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Scetlander (later known as Lander Software) was a software publisher which released titles for various 8- and 16-bit home computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2015) |
Scetlander (later known as Lander Software) was a software publisher which released titles for various 8- and 16-bit home computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s.
| Gold Series | |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Edutainment |
| Developer(s) | Scetlander |
| Publisher(s) | Scetlander |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Windows, ZX Spectrum |
| First release | 1989 |
Gold Series is a collection of educational games for the ZX Spectrum designed to make learning English and maths fun and easy. [1] The games were then ported other various computers including Atari ST, Amiga, and Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. Each game focuses on a particular topic. The games can have their difficulty settings set to suit a player's skill, and cater for various age groups. [2]
The Amiga and Atari ST versions were programmed by Terence Anthony Mancey. [3] [4]
This game was created in 1988 for MS-DOS, coded by David Jolliff. It was ported to the BBC Micro in 1990 [5] and ported to ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga in 1991. The technical editor of the game was Cliff Johnson. [6] It is aimed to teach children under 5 years how match different objects together aided by the sea serpent Maggie. It also came with a Maggie badge in the pack along with a manual. [7] The game is divided into four game types including "Two of a Kind", "Odd one Out", "Forget-me-not" and "Clock + Calendar". Each of those types (except the Calendar) have six activities: pictures, shapes, same, large, small, and numbers.
The game was also translated into the Belgian language on the Belgian Ministry of Education's behalf. [8]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Sinclair User | 79% (ZX Spectrum) [9] 77% (ZX Spectrum) [10] |
| ST Format | 37% (Atari ST) [11] |
This game was designed for the ZX Spectrum in 1992 [12] and was ported to the Atari ST the same year. The game is aimed to teach children how to count objects and add them together aided by Shades the dog. There are six activities:
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Sinclair User | 78% (ZX Spectrum) [9] |
| Your Sinclair | 7/10 (ZX Spectrum) [13] |
| Atari ST Review |   (Atari ST) [14] |
| ST Format | 8.25/10 (Atari ST) [15] |
This game is aimed to teach children aged 5–12 mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It was created in 1989 by T.R. Tulloch for MS-DOS and ported to ZX Spectrum in 1990. The object of the game is to help the protagonist Henrietta save her trouble prone boyfriend Henry and recover his wedding clothes which have been stolen by the parrot John. In each maths activity, the player has a limited time to solve a number of problems before John can cover Henrietta in cold custard.
The game is the first to be produced as joint project with the Scottish Council for Education and Training. [16] It also came with a John the Parrot badge and a guide for configuring and running the game. [17] [18]
In 1996 the game was remade for Windows, with 3D graphics and high quality sound and music. [19] [20]
This game aims to teach children aged 7–14 language skills. It was created in 1989 by T. R. Tulloch for Archimedes A3000, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. The game was ported to ZX Spectrum and Amiga in 1990 and ported to Atari ST in 1991. The object of the game is to help the protagonist Henrietta undo Morgana the Morbid's spell which turned her husband Henry into a frog. The difficulty of the game can be adjusted from five to nine letter words. [22] Each activity earns the player a letter. Activities include:
After all five letters have been collected, the player must do a final Word Jumble to break Morgana's spell. The game was written in the STOS language by David Jolliff [23] but was written in the AMOS language for the Amiga. [24] In 1996 the game was remade for Windows with 3D graphics and using five different languages, including English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. [19] [20]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Crash | 75% (ZX Spectrum) [25] |
| Sinclair User | 78% (ZX Spectrum) [9] 84% (ZX Spectrum) [10] |
This game, designed by William Cochrane with graphics by Donald Anderson, teaches children spelling. Unlike the other games it has the platform of an arcade game. [26] The object of the game is to guide a helicopter (in one level a submarine) driven by Hal through five levels while shooting Professor Grime's robots. In each level the player needs to collect all the letters that make up the goal word from the robots. After the winning a level the player must retype the goal word twice. The levels consist of Underground, Underwater, Downtown, North Pole and Space Base. [27]
In addition to the Gold Series Scetlander developed a number of other games, mostly for the BBC Micro computer. [5]
| Game | Genre/Topic(s) | Year | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Pathway to Bearings | Mathematics, Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| A Walk Around the Zoo | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000 | |
| Airline Reservation Package [28] | Business Studies, Information Technology | 1988 | Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Basic Mathematics [30] | Mathematics | 1988 | ZX Spectrum | |
| Bearings Suite A [28] | Navigation, Mathematics | 1988 | Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | Consists of "Left or Right", "Playpark" and "A Walk Around the Zoo". |
| Bearings Suite B | Navigation, Mathematics | 1988 | Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Bearings Suite C | Navigation, Mathematics | 1988 | Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Care Hire [28] | Information Technology, Business Studies, Environmental Studies | 1988 | Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Carrigan Street | Simulation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Catch [28] | Business/Fishing Simulation | 1988, 1990 | BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000, Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Cell Growth [30] | Biology | 1988 | ZX Spectrum | |
| Comal Demons | English | 1988 | Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Compass Points | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Counting and Adding | Mathematics | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Cycling [30] | Road Safety | 1988 | ZX Spectrum | |
| Datafile [28] | Database editing | 1988 | Archimedes 305 | |
