoming PC Engine: The Box Art Collection.
]]>Credit-card-sized PC Engine HuCARDs came packaged within a CD case
As told in Bitmap’s upcoming book PC Engine: The Box Art Collection – which follows up on Game Boy: The Box Art Collection and Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection – the brilliant little console’s eye-catching physicality, vibrant software library, and bold cover art captured a particular moment in time for popular culture, defined by an energetic new design aesthetic emerging from Japan, and a technologically optimistic view of the future. The PC Engine was created through the collaboration of electronics heavyweight NEC and then-prolific software house Hudson. Together, they also envisioned the HuCARD.
Hudson brought much to the table, having already been working on the EEPROM-based Bee Card system for the MSX line of Japanese computers. That gave the studio an opportunity to explore the potential of small, slim-line cards for other devices. Only nine games globally came out on Bee Card, with users required to use a special removable adapter placed into the MSX cartridge slot – the Hudson Soft BeePack. However, the prelude to the HuCARD system was also used for Japanese telephone cards, some Korg synthesisers, and even Atari’s 1989 Portfolio palmtop PC. Not that meant you could play an MSX game on a Portfolio, as the cards weren’t all identical in format. Bee Cards were far from wildly successful, but they lined things up for a later triumph.
To a degree, it all came down to choice of plastic – and an elegant approach to designing the PC Engine’s cart slot. The polymer make-up of the HuCARDs (also known as TurboChips) didn’t just bring heaps of glossy retro-futuristic energy when held in the hand. It also dispersed heat with handsome efficiency. PC Engine models equally left much of the card exposed when in the machine, further aiding the escape of heat. That meant there was no need to produce the more sizable, spacious traditional game cartridges that used a more open internal structure to let air circulate to keep things cool.
The open HuCARD slot on the PC Engine neatly displays the artwork
Hudson and NEC were also very open to adapting the HuCARD’s design. While most simply held a ROM and pinout at the top with the rest being solid plastic, some were a shade thicker, apparently housing additional electronics or save batteries. Examples there include Street Fighter II and Populous. When the ill-fated PC Engine follow up the SuperGrafx arrived, it introduced an enhanced Super HuCARD format, though only seven titles were released (and that total depends on how you define ‘released’). In 1991, Hudson would go public with the ‘Tennokoe Bank’ HuCARD. Essentially a memory card, it offered more reliable save functionality than seen in the PC Engine variants’ hardware themselves.
Some HuCARDS were visibly thicker to allow for additional electronics
Ultimately, thanks to affordable production costs, reliable performance, and that undeniable cool, the HuCARD format thrived, with around 300 games seeing commercial release on the white slabs. And that’s not counting some of the unofficial PC Engine releases on third-party cards, or for clone consoles like those seemingly made by a firm called Jamiko.
But the HuCARD wasn’t the only card-based cart system. From 1983 onwards the SG-1000, SEGA Mark III, and SEGA Master System were all supported by the HuCARD-esque SEGA My Card. The MSX was also compatible with a format known as Soft-Cards, that appear to be manufactured by different outfits in different regions. From 1989 Atari’s Lynx presented something of a card-like format – albeit with a curved lip to make removing the ROM from the portable a little easier. And while they were arguably a slimline cartridge rather than a true game card, who can forget the 1984 French computer the Exelvision EXL 100, which saw games like 2D shooter Wizord come on relative plastic slivers? OK, it’s not that memorable, but does deserve a nod for being ahead of the trend.
A handful of early Master System games came on the 'Sega My Card' format
Over in the world of arcades, all manner of save systems used something even more physically comparable to a credit card to let players take progress (and competitive performance stats) from cabinet to cabinet. Some, such as those for SEGA drift racing series Initial D, would even reprint elements of each card’s front as you progressed, letting your card become more personal and unique over time. Meanwhile, in 2003, Konami debuted its e-amusement system, letting players of various connected arcade releases access all manner of online services. There were even arcade systems that offered operators a motherboard that took game ROMs on card-like carts. Taito’s 1998 G-NET system, for example, used a main board based on a PlayStation 1, with games coming on PCMIA II; more commonly used for laptop expansions. Not quite a plastic slab with a neat ROM, but debuting games like Ray Crisis and Super Puzzle Bobble on slim carts certainly echos the PC Engine approach.
What’s really special about all these cards – and particularly the HuCARD – is that they capture a very particular time. Notions of readily available, fast, affordable download of gaming software to own digital felt a little far off and unfamiliar in the 80s and well into the 1990s. Technological miniaturisation, meanwhile, offered a vision of the future that felt a little less concerning, where everything would be familiar and powerful – and conveniently tiny. As late as 1999, the ‘bootable business card’ emerged, offering credit card-sized rectangular CD-ROMs, seemingly targeting the busy professional who simply had to have their software (or a launch ROM for large systems) to hand in their wallet.
Maybe Hudson and NEC did imagine we might all keep our game libraries in our pocket. It was a time, aftersall, when Sony’s iconic Walkman was thriving. But most PC Engines – TurboExpress aside – were anchored to a plug socket and far from portable.
Whatever the motivation for conceiving the HuCARD, it emerged as one of the coolests, toughest, most memorable gaming formats there has ever been. And so often they came nestled in packaging showcasing some remarkable and memorable clover art – plenty of which you can get hold of in Bitmap’s very much not credit-card-sized PC Engine: The Box Art Collection. Pre-orders start in May. Can’t wait that long? Check out the rest of Bitmap’s retro gaming releases!
The box art and manual of the game describe an epic dungeon quest to retrieve three keys across three castles in order to get hold of an ‘Enchanted Chalice’. All the while you have to either kill or avoid three dragons as well as fend off a bat which takes a magpie-like interest in your items.
As this was the start of the Eighties, the actual graphics were little more than a square avatar surrounded by blocky walls and pixelated items. Still, the game broke new ground by allowing both the player and enemies to move across multiple screens.
Young Adam had previously completed Adventure (which is featured within Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compendium), but discovered that when you retrieve a rather intangible item known as “the dot”, then take it to one of the walls in the “Golden castle”, you could push through into a previously inaccessible room. This revealed the text:
“CREATED BY WARREN ROBINETT”
Warren Robinett coded his name into Adventure secretly as Atari didn’t properly credit programmers at the time
Where’s Warren?
In the early Eighties, intellectual property law hadn’t quite caught up with video games. Some companies seized on this to impose unfair terms on video game developers. Atari, for instance, made a point of banning any mention of programmers names from games and their literature, perhaps out of fear they’d be headhunted by competitors.
This lack of recognition (and therefore bargaining rights) did not sit well with Warren, who decided to secretly code this message into the game. In a 2015 interview, he stated:
“I thought of it as a self-promotion manoeuvre. Adventure sold a million units at $25 apiece. Meanwhile, I got a $22K a year salary, no royalties, and they never even forwarded any fan mail to me.”
This is ironic given that Adam decided to send a detailed letter to Atari explaining what he’d found, complete with hand-drawn maps. By that time Robbinet had already left the company. It was too expensive to recall or rework the game cartridges so the hidden message was left in.
The Wright Stuff
Unlike his overseers, Steve Wright, the director of software development of the Atari Consumer Division argued in favour of hidden messages like Warren’s. He pointed out that such features would actually make people even more eager to replay games.
In an interview with Electronic Game magazine, Wright confirmed the existence of the message and that in future other games would have “Easter Eggs” for players to find.
Electronic Games, the first dedicated video games magazine printed an interview with Steve Wright in their very first issue in 1981 where he coined the term “Easter Eggs”
Which came first?
Naturally the idea of hiding one message inside another is nothing new. The Beatles used “backmasking” to great effect in their songs, sparking a panic in the USA that rock music contained subliminal influences from Satan.
Wright was certainly the one who coined the term “Easter Egg”. This may be why the dystopian futuristic film Ready Player One claims that Adventure contained the first video game Easter Egg.
