Monday, June 20, 2022

Ports of Entry: Magnetic Fields

Unknown lead platform:

 

Pacmania

Released for Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in 1983


Because the VIC-20 version is credited to Ian Creasey and not lead programmer Shaun Southern, I think it likely the VIC-20 is a port of Southern's C64 design.

 

Trailblazer

Released for Commodore 64 and Commodore 16 in 1986

Ported to Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, MSX, & ZX Spectrum in 1986

 

Super Cars

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST in 1990.

Ported to ZX Spectrum in 1990.


Amiga supports 48 colors ingame (split 32/16 between gameplay and status bar) and Atari ST only 32 (split 16/16), suggesting to me an Amiga original design..

 

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, & ZX Spectrum in 1990


Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum are credited to Ali Davidson rather than Shaun Southern.

Once again, Amiga supports 48 colors ingame (32 on the top splitscreen, 16 on the bottom), while Atari ST only supports 32 (16 per splitscreen).

 

Lotus Turbo Challenge 2

Released for Amiga & Atari ST in 1991

Ported to Acorn & Genesis in 1992


This time, likely due to the full frame viewport, Amiga has only 32 colors ingame, while Atari ST is 16.

 

Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge

Released for Amiga & Atari ST in 1992

Ported to Genesis & PC in 1993


Amiga still supports 32 colors ingame. Atari ST does up to 20 through what I must assume are some scanline shenanigans.


Select chronology: 

 
 
Title Lead platform Date Contemporary ports
Pacmania ??? 1983 Same-year releases on C64 & VIC-20
Kikstart: Off-Road Simulator Commodore 64 1985
Trailblazer ??? 1986 Same-year releases on C64 & Commodore 16
Same-year ports to various microcomputers
Super Cars ??? 1990 Same-year releases on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, & Atari ST
Same-year port to ZX Spectrum
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge ??? 1990 Too many to fit here
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 ??? 1991 Same-year releases on Amiga & Atari ST
1992 ports to Acorn & Genesis
Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge ??? 1992 Same-year releases on Amiga & Atari ST
1993 ports to Genesis & PC
Network Q RAC Rally Championship DOS 1996
Mobil 1 Rally Championship Windows 11/19/1999 2000 port to PS1 by HotGen Studios
Labels:

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 20, 2022 at 6:11 PM

    When’s the closest Allied WWII game you play? I’m in a Nazi blastin mood

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AhabJune 20, 2022 at 9:42 PM

      Microprose's Spitfire Ace, if you're not counting Pacific War.

      Delete
  2. ViilaJune 28, 2022 at 12:40 AM

    Wikipedia believes that Amiga is the original platform for the Lotus series, but doesn't source it.

    Trailblazer is almost certainly C64 first, due to market realities. No one in their right minds would have been making a game for the C16 first, because the machine was an abject failure.

    ReplyDelete

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