A Homage to Br0derbund

[IntvGene]

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.

[GrandAmChandler]

When I think Br0derbund the first thing that pops into my head is Print Shop Deluxe. That program ruled on my Dot Matrix Printer that came with my 286 machine.

[Oobgarm]

Print Shop Deluxe, hell yes. I vividly remember printing out pointless banners and stupid signs using PSD's laughable clip art gallery.

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego is one of my favorite titles. I played the tar out of that game on our old Tandy. Never made it in the Hall of Fame, though.

[Darth Sensei]

I really loved Raid on Bungeling Bay for C64 back in the day. Great game, but took a long time to load.

Dave

[Jorpho]

Yes indeed, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego needs to be on that list. No other educational computer game has had anything near that kind of staying power.

I think Legacy of the Wizard was just a localization of some Japanese game. (It was part of the Dragon Knight series, I believe, but that was a very long series and I'm not sure which one it is. Four, maybe?) It is rather unusual that they made only that one stab at localizing.

I didn't know Myst had any connection to Broderbund. I don't think the original developers worked for them, anyway.
________
Dental problems advice

[calthaer]

I have to agree - Carmen Sandiego (US, Europe, World, Time) were some of the best games from the 80s. For someone of my age they're a bit too easy but for a kid they provided just the right amount of challenge that they were a blast to play. Are they still making this game today? I know I've seen later updated versions in the mid-90s, but...

NOTE - looks like you can get some Carmen Sandiego games for cheap on Broderbund's website.

Choplifter and David's Midnight Magic were two of my favs, too. I played a lot of the ones on that list but man...you can't beat Choplifter on the Apple II!

I don't know where the catalog is, but SOMEWHERE in my vast collection I know I have an old Broderbund catalog from the 80s that has Richard Garriott's picture in it (he and someone else from Origin are fencing, and it has a portrait of RG there as well). This is all on a page with some Ultima games - I believe 1 and 2, maybe 3. Waay back I think Broderbund used to publish those games - once UIV came out Origin was probably rich enough to publish its own games. I have to find that catalog and scan a bit of it in - you guys might be interested in it.

EDIT - and, like Origin, Myst was developed by Cyan and was published by Broderbund. It really is a wonder that Broderbund isn't really into making games nowadays - it seems like they've surely made a buttload of money off of them in the past. Myst alone is probably one of the big reasons why they're still around.

[IntvGene]

I think Legacy of the Wizard was just a localization of some Japanese game. (It was part of the Dragon Knight series, I believe, but that was a very long series and I'm not sure which one it is. Four, maybe?) It is rather unusual that they made only that one stab at localizing.

I know this was the case.. but if I left it off the list, many more people would be complaining about its absence. It's strange about the localization, I'm not sure if they did any more titles, but they did become a big publisher of games, especially later on.

The core years to me are the C64, Apple II and Atari days, as well as some titles on the early PC. Dan Gorlin and Jordan Mechner made some amazing games back then. I mean, Ico (a great game in itself), is arguably a combination of Whistler's Brother and Prince of Persia.

And yea, Broderbund didn't develop Myst, but I am not sure if any of the original programmers consulted them on it or not. But, It was developed by Red Orb entertainment. So, it also sticks out of that list. But, again, if I left it off, someone would complain

[Sanriostar]

I've always been partial to thier arcade-style games

Serpentine
Seafox
Lode Runner
Choplifter. I've had 3 C64 carts of this game, and they've all crapped out on me: WTF!!!

[rbudrick]

I don't care what anybody says *coughseanbabycough*, Deadly towers Rocks. People just think it's too damn tough and can't figure out what to do. Once you start getting to the 7 towers, the game is pretty cool. ANd the Title Screen music rocks!

-Rob



*coughseanbabyisanassholecough*

[Raccoon Lad]

Broderbund had nothing to do with the Master System version of Choplifter.

It's a port of the arcade game that was a port of the PC game. The SMS version was both programmed and published by Sega.

[DDCecil]

I bought Legacy of the Wizard for $20 for my 9th B-Day back in 1989. Sure they only published it, but I'm glad they brought the game over...

[IntvGene]

Broderbund had nothing to do with the Master System version of Choplifter. It's a port of the arcade game that was a port of the PC game. The SMS version was both programmed and published by Sega.

But it is still a great game, and the original game was made by Broderbund. Sega re-made all of the Broderbund games, including those for the SG-1000. They are all games worth checking out, and Sega did a great job with them.

I haven't played Serpentine or Seafox, but I will check them out. Deadly Towers is another localization. And, I did read SeanBaby's review... pretty harsh.

[Kid Fenris]

I'll always remember Broderbund as the company that brought The Guardian Legend (aka Guardic Gaiden) to America. Granted, they gave it a cover that had nothing to do with the game itself, but at least they published it.

By the way, I need a scan of Guardic Gaiden's box art. Anyone got one?

[Jorpho]

I have to agree - Carmen Sandiego (US, Europe, World, Time) were some of the best games from the 80s. For someone of my age they're a bit too easy but for a kid they provided just the right amount of challenge that they were a blast to play. Are they still making this game today? I know I've seen later updated versions in the mid-90s, but...

NOTE - looks like you can get some Carmen Sandiego games for cheap on Broderbund's website.

Broderbund still has a website? Last I heard, they had been bought out by The Learning Company. The Carmen franchise was, anyway.

There was also a Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego (PC) and a Where in America's History is Carmen Sandiego (Apple II, and apparently still different from Time). And then there were the many, many remakes and recent releases that I have lost track of.
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VAPORIZER WIKI

[jerkov]

What about Dusty Diamond's All Star Softball? That game is so goddamned addictive....

[calthaer]

Broderbund itself either seems completely allied with The Learning Company and this "Riverdeep" company or they are pwned by them. You can still see Broderbund games at www.broderbund.com, though...just not any of their classic stuff. They are educational now and none of that silly "game" nonsense, pooh pooh education must conform to cehtain RHULES a pfah pfah pfah...

[Griking]

I remember when I was younger used to absolutely LOVE Spare Change on my Apple II. Lots of action, strategy and addicting as hell. And if I remember correctly, it even had intermissions like Pacman and Ms Pacman which was a lot in those years. Its definately worth checking out on your favority Apple II emulator.

[tom]

didn't they have a program called 'Relax' with some sort of hardware peripheral? i always wanted that.
anyway, they were a great company together with Mindscape and Datsoft