IntvGene
09-26-2003, 01:43 AM
Well, thanks to last week's thread on Karateka, I've just been re-discovering so many classic games that Broderbund made or published over the years. A lot of them were mainly on the computers, so many of you might have missed out on some really great games. This company released many of my favorites for the 80's and early 90's and didn't release many disappointments either.
Here is the list of great games by Broderbund: (any omissions/corrections would be appreciated)
Airheart (Apple II)
Castles of Dr. Creep (C64)
Choplifter (Apple II, Atari 5200, 7800, Atari 8bit, Arcade, Sega Master, Sega SG-1000, C64)
David's Midnight Magic (Apple II, Atari 8bit, C64)
Drol (Apple II, C64, Atari 8biit, Sega SG-1000)
Guardian Legend (NES)
Karateka (Apple II, Atari 7800, Atari 8bit, C64, Atari ST)
Legacy of the Wizard (NES)
Lode Runner (Arcade, Amiga, Apple II, Atari bit, Atari ST, C64, MSX, Macintosh, NES, PC, Sega SG-100, TG-16, Vic20)
Myst (Mac, PC)
Prince of Persia (Atari ST, Amiga, Game Gear, Genesis, PC, Sega CD, Super NES)
Prince of Persia II (PC, SNES)
Raid on Bungeling Bay (C64, NES)
Spare Change (Apple II, Atari 8bit)
Typhoon Thompson (Amiga, Atari ST)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (C64, Genesis, Mac, Master System, PC, SNES)
Whistler's Brother (Atari 8bit, C64)
I remember so many of these games from my old computer days. And, during that time, this company was up there with Origin and Electronic Arts. Their games had quite a bit of personality and uniqueness to them. Most of their games would be considered action, but many have a puzzle or strategy aspect to them too. There were some mammoth games, like Choplifter, Lode Runner, Myst, and Prince of Persia. But, there were also some great sleepers like Spare Change, Typhoon Thompson, and Castles of Dr. Creep. Most of the games had Interesting characters or story, but they also excelled in great graphics and showed a great attention to detail. I remember the unbelievable realism from the detailed character animations in Choplifter and Prince of Persia. Of course, the company also made other software hits like Where the ___ (hell) is Carmen SanDiego and Printshop. It's also a company that I feel kept its quality high for a good ten years or so. Although they did release games on almost every system until the 32-bit era, unfortunately it seems that it didn't have great success with the consoles that they had on the computers.
So what are your memories of Broderbund? Do you remember them at all? Any other impressions of Broderbund?
BTW, I can recommend any of those titles on that list. If you've enjoyed one or more of the games there, you might want to give the others a try. The only exception would be Myst. It's the only one that doesn't have any action elements . I think I got confused and thought that it was a screensaver. It never really worked for me. I know that there are mostly console gamers here, but you should check out their earlier releases. This was an amazing company.
Here is the list of great games by Broderbund: (any omissions/corrections would be appreciated)
Airheart (Apple II)
Castles of Dr. Creep (C64)
Choplifter (Apple II, Atari 5200, 7800, Atari 8bit, Arcade, Sega Master, Sega SG-1000, C64)
David's Midnight Magic (Apple II, Atari 8bit, C64)
Drol (Apple II, C64, Atari 8biit, Sega SG-1000)
Guardian Legend (NES)
Karateka (Apple II, Atari 7800, Atari 8bit, C64, Atari ST)
Legacy of the Wizard (NES)
Lode Runner (Arcade, Amiga, Apple II, Atari bit, Atari ST, C64, MSX, Macintosh, NES, PC, Sega SG-100, TG-16, Vic20)
Myst (Mac, PC)
Prince of Persia (Atari ST, Amiga, Game Gear, Genesis, PC, Sega CD, Super NES)
Prince of Persia II (PC, SNES)
Raid on Bungeling Bay (C64, NES)
Spare Change (Apple II, Atari 8bit)
Typhoon Thompson (Amiga, Atari ST)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (C64, Genesis, Mac, Master System, PC, SNES)
Whistler's Brother (Atari 8bit, C64)
I remember so many of these games from my old computer days. And, during that time, this company was up there with Origin and Electronic Arts. Their games had quite a bit of personality and uniqueness to them. Most of their games would be considered action, but many have a puzzle or strategy aspect to them too. There were some mammoth games, like Choplifter, Lode Runner, Myst, and Prince of Persia. But, there were also some great sleepers like Spare Change, Typhoon Thompson, and Castles of Dr. Creep. Most of the games had Interesting characters or story, but they also excelled in great graphics and showed a great attention to detail. I remember the unbelievable realism from the detailed character animations in Choplifter and Prince of Persia. Of course, the company also made other software hits like Where the ___ (hell) is Carmen SanDiego and Printshop. It's also a company that I feel kept its quality high for a good ten years or so. Although they did release games on almost every system until the 32-bit era, unfortunately it seems that it didn't have great success with the consoles that they had on the computers.
So what are your memories of Broderbund? Do you remember them at all? Any other impressions of Broderbund?
BTW, I can recommend any of those titles on that list. If you've enjoyed one or more of the games there, you might want to give the others a try. The only exception would be Myst. It's the only one that doesn't have any action elements . I think I got confused and thought that it was a screensaver. It never really worked for me. I know that there are mostly console gamers here, but you should check out their earlier releases. This was an amazing company.