| Revenge of the Mutant Camels | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Llamasoft |
| Publisher(s) | Llamasoft |
| Designer(s) | Jeff Minter |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Two player |
Revenge of the Mutant Camels is a horizontally scrolling shooter written by Jeff Minter for the Commodore 64 and published by Llamasoft in 1984. Enhanced versions for the Atari ST, Amiga, and IBM PC were released in 1992 as shareware.
A sequel of sorts to Attack of the Mutant Camels (also known as Advance of the Mega-Camels), this time the player controls a camel. The camel is armed by default with small blue shots, but can obtain other weapons and weapon upgrades by collecting power-ups during the game. In all but the Commodore 64 version, the camel is teamed up with a bipedal goat, who can be controlled either by the computer or by a second player. If the camel crouches down, the goat can mount it and ride on its back, enabling them to focus their firepower.
The game features a host of bizarre enemies, including: British telephone boxes, Polo mints, exploding sheep, skiing kangaroos, guys sitting on flying toilets, and even the jet plane controlled by the player in Attack of the Mutant Camels and a wave of Jeff Minters. In versions other than the Commodore 64 version, a variety of power-ups are available, including ecstasy tablets (for a turn of speed), spliffs (to fly over life's troubles), and apples (because they're good for you).
Unlike Attack of the Mutant Camels , it is possible for the player to win Revenge. After 42 waves of enemies [1] are defeated the player is declared the winner. In the Commodore 64 version, this was indicated simply by the message "WELL DONE! YOU HAVE SAVED CAMELKIND!" being briefly flashed over the playfield before the game restarted on the first level.
Revenge of the Mutant Camels was announced in the Dec 1983/Jan 1984 issue of Commodore Horizons with a prospective release for mid-December 1984. [2] The game was written over a two month period. [3]
Ideas for various attack waves were created by Minter whilst on holiday in Crete and written down in a notebook. An innovation at the time was that this was the first UK program to use a fast loader – the German TURBO system. [4] Minter was influenced by the reaction to the game Manic Miner having 20 levels, and so improved on this by creating 42 different levels for Revenge. [1]
The theme music for the Commodore 64 version was arranged by James Lisney and was based on Ballet égyptien by Alexandre Luigini.[ citation needed ]
 | This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.(May 2019) |
Llamasoft developed a sequel to Revenge of the Mutant Camels entitled Revenge of the Mutant Camels II for the PC. It was published by Kool Dog Entertainment, a division of Guildhall Leisure which has since closed down. Due to poor sales and reception the title was withdrawn from shelves just weeks after release.[ citation needed ] The plot is a continuation of the story from the original Revenge of the Mutant Camels.
For Amiga, Revenge of Mutant Camels II was released with poor reception [5] by Mastertronic in 1988. This release did not involve Minter himself, but in 1992 Minter released his own Amiga version entitled simply Revenge of the Mutant Camels as a shareware game (this is similar to the Atari ST version).
Almost 40 years after its first release, in 2021 Jeff Minter fixed a bug on collision detection in the Commodore 64 version. [6]
Jeff Minter is an English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 1981 with games for the ZX80. Minter's games are shoot 'em ups which contain titular or in-game references demonstrating his fondness of ruminants. Many of his programs also feature something of a psychedelic element, as in some of the earliest "light synthesizer" programs including Trip-a-Tron.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game produced by Technōs Japan originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the first sequel to Double Dragon, released during the previous year. The sequel involves Billy and Jimmy Lee in a mission to avenge Billy's girlfriend Marian after she is shot to death by the Black Warriors leader Willy, who is retaliating against the Lee brothers after his defeat at the end of the previous game. Double Dragon II was initially developed as an upgrade kit for the original Double Dragon, but evolved into a stand-alone game due to an increase in memory size, resulting in the developers reusing assets for both games.
Llamatron is a multidirectional shooter video game programmed by Jeff Minter of Llamasoft and released in 1991 for the Atari ST and Amiga and in 1992 for MS-DOS. Based on Robotron: 2084, players of Llamatron control the eponymous creature in an attempt to stop an alien invasion of Earth and rescue animals—referred to as "Beasties"—for points. Players advance by destroying all of the enemies on each level using a laser that fires automatically in the direction that the Llamatron is moving. Various power-ups exist to aid the player in defeating the wide variety of enemies and obstacles they face along the way.
