Welcome to the Popular Memory Archive
Welcome to the Play It Again project.
Play It Again is an ARC Linkage project researching the history and preservation needs of 1990s digital games in Australia.
Digital games make up a significant but little known chapter in the history of the moving image in Australia. This site aims to exhibit some of the significant local games of the 1980s and 1990s era, and collect documentation in order to remember early games through popular memory.
This site features a curated exhibition of information on 50 Australian and New Zealand games from the 1980s and the creators and companies behind them – and we are in the process of adding 50 Australian games from the 1990s.
Help us to build a database of information about Australiaβs early videogame history: please add your comments on the games and companies, and contribute your memories and artefacts to the site.
Our aim is to record a history of games production and reception so we want to capture your experiences of playing the games, making games, modding, hosting LANS, and all aspects of local Australian game culture.
The Popular Memory Archive is supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). Your contributions will help build a history of Australian videogames as experienced by those who played their way through the era.
The Popular Memory Archive has been developed by Helen Stuckey , Denise De Vries, Melanie Swalwell and Angela Ndalianis, and is a collaboration of Swinburne and RMIT Universities, ACMI and AARNET. The site will run for a period of 18 months and then will be archived at the Internet Archive and ACMI, so the contributions can be of benefit to future researchers.
Please browse our site and help us build a database of information about 1990s computer games to assist game history researchers, now and in the future.
Play it Again: Preserving Australian Video Game History of the 1990s is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Councilβs Linkage Projects funding scheme (project LP180100104). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.
Latest Blog Posts
CFP: Special issue of Convergence – Videogames and Hollywood in the 1990s
The Dame was Loaded (1996) Beam Software, DOS Call for Papers. We are inviting submissions for a special themed issue of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.Β It will explore the synergies that emerged between Hollywood...
The Disc CD-ROM Magazine
βItβs about time my PC spoke with an Aussie accent!β
Aussie Racing Games
From adapting Australian championships like V8 supercars to including iconic brands like Holden, the videogame industry, both domestic and abroad, has sought to tap into Aussie car and racing culture.
80’s Games
1986
β1986β is a challenging Donkey Kong clone. You have to attempt to get through the screens by climbing ladders in a maze, avoiding hazards and racing the clock.
Afos
βAfosβ is an arcade-style centipede game. It is a very funny game that looks like a clone of βTRONβ or βCentipedeβ.
Arnieβs Americaβs Cup Challenge
βArnieβs Americaβs Cup Challengeβ, the Official Americaβs Cup Sailing Simulation computer game, was developed for the Commodore 64/128 and the Amstrad. Being a simulation game, it offers you a chance to race the actual 24.3 mile course off the coast of Perth, Western Australia.
Asterix and the Magic Cauldron
βAsterix and the Magic Cauldronβ is based on the characters and the world of the βAsterixβ comic books. The aim of the game is to take Asterix and Obelix on a journey to collect all seven pieces of Getafixβs broken cauldron. Asterix needs to carry food, for Obelix to follow him.
Astro
βAstroβ is a quality arcade game that faithfully reproduces the (then) popular arcade game βAsteroidsβ.
Aussie Games
A compendium of different games, it includes a boomerang throw, a bellywack competition, an Aussie Rules football punting game, a dry boat race and the infamous skeet shoot. In the skeet shoot game, you have to hit an empty beer can thrown from a moving ute. Success results in the dog, who is riding shotgun in the ute, chundering
Battlefront: Corps Level Command in World War II
βBattlefront: Corps Level Command in World War IIβ is a turn-based strategy/war simulation game. A recreation of the land battles of World War II, it offers the following scenarios: Crete (1941), Stalingrad (1942), Saipan (1944) and Bastogne (1944-5). It includes a complete scenario editor, which is unusual in that it enables creation of new terrain types, and can even be invoked mid-game.
