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Players Premier games

The Lone MagpieThe Lone Magpie
edited March 2013 in Games
I was, and still am, in amazement at Players Premier games (post 1988). The games themselves could be hit and miss in the excitement department, but they always looked amazing, with the detailed graphics and the smooth scrolling...oh and that all important non-spectrum typeface :p My first Speccy game I actually owned (besides those that came with it) was "Thing!" on the front cover of Your Sinclair, and I've been a fan of the Player "style" ever since, a style that instantly let's you know it's a Player game. Every now and again I'll discover a new one, and it'll raise a smile.

What does everybody else think of them?
Post edited by The Lone Magpie on
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Comments

  • JuanF. RamirezJuanF. Ramirez
    edited December 2011
    Joe Blade seies were surprisingly funny (never played them back in the day), but my fave is Psycho City, an isometric game were you must explore in a desert city. Cool.

    PsychoCity.gif
  • WookieeWookiee
    edited December 2011
    that looks quite cool, seem to recall Joe Blade 2.....might have been a covertape though
  • morcarmorcar
    edited December 2011
    I used to like power play and of course i remember them doing a cd player with a few 128k ay tunes on it as well which was cool.
  • The Lone MagpieThe Lone Magpie
    edited December 2011
    I remember my friend and I buying "Prison Riot", a decision based solely on the box art, possibly the only time I've ever done so. If I remember rightly, it was fairly easy Joe Blade clone.
    JuanF. Ramirez wrote: »
    Joe Blade seies were surprisingly funny (never played them back in the day), but my fave is Psycho City, an isometric game were you must explore in a desert city. Cool.

    PsychoCity.gif

    Ooooh, that looks interesting...might give that a go.
    Visit my webcomic, "Keezees!"
  • deadpan666deadpan666
    edited December 2011
    I'm a big fan of Players games in general! They might have been a bit crappy, but they still managed to be fun...even the really crap stuff they did for the magazines, like Vatman or Brat Attack, were still strangely addictive....and I spent hours wandering around in Thing....

    Vatman.gif

    BratAttack.gif

    I enjoyed playing Spooked and Shark a lot too, and I remember really wanting to play Muties Stole My Truck (or Mutant Fortress as it's also known) after reading about it in Sinclair User...

    Spooked.gif

    Shark.gif

    MutantFortress.gif

    *Edit : Forgot to mention that Shanghai Karate was my first proper Speccy game too! So it holds a special place in my fuzzy retro memories, despite it being a bit poop and easily beaten by repeating the same move over and over again... :D *
    The Black Cauldron (PC)
  • GreenCardGreenCard
    edited December 2011
    I used to spend hours on Crime Busters. Very good fun! :smile:
  • VanTammenVanTammen
    edited December 2011
    I spent hours with Spooked & subway vigillante (or as I liked to call it: the Renegade I could win...).

    don't think I ever played any of the others, but they look really good!
  • judasEZTjudasEZT
    edited December 2011
    Some good clones. At least two Cybernoid clones, and some Exolon-esque ones too.

    And some 'Renegade' clones no that good. Some shoot'm'ups.

    'JoeBlade' fame will be always remembered. Although I've never played it deeply, because having 'Batman - The Caped Crusader' from the real superhero Joffa, who need JoeBlades ??

    The graphics from their games are always very well defined, nice and fresh.

    I think Martin and Andrew Severn were very good.
    And yes, 'PsychoCity' from Charles Bystram were very interesting and fun. I consider him a little visionary when I check his isometric games. Very thematic and worthy.

    I think it was an overall true good company.
  • redballoonredballoon
    edited December 2011
    I absolutely love Denizen at the time. The graphics, 128 sound and just overall presentation were aces. And i mapped that mahfah. It's one game i have deliberately never went back to just incase it turns out to be rubbish.
  • zx1zx1
    edited December 2011
    GreenCard wrote: »
    I used to spend hours on Crime Busters. Very good fun! :smile:

    Yes, i liked that one too.
    I also liked the first Superkid game and Joe Blade games.
    The trouble with tribbles is.......
  • Maroc's Astral ProjectionMaroc's Astral Projection
    edited December 2011
    They were both Players 'Software' rather than 'Premier', but Deviants and Metal Army both stand out for me.
  • redballoonredballoon
    edited December 2011
    ach, i know - it just gave me the chance to say that a completed it and mapped it.
  • WookieeWookiee
    edited December 2011
    redballoon wrote: »
    I absolutely love Denizen at the time. The graphics, 128 sound and just overall presentation were aces. And i mapped that mahfah. It's one game i have deliberately never went back to just incase it turns out to be rubbish.

    it's still brilliant man....though I still haven't bothered to work out a map or indeed that bloody annoying sub game :lol:
  • dm_boozefreekdm_boozefreek
    edited December 2011
    Anybody who didn't have the misfortune to play Mutant Fortress, count yourself lucky, it's awful.

    Oh and they used magazine quotes on the back cover from a preview before the mag actually reviewed it.

    When they did review it they ripped it to pieces.
    Every night is curry night!
  • The Lone MagpieThe Lone Magpie
    edited December 2011
    Looking at the dates of the games, I see that Players games post-'89 are by Players Premiere, and tend to be a lot better than the Players Software games.