Robbinet certainly didn’t “poach” the idea from other programmers but his game wasn’t the first to contain a hidden message.
For instance, Atari’s 1977 space shooter Starship 1 was first available as an arcade cabinet, where players piloted their ship using two control sticks.
If a player inserted a coin, whilst at the same time holding the “phasor” and start buttons, then slammed down the “slow” control stick, the screen would display the message “Hi Ron!” (A reference to Ron Milner, one of the game’s designers). The player would then automatically get ten free games. The “xyzzy” magic word in 1976’s Colossal Cave Adventure could also magically transport players between rooms.
While ‘xyzzy’ is the first ‘magic word’ in video games, it’s not technically an Easter Egg given the word’s necessary to complete the game with a full score
One Giant Leap for Egg Kind…
A purist would argue that the Starship 1 and Colossal Cave Adventure Easter Eggs are more of the “free range” variety. Although both take some working out, they actually help you when playing, rather than revealing a hidden feature or message, so aren’t really Easter Eggs.
This would leave Adventure ruling the roost if it weren’t for one exception: 1972’s Moonlander.
The game was designed to showcase the capability of DEC’s GT40. These were usually used to display scientific data like weather patterns but as this model came with its very own “light pen”, DEC wanted to show its full potential.
Moonlander was created to show off the capabilities of the GT40, which was normally only used for displaying scientific data
This is why they hired programmer Jack Burness to produce a ‘killer’ game for the GT40 which he dubbed Moonlander. A keen fan of the Apollo program, Burness designed the premise around a rocket ship which you’re trying to land carefully on the lunar landscape (later versions of the game were often known as Lunar Lander).
Players used the light pen to carefully manoeuvre their thrusters and land the craft safely. This was difficult enough but the game included multiple screens. Scrolling through enough horizontal screens without crashing or running out of fuel, resulted in an odd sight on the ground in the form of a McDonald’s restaurant. A successful landing next to the golden arches results in the astronaut merrily skipping out of the rocket to score himself a Big Mac.
In a 1974 interview with the Boston Globe, Burness justified his choice by saying he felt his game needed a little “something extra”.
Easter Bunnies
Over time Easter Eggs have become even more tongue-in-cheek and self referential. For instance the Windows DOOM 95 port has a (slightly) hidden image of the player’s pet bunny Daisy. The rabbit later reappears on a missing poster in the 2016 game, with a reward offered for her safe return. The original trilogy contains no fewer than 42 other Easter Eggs.
Doomguy’s bunny Daisy makes a number of cameos throughout the entire DOOM series
As one of the first Easter Eggs unlocks a secret room, it’s hardly surprising that more modern ones do the same: for instance in LucasArts’ 1993 graphic adventure Day of the Tentacle if you use the computer in Weird Ed’s bedroom, you can actually play the full game of Maniac Mansion the 1987 predecessor to Day of the Tentacle.
Playing the fangame Super Mario Blue Twilight DX on December 25th will unlock special Christmas levels
The Easter Eggs Archive maintains a database of the very best video game Easter Eggs.
Atari may not have hatched the first Easter Egg but titles like Adventure on their home consoles were the first to spark the explosion of gaming in people’s homes. Read more in Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compendium.
If our mention of Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle is making you feel nostalgic, don’t forget to also check out The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games.
]]>And that’s not all. The winner will also receive a copy of Bitmap’s own The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition; the perfect complement to Binary Counting.
*To be in with a chance of winning, simply follow Bitmap Books on Twitter, and retweet the competition post to make a single entry. Winner will be chosen at random on May 1st. Good luck!
Competition Terms & Conditions*Although most of us learn that the magic words are “please” and “thank you” from a young age, pioneer programmer and MIT student William Crowther had other ideas.
Despite being best known for creating one of the very first interactive fiction (IF) games Colossal Cave Adventure in 1975, Crowther actually has a much more important claim to fame: whilst working for research firm BBN (Bolt Beranek and Newman) he was one of the original developers of ARPANet, a precursor to the modern day Internet.
When he wasn’t busy giving the web to the world, Crowther and his wife Pat used to enjoy ‘spelunking’ or ‘caving’ as it’s more commonly known. They put their programming knowledge to good use, employing an early teleprinter in their home to map out their caving network.
This teleprinter was connected to a BBN PDP-10 mainframe. After he and his wife divorced, Crowther stopped caving altogether and began development on the text game that would cement his status in video game legend.
Originally started as a pet project so he’d have something to do with his daughters, Colossal Cave Adventure or ‘Adventure’ as it was known contained a number of original quirks. It wasn’t the first IF adventure, or even the first one to be set in a cave system. That honour belongs to 1973’s Hunt the Wumpus.
Still, Crowther used his knowledge of caving to map the game out on very similar lines to the real-life Bedquilt cave system in Kentucky. Some of the items available for pickup in the game, such as an axe wielded by an angry dwarf were also inspired by finds he’d made during his time spelunking.
Tourists at the Mammoth Cave National Park. The nearby Bedquilt cave system served as the inspiration for the layout of ‘Adventure’.
As you may have guessed from the presence of the dwarf, Crowther was also a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons, so also drew on elements of this for the play. If you’ve played any IF before, you’ll know that movement is non-linear i.e. you can move from room to room with commands like NORTH, SOUTH, EAST and WEST. (Usually shortened to N, S, E, W)
The early text adventure games had a crude AI which could also respond to basic commands such as TAKE KEYS. In the game, one of the very first essential items you need to pick up is a lamp. The 2010 documentary Get Lamp, which covers the history of text adventure games was named in its honour.
Initially Crowther just showed off the game to some of his D&D buddies, who began playing it for hours on end, as well as suggested ways to improve the code. Shortly afterwards, Crowther placed the game’s code on the BBN mainframe and went away for a month’s vacation. On his return he found it was all over the early Internet.
When Stanford student and Don Woods & his friend John Gilbert discovered the game, they spent all night playing it, making hand drawn maps and cracking open Adventure’s source code to try and get extra points. Woods would later go on to make an expanded version of the game with extra features like a scoring system, an irate dragon and perhaps most brilliantly an underground vending machine which sold fresh batteries for the player’s lamp.
Adventure forces you to think outside the box. Here you have to release a bird you captured earlier to get past a dangerous snake.
Let’s get xyzzy
It seemed that everyone was impressed with Crowther’s video-game inventiveness with the exception of the people for whom he’d originally made the game: his family.
In a 2002 telephone interview, Crowther’s sister Betty, who was one of the original play-testers of Adventure, stated: “I was bored having to go through all the steps every time, and I said, ‘I want to go directly into the game.’ She then added, ‘Ecks-why-zee-zee-why!’”
Betty’s impatience led Crowther to create a shortcut in the game. If a player entered the first building in the game, they could type the command ‘xyzzy’ to be instantly teleported into the cave system.
You can enter the caves the long way round by unlocking a grate and climbing down but it’s easier to use xyzzy to teleport there from the first building.
It’s not entirely clear where this nonsense magic word came from. Crowther himself claims he, “...made it up out of whole cloth for the game.”
He later added in a 2007 interview:
“Magic words should look queer, and yet somehow be pronounceable - XYZZY seemed pretty good that way. I was considering working for XEROX at the time, which probably suggested starting with an X.”
Although it’s the most famous, ‘xyzzy’ actually isn’t the only magic word in the game. Entering the onomatopoeic words ‘PUGH’ and ‘PLOVER’ in the right rooms will also transport the player to and from the cave location ‘Y2’ and an empty room where they can unload all the heavy treasure they’ve gathered.
Crowther had just created the first built-in cheat codes in computer game history.
The Legaxyzzy
One of the notable points about the ‘xyzzy’ cheat code, is that it’s not optional. Although it’s possible to enter the caves in Adventure through unlocking a grate and climbing down, if you do this you can’t complete the game with the maximum possible score.