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Wizball is a horizontally scrolling shooter written by Jon Hare and Chris Yates and released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and later in the year for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Versions for the Amiga and Atari ST were released in the following year. Wizball was also ported to IBM PC compatibles and the Thomson MO5.
Human Engineered Software was an American software developer and publisher from 1980 until 1984. The company sold video games and educational and productivity software, in addition to several hardware products. It focused on the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Atari 8-bit computers.
Tempest 2000 is a 1994 tube shooter video game originally developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar. Part of Atari Corp.'s 2000 series, it is a remake of the 1981 arcade game Tempest.
Skyfox is a combat flight simulation game developed by Ray Tobey for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. Ariolasoft published the game in Europe. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and Macintosh in 1985, to the Amiga and Atari ST in 1986, and to the PC-88 in 1988.
Tempest 3000 is a tube shooter video game developed by Llamasoft for the Nuon. It was published by Hasbro Interactive in North America on December 13, 2000, and Europe in March 2001. It is a follow-up to Tempest 2000, an updated remake of Dave Theurer's arcade game Tempest (1981). The player controls a claw-shaped blaster, shooting at enemies and obstacles, scoring points, and surviving multiple levels. The game modifies and builds upon the gameplay from Tempest 2000, introducing new enemies and mechanics.
Attack of the Mutant Camels is a surrealist video game written by Jeff Minter and released for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1983 by Minter's Llamasoft. The horizontally scrolling shooter is similar to the Atari 2600 game The Empire Strikes Back (1982), with AT-AT walkers replaced by giant camels. Confusingly, a very different game from Jeff Minter's Gridrunner series was also released in the US under the name Attack of the Mutant Camels.
Trip-a-Tron is a light synthesizer written by Jeff Minter and published through his Llamasoft company in 1988. It was originally written for the Atari ST and later ported to the Amiga in 1990 by Andy Fowler.
Repton is a Defender-inspired scrolling shooter written by Dan Thompson and Andy Kaluzniacki for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software in 1983. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, and Commodore 64.
Hover Bovver is a 1983 maze video game written by Jeff Minter released for the Commodore 64. A port to Atari 8-bit computers by Aaron Liddiment followed in 1984. Like many of Minter's other games, it has an offbeat sense of humour. The background music is based on the folk tune "Country Gardens" by Percy Grainger, arranged by James Lisney.
Defender 2000 is a 1996 scrolling shooter video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar. Part of Atari's 2000 series of arcade game revivals, it is an update of Eugene Jarvis' arcade game Defender (1981). The premise takes place in a future where the Alpha Promixian empire attack mining settlements on distant resource planets. Gameplay is divided into three modes, with the player acting as part of the System Defense Team commanding the Threshold ship to defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting humans.
Space Giraffe is a fixed shooter video game by Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin of Llamasoft. The game was released on 22 August 2007 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade. The main graphics engine is based on the Neon Xbox 360 light synthesizer visualisation software built into the console. Llamasoft released a version for Windows on 15 December 2008. It was made available on Steam on 19 March 2009.
Gridrunner is a fixed shooter video game written by Jeff Minter and published by Llamasoft for the VIC-20 in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore PET and Dragon 32. Many remakes and sequels have followed, including versions for the Atari ST, Amiga, Pocket PC, Microsoft Windows, and iOS.
Minotron: 2112 is a multidirectional shooter for iOS written by Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin of Llamasoft. It is a mobile remake of Llamatron for the Atari ST and Amiga, which itself is an updated version of the 1982 arcade game Robotron: 2084. It is the Minotaur Project game representing the Mattel Intellivision.
Tempest 4000 is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari, Inc. It is a modern reimagining of the classic arcade game Tempest, which was released in 1981. In Tempest 4000, players control a spaceship and navigate through a series of increasingly challenging levels while fighting off waves of enemies. Tempest 4000 was released for Atari VCS, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch.
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is an interactive documentary and compilation video game developed by Digital Eclipse. The release chronicles the software of British developer Jeff Minter and over 40 of his programs developed between 1981 and 1994. It is the second release in Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series that began with The Making of Karateka (2023), which chronicled the history of the game Karateka (1984).