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Superior Software

May 03, 2024

Superior Software Ltd (now known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s, and occasionally published software to the Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android, mostly updates of its original games.

Superior Software Ltd
GenreVideo game publisher
Founded1982
FounderRichard Hanson, John Dyson
Headquarters
Leeds
,
England
Key people
Steve Botterill, Chris Payne
ProductsRepton, Citadel, Thrust, Zarch, Exile
Websitewww.superiorinteractive.com

History edit

Superior Software was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson, university graduates with degrees in Computational Science and Physics of Natural Resources respectively. They had previously programmed software published by Micro Power, and they wrote Superior's first four game releases for the BBC Micro;[1] three were written by Hanson and one by Dyson. Describing the early days, Hanson commented:

We set up Superior Software with just £100 – John and I each put £50 into a company bank account; and we placed a small black-and-white advertisement in one of the early home computer magazines ... £100 was the most money that we would lose from the Superior Software venture if it had not worked out. Anyway we received a very good response to our first advertisement, and the software sales which it generated covered the cost of the advertisement several times over. We started to place larger advertisements in a few magazines, and invited other programmers to send their software to us for evaluation and possible marketing by us.[2]

Key management included Steve Botterill as general manager, and Chris Payne as marketing manager.[3]

Releases edit

In 1983, its unauthorised version of Hunchback reached the number one position in the BBC charts.[4] Century Electronics took out an injunction to prevent the game from being sold,[5] later reaching a licensing agreement.[6][7]

In 1986, it acquired the rights to use the Acornsoft brand name and back catalogue as Acorn wanted to focus on hardware. This led to the re-release of some of Acornsoft's most popular titles under the joint Superior Software / Acornsoft label, including David Braben and Ian Bell's Elite and Geoff Crammond's Revs.[1]

Their best-known games are the Repton series of games, which have sold over 125,000 units in total.[3] Other notable Superior Software games for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron include Overdrive, Citadel, Thrust, Galaforce, Stryker's Run, Ravenskull and Exile. They also published Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes, as well as follow-up games using the same engine, Conqueror and Air Supremacy.[8]

As well as original titles, Superior also released a number of official conversions of popular games from other systems including Barbarian, The Last Ninja, Predator, Hostages and Sim City. They also published a number of educational and utility software titles including the speech synthesis program Speech!.

 
Play It Again Sam 2 compilation (Acorn Electron cassette)

The "Play It Again Sam" series of compilations included re-releases of their old titles, with four games for the usual price of one. The original Play It Again Sam featured four Superior games (Citadel, Thrust, Ravenskull, and Stryker's Run), while subsequent compilations increasingly featured games licensed from other software houses such as Micro Power or Alligata. These compilations also occasionally included some new games that were thought to be not quite up to the standard of their full price games. The series eventually ran to 18 entries for the BBC Micro.[1]

Current activity edit

Under the brandname Superior Interactive, the company now mainly develops and publishes software for computers and devices running Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android. They have released several updated versions of some of their popular 1980s hits for these systems, including the original three Repton games, additional Repton levels, Galaforce Worlds, Ravenskull, Pipeline Plus and Ricochet.

Software edit

Games edit

Compilations edit

  • The Acornsoft Hits (1987)
  • The Superior Collection (1987)
  • Play It Again Sam (Electron: 1987-1991, BBC Micro: 1987-1993, Archimedes: 1992-1994)

Educational / utility software edit

  • Toolkit (1983)
  • Assembler (1983)
  • World Geography (1983)
  • Disassembler (1984)
  • Constellation (1984)
  • Planetarium (1984)
  • UK Geography (1984)
  • Speech! (1985)


References edit

  1. ^ a b c "From the Archives: Superior Software". Retro Gamer. No. 79. Imagine. 22 July 2010. p. 46.
  2. ^ Boylan, Crispin (1998) Interview: The Superior Software Years And The Future, beebgames.com
  3. ^ a b Payne, Christopher. "Working at Superior Software". Christopher John Payne. Christopher John Payne. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Charts". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 38. Sunshine Publications. 22 September 1983. p. 47. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  5. ^ "For whom the bell tolls". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 35. Sunshine Publications. 1 September 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Century collapses". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 5. Sunshine Publications. 2 February 1984. p. 5. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  7. ^ "The Making of Hunchback". Retro Gamer. No. 164. Future Publishing. 26 January 2017. pp. 58–61.
  8. ^ "Computing Games published by Superior Software Ltd at the Centre for Computing History".