This means if you’re unfamiliar with the magic word, you have to enter the caves in the usual way until you come across a room with a magic wand and a helpful message telling you all about what xyzzy can do for you, as shown in the video above.
If you try to use the magic word elsewhere in the game, you’ll see the message “nothing happens”. As many pioneering programmers played Adventure, it’s hardly surprising that they started to ‘riff’ on this theme.
One popular way to do this was to allow users to enter ‘xyzzy’ into the command line of operating systems or programs, only for the system to tell you “nothing happens” too.
Running ‘/xyzzy/ in the Windows mIRC client will result in the message ‘nothing happens’ just as if you tried to use the magic word in the wrong area of Adventure.
The magic word also continues to have a great legacy as a cheat. Typing it into Minesweeper on older versions of Microsoft Windows will have the game warn you which squares hold mines before you click on them.
Using ‘xyzzy’ in older versions of Minesweeper displays a small coloured pixel at the top left of the screen to warn you if a square contains a mine before you click.
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Crowther’s creation though, is the establishment of the annual ‘Xyzzy’ awards, which recognise outstanding contributions in the field of Interactive Fiction. Similar to the Academy Awards there are a number of categories such as “Best Game”, “Best Writing”, “Best Story”, “Best Individual Puzzle” and so on.
The 2021 Xyzzy Awards “Best Game”, What Heard Heard of, Ghost guessed by Amanda Walker displays poetry if you type in the magic word. Type it again for more verses.
CONGRATULATIONS! 100/100 You have successfully read through the history of the first magic word in computer games. Although originally coded in FORTRAN Adventure was quickly ported to the BASIC programming language to be played on the Sinclair ZX series of home consoles. Check out Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a visual compendium for our definitive guide on all the ZX Spectrum had to offer.
]]>So join us as we pick our eight favourite baffling brainteasers for the legendary Nintendo Game Boy.
Don’t agree with our choices? Let us know your best-loved Game Boy puzzle games over on Facebook or Twitter.
Tomato Kwirk and his girl, Tammy, are out on the town when they decide to explore the dark labyrinth below their city. As you do. Naturally, Tammy gets lost, so Kwirk has to rescue her, exploring the maze and solving puzzles so they can return to the world above. The objective of each screen is to get from one end to the other. In front of Kwirk sit turnstiles, blocks and holes – the little chap manipulates all these in a specific order so that he can progress. This block-pushing game is one of the more challenging puzzlers for the Game Boy, taxing the player’s brain even from its earliest levels – but in a fun and entertaining way.
Reportedly devised by Alexey Pajitnov as early as 1984, this worldwide phenomenon, responsible for kick-starting the whole puzzle genre and instigating a wealth of clones, found its ideal home on the Nintendo Game Boy. In case you’re one of the three people unfamiliar with Tetris, various geometric shapes fall randomly from above. These have to fit together tightly to form a row, which disappears, eliminating that line from the playing field. Tetris's core is its inherent satisfaction at piecing together the shapes – its depth and remarkable longevity have ensured it a revered status as one of the most popular videogames of all time. And while it didn’t start on the Game Boy, Tetris undoubtedly cemented its reputation on the Nintendo handheld.
This phenomenally successful spin-off from the Super Mario series reportedly sold over two million copies on the Game Boy alone. Obviously, the Mario branding helped in this respect, but don’t let that obfuscate the fact that Dr. Mario is a top-tier Game Boy puzzler. The premise is simple: Dr. Mario chucks medicine into the bottle-shaped playing field, and it's your job to match the pills up with the comic-like viruses. Eliminate all the viruses and it’s on to the next level, but clog up the bottle with too much useless medicine, and it's game over. Like all the greatest puzzle games, Dr. Mario takes an uncomplicated concept, adding just enough whistles and bells to ensure that enjoyment is never too far away.
First published in 1984 for the Atari 8-bit computer, Boulder Dash (and its star, Rockford) quickly became a legend of the early home computer scene. And there’s a good reason for that: Boulder Dash’s gameplay is marvellous, compelling and highly addictive. Rockford is a treasure hunter, plundering various caves for precious jewels, with falling rocks a constant hazard for this rapid digger. It would be understandable to think you’ve mastered Boulder Dash by the third or fourth level. Not a chance – this is one of the most deviously plotted videogames of all time, and it finally found its rock-strewn haven on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1990.
Originally released as an arcade game by Taito in 1981, Qix was designed and developed by the husband and wife team of Randy and Sandy Pfeiffer. The eponymous Qix is a line-based creature bouncing inside the playing field. The player controls a diamond, patrolling the outer rim and poised to draw into the field, blocking off areas once a shape’s drawn. Sparks also travel along the lines; if the player collides with one of these, they lose a life. As with Boulder Dash, Qix is nicely suited to the Game Boy and soon increases its challenge with multiple Qixs and sparks. There’s a tactical aspect, too: the diamond can draw fast or slow, the latter yielding more points but substantially riskier.
Quarth is another arcade conversion based on the 1989 Konami coin-op, also known as Block Hole. It’s genre mash-up time as Quarth blends the slowly-descending block mechanic with a fast-paced shoot-‘em-up. The player’s craft fires blocks up the screen, which ‘complete’ the falling shapes into squares or rectangles. As the game progresses, the blocks drop faster; fortunately, there are also power-ups that speed up the player's craft, among other useful upgrades. Quaint, quick and quirky, Quarth is another little puzzle gem for the Game Boy.
Known as simply Yoshi outside of PAL regions, this is another falling block game, albeit one with a twist. The player controls Mario, sitting at the bottom of the screen, hands aloft and ready to swap the blocks in each hand around. Yoshi’s eggshells and monsters drop from above and soon begin to stack up. Mario’s task is to manipulate the stacks, so the eggs and monsters match vertically, thus eliminating them from the playing area. While its concept is far from original, Mario & Yoshi introduces enough new ideas to stand out and is an addictive puzzler, despite its occasional over-reliance on luck.
The Game Boy was still going strong by the mid-Nineties, as was its favoured genre of puzzle games. Mole Mania’s central gameplay element comes from its star, Muddy Mole, who can dive into the ground at the press of a button. Once there, an alternate route across each level reveals itself, although Muddy Mole must be careful not to obstruct the screen with too many holes. The objective? A farmer named Jinbe has kidnapped Muddy’s family, and if this antagonist appears similar to a certain Italian plumber, you won’t be surprised to learn that this is one of the lesser-known games by Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto.
You can read about all of these games and many more Nintendo Game Boy puzzle games in Bitmap Books’ Game Boy: The Box Art Collection.
]]>It’s astonishing to think that history can turn on the smallest of decisions. For instance, when the late and great Kazuhisa Hashimoto first joined games company Konami in 1981, he probably had no idea that one day he was going to change the course of video games forever.
In a 2003 interview with Game Staff List Association Japan he confessed that when he first arrived, the company was still manufacturing circuit boards for coin-operated roulette and slot machines. Konami quickly put Hashimoto-san to work making coin games but it wasn’t until a few years later that they realised the amazing potential of the Famicom (or ‘NES’ as it was known outside Japan) and started developing games for the new console.
These were the early days of video game development, so everyone pitched in helping to build arcade machines, devise interesting plots and do the programming. There was also no dedicated video games “quality testers”, so it fell to Hashimoto-san and his 3-man team to port the coin-operated game Gradius to Nintendo’s console.
“I had one guy under me, and he played through the coin-op version. That one’s really tough. I hadn’t played that much and obviously couldn’t beat it myself, so I put in the Konami Code. Because I was the one who was going to be using it, I made sure it was easy to remember.”