| Forest | Economics, Ecology | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Historical Farming | Simulation, History | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Holiday [30] [28] | Language, Environmental Studies | 1988 | ZX Spectrum, Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Housebuilder [30] | Simulation, Construction | 1988 | ZX Spectrum | |
| Journey [31] | Navigation | 1988 | BBC Micro | |
| King of the Jungle | Safari | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Know Your Compass Points | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Left or Right | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000 | |
| Mapmaster | Navigation, Cartography | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Matrix | Databases, English | 1990 | BBC Micro | A touch screen and an overlay keyboard could be applied. |
| Mazemaster | Puzzle | 1988 | Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| New Community Suite | Simulation, Economics | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| The New Community [32] | Environmental Studies | 1988 | ZX Spectrum | |
| Pathfinder | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Playpark | Navigation | 1990 | BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000 | |
| Predictype [33] | Word Processing | 1985 | Acorn RISC | |
| Project Space | English | 1990 | BBC Micro, MS-DOS | An audio cassette was provided. |
| Radar | Navigation, Flight Simulation | 1990 | BBC Micro | |
| Snapshot [30] | Environmental Studies | 1988, 1990 | ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro | Available for BBC Master 128 only. |
| Stock Control Simulation [28] | Business Studies | 1988 | Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400 [29] | |
| Weather | Weather Forecasting | 1990 | BBC Micro, MS-DOS | Additional features in DOS version. |
In 1994 WizardWorks re-released updated remakes of the two Henrietta games on CD. [34]
In 1995 Lander Software released a "Lander Gold" CD compiling four games remade with 256 colour VGA graphics, mouse compatibility digitised sound and music. The CD included "Hooray for Henrietta", "Henrietta's Book of Spells", "Count and Add" and "Spellbound". [35]
Rick Dangerous is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1989 and published by MicroProse on the Firebird Software label in the UK, and on the MicroPlay label in America. It was also published in Spain by Erbe Software. Later, it was released with two other games, Stunt Car Racer and MicroProse Soccer, on the Commodore 64 Powerplay 64 cartridge. The game was followed by a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, in 1990. Loosely based on the Indiana Jones film franchise, the game received mixed reviews from critics.
Gauntlet II is a 1986 arcade game produced by Atari Games that serves as the immediate sequel to the original Gauntlet, which was released the previous year. Like its predecessor, Gauntlet II is a fantasy-themed top down dungeon crawler game and was released as a dedicated cabinet, as well as a conversion kit, both available in 2-player and 4-player versions.
Head Over Heels is an action-adventure game published by Ocean Software in 1987 for several home computers. It uses an isometric engine similar to the Filmation technique first developed by Ultimate Play the Game. Head Over Heels is the second isometric game by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, after their earlier Batman computer game was released in 1986. The game received favourable reviews and was described by Zzap!64 as an "all time classic".
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3D Construction Kit, also known as 3D Virtual Studio, is a utility for creating 3D worlds in Freescape. Developed by Incentive Software and published by Domark, it was released in 1991 on multiple platforms. The game originally retailed for £24.99 for the 8-bit version, and £49.99 for 16-bit version and the 32-bit Acorn Archimedes version, in the United Kingdom. A sequel, 3D Construction Kit II, was released in 1992, but only available on Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS.
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Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is a single-player beat 'em up with fewer fighting moves. It uses a flip-screen style instead of scrolling.
Fun School is a series of educational packages developed and published in the United Kingdom by Europress Software, initially as Database Educational Software. The original Fun School titles were sold mostly by mail order via off-the-page adverts in the magazines owned by Database Publications. A decision was made to create a new set of programs, call the range Fun School 2, and package them more professionally so they could be sold in computer stores around the UK. Every game comes as a set of three versions, each version set to cater for a specific age range.
Seymour Goes to Hollywood, also known as Seymour at the Movies, is a platform and adventure game developed by Big Red Software and originally published in Europe by Codemasters in 1991. Players control Seymour, a small potato-like creature who wishes to be a film star. The film's script has been locked in a safe, meaning Seymour must solve puzzles by collecting and using objects scattered throughout the game in order to progress, ultimately retrieving the script and allowing filming to start.
Steg, also known as Steg the Slug, is a puzzle-platform game developed by Big Red Software and published by Codemasters in 1992. It was released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum. Players control the titular slug who must traverse caverns in order to capture maggots in bubbles, then guide them to his starving young who wait in a nest.
Switchblade is a 1989 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed by Core Design and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Atari ST home computers. The first installment in the eponymous two-part series, the game is set in a dystopian future where players assume the role of Hiro from the Blade Knights as he embarks on a journey to defeat Havok, the main antagonist who broke free from his imprisonment after the sacred Fireblade was shattered into several pieces. Its gameplay consists of run and gun action mixed with platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button configuration.
Joe Blade is a video game published by Interceptor Micros on their Players budget label for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1987. It reached the top of the UK game charts, replacing Renegade. In Germany, the game peaked at number 7. It was ported to the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Atari 8-bit computers, MSX, Amiga, and Atari ST. A sequel, Joe Blade 2, was published in 1988. Another sequel, Joe Blade 3, was released in 1989.
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These games are very well thought out and makes important lessons very entertaining.
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