External links edit

  • Superior Interactive website
  • Superior Interactive profile from MobyGames

May 03, 2024
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Superior Software Ltd now known as Superior Interactive is a video game publisher It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s and occasionally published software to the Commodore 64 Amiga ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows iOS and Android mostly updates of its original games Superior Software LtdGenreVideo game publisherFounded1982FounderRichard Hanson John DysonHeadquartersLeeds EnglandKey peopleSteve Botterill Chris PayneProductsRepton Citadel Thrust Zarch ExileWebsitewww wbr superiorinteractive wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Releases 3 Current activity 4 Software 4 1 Games 4 1 1 Compilations 4 2 Educational utility software 5 References 6 External linksHistory editSuperior Software was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson university graduates with degrees in Computational Science and Physics of Natural Resources respectively They had previously programmed software published by Micro Power and they wrote Superior s first four game releases for the BBC Micro 1 three were written by Hanson and one by Dyson Describing the early days Hanson commented We set up Superior Software with just 100 John and I each put 50 into a company bank account and we placed a small black and white advertisement in one of the early home computer magazines 100 was the most money that we would lose from the Superior Software venture if it had not worked out Anyway we received a very good response to our first advertisement and the software sales which it generated covered the cost of the advertisement several times over We started to place larger advertisements in a few magazines and invited other programmers to send their software to us for evaluation and possible marketing by us 2 Key management included Steve Botterill as general manager and Chris Payne as marketing manager 3 Releases editIn 1983 its unauthorised version of Hunchback reached the number one position in the BBC charts 4 Century Electronics took out an injunction to prevent the game from being sold 5 later reaching a licensing agreement 6 7 In 1986 it acquired the rights to use the Acornsoft brand name and back catalogue as Acorn wanted to focus on hardware This led to the re release of some of Acornsoft s most popular titles under the joint Superior Software Acornsoft label including David Braben and Ian Bell s Elite and Geoff Crammond s Revs 1 Their best known games are the Repton series of games which have sold over 125 000 units in total 3 Other notable Superior Software games for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron include Overdrive Citadel Thrust Galaforce Stryker s Run Ravenskull and Exile They also published Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes as well as follow up games using the same engine Conqueror and Air Supremacy 8 As well as original titles Superior also released a number of official conversions of popular games from other systems including Barbarian The Last Ninja Predator Hostages and Sim City They also published a number of educational and utility software titles including the speech synthesis program Speech nbsp Play It Again Sam 2 compilation Acorn Electron cassette The Play It Again Sam series of compilations included re releases of their old titles with four games for the usual price of one The original Play It Again Sam featured four Superior games Citadel Thrust Ravenskull and Stryker s Run while subsequent compilations increasingly featured games licensed from other software houses such as Micro Power or Alligata These compilations also occasionally included some new games that were thought to be not quite up to the standard of their full price games The series eventually ran to 18 entries for the BBC Micro 1 Current activity editUnder the brandname Superior Interactive the company now mainly develops and publishes software for computers and devices running Microsoft Windows iOS and Android They have released several updated versions of some of their popular 1980s hits for these systems including the original three Repton games additional Repton levels Galaforce Worlds Ravenskull Pipeline Plus and Ricochet Software editGames edit Invaders Centibug Alien Dropout Hunchback 1983 BBC port Overdrive 1984 Stranded Mr Wiz Percy Penguin Smash and Grab Space Pilot Tempest 1985 BBC Electron ports Repton 1985 Deathstar 1985 Repton 2 1985 Citadel 1985 Karate Combat 1986 Thrust 1986 Galaforce 1986 Stryker s Run 1986 The Legend of Sinbad 1986 Ravenskull 1986 Repton 3 1986 Elite 1986 enhanced Revs plus Revs 4 Tracks 1986 enhanced Syncron 1987 Kix 1987 Grand Prix Construction Set 1987 Around the World in 40 Screens 1987 Codename Droid 1987 Crazee Rider 1987 Palace of Magic 1987 Zarch 1987 Elixir 1987 Bone Cruncher 1987 Spellbinder 1987 The Life of Repton 1987 Zany Kong Junior 1988 re release Quest 1988 Spycat 1988 Conqueror 1988 Barbarian 1988 BBC Electron ports Repton Thru Time 1988 Pipeline 1988 Cosmic Camouflage 1988 By Fair Means or Foul 1988 Exile 1988 Imogen 1988 Electron port Repton Infinity 1988 The Last Ninja 1988 BBC Electron Archimedes ports Galaforce 2 1988 A Question of Sport 1989 BBC Electron ports Firetrack 1989 Electron port Repton Mania 1989 Barbarian II 1989 BBC Electron ports Camelot 1989 Qwak 1989 Predator 1989 BBC Electron ports Ballistix 1989 BBC Electron ports Superior Soccer 1989 Ricochet 1989 Baron 1989 Last Ninja 2 1989 BBC Electron ports Perplexity 1990 Hyperball 1990 Pandemonium 1990 Hostages 1990 Superior Golf 1990 Star Port 1990 SimCity 1990 BBC Electron Archimedes ports Master Break 1990 Air Supremacy 1991 Cyborg Warriors 1991 The Network 1991 Vertigo 1991 EGO Repton 4 1992 Technodream 1993 Tactic 1993 BBC Electron ports Citadel 2 1993 Compilations edit The Acornsoft Hits 1987 The Superior Collection 1987 Play It Again Sam Electron 1987 1991 BBC Micro 1987 1993 Archimedes 1992 1994 Educational utility software edit Toolkit 1983 Assembler 1983 World Geography 1983 Disassembler 1984 Constellation 1984 Planetarium 1984 UK Geography 1984 Speech 1985 References edit a b c From the Archives Superior Software Retro Gamer No 79 Imagine 22 July 2010 p 46 Boylan Crispin 1998 Interview The Superior Software Years And The Future beebgames com a b Payne Christopher Working at Superior Software Christopher John Payne Christopher John Payne Retrieved 12 January 2024 Charts Popular Computing Weekly No 38 Sunshine Publications 22 September 1983 p 47 Retrieved 17 April 2023 For whom the bell tolls Popular Computing Weekly No 35 Sunshine Publications 1 September 1983 p 1 Retrieved 17 April 2023 Century collapses Popular Computing Weekly No 5 Sunshine Publications 2 February 1984 p 5 Retrieved 17 April 2023 The Making of Hunchback Retro Gamer No 164 Future Publishing 26 January 2017 pp 58 61 Computing Games published by Superior Software Ltd at the Centre for Computing History External links editSuperior Interactive website Superior Interactive profile from MobyGames Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Superior Software amp oldid 1218427091, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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