The code Hashimoto-San inserted into the game was a simple sequence of button presses that would give the player a full set of power ups to make testing easier. To use it, all he or his testers had to do was pause the game and enter the sequence:
↑↑↓↓←→←→B + A
This code was never designed for general use and Hashimoto’s team always planned to take it out before the game was released but never actually got round to doing so and this was long before it was possible to issue video game patches via the Internet. The button sequence was then rediscovered by other players and shared through early gaming circles.
Entering the Konami Code on the pause screen of Gradius provided the player with all power-ups. This made is easier for the developers to test the game for bugs.
Realising its growing popularity, Konami then began porting their code to other games. One of the earliest and most popular implementations was in the 1988 “run and gun” game Contra, also developed for Nintendo. The game was extremely tough to beat but entering the Konami code on the title screen gives players a colossal 30 extra lives, giving them a chance of beating the game.
This is the point in gaming history where the Konami code’s popularity skyrocketed, as Nintendo Power magazine decided to reveal its existence in Contra in the “Classified Information” section of their very first issue in July 1998. This no doubt explains why its sometimes known as the “30 lives code” or even the “Contra Code” is this is how many gamers first encountered it.
Entering the Konami Code into Contra’s title screen gives the player 30 extra lives. A very useful cheat for such a fiendishly difficult game.
This was in an age where there was no extra downloadable content for games, so developers would often make them fiendishly difficult to complete, extending their replayability. Gamers were left with the choice of spending hours replaying levels to become an expert or give up altogether. Built-in button press cheats like the Konami code provided a third way: less-skilled players now stood a chance of finishing the game quickly.
Understanding this, Konami introduced their code into a number of games including Gradius sequels and spin-offs, perhaps most controversially in Gradius III (1989) for SNES where inputting the Konami code would indeed give you all the power-ups, then promptly blow up your ship!
Certain games also riffed on the Konami code theme but made certain tweaks. For instance the 1992 NES title known as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles III outside Japan required you to enter the B + A in reverse order (A + B) to access a special options screen, from where you could change the starting stage and difficulty level.
The Konami Code in the US-version of TMNTIII pulls up an options screen that lets you change the starting stage and difficulty level. Interestingly, Japanese version of the game enabled this screen by default.
Konami also ensured that entering the code didn’t always just make playing the game easier. For example, inputting it into the 1994 SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game Castlevania: Bloodlines unlocks a harder ‘Expert’ mode, though you can also use it to change the background music, which will give you 9 lives.
As the Konami Code became a gaming staple, other non-Konami games started including it too. Entering the code into Irrational Games’ 2013 epic Bioshock Infinite, will unlock ‘1999 mode’, a much harder version of the game. Usually you need to have completed the game at least once in order to do this.
In 2020 retro gamers waiting in the black hole lobby of Fortnite’s Battle Royale also found that by entering the Konami code, they could play a number of arcade classics including a game that looked very similar to Space Invaders.
The Konami code also had its very own cameo in the 2012 Disney animated film Wreck it Ralph where the evil King Candy has it written down as the combination for his safe where he keeps the source code for the fictional arcade game Sugar Rush
As kid gamers grew into adult web developers, the Konami Code became even more firmly embedded in popular culture as a form of an unlockable Easter Egg on various web pages. In April 2009 the ESPN website displayed animations of dancing unicorns for anyone who entered the code. Anyone who enters the code into the website of business cloud provider Megaport is treated to a basic Snake-style game, which delivers helpful messages at the end of each game.
Enter the Konami code on Megaport for a highly enjoyable game of Snake. Now get back to work.
Kazuhisa Hashimoto sadly died in 2020 but his legacy still lives on in the form of the Konami Code and the games which he helped to develop. If you want to relive the glory days of the NES/Famicom, take this time to read through Bitmap Books own NES/Famicom: a visual compendium which focuses on a number of the very best Konami titles. If you came to gaming in the 90’s, don’t forget to check out our SNES/Super Famicom: a visual compendium too.
The rises are mainly due to Covid-19 surcharges, and also fuel surcharges caused by the war in Ukraine. Without these surcharges, there would be no issue. For context, we usually pay a c. 5% surcharge on fuel which covers daily fluctuations, but it's currently at 35%!
We know that the price of shipping is a constant cause of frustration for our Australian and New Zealand friends, so we suggest that until we activate again you check out Pixel Crib who carry some of our books and are based in Australia. As a gesture of goodwill, we will pass on the free PDF to any Pixel Crib customers. All you need to do it email us with a copy of your receipt.
]]>I'm afraid to say that we have been asked by SEGA to remove the listing or face potential legal action. As a small business, this is not something we can risk. After discussions, their position is non negotiable. It is of course their right to protect their IP as they see fit.
Personally I have regrets with this project, as I should have put the brakes on a while back. Instead I pressed on with the belief that it would be OK because of the various efforts made to state that the book is 'unofficial' and the skew towards third-party games. I was also buoyed by the number of SEGA fan related projects that were out there that are not challenged legally. In hindsight, this was a mistake, and I should have shelved the project.
As of today, I must admit defeat. I'm not prepared to risk everything I've worked for, and jeopardise the amazing projects we have in the works. As a small business, we cannot fight something like this legally.
I wanted to personally apologise to our fans that were looking forward to the book, and for our lack of clarity around the situation.
If we can find a way to release the PDF for free, we will.
Sam Dyer
Bitmap Books, January 2023
It was games like DOOM which sparked off the interest in first-person shooters, due partly to iD’s cunning marketing model of providing the first few levels “Knee Deep in the Dead” on a Shareware basis to whet people’s appetites.
Players could also change the difficulty level to give themselves an easier time at first, then replay on a harder setting later. Instead of a boring number scale of difficulty, users could choose from settings such as “HURT ME PLENTY” and of course, “I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE”.
DOOM was still a tough game to beat, even by 1993 standards. This is probably why its developers also broke new ground in making it simple for players to cheat. Other games either didn’t include cheats at all or required you to wait until a certain point to enter them, such as the “magic word” Xyzzy in the text game Colossal Cave Adventure.
Anyone who loaded up DOOM could simply type in any number of preprogrammed codes, including the infamous IDDQD which would set your health permanently to 100% making you effectively invincible. This “God Mode” was easy to spot as once the cheat code’s entered, your unnamed “Doomguy’s” avatar’s eyes would start to glow yellow and the game displays the message “Degreelessness Mode On.”
The initials ID are clearly in reference to the game’s developers but there’s no universal fan agreement on what “DQD” stands for although the DOOM Wiki speculates it’s “Delta Quit Delta”: an imaginary US College Fraternity that only accepts college dropouts who received a grade of “Q” (quit).
Other built-in DOOM cheats are easier to explain e.g. typing IDKFA gives you all three coloured keys (K) and full ammo (FA). Typing IDCLEV## with the right number (##) allows players to change (C ) the current level (LEV).
DOOM was also one of the first games to allow a “no clip” mode, allowing players to phase through walls, items and enemies. In the first DOOM game you could activate this by typing in IDSPISPOPD. This was a reference to a tongue-in-cheek suggestion by Usenet users that since the game title “DOOM” had so overused in discussion threads, iD’s next game should be called something more obscure like “Smashing Pumpkins into Small Piles of Putrid Debris”. Sadly in DOOM II, this was changed to the very mundane IDCLIP but other cheat codes made it through unchanged.
Youtuber ricktheprick6014 runs through all the cheats available in DOOM II
Although players could now polish the game off quickly with infinite health and ammo, DOOM’s developers were among the first to make sure that cheating was done in as fair a way as possible.
God mode and most other cheat codes are unavailable to players who choose to play at the maximum difficulty setting “Nightmare”. By default players also couldn’t use God Mode in multiplayer matches to give themselves an unfair advantage. This has actually carried over to more modern ports of DOOM (2016) where enabling ‘god mode’ from the console automatically disables network play.