Bunyip Adventure
Bunyip Adventureβ is a conventional text adventure that is set in outback Australia. The top half of the screen displays your current static position. The bottom half logs dynamic events. The aim is to catch the Bunyip, a creature for Australian Aboriginal mythology that lives in the still water of a billabong. Β The game features a host of other references to Australian flora, fauna and folklore:
Burglar Bill
βBurglar Billβ is a level-based βJet Set Willyβ style game,based on βManic Minerβ, for the Spectrum. Burglar Bill breaks into a haunted mansion that is filled with monsters and traps. You have to guide Burglar Bill through the mansionβs many cellars, collecting treasures as he goes through the rooms. Each room is guarded by a monster and contains poison-tipped objects.
Carriers at War 1941-1945: Fleet Carrier Operations in the Pacific
βCarriers at War 1941-1945: Fleet Carrier Operations in the Pacificβ is a war simulation (wargame). In the game, you take on the role of the task force commander in the Pacific theatre, during World War II. In the six simulated conflicts, you can play as both the U.S. and the Japanese Empire. Included scenarios are Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz and Philippine Sea.
Chilly Willy
Passfield was in year 9 at school and spent his time playing βPengoβat the tiny local arcade.Β He loved playing the game but it cost 20c a play so he thought he would have a go writing a version that he could play for free on the Microbee at home.Β He spent weeks programming it getting it working just right. Β It was not an exact copy of the arcade game as he changed the levels about and added his own embellishments to the gameplay.
City Lander
βCity Landerβ is an arcade action game. To score points, you have to land the spacecraft in the underground city on landing pads.
Conflict
Conflictβ is a company-level simulation of a battle between a modern combined arms force and a well equipped rebel force.
Demon Stalkers
βDemon Stalkersβ is an action RPG / editor β construction set game. It is essentially aΒ βGauntletβΒ clone. You must travel through ninety-nine mazes before meeting the final demon. The game features different enemies as you progress through the mazes, with clues to progression built in.
Dinky Kong
βDinky Kongβ is a βDonkey Kongβ clone, written by Mark Sibly during his school days. It has 10 Levels, all in 3.5KB. Sibly did the cover artwork using Letraset, and his father got copies of the cover art printed, to go inside the plastic bag.
Donut Dilemma
βAngry Angelo has raided Antonioβs Donut Factory sending the entire complex amuck! Donuts have come alive and are jumping around in wild frenzies. Machines have gone out of control throwing cooking fat, dough and icing sugar everywhere. You must help poor Antonio climb ladders, jump platforms and ride elevators to reach the top floor and shut down the factoryβs power generator which will restore law and order.β
Emu Joust
This is an arcade game that is bound to make anyone smile. You are a knight flying on a magic emu and you joust with the dreaded vulture knights. You flap your emuβs wings to fly and you must pounce upon a vulture knight from above face-on. He turns into an egg. If you donβt eat the egg, it hatches and turns into a more cunning knight.
Fire King
βFire Kingβ is an action role-playing video game.Β It was developed byΒ Micro ForteΒ and distributed byΒ SSGΒ in 1988 for the Commodore 64/128 and DOS. It was sequel to Micro ForteβsΒ adventure game of the same style βDemon Stalkers: The Raid on Doomfaneβ. Β βFire KingβΒ has been compared to Gauntlet, with its top-down view and endless enemies spawning from monster generators, but differs in that it contains more plot and puzzles than the typical hack and slash game.
Fire-Brigade: The Battle for Kiev 1943
βFire-Brigade: The Battle for Kiev 1943β is a strategy/historical battle, turn-based, tactical game. It is set in the 1943 conflict between the Soviet tank division and German elite Panzer Korps known as the βFire Brigadeβ. You can play as the Soviets or as the Germans, and you can play against the AI or against another player over the network. The option to play over a network made the game innovative for its time.
