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Mega Games was infamously a batch of very exciting games that were once in production for the c64 and Spectrum, and were said to be very ahead of their time, with some incredible features. Imagine pushed the boat out with this one, and unfortunately it sank...
None of the games were released. Two of the main games proposed and advertised were:
Bandersnatch - John Gibson & Ian Wetherburn - Spectrum with extra hardware
Psyclapse - Eugene Evans & Jake Glover - C64 with extra hardware. Graphics by Dawn Jones and possibly Ally Noble too.
Both games were in quite an advanced stage and looked incredible. Neither got finished, although they left their mark. Both games apparently got to a very advanced stage before Imagine went under and got bought out by Ocean.
We got in touch with John Gibson regarding Bandersnatch and he had the following to say:
"I’m afraid my memory is a bit hazy as far as the Megagames is concerned. It was 24 years ago and age is taking its toll on my brain :-) Here are a few snippets though...
Ian Weatherburn and I worked on Bandersnatch. It was set on a planet that had been colonized by humans from Earth. It was essentially a mining colony; a bit like Dune by Frank Herbert. There was no real goal to the game. You simply wandered around the planet and met and talked to people. I remember there was a fat man character and underground in the mines there were giant worms (thus the Dune analogy).
At the time Imagine went bust, Bandersnatch was probably no more than 25% complete and yet much of the additional ROM had already been used up, mostly with graphics data. The game would have required a major refactor to get it into a state where it could be published. I remember telling the Official Receiver as much when he was trying to place a value on Imagine’s work in progress.
The £35 price tag placed on the MegaGames was totally unrealistic. They would need to have retailed for £60 just to break even.
I’m afraid I don’t have any materials from the Bandersnatch days. Anything I did have has found its way into the bin for one reason or another. That includes the Sage IV I used to write Bandersnatch which had all the source code and art work on its HD :-("
Ally Noble had slightly more positive news though...
"In the early eighties, I was still doing my graphics on graph paper," explains Ally. "I remember keeping my Bandersnatch work because I was really proud of it – the logo and some original artwork. It’s all in the attic of a house I used to live in which I rent out now." ... Paul Drury is now on the case for this!
It has been confirmed that Bandersnatch was patched up and finished off on the Amiga/ST as Psygnosis' first ever release called Baratacus, which is apparently a mix of the two original megagames. Possibily there is acoincidence in the name Psygnosis and Psyclapse... maybe.
Psyclapse apparently got to the stage of a simple demo showing the hero walking while the walls of a castle scrolled behind him. The object of the game was apparently to escape from the castle where an evil villain had transported warriors from the past. Various descriptions in some sources described the main character with big boots and a slight arch - giving a game which was very like one of the Gargoyle adventure games. The Sprite we managed to salvage must be indeed the main character. Maybe Stoo Fotheringham was doing the graphics for this game? Anyway, check out the download and load "Print Nam" to see the sprite in its full glory. It seems odd though as Dawn Jones and Ally Noble were the two designers.
Interesting developments though with Psyclapse and with a particular disk that was found in the Mega Tree set of disks!... it could be very exciting news indeed!... More soon on this!
Other games which never really got mentioned as part of the Mega games planned were as follows:
Hero programmed by John Heap (Spectrum) and Dave Colclough (C64) - A game we know very little about.
Star Raiders was programmed by Marc Dawson (C64) and Daryl Dennis (Spectrum) - Confirmed to be a mix of the Activision game of the same name and Elite. It got to a very early stage with the ship flying through a starfield and with a early menu system. Marc Dawson has promised GTW to dig out the design documents for the game at somepoint in the future.
There were the only 6 mega games in development in total. "Hero" and "Star Raiders" were started at the same time. Neither of these games had correct titles only working titles". The 5th and 6th games in the series are currently unknown, and hopefully some names will be produced soon.
There was some heavy advertisements in the magazines, and so much being promised, though unfortunately 'Imagine' put themselves into too much debt over these games, and eventually fell through as a result of such a massive failure with this project.
The games were just too ahead of their time. They were pretty much complete, the hardware essentially ready... All ready to sell for a hefty price of £35 a time. A lot of money to ask for a game in them days.
A incredible series too far beyond the limits at the time.. Look out for the designs which Marc has kindly promised to submit to us sometime when he is free.
A incredible series too far beyond the limits at the time..
Frank.
(Additional
source credits - Marc Dawson, Peter Weighill, Angelo from brataccas.net, Dawn Jones, John Gibson) |