You have to fight through this room the old-fashioned way
In the original version of ‘DOOM’ and its sequel ‘Ultimate DOOM’, invincibility is also disabled in the very last room on the “Phobos Anomaly” map. This is also the last level of the ‘shareware’ version of DOOM, so was a clear warning that players couldn’t finish the entire game by cheating.
Players can also be killed whilst using God mode in some circumstances. DOOM includes a special type of “damaging floor” surface at the ends of some levels called “Type 11”, which nullifies God Mode and ends the level when the player’s health drops below 11%. The Phobos Anomaly room shown above contains such a surface.
Players can also be killed by a “telefrag” or “stomp” as it’s known in the original DOOM source code. The game contains teleporters designed to transport players from one area to another. If you happen to step on a teleporter as something is being sent to it, the damage is fatal.
An example of a telefrag disaster where a player’s thrown across the room and killed
The IDDQD cheat worked by setting your health permanently to 100%, so that none of the in-game weapons could kill you, given that none of them could deal out less than 1000 points of damage. This can be overridden though, as for example a teleporter “telefrag” accident inflicts a mighty ten thousand damage points.
The game’s developers also encouraged the community to create their own scenarios by using special editing software to create new WAD (Where’s All the Data) files with new levels, including new scenarios, monsters and weapons.
Using IDDQD in fan-made WADs also may not keep players safe, given that enemies can be programmed to inflict over 1,000 points of damage in one go.
The semi-serious fan-made WAD “The Sky May Be” includes Barons of Hell that deal out 80 Million points of damage, which will easily overwhelm their invulnerability. The WAD also upends up the “God Mode” trope, as firing at enemies with the BFG9000 either deals damage in the millions or “blesses” them, making them invincible.
These days, the “IDDQD” or “God Mode” meme has now entered popular culture. There’s an entry for it in the Urban Dictionary and Internet Slang websites. It’s been printed on T-shirts and even lives on in the form of the special “IDDQD” trophy you can unlock in DOOM (2016).
DOOM also spawned hundreds of other first person shooters, includes iD’s very own Quake (1996) which included its very own options for “god mode”, obtaining all weapons and walking through walls.
You can read more about this and other iconic first person shooters in Bitmap Book’s I’m Too Young to Die, which contains a comprehensive history from 1992-2002 including a foreword by iD co-founder John Romero, one of the original designers of the DOOM and Quake series.
I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002
]]>Shadow Of The Beast – Psygnosis/Reflections, 1989
“Beauty And The Beast”
It’s almost impossible to talk about impressive Amiga games without mentioning Psygnosis, Reflections Interactive and their Shadow Of The Beast games. The first of these graphical tour de forces was released in 1989 and swiftly became a showcase for what the Amiga was capable of. Specifically designed for the Commodore computer, the fantastical platformer astonished gamers with its multiple levels of parallax scrolling, sprite multiplexing and an amazing range of colours. While the gameplay of the Shadow Of The Beast games has often polarised Amiga fans, there’s no doubt that all three games showed what the computer could do when pushed to its limits.
Hunter – Activision, 1991
“A Whole New World”
Commodore 64 fans will recall Novagen’s Mercenary, the wireframe classic from Paul Woakes that paved the way for this incredibly prescient game from 1991. The player is a soldier exploring a series of 3D polygonal islands and completing various missions. The freedom of movement and ability to take your time and enjoy simple sightseeing was hugely revolutionary for the early Nineties. Being able to enter vehicles and traverse the randomly-generated map in them was also a novel experience, as was the existence of a real living and breathing solid 3D world within the Amiga. Ten years later, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto III, kick-starting one of the most successful gaming franchises of all time. It owes a considerable debt to Paul Holmes’ free-roaming Amiga game.
Turrican II: The Final Fight – Rainbow Arts/Factor 5, 1991
“Manfred’s The Man”
The Turrican sequel wowed fans and critics alike in 1991. Graphically, the game is merely above average; where it excels is its speed of movement, scrolling and the multi-directional landscape that the player explores. The vast open levels and outstanding musical score from Chris Huelsbeck help further bolster its reputation, but that remarkable pace, coupled with a large number of on-screen sprites, is what makes Turrican II such a technical marvel.
No Second Prize – Thalion, 1992
“Speed King”
There are plenty of good-looking racing games for the Commodore Amiga – there are none as strikingly smooth and fast as Thalion’s No Second Prize. Avoiding the hyper-complex granular depth of simulations such as F1 Grand Prix, this motorcycle racer pitches the player against six other bikes in a manic season of high-speed battling. Designed to appeal to arcade gamers as well as simulation fans, the innovative use of mouse control takes some getting used to – but it’s worth it in the end. A wonderful game that puts attractive yet sluggish efforts such as Hard Drivin’ to shame and proves that great sound and graphics, at speed, could be achieved on the Commodore Amiga.
Lionheart – Thalion, 1993
“Who Needs A SNES?”
Having pushed the limits of the arcade racer with No Second Prize, Thalion were at it again a year later with the scrolling platform hack ‘n’ slash genre. Plenty of games utilise the Amiga’s coprocessor – known colloquially as the copper – yet few do it as beautifully and remarkably as Lionheart. Inspired by classic arcade games such as Rastan, Lionheart contains several layers of fluid parallax scrolling to go with its elegantly designed sprites, velvety animation and superb environmental detail. The game that proved even the modest Amiga 500 could compete with its 16-bit console peers.
Frontier: Elite II – Gametek/David Braben, 1993
“Pushed Over The Edge”
Almost ten years after it was first released, the space-trading epic Elite finally got a sequel in 1993. The scale and ambition in Frontier are astonishing; essentially, a whole, solid universe is available on one solitary floppy disk for the player to explore. Unfortunately, Frontier is an example of overshooting the stars – such is the game’s breadth of ambition that it pushes the poor creaking Amiga a little too far. Horrendously torpid frame rates (especially on the Amiga 500) render the game almost unplayable in sections, and while inferior enemy AI and countless bugs also plague the game, it’s nevertheless the brightest unpolished gem to grace the Commodore Amiga.
Universe – Core Design, 1994
“The Magic Of Colour”
The common assumption was that the Amiga could only display 32 colours on-screen at once. However, when Core Design began developing a sequel to its only adventure game, Curse Of Enchantia, it brought an incredible 256 colours to its screens. The trick was skilfully manipulating the Amiga’s extra halfbrite mode (or EHB), with the nature of the game mostly avoiding the resulting slowdown. A certain amount of colours are locked into the main characters and the game’s cursor; otherwise, Core Design was free to change multiple colours within each scanline on the game’s backdrops, a technique that helps form a uniquely vibrant series of locations.
Alien Breed 3D – Team 17/Ocean, 1995
“The DOOM Killer”
It wasn’t the Amiga’s fault – after all, it had been born in an era where 2D gaming ruled. Unfortunately, technology was moving at a ferocious pace, and when, in 1993, id Software released DOOM, developers rushed to create similar games across various platforms, even if the technology wasn’t quite up to the job. Having already enjoyed substantial success with its xenomorphic Alien Breed series, Team 17 took up the DOOM challenge for the fourth game in the franchise and created what many fans consider to be the greatest – and most accomplished – first-person shooter on the Amiga. While it may look creaky today, the texture mapping and incredible water effects, combined with its swift and compulsive alien blasting, make Alien Breed 3D a true feat that once more pushed the Amiga to its limits – and beyond.
These games and more feature in the Bitmap Books’ Commodore Amiga: a visual compendium and The Art Of Point-And-Click Adventure Games, both stuffed full of interviews, games and more.