Goldfields
βGoldfieldsβ is a simulation of a nineteenth century gold rush. Β It is designed to give students a βfeelβ for the social history of the gold rushes. As a player, you are a recent, penniless arrival to Suze Port. Β To succeed in the game, you must survive the long and dangerous walk to the gold fields and then you have to become wealthy within one year. Β
H.U.R.G., High-Level User-Friendly Real-Time Game Designer
βH.U.R.G., High-Level User-Friendly Real-Time Games Designerβ, is a program that enables you to create games. It is a menu-driven program, which was relatively new at that time, and it enables people with little or no programming knowledge to make their own games.
Halloween Harry
βHalloween Harryβ, according to creator John Passfieldβs blog, was βinspired by βGhostbustersββ. The game is set in the 21st century, and features Harry, a ghost hunter, facing off against all sorts of evil across 13 levels. Essentially, it is a platform shooter with some puzzle-solving elements, set on a single screen.
HawkQuest
Your home planet is a peaceful world that possesses a unique technology, a perpetual energy generator that is pollution free. It powers the whole planet and is the only major energy source used. The key to it is an energy crystal that was devised some hundreds of years ago by your ancestors. Unfortunately, the secret died with them, although the crystal will last forever. The crystal has been stolen by an envious race of Metroids, who have taken it home with them. Intelligence reports state they have disassembled the crystal into its 5 component parts and hidden each beneath a different planet in their solar system.
Horace Goes Skiing
βHorace Goes Skiingβ, released in 1982, was a spin-off from the successfulΒ βHungry Horaceβ. βHorace Goes Skiingβ is initially similar to the arcade game βFroggerβ. In this instance, Horace has to negotiate a busy and dangerous road, in order to get to the ski shop, to rent a pair of skis.
Hungry Horace
βHungry Horaceβ was programmed by William Tang, but Alfred Milgrom contributed toΒ the design of the inimitable Horace, a character created using minimum grid available. Milgrom sent a copy of the game to Psion Software in the UK. It was Psionβs close relationship with Sinclair Research which saw the Horace Games packaged with ZX Spectrum making it one of the first home computer game experiences for many people.
Hoards of the Deep Realm
In βHoards of the Deep Realmβ, you are the hero who must retrieve stolen treasures hoarded in the underground caverns of the Deep Realm. During play, you must dodge and out-manoeuvre the fiery wraiths that guard these treasures
Jewels of Sancara Island
Matthew Hallβs Microbee adventure game the βJewels of Sancara Islandβ had survived the last thirty or so years as a Turbo Pascal listing has been resurrected by Alan Laughton from the Microbee Software Preservation Project. Hall was 12 years old when he wrote βJewels of Sancara Islandβ at a school computer course. He used as his guide the book βCreating Adventures on your Commodore 64β. He explains “it was an adventure game, following the standard themes of the time. You wash up on a mysterious island. You have to find the jewels of Sancara Island and escape!”.
Laser Hawk
βLaser Hawkβ is a βScrambleβ clone. It was inspired by βTail of Beta Lyraeβ. The game has 5 stages, and at the end of each stage a command center must be destroyed (earning an extra helicopter). These are the headquarters of rival computer companies of the time, namely Apple, Amstrad, BBC, Commodore and Spectrum.
Melbourne Draw
βMelbourne Drawβ is one of a couple of graphics toolkits that were created for the ZX Spectrum in the early 1980s. It was launched to widespread publicity, with βCrashβ magazine saying that ββMelbourne Drawβ stands out clearly as a professional tool”.
Moonbase Alpha
βMoonbase Alphaβ is a graphic adventure game with speech samples. It is one of only two sc-3000 titles to feature digitised speech.
Necromancer 2
βNecromancer 2β is an isometric arcade adventure. It is a clone of Ultimateβs classic 3D games, such as βKnightloreβ. The game runs on C64 and also runs on a Vic 20. It was, during its day, an advanced amateur game, being an isometric 3D game.
QB
The goal of the game is simple: you slide blocks into a pattern, as shown in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You can only move the blocks you are standing on, and you can only jump onto other blocks that you are directly next to. Fruit will appear as bonuses, and monsters will try to kill you or slide the blocks around, slowing your progress.
