The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of interactive narratives or interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphic text adventures still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles.
The ZX Spectrum is an 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.
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.. In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.
Dinamic Multimedia was a Spanish software house and publisher created in 1993 which was created after the bankruptcy of Dinamic Software in 1992 by some of its former members. After having released several titles, they filed for bankruptcy in September 2001.
Dinamic Software was a Spanish video game producer and publishing company. It was founded in 1984, and its activity ceased in 1992, comprising the Golden Era of Spanish Software. One year later, a part of its owners founded an independent company named Dinamic Multimedia. At the end of the 1980s, another company, Aventuras AD destined to produce text adventures, was born from Dinamic Software.
Game Over is an action video game developed by Dinamic Software and published by Imagine Software in 1987. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, Thomson TO7, and ZX Spectrum. The game includes some adventure game elements. A prompted unrated sequel, Game Over II, was released in 1987.
Army Moves is a scrolling shooter game developed by Dinamic Software for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX and ZX Spectrum. It is the first chapter of the Moves Trilogy and it was followed by Navy Moves in 1987 and Arctic Moves in 1995. It was first released in 1986 and published by Dinamic in Spain and by Imagine Software. Dinamic Software also developed a MS-DOS version of the game, published in 1989 in Spain.
Runaway: A Road Adventure is a 2001 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Dinamic Multimedia. It follows the story of Brian Basco, an American college student on the run after he unwittingly saves a murder witness named Gina Timmins from assassination by the New York Mafia. Searching for clues about a mysterious crucifix linked to the murder, Brian and Gina embark on a cross-country journey through the United States while pursued by two Mafia hitmen. The player assumes the role of Brian and explores the game world while collecting items, solving puzzles and conversing with non-player characters.
Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle is a 2006 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive. The sequel to Runaway: A Road Adventure, it follows protagonists Brian Basco and Gina Timmins as their vacation in Hawaii goes awry, sweeping up the two of them into a secret project by the United States military. The player controls Brian and explores the game world while collecting items, solving puzzles and interacting with non-player characters.
After The War is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game published in 1989 by Dinamic Software, in which the player must navigate through a hostile post-apocalyptic city. Although the name of the city is not mentioned in the game itself, both official promotional and unreleased artwork by Luis Royo and Alfonso Azpiri suggest that it is a post-nuclear version of New York City.
La abadía del crimen is a video game written by Paco Menéndez with graphics made by Juan Delcán and published in 1987 by Opera Soft. It was conceived as a version of Umberto Eco's 1980 book The Name of the Rose. Paco Menéndez and Opera Soft were unable to secure the rights for the name, so the game was released as La abadía del crimen. "The Abbey of the Crime" was the working title of the novel The Name of the Rose.
DROsoft was a Spanish computer and video game software distributor headquartered in Madrid. The company was founded in 1985 out of DRO Records, Spain's first independent record label. It is considered to have played a part in the golden age of Spanish software, having been described as one of the "principal distributors" of the age.
Pendulo Studios S.L. is a Madrid-based video game developer founded in 1993 by Ramón Hernáez, Felipe Gómez Pinilla, Rafael Latiegui and Miguel Angel Ramos. Since the company's 1994 debut project, Igor: Objective Uikokahonia, it has specialized in graphic adventure games. Pendulo first achieved mainstream prominence in Spain via Hollywood Monsters (1997), which met with critical and commercial success in the country but was never released beyond Southern Europe.
Hollywood Monsters is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Dinamic Multimedia. It takes place in an alternate-history 1950s, where the creatures from Golden Age monster movies are played by real monsters who lead otherwise normal lives. Controlling reporters Sue Bergman and Ron Ashman, the player seeks to unravel a mystery surrounding the murder of Frankenstein's monster. In the process, the player undertakes a globetrotting journey to locations like Transylvania and Egypt, while solving puzzles and interacting with characters such as Count Dracula, the Invisible Man and the Mummy.
Igor: Objective Uikokahonia is a 1994 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by DROsoft. The game tells the story of Igor Parker, a university student in love with a classmate named Laura Wright. Hoping to win her affection, Igor surmounts a series of obstacles in an effort to join her on a field trip to the island paradise of Uikokahonia. The player assumes the role of Igor and navigates the campus while collecting items, solving puzzles and conversing with non-player characters.
The golden age of Spanish software was a time, between 1983 and 1992, when Spain became the second largest 8 bit computer entertainment software producer in Europe, only behind the United Kingdom. The disappearance of the 8 bit technology and its replacement by the 16 bit machines marked the end of this era, during which many software companies based in Spain launched their career: Dinamic Software, Topo Soft, Opera Soft, Made in Spain and Zigurat among others. The name Edad de oro del soft español was coined by specialized magazines of the time and has been used to refer to these years until nowadays.
Yenght: La Fuente de la Juventud is a Spanish interactive fiction game published in 1984 by Dinamic Software for the ZX Spectrum. It is written in BASIC. Yenght is the first game from Dinamic Software and the first graphic adventure game published in the Spanish market.
The history of video gaming in Spain dates back to the 1970s, and by 2014 the country was the 10th-highest-grossing market for video games worldwide. In 2018, the Spanish video game market posted a revenue of €1.53 billion, up from €1.35 billion in 2017. The country's audience of game players was 16.8 million that year; demographically, it was 59% male and 41% female. Reportedly 80% of people aged 6-to-10 played video games, while 24% of those in the 45–64 age range did so.
Capitán Sevilla is a 1988 platform video game developed by the Spanish group Hi-Score and published by Dinamic Software for the Amstrad CPC, MSX and ZX Spectrum. In the game, players assume the role of Mariano López, a transporter-turned superhero after eating a radiation-affected blood sausage to fight against the mad scientist Torrebruno and protect Earth.
