Sunday, November 27, 2022

Ports of Entry: Titus Interactive

Unknown lead platform:

 

Crazy Cars

Released for Amiga, PC, & Thomston TO in 1987

Released for Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MSX, & ZX Spectrum in 1988


Credits and color depth of the platforms lead me to believe that the Amiga version is creator Eric Caen's original design, though I can't rule out the possibility of it being Amstrad CPC.

 

Crazy Cars II

First released for Amstrad CPC in 1988

Released for PC in August 1989 as F40 Pursuit Simulator

Released for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, & ZX Spectrum in 1989


If Amiga is the original platform for Crazy Cars 1, then it would seem strange for Amstrad CPC to be the original platform for the sequel, even if that was the first release of it.

 

Fire and Forget

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, PC, & ZX Spectrum in 1988

Released for Atari ST in 1989


Fire & Forget II

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, PC & Sega Master System in 1990

Released for Atari ST in 1991

 

The Blues Brothers

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, & PC in 1991

Ported to Commodore 64 in 1991

Released for Game Boy in June 1992

Released for NES in September 1992

 

Prehistorik

Released for Amstrad CPC and Atari ST in 1991

Ported to Amiga, CDTV, & PC in 1991

 

Amstrad CPC version credits Charles Goodwin, while the 16-bit conversions credit "Cybele" as the original designer.


Lagaf': Les Aventures de Moktar

Released for Amiga, Atari ST, & PC in 1991

Released for Amstrad CPC in 1992

 

Amstrad CPC version once again credits Charles Goodwin. The Amiga version has a higher color depth than Atari ST/PC (PC has enhanced colors in loading screens but only 16 in gameplay), and the PC version credits Éric Zmiro as an "IBM engineer" suggesting original Amiga design, though that version does have a version-specific credit for Carlo Perconti, rather than game designer Florent Moreau.

 

Titus the Fox: To Marrakech and Back

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, & PC in 1992

Released for Gameboy in June 1993

 

This is a sprite-swapped version of Lagaf', and my notes regarding its credits and colors still apply.


Crazy Cars III

Released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, & Atari ST in 1992

Ported to Commodore 64 & PC in in 1992

Released for SNES in 1993 as Lamborghini: American Challenge

 

Robocop

First released for PC in April 2003

Released for Xbox in September 2003

Released for PS2 in 2003

Released for Gamecube in March 2004


This game had a very weird development and release schedule, but the Wikipedia description makes it sound like it was mainly developed on PC, with Xbox portability made a major priority and PS2 compatibility less of one.

 

Select chronology:   

 
Title Lead platform Date Contemporary ports
Al*berthe Alice 32/90 1985
Crazy Cars ??? 1987 Too many to fit here
Crazy Cars II
(aka F40 Pursuit Simulator)
??? 1988 Too many to fit here
Fire & Forget ??? 1988 Same-year releases on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, PC, & ZX Spectrum
1989 release on Atari ST
Fire & Forget II ??? 1990 Too many to fit here
The Blues Brothers ??? 1991 Same-year releases on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, & PC
Same-year port to C64
1992 releases on Gameboy & NES
Prehistorik ??? 1991 Same-year releases on Amstrad CPC & Atari ST
Same-year port to Amiga, CDTV, & PC
Lagaf': Les Aventures de Moktar
??? 1991 Same-year releases on Amiga, Atari ST, & PC
1992 release on Amstrad CPC
Titus the Fox: To Marrakech and
Back
??? 1992 Same-year releases on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, & PC
1993 release on Gameboy
Crazy Cars III (aka Lamborghini:
American Challenge)
??? 1992 Same-year releases on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, & Atari ST
Same-year ports to C64 & PC
1993 release on SNES
Prehistorik 2 DOS 1993 Same-year port to Amstrad CPC
Superman Nintendo 64 5/29/1999
RoboCop ??? 2003 Same-year releases on PC, Xbox, & PS2
2004 release on Gamecube

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Ports of Entry: Dynamix

Unknown lead platform:

 

EarthSiege 2

Windows 3.x/Windows 95 release in March 1996

 

Rama

First released for DOS/Windows 95 in October 1996

Released for Macintosh in 1997


Rama is made with SCI 3.0, an engine which I assume targets Windows 95 as the primary software platform.

 

Select chronology: 

 
8-bit era
 
Title Lead platform Date Contemporary ports
Sword of Kadash Apple II 1985 Same-year port to C64
1986 ports to Atari ST & Macintosh
Skyfox Amiga 1986-2 Initially an Apple II game by Electronic Arts
1985 port to C64 by Electronic Arts
1986 ports to Amstrad CPC & ZX Spectrum by Ariolasoft
1986 ports to Atari ST & Macintosh by Dynamix
Arcticfox Amiga 1986-2 Same-year ports to Apple II & C64
1987 ports to Atari ST & PC
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict Commodore 64 1987-12 1988 ports to Amiga & PC
Caveman Ugh-Lympics Commodore 64 1988-11 1989 port to PC
 
 
DOS era
 
Title Date Contemporary ports
Ghostbusters II 1989-10
Deathtrack 1989-12
MechWarrior 1989-12
A-10 Tank Killer 1989-12
Rise of the Dragon 1990 1991 ports to Amiga & Macintosh
Stellar 7 1990 1991 port to Amiga
Red Baron 12/19/1990
The Adventures of Willy Beamish 9/25/1991 1992 ports to Amiga & Macintosh
Heart of China 1991 Same-year port to Amiga
1992 port to Macintosh
Aces of the Pacific 9/10/1992
Betrayal at Krondor 1993
The Incredible Machine 1993 1994 ports FM Towns & PC-98
The Even More Incredible Machine 1993 Same-year ports to Mac & Windows
1994 port to 3DO
Space Quest V: The Next Mutation 1993
Aces Over Europe 1993
Aces of the Deep 1994-9
MetalTech: Earthsiege 1994-10
The Incredible Machine 2 1994 Same-year port to Macintosh
1995 port to Windows
 
 
Windows era
 
Title Lead platform Date Contemporary ports
EarthSiege 2 ??? 3/19/1996 Simultaneous Windows 3.x/Win95 releases
Rama ??? 1996-10 Simultaneous DOS/Win95 releases
1997 release for Macintosh
Hunter Hunted Windows 1996-11
MissionForce: CyberStorm Windows 1996
Outpost 2: Divided Destiny Windows 10/14/1997
Starsiege: Tribes Windows 12/23/1998
Tribes 2 Windows 3/29/2001 Same-quarter port to Linux by Loki Entertainment

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