One Day Cricket
“One Day Cricketβ is a game for 2 to 22 players It is a sports simulation game, with New Zealand versing Australia in One Day International Cricket. The game has the Australian and New Zealand teams built in, or if you choose, you can make your own teams up.
Penetrator
The tastefully named βPenetratorβ was one of Beam Softwareβs earliest games. Designed for the ZX Spectrum by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler the game is a clone of Konamiβs popular 1981 arcade game βScrambleβ. A sideways scrolling shooter βPenetratorβ recreates βScrambleββs challenges of flying and shooting…
Pieces of Eight
βPieces of Eightβ is designed as an individual or small-group manageable, language-based, educational courseware package. The program, when operating with a small group, promotes dynamic, collaborative interaction and co-operation. Using the software makes students apply a broad range of problem-solving techniques and logical-thinking skills.
Raft-Away River
βRaft-Away Riverβ is an adventure simulation game for two to six players. It is designed to encourage the social skills of effective communication, co-operative behaviour, and problem solving as a group. It also stimulates reading, comprehension and the interpretation of pictorial information.
Reach for the Stars: The Conquest of the Galaxy
βReach for the Stars: The Conquest of the Galaxyβ is a turn-based, strategy / war simulation game. It is regarded as one of the first and best 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) games. The game was created and distributed by SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.
Rockβn Wrestle
βRockβn Wrestleβ (known as βBopβn Wrestleβ in the US) was one of the first games to have 3D movement Β through space. The game allowed for single or dual player modes, using the joystick or the keyboard supporting twenty-four wrestling manoeuvres.
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimboβ, is based on a successful comic book by Stan Sakai. The hero is an anthropomorphic rabbit named Miyamoto Usagi, living in seventeenth-century Japan. Usagi is a masterless samurai (a ronin), who wanders the land, occasionally taking up work as a bodyguard.
Sherlock
βSherlockβ is a 1984 text adventure developed by Philip Mitchell and Beam Software. It was published by Melbourne House. The game is based on the famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books featuring the super sleuth Sherlock Holmes, fictionβs most famous detective. You take the role of Holmes, assisted by Dr. Watson.
ShootOut
βShootOutβ is an arcade-style, shootβem up game. You have to shoot the baddies as they appear from the buildings of the western town. Be careful not to miss, as you will shoot up the town.
Sir Roderickβs Quest
βSir Roderickβs Questβ is a graphic adventure. It has been compared to similar games such as βSceptre of Baghdadβ, βSpellboundβ and βStormbringerβ. You have to guide Sir Roderick through the castle, collecting the seven golden objects and returning them to the throne room.
Sirius 7
βSirius 7β is a horizontally-scrolling shoot βem up game.
Sail the Endeavour
βSail the Endeavourβ is an educational maths game that mixes in some geography as well, as you sail the βEndeavourβ using angles, map scales, etc
Smurfs
βSmurfsβ is a platform game in which you use the joystick in Port 2, with fire to jump over prickles, avoid eggs, and to reach Smurfette at the end level. There are three stages β horizontally scrolling, vertically scrolling, and a flick-screen stage. The gameplay is quite a difficult challenge.
Sorcerorβs Apprentice
In βSorcererβs Apprenticeβ, you play the part of an old man who is blessed with the Kingβs magic powers. The reason for this is that the King wants you to free the land from the forces of darkness.
Splat
βSplatβ is a βFroggerβ clone.
The Dark Heart Of Uukrul
βThe Dark Heart of Uukrulβ is a first-person perspective, turned-based role-playing game (RPG), where you take control of a party of four specifically-classed adventurers: a fighter, a paladin, a priest, and a magician.
The Hobbit
βThe Hobbitβ was one of the first major games produced in Australia, and is considered a classic text adventure. In 1985, it was voted number 1 in Sinclair Userβs βTop 50 Spectrum Software Classicsβ.