]]>A Gremlin in the Works by Mark Hardisty
Monty’s creator Peter Harrap seemingly had the headlines in his mind when he set about building the Monty games. The first entry in the series, 1984’s Wanted: Monty Mole, was inspired by the UK miners' strikes of that time, even featuring a pastiche of a figure of the moment, union leader Arthur Scargill. Next followed Monty is Innocent, set in a prison, and created at a time when a boiling point was nearing with regard to conditions in UK penitentiaries. 1987’s Auf Wiedersehen Monty, meanwhile, was eccentric and clownish – and also found time to make comment on the European Currency Unit in the years before the Euro arrived.
And then there was Moley Christmas. Like the Christmas demo disks we looked at last Christmas, Monty’s festive outing was released as a cover mount freebie, in his case with Your Sinclair magazine. It came at a time when Spectrum magazine publishers were doing all they could to outpace their rivals in terms of how generous they could be with games included on the cover, in a movement sometimes referred to as the ‘Spectrum cover tape wars’.
Image: www.gremlinarchive.com
Perhaps realising that those looking for a restful festive gaming session wouldn’t be so up for comment on pressing social and welfare issues, Monty’s dev team stepped away from leaning into the headlines. Instead, though, they decided to go with parodying the game development production process – and perhaps the pressure put on studios to get something out for Christmas above all other priorities. Nothing else fills you with more seasonal cheer, we know.
At a fundamental level, Moley Christmas follows the template set by Auf Wiedersehen Monty. It’s a classic flick-screen platformer in the tradition of Jet Set Willy, with a focus of skipping between single-screen areas exploring and collecting items as you endeavour to recover game source code from a pixelated interpretation of Gremlin’s own studio, get that code to the tape duplication plant, head to the Your Sinclair offices to ensure your creation is ready for magazine distribution, and even make you way to a newsagents to stock the copies yourself.
Yes, Moley Christmas was very meta indeed. A cover-mounted tape game about creating and distributing a cover-mounted tape game is about as inward and self-referential as it gets. And yet, at the time, it did feel like it offered a peek inside the world of game dev. And it was also surprisingly good.
Ultimately just six single screens in length, Moley Christmas still managed to pack in a relative feast to explore and unearth – a surprisingly nuanced example of a densely packed, undersized delight. It might also have been a little more demanding than most would expect from a Christmas game. There were some rather arcane puzzles and clues, for example, including granular details tucked into the instructions that give essential hints as to progress. Miss them, and you might be entirely stuck. The less than gentle difficulty curve ultimately served the fact that Moley Christmas was also a deeply competitive game, and in a rather special way.
Determined players that did complete Gremlin’s festive curio would be presented with a message. Be the first to send that message into Your Sinclair, and you’d be sent 15 games from the magazine’s own software library. In other words, it was a promotional entity to thrust momentum into other games of the time.
Moley Christmas is also particularly impressive from the perspective of technical polish. That’s a somewhat surprising fact considering free Christmas specials are so often defined by a playful, knowingly lo-fi spirit – more like festive jokes told in computer game form than works of great finesse or refinement. And yet in his holiday adventure Monty passes through a world boiling with vibrant, fluid animation, smart realisations of clash-free colour, and amazing amount of world-building detail.
Not that Moley Christmas was entirely free from the lo-fi. For one, the cassette tapes cover needed cutting out of a page in the magazine, before neatly folding. No firm, glossy card stock or fine, rich printing. This was a Christmas gift you had to pack yourself. As such, years later, it's very hard to find a copy with anything like a ‘mint’ cover.
Image: www.gremlinarchive.com
Now, Moley Christrmas might not be Gremlin’s most significant contribution to gaming culture, but it somehow captured a lot of that iconic British studio’s unique character, output and approach. It was a game overflowing with personality, quality, smart ideas and playful allusions. You could feel the development team’s hand and personality in each screen, and it was quietly innovative too, exploring an atypical distribution channel for what was ultimately a full game from a commercial series. In realising there might be bigger picture gains in making Moley Christmas a promotional entity rather than one sold from the shelves of stores, Gremlin could clearly see potential beyond convention. That, perhaps, is a defining spirit in the amazing story of the once-modest Sheffield studio that changed gaming forever. Again, if this tale has whet your appetite, our own book A Gremlin in the Works documents the amazing rise and legacy of Gremlin.
As for Monty himself, his star has rather faded. He made a brief return in 2013 when Games Britannia (established by Gremlin in the Works’ author Mark Hardisty) and the gaming charity Special Effect hosted a competition for school children to design a new game starring the titular mole. Steel Minions Studio adapted the youngsters design for full release, making Moley’s last appearance in culture an equally admirable and impressive one; Monty: Revenge of the Mole.
Since, Monty has been all but quiet. Perhaps, though, one day he’ll return. And what better time for that to happen than Christmas?
The Pawn – 1985
Artist: Bob Stevenson
Adventure games were a staple of the Commodore 64’s early years, and there was no better exponent than Magnetic Scrolls. The Pawn may have been its first game, but already there were many hallmarks that would define the developer, including its magnificently high standard of presentation. Bob Stevenson’s static images for The Pawn, precisely rendered, perfectly carry the rustic beginning of the game before moving to an appropriately grim and warped realm for some of the later scenes.
Winter Games – 1985
Artist: Michael Kosaka
Epyx had already established the template for its games series with Summer Games, and a wintry edition was the logical next step. The colour white predictably gets plenty of use, and the scenery is gorgeous, the snow-dappled mountains a constant backdrop together with a sky full of wispy wind-blown clouds. A fantastic selection of imagery that brings a chill to your spine – in a good way!
Uridium – 1986
Artist: Andrew Braybrook
Uridium is the game that firmly established both Andrew Braybrook and Hewson on the Commodore 64, although it is influenced visually by Braybrook’s earlier game, Paradroid. There, the coder used bas-relief metallic graphics – skilfully created using shadow techniques – and they are incorporated seamlessly into the dreadnoughts of Uridium. The icing on the cake is the player’s craft, the sleek and graceful Manta, complete with its masterful flip when turning.
Defender Of The Crown – 1987
Artists: Master Designer Software Team
From trumpeters to castle battles and jousting tournaments, Cinemaware’s debut on the Commodore 64 constantly stuns the player with its incredible visuals. An early example of team-based creation rather than being the work of a single designer, its graphics uniformly evoke the spirit of middle ages England.
International Karate + – 1987
Artist: Archer MacLean
The original International Karate incorporates several backgrounds, usually reflecting a famous city or location. For this update, MacLean uses just one backdrop, but it’s such a cracker that it trumps all the others. An ancient Japanese gate or torii dominates the scene. Behind it, the sun sets, casting a charming hue over the water and land. Eloquently designed, it’s the perfect contrast to the violence taking place in the foreground.
Nebulus – 1987
Artist: John Phillips
Nebulus originated as a tech demo and one that few could see turning into a game. But it looked amazing, and when coder John Phillips returned to Hewson with a playable game, jaws dropped. It’s essentially a platform game, albeit one with a unique twist: the player’s character travels around a series of rotating towers, dodging and shooting enemies. It’s a wonderful aesthetic that translates particularly well to the Commodore 64, even surpassing the 16-bit Amiga version.
Wizball – 1987
Artist: Jon Hare
Like Nebulus, Wizball takes a traditional genre – in this case, the shoot-‘em-up – and infuses it with its own particular style. Bouncing around the landscape (sometimes accompanied by the smaller Catelite), Wiz collects spots of droplets to return colour to the achromatised landscape. The real miracle here is how Sensible permeated its game with such character considering (at least at the start) the lack of colour.
Katakis – 1988
Artist: Andreas Escher
While it may not be the most original of games – Irem’s R-Type is a manifest influence – the Manfred Trenz and Andreas Escher team certainly produced the goods with this vivid and shining shoot-‘em-up from 1988. From the streamlined and flowing design of the player craft to its wide variety of bio-mechanical enemies and massive bosses, Katakis cannot fail to impress. Yet best of all is its backgrounds, each as impressive as the last and diverse enough to make every level a memorable experience.
