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Alligata Software Ltd. was a computer games developer and publisher based in Sheffield in the UK in the 1980s. [1]
The company was founded by brothers Mike and Tim Mahony and their father J.R. Mahony in 1983. They produced games for a number of home computers including the Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, ZX Spectrum and Dragon 32. The company published many of Tony Crowther's early Commodore 64 games, including Aztec Tomb, Blagger and Loco. [2] Chris Butler was another programmer whose earlier games were released by Alligata. [3] The company also published budget priced software under the Budgie label.
Tim Mahony took over the day-to-day running of the company in 1987 and closed the company nine months later. The name and back catalogue were sold to Superior Software. Two titles were released under the joint Superior/Alligata label for ports of Superior's BBC/Electron games to other systems. Superior also included some old Alligata games on their Play It Again Sam compilations.
Alligata published budget games under the Budgie label [22] from 1985. When a typical Alligata game would cost around £6.95, Budgie games sold for only £1.99 in order to compete with the likes of budget software pioneer Mastertronic, already selling games at that level. Almost all titles were original rather than re-issues of Alligata games. Probably the most well known game is space shoot 'em up Video's Revenge (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron) with others including Convoy (ZX Spectrum), Super Sam (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC), Raskel (C64) and Shuffle (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron).
David Whittaker is an English video game composer. He is known for writing video game music in most of the 1980s and early 1990s for different formats.
Last Ninja is a series of video games published by System 3. The first game in the series titled The Last Ninja, was released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and was one of the most successful games for the system. In 1988, System 3 released Last Ninja 2, and in 1991 the third game in the series, Last Ninja 3. In 1990, Last Ninja Remix was released for 8-bit systems. This was Last Ninja 2 with new music, a new introductory sequence, slightly changed graphics and fixed bugs. Confusingly, the 16-bit versions of the original The Last Ninja game were also released in 1990 as Ninja Remix.
Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier is a platform game released 1985 by Software Projects as the Amstrad CPC port of Jet Set Willy. It was then rebranded as the sequel and ported to other home computers. Jet Set Willy II was developed by Derrick P. Rowson and Steve Wetherill rather than Jet Set Willy programmer Matthew Smith and is an expansion of the original game, rather than an entirely new one.
Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Micro Power was a British company established in the early 1980s by former accountant Bob Simpson. The company was best known as a video game publisher, originally under the name Program Power. It also sold many types of computer hardware and software through its Leeds 'showroom' or via mail order.
Artic Computing was a software development company based in Brandesburton, England from 1980 to 1986. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC computer games. The company was set up by Richard Turner and Chris Thornton. Charles Cecil, who later founded Revolution Software, joined the company shortly after it was founded, writing Adventures B through D. Developer Jon Ritman produced a number of ZX81 and Spectrum games for Artic before moving to Ocean Software.
Blue Ribbon was the budget computer software publishing label of CDS Micro Systems.
Blagger is a platform game created by Antony Crowther for the Commodore 64 and released by Alligata in 1983. A BBC Micro port was released the same year, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC and MSX in 1984, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 in 1985 and Amstrad PCW in 1987. In some countries this game was released under the name Gangster.
Druid is a hack and slash dungeon crawl developed by Electralyte Software and published by Firebird in 1986 for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. It was also ported to Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and by Nippon Dexter in 1988 for the MSX, although the MSX port was released in Japan only. Another Japanese port of Druid entitled Druid: Kyōfu no Tobira (ドルイド 恐怖の扉) was made for the Famicom Disk System by Jaleco in 1988. The game was followed by Druid II: Enlightenment and Warlock: The Avenger.
Graphic Adventure Creator is a game creation system/programming language for adventure games published by Incentive Software, originally written on the Amstrad CPC by Sean Ellis, and then ported to other platforms by, amongst others, Brendan Kelly (Spectrum), Dave Kirby and "The Kid" (C64). The pictures in the demo adventure, Ransom, were made by Pete James and the box cover art by Pete Carter.
Colossus Chess is a series of chess-playing computer programs developed by Martin Bryant, commercially released for various home computers in the 1980s.
Atlantis Software was a London-based UK computer games publisher that released a number of games during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Superman: The Game is a 1985 video game designed by Fernando Herrera and published in the U.S. by First Star Software for the Commodore 64. For European release, Superman was ported the Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family, BBC Micro, and ZX Spectrum.
Brian Clough's Football Fortunes is a sports video game featuring English football player Brian Clough. It was released in 1987 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Acorn Electron, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.
Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms. The company was originally based in Milton Keynes, England, and later relocated to Bournemouth, in southern England.
Survivors is a game published by Atlantis Software in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum. It was ported to the MSX, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Commodore 16, Acorn Electron, and BBC Micro and the Amstrad CPC (1988). It is a puzzle game based on the "rocks and diamonds" mechanics of Boulder Dash.
Superman: The Man of Steel is a 1989 video game featuring the DC Comics character Superman. It was developed and published by UK software company Tynesoft under license from First Star Software.
The English Software Company, later shortened to English Software, was a Manchester, UK-based video game developer and publisher that operated from 1982 until 1987. Starting with its first release, the horizontally scrolling shooter Airstrike, English Software focused on the Atari 8-bit family of home computers, then later expanded onto other platforms. The company used the slogan "The power of excitement".
Who Dares Wins II is a run and gun game developed and published by Alligata Software and released in late 1985 for the Commodore 64, as well as the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Plus/4, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.
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