    On a side-note, I also like the Art Deco style of typeface that they frequently used. But I'm not going to get started on Players' original man-made-from-geometric-shapes logo...already done that. http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=34058
    Visit my webcomic, "Keezees!"
  • ZagrebZagreb
    edited December 2011
    The Players games were definitely a case of the presentation being far better than the gameplay. The Joe Blade titles (well, one and three) were probably the best thing they did from memory.
  • GrazGraz
    edited December 2011
    Love all the Players and Players Premier.

    Just so very very collectable.

    Task Force, Shrewsbury key, Moving Target. Lovely!


    Shame about Tomcat and Cagara though! :P
  • Bluce_ReeBluce_Ree
    edited December 2011
    Players are like a poor man's Ultimate. Lots of nice graphics on show, not much decent gameplay. Some of their stuff was truly dire and the Joe Blade games were really dull.
  • rubberkeysrubberkeys
    edited December 2011
    Bluce_Ree wrote: »
    Players are like a poor man's Ultimate. Lots of nice graphics on show, not much decent gameplay. Some of their stuff was truly dire and the Joe Blade games were really dull.

    Have to disagree with you there buddy about the Joe Blade games

    They were pretty cool to be fair :smile:
  • fogfog
    edited December 2011
    Bluce_Ree wrote: »
    Players are like a poor man's Ultimate. Lots of nice graphics on show, not much decent gameplay. Some of their stuff was truly dire and the Joe Blade games were really dull.

    you'll find Joe Blade series was probably their biggest seller (well perhaps discounting eagles nest) , across all formats (if that was the case it wouldn't surprise me). By how many I've got from others bundles, I know it sold SILLY amount of numbers esp. #2 following on the success.

    loads of budget companies did the 3d-iso thing, firebird comes to mind more so :)
  • Bluce_ReeBluce_Ree
    edited December 2011
    It was a budget game with decent graphics and a recognisable main character, of course it sold well. Was still a load of rubbery old bollox though.
  • GreenCardGreenCard
    edited December 2011
    Bluce_Ree wrote: »
    It was a budget game with decent graphics and a recognisable main character, of course it sold well. Was still a load of rubbery old bollox though.

    Not keen on it then? :p
  • MattLambMattLamb
    edited December 2011
    Is it just me or does Deviants look and play a lot like Dan Dare?

    Deviants.gif

    DanDare-PilotOfTheFuture.gif
  • zx1zx1
    edited December 2011
    zx1 wrote: »
    Yes, i liked that one too.
    I also liked the first Superkid game and Joe Blade games.

    I've just realised - isn't Superkid an Atlantis game? oops!
    The trouble with tribbles is.......
  • ZagrebZagreb
    edited December 2011
    MattLamb wrote: »
    Is it just me or does Deviants look and play a lot like Dan Dare?

    Deviants.gif

    DanDare-PilotOfTheFuture.gif

    Look, yes. Play, no. Dan Dare is a brilliant game whilst Deviants is a second-rate lookalike with frequent annoying "puzzle" sections (a problem with quite a few Players titles).
  • ZagrebZagreb
    edited December 2011
    Bluce_Ree wrote: »
    It was a budget game with decent graphics and a recognisable main character, of course it sold well. Was still a load of rubbery old bollox though.

    The original Joe Blade is a reasonable maze game with good presentation even if it does feel a little unfinished (why is the gun so badly implemented?); Joe Blade II is a boring maze-based collect-em-up disguised as an action game which conceals its considerable flaws under more pretty presentation; Joe Blade III is the only properly good Joe Blade game, especially taken in the context of the time it was published and the low price.
  • GrazGraz
    edited January 2012
    Zagreb wrote: »
    The original Joe Blade is a reasonable maze game with good presentation even if it does feel a little unfinished (why is the gun so badly implemented?); Joe Blade II is a boring maze-based collect-em-up disguised as an action game which conceals its considerable flaws under more pretty presentation; Joe Blade III is the only properly good Joe Blade game, especially taken in the context of the time it was published and the low price.


    Yup, me agree wholeheartedly with that. JBII is good for the first 15 minutes - I think that was down to the excitement of a sequel that initially looks to be everything you hoped it to be. Ah well.

    JB3 is a snazzy lil affair though. Yes, still limited, but NICE.

    redballoon wrote: »
    I absolutely love Denizen at the time. The graphics, 128 sound and just overall presentation were aces. And i mapped that mahfah. It's one game i have deliberately never went back to just incase it turns out to be rubbish.

    You clever saussage! It's a good game (although not being able to shoot through disinterating aliens is a pain.) Never got off the first level though... even with infy lives and ammo. I love the 128k version.
  • SwevicusSwevicus
    edited February 2013
    Crime Busters, Denizen, the Joe Blade trilogy and Xanthius are some of my personal favourites. :)
  • Bluce_ReeBluce_Ree
    edited February 2013
    One of my least liked publishers.

    Too many of those Joe Blade style games which I always hated because they were a pain in the arse to navigate through and were pure graphics first, gameplay second.

    That was the overall theme throughout their output. A good example being Denizen which was a Gauntlet clone that looked lovely and moved like treacle.

    And things like Deviants were too sprawling and their R-Type clone Tanium was possibly the dullest shooter since Xevious.
  • DavidBDavidB
    edited February 2013
    Players aka Interceptor Micro's almost released one of my games :-)
    No one important.
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