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Zool
''Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension'' is a platform game written for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics and published in 1992. It was marketed as a rival to Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. ''Zool'' was ported to other platforms and followed by ''Zool 2'' in 1993. Gameplay The game is a platform game, relying on smooth, fast-moving gameplay. Its protagonist is Zool, a gremlin "Ninja of the Nth Dimension" who is forced to land on Earth; in order to gain ninja ranking, he has to pass seven lands, beating a boss at the end of each of them. The game contains a number of embedded minigames, including several arcade games, a scrolling space shooter and a game accessible only by making Zool play a certain tune on an in-game piano or finding certain invisible warp points. Development and release George Allan came with the idea of ''Zool'' as he was criticized on his previous game '' Switchblade II'' for having a lack of enemies. In development, Zool could cast spells to get him out of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zool 2
''Zool 2'' is a side-scrolling platform video game originally developed by The Warp Factory and published by Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga in November 1993. It is the sequel to the original ''Zool'', which was released earlier in 1992 on various platforms. When the forces of Krool are wreaking havoc upon the Nth Dimension with the help from his henchman Mental Block, the intergalactic gremlin ninja Zool alongside his female companion Zooz and their two-headed dog Zoon, are entrusted with the task of stopping Mental Block and restore order to the dimension. Originally released for the Amiga microcomputers, ''Zool 2'' was later ported to the Amiga CD32, MS-DOS, and Atari Jaguar platforms, with the latter being published by Atari Corporation in North America and Europe, in addition to being published in Japan by Mumin Corporation on April 21, 1995. When it was originally released for the Amiga, ''Zool 2'' received positive reception from critics who praised the graphics, sound dep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zool Snes
''Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension'' is a platform game written for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics and published in 1992. It was marketed as a rival to Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog''. ''Zool'' was ported to other platforms and followed by ''Zool 2'' in 1993. Gameplay The game is a platform game, relying on smooth, fast-moving gameplay. Its protagonist is Zool, a gremlin "Ninja of the Nth Dimension" who is forced to land on Earth; in order to gain ninja ranking, he has to pass seven lands, beating a boss at the end of each of them. The game contains a number of embedded minigames, including several arcade games, a scrolling space shooter and a game accessible only by making Zool play a certain tune on an in-game piano or finding certain invisible warp points. Development and release George Allan came with the idea of ''Zool'' as he was criticized on his previous game '' Switchblade II'' for having a lack of enemies. In development, Zool could cast spells to get him out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switchblade II
''Switchblade II'' is a 1991 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Amiga home computers. It is the sequel to the original ''Switchblade'', which was solely created by Simon Phipps at Core Design and released earlier in 1989 across multiple platforms. Despite being primarily developed in the UK, its graphics had a distinctly Japanese style similar to anime or manga. Taking place several centuries after the events of the first game, the story follows a descendant of the original protagonist named Hiro, as he embarks on a journey to defeat Havok, the original main antagonist who has returned from his previous defeat in order to bring chaos upon the land of Cyberworld and its inhabitants after the Blade Knights ceased to exist. Its gameplay consists of run and gun action mixed with platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button configuration. Originally released for the Ami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gremlin Interactive
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in the 1980s, their primary market was the 8-bit range of computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64. The company was acquired by French video game publisher Infogrames in 1999, and was renamed Infogrames Studios in 2000. Infogrames Studios closed down in 2003. History The company, originally a computer store called Just Micro, was established as a software house in 1984 with the name Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd by Ian Stewart and Kevin Norburn with US Gold, US Gold's Geoff Brown owning 75% of the company until mid-1989. Gremlin's early success was based on games such as ''Wanted: Monty Mole'' for the ZX Spectrum and ''Thing on a Spring'' for the Commodore 64. In 1994, it was renamed as Gremlin I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Phelan (composer)