Myth: History In The Making – 1989
Artist: Bob Stevenson
System 3’s trawl through history begins with an outstanding level set within a rocky underworld. Skeletons and demons pepper this segment as the hero, a modern-day man transported back to battle the evil Dameron, lops off heads and leaps around the platforms with remarkable dexterity. There are plenty of impressive bosses, including a massive Hydra-like creature, while the scene set aboard a Viking longboat during a thunderstorm is terrific, the constant flashes of lightning briefly lighting up the violent events. Brilliant and precise detail is evident throughout this marvellous game.
The Last Ninja 3 – 1991
Artist: Robin Levy, Arthur Van Jole
The Last Ninja series is Commodore 64 royalty, publisher System 3 ensuring the games remained strong throughout its run. This third game considerably improves on the display of its predecessors, providing a perfect mystical eastern vibe and some sweet environmental effects, such as a glittering waterfall. The atmospheric intro, where a lone figure approaches across a bleak landscape, is a positive indication of the quality to come.
Turrican II – 1991
Artists: Andreas Escher, Manfred Trenz
Fast and technically accomplished, the superb Turrican II: The Final Fight wowed reviewers and Commodore 64 fans upon its release in the early Nineties. With its immense bosses, a sharply-defined main character and some imaginative level design – a level full of animated cogs is a particular optical delight – there’s no doubt that this is one of the most visually arresting and complex games on the Commodore 64.
First Samurai – 1992
Artist: Mat Sneap
By 1992, developers were devising increasingly astonishing ways of extracting more from the Commodore 64, even if its user base was dwindling in the face of the 16-bit revolution. First Samurai is a shining example. Inspired by games such as The Last Ninja, the beautifully-animated hero character leaps around each landscape, battling the minions of the evil Demon King. Converted from the Amiga original, First Samurai is reminiscent of Turrican’s finest moments and includes a stunning level set on board a speeding train.
Mayhem In Monsterland – 1993
Artist: Steve Rowlands
The Commodore 64’s demographic had changed dramatically by 1993, so it was no surprise to see games such as Mayhem In Monsterland appearing more regularly. Evincing the colourful platformers of Nintendo, it has a twee and enchanting appearance that, while at odds with most of the games on this list, lends Mayhem In Monsterland an amiable façade of its own.
Sam’s Journey – 2017
Artist: Stefan Gutsch
Like Mayhem In Monsterland, Sam’s Journey brings the charm of the Nintendo Entertainment System and SEGA Master System’s platform games to the Commodore 64 – albeit 24 years later.
Having been grabbed by a claw from within his wardrobe, Sam’s Journey incorporates a range of inventive locations, a constantly-changing main character and large levels that encompass free-directional scrolling. It’s a tremendous achievement, encapsulating the talent that’s still creating exquisite-looking Commodore 64 games, 40 years after the computer was first released.
These games and more feature in Commodore 64: a visual compendium, the very first book from Bitmap Books, and a personal project of its founder, Sam Dyer.
]]>I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002
In fact, such a stroke of luck is exactly what happened with Bitmap’s new look at the first-person shooter form, I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002, which ships later this month. It was the book’s author, Stuart Maine, that suggested to the Bitmap team that his ex-colleague, Ian Pestridge, could be perfect to take on illustrating the cover.
“We were immediately drawn to Ian’s incredibly detailed illustration style that almost looks engraved or etched,” Dyer remembers. “His portfolio contained a plethora of fantasy and sci-fi-type figures, all done with minimal use of colour to give them a unique, striking look. We could immediately see how this style would work really on the cover of a book all about FPS games. It’s dark, edgy, intense, and not like anything we'd seen before.”
Pestridge was no newcomer to illustrating on game projects. He fell for drawing as a youngster and started out in the games industry as a concept artist back in 1997, working on Interactive Studios’ Dragon Sword; a game that ultimately wasn’t to be. For the last quarter of a century, meanwhile, Pestridge has worked for numerous iconic UK studios, from Blitz Games to Rebellion, developing a striking illustrative style defined by immense detail that pulls in the viewer.
“Every stroke you see in my work is a single pen stroke,” says Pestridge, when conversation turns to the concept of being able to see the presence of the artist’s hand in his illustrations, particularly when compared to works with a more clinical or digital feel to them. “It’s not that it’s a laborious process illustrating in such detail; it’s highly enjoyable. But it’s almost zen like, putting so much time and detail into an illustration like those I did for Stuart’s book, expressing so much through techniques like hatching, and thinking about things like lighting. I love the idea that you could keep zooming in and in on my work and keep finding more detail, and see how the image is really constructed from individual pen strokes; almost lose yourself in it.”
I’m Too Young To Die cover detail
It was Pestridge’s impressive knack for remarkable detail that made him perfect as the illustrator of a cover for a genre like the first-person shooter, that is so often so visceral, intense and filled with personality and even grotesque caricature. FPSes feel up-close-and-personal, in your face and even brutal at times. All things Pestridge ably captures in his illustrations.
“I already absolutely loved first-person shooters, and have for a long time,” says Pestridge of his starting point on working on the concept for the cover. “And so the title really spoke to me; it evoked a lot of the feelings the first-person shooter genre can bring. The title was a really great starting point for the process: I’m Too Young To Die. That title [from DOOM’s easiest difficulty setting] brought all these pieces and ideas; like the intensity of those difficulty settings. Terms like ‘hurt me plenty’ and ‘I’m too young to die’ in place of more standard names for different difficulties have this attitude. There were the intense, characterful expressions of the faces that went with each difficulty setting in DOOM, and the expressions of the status bar face that you saw when playing. So I started to think about using that idea of these intense faces as something that could work for the cover.”
As the core cover concept started to solidify in Pestridge’s mind, it became apparent that the cover should endeavour to do what the book does. That is to say, rather than trying to magically allude to every page that sat behind it, like Maine’s book, the cover would also try to capture the essence of what the genre offers, particularly between 1992 and 2002.
“We wanted to summarise first-person shooters and the feelings they bring, much like the book does,” confirms Pestridge. “But it’s quite a broad genre. I thought about showing weapons or whole characters or other ways to capture the various elements of what makes up an FPS, but the idea of those faces and that intensity was always there; again, informed by DOOM’s use of faces to indicate different difficulties or player states. I wanted to find a way to kind of sum up that variety of the genre, and all its games. And we needed not to infringe on copyright, of course. I wanted to remind people of those distinct heroes like Duke Nukem or Serious Sam or Painkiller.”
I’m Too Young To Die cover detail
With all those thoughts and ideas around character, intensity, personality and attitude, Pestridge explored breaking the cover down into four panels, each sharing a different form from within the wider FPS genre. Each would show a face, inspired by various types of shooter protagonist, with a view to capturing the intense face-to-face scenarios that often occur within the games themselves.
As such, there’s a panel inspired by lone action heroes like Duke Nukem, and then the future marine as seen in DOOM, Quake, Crisis and so many others. Next is the real-world soldier, star of a bounty of iconic shooters, from Call of Duty to Medal of Honor via Brothers in Arms. Finally comes the post-apocalyptic warrior, as made popular by titles such as Borderlands, Rage, and Fallout.
“I’m not actually sure what you call a four panel triptych,” says Pestridge with a chuckle, “but those characters filled mine.”
Zeroing in on the four panel concept further came about through plenty of collaboration with the publisher and author. Dyer and Maine would feed back on Pestridge’s ideas, offering guidance and context – something highly important considering that at the time the cover was underway, the book was not yet complete, particularly in terms of its layout and aesthetic.
Eventually, with Pestridge’s concept and a final test sketch submitted and approved, he began work on the illustration itself, putting around 25 hours into each individual panel. Pestridge also submitted a mock-up to inform the layout of the cover and the positioning of his four panels; something that turned out to offer more of a guiding hand to the design team than initially planned. Compared side-by-side, that mock up and the final cover are incredibly close. Pestridge, it turned out, brought more than ‘just’ illustration talent.
