Why I Love EPYX

[Keir]

Oh, how I long for the return of a company like Epyx. Epyx doesn’t have a lot of games under their belt, but the ones they do are top quality. They delved into all genres from RPGs (Legend of Blacksilver) to sports (the “Games” series) succeeding in every one. Their two slogans, “Computer Games Thinkers Play” and “Strategy Games for the Action-Game Player” really say it all. Prime examples of this include Jumpman and Impossible Mission, which took the reflex action of arcade games and combined it with a puzzle style of gameplay. This was a new concept in 1983. Epyx was not afraid to take chances and that, combined with talent and ingenuity, made them the best.

[digitalpress]

CHALLENGE POINT: KEIR.

For posting first for his tribe, Keir has scored a point with this post.

[vespertillio]

I will chime in as well regarding or Tribes namesake. While other companies were out making decent games/programs; EPYX set the standard as far as strategy (Crush, Crumble and Chomp, Star Warrior), RPG (Apshai series, Rogue), Action (Summer/Winter Games series, Jumpman {before Miner, before Mario there was Jumpman) and packagaing. (Massive manuals with many heavy stock reference cards). This company did everyting top notch, with no corners cut. Dont' forget, they were not just about games either; the Fast Load cart for the Commodore 64 helped many a user get their programs just a little faster. It is for these reasons and many personal others that I am proud to be a member of the EPYX tribe.

[Keir]

Yes! I was afraid I was the only one in the Epyx tribe. Glad to know I am in good company.

Good point about the hardware. Everyone who owns a Commodore 64 NEEDS a Fast Load cartridge!

Jumpman {before Miner, before Mario there was Jumpman).

Did you know that Jumpman was actually Mario's name in the orinigal Donkey Kong arcade game? In fact, DK was a huge inspiration for Jumpman's designer, Randy Glover, and that's where he got the name!

[Chunky]

I must have spent my 7th birday playing the hell out of Winter games.

oh i love that cart. It has to be on my top 10 2600 games.

[Mayhem]

Impossible Mission. Just about sums it up. Has to be a damn good reason for it somehow being the only US C64 game in my personal top 10. I bet many people don't realise a lot of Epyx programmers, especially those who worked on many of the early classics such as IM, Summer Games, Temple of Apshari Trilogy etc, were actually amalgamated from Starpath (they of the Supercharger) when that company closed its doors...

[Flack]

I have decided you all are a friendly tribe and will therefor add to your discussion.

I posted this a while back in another thread, but thought I would repost it here. Epyx is just one of the companies that made the C64 what it was (is?).

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BTW, here is a list (taken from Lemon64.com) of all Epyx Commodore 64 games. Cross your fingers!

4x4 Off Road Racing
Axe of Rage
Barbie
Battleship
Breakdance
California Games
Championship Wrestling
Chip's Challenge
ChipWits
Coil Cop
Crush, Crumble, and Chomp
Death Sword
Destroyer
Devon Aire in the Hidden Diamond Caper
Dive Bomber
Dragonriders of Pern
Fax
Final Assault
Fire One
G.I. Joe
Games: Summer Edition
Games: Winter Edition
Gateway to Apshai
Hot Wheels
Impossible Mission
Impossible Mission II
Jumpman
Jumpman Jr.
L.A. Crackdown
Legend of Blacksilver
Lunar Outpost
Mindroll
Movie Monster Game
Pitstop
Pitstop II
Puzzle Panic
Rad Warrior
Robots of Dawn
Silicon Warrior
Snow Strike
Space Station Oblivion
Sporting News Baseball
Sports-A-Roni
Street Cat
Street Sports Baseball
Street Sports Basketball
Street Sports Football
Street Sports Soccer
Sub Battle Simulator
Summer Games
Summer Games II
Super Cycle
Sword of Fargoal
Temple of Apshai Trilogy
Temple of Apshai
Winter Games
World Games
World Karate Championship
World's Greatest Baseball Game
World's Greatest Football Game

[vespertillio]

Hello Flack and Mahem. Thanks for visiting. I hear ya on the C64 games. My buddies dad was a commodore dealer and he always had the latest stuff. I had the Atari 800 myself and loved (still do ) every game put out by our Ytibes forefathers. Anyway, thanks for visiting. May your tribe fllurish and prosper.

[Keir]

BTW, here is a list (taken from Lemon64.com) of all Epyx Commodore 64 games.

Strange. Lemon doesn't seem to list Curse of Ra and Upper Reaches of Apshai, the 2 expansion modules for Temple of Apshai.

Of course, we can't forget that Epyx made games for many other systems too: Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Lynx, Colecovison, SMS, NES, Apple computers, Atari computers, Spectrum, TRS-80, VIC-20, Amiga, CD32, etc. etc.

[Flack]

All tribe stuff aside, I really think Epyx shined better on the C64 than any other platform. People might scoff at it now, but seeing Impossible Mission on the C64 not only sold me on the system, it made me a fan for life.

I've tried some of the Summer/Winter/World Games on other systems and not enjoyed any of them as much as I did the C64 version. Particularly California Games ... how they butchered it so badly on other systems is beyond me.

[Keir]

All tribe stuff aside, I really think Epyx shined better on the C64 than any other platform. People might scoff at it now, but seeing Impossible Mission on the C64 not only sold me on the system, it made me a fan for life.

I completely agree.

[scooterb23]

As kind of an Olympics fan growing up, I loved the Summer / Winter Games titles. I never really got into World Games...they should have really gone for licensing and called it the "Wide World of Sports" game...

Plus the Epyx 500j joystick...mmmmm

[calthaer]

G.I.Joe was my favorite game on the Apple II..well perhaps aside from the Bard's Tale series.

Rad Warrior was also my first platformer. I never had a Nintendo in the 80s, and had to make do with what I had. It may have been a little slower-paced, but that furiously glowing blue suit was just so cool and besides, I wondered how that cave man guy ever figured out how to operate the technological super-pseudo-MegaMan suit anyways.

[Azazel]

The NES G.I. Joe weren't too bad either.

[digitalpress]

G.I.Joe was my favorite game on the Apple II..well perhaps aside from the Bard's Tale series.

Rad Warrior was also my first platformer. I never had a Nintendo in the 80s, and had to make do with what I had. It may have been a little slower-paced, but that furiously glowing blue suit was just so cool and besides, I wondered how that cave man guy ever figured out how to operate the technological super-pseudo-MegaMan suit anyways.

HIDDEN CHALLENGE POINT: CALTHEAR.

For reasons that will be disclosed later, CALTHEAR has scored a point with this post.