Unknown lead platform:
Arcadia
Released for VIC-20 & ZX Spectrum in 1982
Ported to Commodore 64 in 1983
Movie
First released for ZX Spectrum in February 1986
Released for Amstrad CPC in 1986
Brataccas
Released for Amiga, Atari ST, & Macintosh in February 1986
WipEout
First released for PS1 in September 1995
Released for PC in November 1995
Ported to Saturn in March 1996
G-Police
First released for PS1 in October 1997
Released for PC in 1997
Select chronology:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Arcadia | ??? | 1982 | Simultaneous releases on VIC-20 & ZX Spectrum 1983 port to C64 |
| Jumping Jack | ZX Spectrum | 1983 | Same-year ports to Atari 8-bit & Dragon 32 |
| Movie | ??? | 1986-2 | Same-year releases on Amstrad CPC & ZX Spectrum |
| Brataccas | ??? | 1986-2 | Simultaneous releases on Amiga, Atari ST, & Mac |
| Barbarian | Atari ST |
1987-7 | Same-year ports to Amiga & C64 1988 ports to Amstrad CPC, MSX, & ZX Spectrum |
| Microcosm | FM Towns |
1993-3 | Same-year port to Sega CD 1994 ports to 3DO, CD32, & PC |
| Scavenger 4 / Novastorm |
FM Towns |
1993-11 | 1994 ports to 3DO, PC, & Sega CD |
| Ečstatica | DOS | 1994 |
|
| WipEout | ??? | 1995-9 |
Same-year releases on PC & PS1 1996 port to Saturn |
| WipEout XL |
PS1 | 9/30/1996 | 1997 ports to PC & Saturn |
| G-Police | ??? |
1997-10 |
Same-year releases on PC & PS1 |
I played Brataccas on my Mac+ back in college, and found it unique & (mostly) enjoyable, largely due to the stellar work put in to the environment & characters. It was also rather sinister in nature, as if the player was permitted to take part in formerly forbidden themes we rarely came across in computer gaming.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I definitely think Brataccas worth a playthrough & review, with the caveat that whatever emulator & platform version used, that mouse input be converted to keystrokes by some option or hack. It really was the worst decision ever to set the mouse as the main controller, as it's just too wonky of an input device for something like this.
I know I'm late in commenting this, but shouldn't you use games by Imagine Software as entry port for Psygnosis? Psygnosis founder David Lawson also founded Imagine, and the development for Brataccas (albeit under a different name) was started there before the company infamously went belly-up.
ReplyDeleteMaybe? My criteria for merging company chronologies in this manner has more or less been "it feels right," and I'm not familiar enough with Imagine's cultural impact to make that call here. I had to abstain on a similar judgment call with Audiogenic Ltd/Supersoft/Audiogenic Software. Do Imagine's games feel like they belong under the Psygnosis brand, or do they feel more like their own entity?
DeletePsygnosis basically rose from the Ashes of the rather spectacular crash and burn that was Imagine Software, and the culture of Psygnosis was absolutely colored by what went down there (The Digital Antiquarian has a somewhat lengthy, in-depth 4 part story about that: https://www.filfre.net/2017/09/games-on-the-mersey-part-1-taking-scousers-off-the-dole/ )
DeleteAlso, I'm 99.9% sure that the lead platform for Brataccas was the Atari ST, and Jimmy Maher confirms that in part 3 of his combined 4-part Imagine Software/ Psygnosis origin story.
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DeleteUpdated with a few Imagine titles! All of which are definitely not Stonkers.
DeleteMovie was developed for the ZX Spectrum (honestly pretty obvious just from looking at the CPC port, it has that unmistakable Spectrum port look to it)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wizwords.net/movie