Looking back across the entire process, then, it’s clear a cover does more than simply front a book. Its creation and the wilder book’s development are intrinsically entwined. To a degree, separating the concepts of book and cover are as unhelpful as tearing the cover from the book itself. They are a singular entity, in this case both striving to communicate what the first-person genre came to be between its origins and 2002. The cover just happens to be the first page potential readers see; and that’s a hugely important responsibility worth all the effort, collaboration, budget, and those 100 hours of illustrating work.
I’m Too Young To Die Collector's Edition
In fact, Pestridge’s quartet of stunning illustrations are cropped on the final cover. Those who pick up the strictly limited collector's edition of I’m Too Young to Die, however, also get a set of art cards, each providing a full version of Pestridge’s illustrations. That inclusion was something the illustrator found amply rewarding, letting each of those pen strokes get some attention, including those outside the cover crop.
If you want to take a close look at the cover, the book’s contents, and maybe those special edition extras, you can pre-order the standard and special editions of I’m Too Young to Die right now over on the Bitmap website. The book ships very soon too, on November 14th. You really don’t have long to wait to get that gorgeous cover – and the rest of the book – in your hands.
I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002
In fact, 3D games have now been around for most of the medium’s history. While you can point to electro-mechanical shooter titles like SEGA’s 1969 release Missile as examples of first-person gaming from before the rise of pixels and screens, it almost certainly started with Maze – AKA Maze War. The 1973 title was created in an academic context for mainframe computers, offering real-time movement through a 3D environment, albeit it locked to a grid. Through updates Maze would eventually support eight players simultaneously, and enough shooting elements for many to see it as the prototype for all FPSes. Its life on mainframes like the PDP-10, however, means that it saw little exposure. Maze did, however, prove that computers could put out interactive 3D worlds, and a scattering of first-person mainframe releases followed in the 1970s, such as space sim Spasim. Ultimately, though, Maze’s legacy in popular culture would come many years later, when the 1990s FPS boom arrived.
Battlezone, Atari
The first major success realised in three dimensions, meanwhile, came a little later in 1980, when Atari debuted the arcade version of tank shooter Battlezone. Like the iconically flat Space Invaders, the absolutely 3D Battlezone used vector graphics to realise its world, and at the time it was remarkable, letting plasters move just about anywhere in its arenas, take cover, and hunt down foes. Battlezone presented something not too distant from an FPS, and at the time was considered so impressive that the US military pushed Atari to release a training simulation version for military use. That version became known as Bradley Trainer, with just two units being produced.
In truth, 3D graphics as a broader concept had emerged in the 1970s, debuting in the mainstream by the decade’s second half. The 1976 movie Futureworld – a rather flawed sequel to the famed sci-fi western Westworld – arrived as the first commercial, mainstream movie to use 3D computer-generated-imagery. It was a fleeting, rough-around-the-edges scene, but in that moment, 3D had arrived in popular culture. It’s worth noting here that Futureworld’s 3D animation actually began life in the 1972 experimental short film A Computer Animated Hand, co-produced by Edwin Catmull, who would go on to co-found Pixar, and change the future of animated entertainment forever.
Soon after, in 1978, Kazumasa Mitazawa would release a package of 3D effects for the Apple II computer named 3D Art Graphics, putting the potential of the third dimension into the hands of creators (the Mac computers themselves, of course, had their own immense influence on the future of video games). However, until the early years of the 1990s a great many game makers focussed on creating the illusion of 3D, rather than the kind of true 3D real-time worlds seen in almost every contemporaryFPS (and debuted years earlier in a more limited form by Maze and its ilk). 1981’s now infamous survival horror maze game 3D Monster World, for example, arrived on the Sinclair ZX81, and demanded a 16kb memory expansion to run. 3D Monster World looked 3D, and played in three-dimensional space. But in truth it simply offered a two dimensional landscape that presented the illusion of 3D. And to get this, out of a ZX81, it had to run at a stuttering six-frames-per-second. It was hardly fluid, but on release it proved to be one of the Sinclair machine’s most popular titles, in no small amount thanks to its technical showmanship.
Over time, more pseudo 3D games arrived, and many thrived. All this happened at the same time that pixel counts and colour palettes climbed ever skywards, and soon it was cemented that the ‘best’ games were the most advanced; at least, large audiences and swathes of marketers and publishers seemed to agree that the future of games laid in the introduction of a third axis of movement. 1990’s space sim hit Wing Commander offers one of the most famed examples of pseudo 3D, using a scrolling background and fixed cockpit foreground to create a sense of moving through the vastness of space. Over in the world of 2D games, meanwhile, isometric had been getting plenty of attention from devs as a shortcut to suggest a third-dimension, with the likes of Zaxxon, Q*bert, and Marble Madness all using the technique to great success.
Over time, the arguably more ambitious takes on pseudo 3D evolved. There was a tipping point with titles such as id Software’s 1992 hit Wolfenstein 3D, and the same year’s Ultima Underworld. Both used a heap of tricks to simulate 3D rather than give the player true full roaming freedom, but they played well, and sold well. Well enough to assert that 3D had arrived properly, and was worth taking seriously. 1992 marked a turning point, where the effort and investment in both 3D games generally and FPSes specifically increased dramatically.
Quake, id Software
18 months after Wolfenstein 3D, id released another future icon with DOOM, which mixed a 3D environment with 2D ray cast sprites. Again, it wasn’t true 3D, but it moved things forward a significant amount when it came to the fluidity and pace that the emerging FPS genre demanded if it were to meet its potential. Inspired by the learnings and success of DOOM, in 1996 id changed everything with Quake. Quake wasn’t perfect, and hasn’t aged without fault, but it was one of the first games to offer a truly fluid feeling 3D that didn't rely on too many tricks from the past. It showed what was possible, and its sales proved that the market had an appetite, ushering in the era of 3D graphics cards.
Players wanted ever more performance, and hardware manufacturers started to see that there was an opportunity to deliver cards that would expand a PC’s ability to run 3D games. As those became standard, more developers committed to the then-contemporary 3D, until it became the standard for so many genres.
Over in the world of console, a similar story had played out. Nintendo had already been releasing game cartridges bolstered by the Super FX chip, which let titles like Star Fox and Stunt Race FX dazzle players with impressively pacey three-dimensional experience. SEGA, meanwhile, had worked hard to bring the power of their arcade systems over to home platforms with the Virtua Processor chip, although its high manufacturing costs meant it was only ever released in one game cartridge; 1992’s Virtua Racing. Later planned Virtua Processor games would have to wait until the arrival of the Saturn.
Star Fox, Nintendo
When the PlayStation and Saturn arrived in 1994 and 1995 respectively, they brought much more in terms of 3D chops, bolstered by the potential of their disc format. By the late 1990s, 3D was very much the standard, with 2D relegated to a handful of genres and oddities – until the indie dev boom and game mediums' furious increase in breadth many years later saw a lasting renaissance for pancake flat visuals.
But from Maze on, it was the FPS that championed 3D; and 3D that championed the FPS. The genre grew to the point that it is now home to a great many gaming titans, from Call of Duty to Halo via Medal of Honor and GoldenEye 007. Its size and scope gave the FPS the critical mass to influence so many key elements of general game design too, such as conventions around HUDs and in-game user interfaces (UI), systems for matchmaking and multiplayer lobbying, level design and maps, and the expansion and infrastructure of esports and competitive gaming more generally. The FPS might not be able to take sole credit for most of those things, but it played a critical role; a role you can learn more about in the aforementioned, I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002, which picks up around the point titles like Wolfenstein 3D arrived.
There are a great many other gaming forms that owe much to the arrival of 3D, of course. But few genres are as entangled with that history as the FPS.