Patrick "Pat" Phelan is a video game audio composer, manager, and producer. Background At the age of 11, Phelan's parents bought him a VIC-20. He learnt how to program and began to write games. At age 13, he got his first synthesizer, a Korg MS20 and learning how to program the MS20's patch bay gave him his grounding in understanding the fundamentals of sound synthesis. A few years later, the VIC was replaced with a Commodore 64. Soon there was a confluence between his gaming obsession, and his love for sound and music. Influenced by Rob Hubbard and Ben Daglish, Phelan began to write music specifically for games. When he progressed to the Atari ST, Phelan began collecting keyboards and using the ST's built-in MIDI connectors, started to sequence complex arrangements, classical scores as well as audio for high-powered games. In the early 1990s, Phelan joined Gremlin Graphics, and was involved in the development of Zool. Later on, he took on other responsibilities and managed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, Cambridge, England. The systems are based on Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and the proprietary operating systems Arthur and RISC OS. The first models were introduced in 1987, and systems in the Archimedes family were sold until the mid-1990s. ARM's Reduced instruction set computer, RISC design, a 32-bit CPU (using 26-bit addressing), running at 8 Hertz, MHz, was stated as achieving 4.5+ Million instructions per second, MIPS, which provided a significant upgrade from 8-bit home computers, such as Acorn's previous machines. Claims of being the fastest micro in the world and running at 18 MIPS were also made during tests. Two of the first models—the A305 and A310—were given the BBC branding, with BBC Worldwide, BBC Enterprises regarding the machines as "a continuing part of the original computer literacy project". Dissatisfaction with the branding arrangement was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on July 16, 1993, and was released in September of the same year. The CD32 is part of a family of Amiga computers and other hardware. It uses CD-ROM as its storage medium. It was based on Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture chipset, and is of similar specification to the Amiga 1200 personal computer. Using third party devices, it is possible to upgrade the CD32 with a keyboard, floppy drive, hard drive, RAM and mouse, turning it into the equivalent of an Amiga 1200. A hardware MPEG decompression module for playing Video CD was also released. In the Christmas period following its launch, the CD32 accounted for 38% of all CD-ROM drive sales in the UK, exceeding sales of the Mega-CD; however, it was discontinued as Commodore went into bankrup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Graphics Architecture
Amiga Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) is the third-generation Amiga graphic chipset, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. Before release AGA was codenamed Pandora by Commodore International. AGA was originally called AA for Advanced Architecture in the United States. The name was later changed to AGA for the European market to reflect that it largely improved the graphical subsystem, and to avoid trademark issues. AGA is able to display graphics modes with a depth of up to s per pixel. This allows for in indexed display modes and (18-bit) in Hold-And-Modify (HAM-8) modes. The palette for the AGA chipset has 256 entries from (24-bit), whereas previous chipsets, the Original Chip Set (OCS) and Enhanced Chip Set (ECS), only allow out of 4096 or 64 colors in Amiga Extra Half-Brite (EHB mode). Other features added to AGA over ECS are super-hi-res smooth scrolling and 32-bit fast page memory fetches to supply the graphics data bandwidth for 8 bitplane graphics modes and wide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 (code-named " Channel Z"), is a personal computer in the Amiga computer family released by Commodore International, aimed at the home computer market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of £399 in the United Kingdom () and $599 in the United States (). History The A1200 was launched a few months after the Amiga 600, using a similar slimline design that replaced the earlier Amiga 500 Plus and Amiga 500. Whereas the A600 used the 16-bit Motorola 68000 of earlier Amigas, the A1200 was built around the 32-bit Motorola 68EC020. Physically, the A1200 is an all-in-one design incorporating the CPU, keyboard, and disk drives (including the option of an internal 2.5" hard disk drive) in one physical unit. The A1200 has a similar hardware architecture to Commodore's Amiga CD32 game console. Initially, only 30,000 A1200s were available at the UK launch. During the first year of its life the system reportedly sold well, but Commodore ran into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus (video Game Series)
The ''Lotus'' series consists of three racing computer games based around the Lotus brand: ''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge'', ''Lotus Turbo Challenge 2'', and ''Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge''. Published between 1990 and 1992 by Gremlin Graphics, the games gained very favourable reviews upon release. Original Amiga versions of the games were created by Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris of Magnetic Fields, and then ported by other individuals to several other computers and game consoles. ''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge'' The first game in the series was released in 1990 8-bit and 16-bit computer systems, the Amiga and Atari ST versions. The game allowed the player to race a Lotus Esprit Turbo SE car through several (32 in the Amiga version) circuit race tracks of varying scenery. Two player simultaneous play (with split screen) was also provided, and a choice of audio tracks to accompany races. Each track is lap-based and consists of turns of varying degrees, as well as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrolling Shooters
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives. The genre's roots can be traced back to earlier shooting games, including target shooting electro-mechanical games of the mid-20th-century and the early mainframe game '' Spacewar!'' (1962). The shoot 'em up genre was established by the hit arcade game ''Space Invaders'', which popularised and set the general template for the genre in 1978, and spawned many clones. The genre was then further developed by arcade hits such as ''Asteroids'' and ''Galaxian'' in 1979. Shoot 'em ups were popular throughout the 1980s to early 1990s, diversifying into a variety of subgenres such as scrolling shooters, run and gun games and rail shoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