The Way of the Exploding Fist
βThe Way of the Exploding Fistβ was one ofΒ Beam Softwareβs best-selling games, and reached number one in Europe. It was one of the first βbeat-βem-upβ games for the home computer and the first multi-move beat em up. Jordan Mechnerβs βKaratekaβ(1984) which came out just before βThe Way of the Exploding Fistβ was basically punch and kick. The game offered an unprecedented Β sixteen karate moves, which allows for strategic game playing and complexity.
Trojans
βTrojansβ is an arcade-style game, loosely descended from βPac- Manβ. You have to shoot the ice cubes at the ghosts, as you negotiate the maze in this game.
Vortex Blaster
βVortex Blasterβ is a shoot βem up game with speech. It is one of only two Sega SC-3000 games to feature digitised speech.
Warlords
The first βWarlordsβ was created in 1989Β by Steven Fawkner, and published by Strategic Studies Group (SSG). βWarlordsβ is a fantasy based war-game written by Steve Fawkner. It was the first game he published commercially.
90’s Games
Choose Your Own Nightmare series – Multipath Movies (DVD & online streaming)
Branching narrative ‘movie games’ based on the children’s spooky ‘Choose Your Own Nightmare’ stories. Long before Netflix, Brilliant Digital’s ‘Multipath Movies’ could be streamed in real-time online.
The House of the Dead (Sega Saturn)
“Oh, sorry β you weren’t using that prefrontal lobe for anything special, were you?” Scientist Dr. Curien has discovered a way to artificially sustain life forms (in other words, create zombies). Blast your way in this gory horror rail-shooter, ported from arcade to Sega Saturn by Tantalus.
Manx TT SuperBike (Sega Saturn)
A Sega Saturn port by Tantalus, Manx TT SuperBike is a motorcycle racing game based on the famous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) race and features FMV content of the track.
Wipeout 2097 (Sega Saturn)
Wipeout 2097 is the sequel to the original anti-gravity racing game Wipeout. Tantalus ported the game to the Sega Saturn, making their mark via billboards around the racing tracks.
Wipeout (Sega Saturn)
Wipeout is a futuristic first-person racing game where anti-gravity racing has become the world’s most popular sport in the year 2052. One of many games ported by Melbourne-based studio Tantalus.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Game Boy)
Based on the film’s plot, players travel to the Isla Sorna where they are tasked with preventing smugglers from the nefarious corporation BioSyn from extracting and exploiting the remaining dinosaurs. In the 1990s Torus worked on several licensed property tie-ins and ports to handheld. The low Australian dollar against the US and many other currencies made Australian studios like Torus attractive for outsourcing, though the budgets and timeframesβusually for Christmasβwere tight.Β
College Slam (Game Boy)
Collage Slam on the Game Boy features 44 real college basketball teams and five game modes, which take place as arcade-style two-on-two matches.
MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head (Game Boy)
A tie-in game to the tv series, Torus’ “MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head” is an adventure game for the Game Boy console where players go from escaping detention to freeing a gang leader from prison.
DragonHeart (Game Boy)
Torus Games’Β DragonHeart was released on Game Boy in 1996 alongside the fantasy film of the same name. As the hero Bowen, players befriend the dragon Draco and fight other draconic beasts to end the reign of the evil King Einon.Β
Stargate (Game Boy)
Beam Software’s Stargate for the Game Boy is a Tetris-like puzzle game where players must close the gates to prevent an invasion from the alien ruler Ra.
