The Horace video game series was created in the 1980s by William Tang for

Beam Software Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Melbourne House, was an Australian video game developer, video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Milgrom, Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Initially ...

. The series comprised ''Hungry Horace'', ''Horace Goes Skiing'' and ''Horace and the Spiders''. ''Hungry Horace'' and ''Horace and the Spiders'' were two of the few

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

games also available in ROM format for use with the Interface 2.

Hungry Horace

The original Horace game, ''Hungry Horace'' was written as a simple ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'' clone, published in 1982. In it, Horace must gather food from around a park and move onto the next section while avoiding park guards. It is possible for him to collect a bell to panic the guards and render them vulnerable, like the power pills in ''Pac-Man''. This title was available on the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and

Dragon 32 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales before mov ...

. The ZX Spectrum original was marketed and distributed by Sinclair themselves, the Commodore 64 and Dragon 32 versions by Melbourne House.

Horace Goes Skiing

In 1982 Tang also produced ''Horace Goes Skiing'', in which Horace must cross a dangerous road teeming with traffic, à la ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'', to rent out a pair of skis, then get back over the road and successfully navigate a ski course. This title is not a true sequel, as it does not follow on from an original story and is only similar in that it features the same character. Like ''Hungry Horace'', this title was available on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Dragon 32. As before, Sinclair distributed the Spectrum version, Melbourne House the Commodore 64 and Dragon 32 versions. In 2017, the game placed on ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

s "10 games that defined the ZX Spectrum" list. ''Horace Goes Skiing'' was released on Steam by Pixel Games UK in October 2020.

Horace and the Spiders

In 1983, Tang produced the third title in the series, ''Horace and the Spiders''. This was primarily a platform game with the Horace sprite retained from the first two games. The first level sees Horace climbing a hill while jumping over spiders. The second level involves crossing a bridge by swinging on spider threads. The third level is the final confrontation with the spiders – he must create holes in the web, luring the spiders into the holes to fix them and subsequently jumping on them. Unlike the earlier two titles, this game was only released for the ZX Spectrum. The first stage of this game shared similarities with both '' Pitfall'' and the

Colecovision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...

game '' Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle'', whilst the third platform stage is essentially a ''

Space Panic is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal. Predating Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', and lacking a jump mechanic, ''Space Panic'' was the first game involving climbing ladders between walkable platforms. The genre was initially labeled as "climbi ...

'' clone.

Horace to the Rescue

This title was announced in 1985 but the game never appeared, due to the author Tang suffering a collapsed lung and being unable to continue.

Horace in the Mystic Woods

Horace made a comeback in 1995 with the platform based game ''Horace in the Mystic Woods'' for the Psion 3-Series of palmtop computers. This fourth entry in the Horace series is a platform game split into one-screen levels in the style of ''

Manic Miner ''Manic Miner'' is a platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the early titl ...

'' and was coded by Michael Ware of Proteus Developments. It is Series 3a/3c and 3mx compatible. In 2010, a conversion of the game to the ZX Spectrum was released by indie coder Bob Smith.

Other appearances

In the Spectrum version of the 1987 game ''

Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear ''Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear'' is a video game based on the television show of the same name. Plot When the International Circus comes to town, a mysterious series of disappearances begin, and Inspector Gadget is called into help. O ...

'', Gadget has to make his way through several scrolling worlds. In the first of these, he is hindered by Horaces travelling in the opposite direction; if he trips over too many of them, he loses a life. A reference to Horace is also present in the 2003

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

game ''

Dog's Life ''Dog's Life'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Frontier Developments exclusively for PlayStation 2, starring a dog named Jake. Plot The game opens in Clarksville, a city located in the American countryside. One day the p ...

'', which features a shop named ''Horace's Ski Shop''. The name is written in a font similar to the one used on the ZX Spectrum, and is accompanied by a Spectrum-style rainbow pattern. A fan made game ''Horace Goes to the Tower'' was released in 2011.

References

External links

* * * * {{WoS game, id=0002350, name=Horace and the Spiders 1982 video games 1983 video games ZX Spectrum games Commodore 64 games Dragon 32 games Video game clones Video game franchises introduced in 1982 Video games about food and drink Video games developed in Australia Video game franchises