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Superior Software

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

Superior Software Ltd (also 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. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android; mostly updates of its original games.

History

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; 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.[1]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Superior focused on the machines of Acorn Computers while also publishing software for the Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Oric-1. Key management has included Steve Botterill, Chris Payne and Steve Hanson.

Developers including Chris Roberts, David Braben, Ian Bell, Geoff Crammond, and Nick Pelling have all had software published by Superior, sometimes released under the joint Superior Software / Acornsoft brand name.

Releases

Their best-known games are the Repton series of games, which have sold over 125,000 units in total. Other notable Superior Software games for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron include Overdrive, Citadel, Thrust, Galaforce, Stryker's Run, Ravenskull, Codename: Droid (sequel to Stryker's Run), Palace of Magic, Bonecruncher, Quest, Pipeline, Exile and Ricochet. They also published the seminal Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes, as well as follow-up games using the same engine, Conqueror and Air Supremacy.[2]

As well as their high quality original games, Superior has released a number of official Acorn conversions of big games from other systems including Barbarian, The Last Ninja, Predator, Hostages and Sim City. Superior has 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 which had each made No. 1 individually (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 issues for the BBC Micro, although the latest ones were released on disc only, well into the demise of the 8-bit scene with lower sales as a result.[citation needed]

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

Software

Games

Compilations

  • 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

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

See also

References

  1. ^ Boylan, Crispin (1998) Interview: The Superior Software Years And The Future, beebgames.com
  2. ^ "Computing Games published by Superior Software Ltd at the Centre for Computing History".
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