The Dame Was Loaded (DOS)
Beam Software’s ambitious full motion video detective mystery features a glamorous and mysterious lady whose motives may not be pure, a gallery of seedy characters to interact with and many puzzles to be solved by you as gumshoe detective Scott Anger (a man with a tragic past and a hard drinking habit). Β
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC (Game Boy Color)
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBCΒ was brought to the Game Boy Color by Torus Games in early 2000. It features two-on-two basketball games and includes a secret Melbourne team called Torus.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Game Boy)
Torus Games’ Game Boy port of NBA Jam Tournament EditionΒ is a two-on-two basketball game featuring NBA teams and their star players. Tournament EditionΒ ups the ante of a regular basketball game with its ultra sped-up “Juice Mode” and power-ups that incite “monster dunks” and bombs that send players to the ground.
NBA Jam 99 (Game Boy Color)
NBA Jam 99 brings the NBA to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The port was released in 1999 and developed by Torus Games.
Mary King’s Riding Star (Windows, Playstation)
Mary King’s Riding Star is an equestrian simulator where players take part in dressage, show jumping, and cross country events.
Duke Nukem (Game Boy Color)
“Your Game Boy is about to become a man.” Duke Nukem on Game Boy Color is a side-scrolling platformer and shooter by Torus Games.
Star Wars: Yoda Stories (Game Boy Color)
Star Wars: Yoda StoriesΒ is a top-down adventure game where players take on the role of Luke Skywalker as he trains and completes missions for the Jedi Master Yoda.
Disney’s The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Adventure (Game Boy Color)
Disney’s The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Adventure follows Simba’s journey from cub to king as told in the filmsΒ The Lion King and The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. The Game Boy Color game is mostly a side-scrolling platformer where players, as Simba, roar, claw and roll to defend themselves against dangerous creatures.
Choplifter II (Game Boy)
Choplifter II is a military-themed search and rescue Game Boy game by Beam Software. Players fly a chopper over war zones, jungles, and through tight cave tunnels with the objective of rescuing hostages from an unnamed enemy.
Shadowrun (SNES)
The original Shadowrun game design concept was developed by Gregg Barnett. It was very forward thinking according to Shadowrun map designer Justin Halliday but also rather technically infeasible. TheΒ games design document promised the feel of a 3D world.Β Halliday explains “It envisaged this beautiful isometric game on the SNES with forced perspective where you could move your character between foreground and background objects.” None of which had previously been done on the SNES.
Aussie Rules Footy (NES)
Aussie Rules Footy was the first Australian Rules Football (AFL) game for console (1). It was developed by Beam Software and published under their Laser Beam Entertainment identity that Fred Milgrom created to publish Nintendo games locally. The game was only released in Australia.
Bad Street Brawler (NES)
Bad Street Brawler is a game title familiar to many for its celebrated place on “worst videogame ever” lists and its canonical status as one of only two games ever designed specifically for use with the infamous Mattel Power Glove for the NES. But its real story is that of Beam Software’s quest to develop for Nintendo in the late 1980s.
International Cricket (NES)
Released in 1992, International Cricket is the second of the Australian Sports Games Beam Software self published in Australia for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES ) through their publishing arm Laser Beam Entertainment. It followed on from Aussie Rules Footy in 1991.
Nightshade (NES)
The genesis of Nightshade according to designer Pauli Kidd is that the higher-ups at Australiaβs Beam Software wanted a βgraphic adventure game that would be a whodunitβ The game designed by Beam Software is described by GameSetWatch writer Todd Cioleyk as “offbeat superhero” a precursor to genre popularised in movies such as “The Tick or Mystery Men” (Cioleyk, 2007).
Stargate (SNES)
Stargate for the SNES is a licenced videogame tie-in for the 1994 movie of the same name starring Kurt Russel and James Spader. The game is a 2D action side-scrolling platformer where the player controls Colonel Jack O’Neil (the action hero played by Kurt Russel in the film).
Thank you for this article!! I run a website called The Mane Quest where I investigate the development and history…
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This is facinating image of Nintendo developers programming on HP64000 mainframe computers (circa 1979). Image is from a Japanese children's…
Hi guys, I never quite got over that I handed my beautiful βbee over to a cousin for her school…
I only can tell βThanks you very much, Sir Clive. I grow with your Spectrum and it opened so much…