I remember working with the guy who wrote this. We were both working for Runecraft developing Risk for the PS1 and talking about previous games we'd worked on. He mentioned Giana Sisters for the Speccy. His name's Ian Richards and this is on his WOS permission slip:
"Gianna Sisters", I did Spectrum and Amstrad versions of this.
Unfortunately, Speccy one was never even mastered, Nintendo had it cancelled
two days before duplication. And I dont have a copy. So I think it's gone
for ever, unless there's a copy in a cupboard somewhere at Ocean in
Manchester.
^ what about the review copies the magazines recieved?
I thought it had been established a few years back that the "reviews" were all based on having seen the C64 version and a few mock screens. It wasn't exactly uncommon back in the day.
I thought it had been established a few years back that the "reviews" were all based on having seen the C64 version and a few mock screens. It wasn't exactly uncommon back in the day.
If that was the case, why did they all mention that it scrolled too slowly. I reckon that unfinished code that was reviewed.
Since we know from Ian Richards' email to WOS that he programmed both the Spectrum and Amstrad versions, I guess we can assume the Spectrum version played much like the Amstrad one. (Slowly).
And why the Spectrum version got cancelled and the C64 and Amstrad versions did not?
Wasn't the C64 version first to be finished and on the shelves... Think it was only two weeks before Nintendo waded in with lawyers, so i'd imagine the other versions were shelved as soon as the 64 version was withdrawn...
Since we know from Ian Richards' email to WOS that he programmed both the Spectrum and Amstrad versions, I guess we can assume the Spectrum version played much like the Amstrad one. (Slowly).
wow that really does look slow. needs to be about 150% faster - which could be done in an emulator of course.
And why the Spectrum version got cancelled and the C64 and Amstrad versions did not?
c64 version was made timewarp and published by rainbow arts in germany, us gold etc. only got to license it in the UK. remember they are the same crew behind the banned katakis and of course turrican also :)
much like say erbe would license UK games for spain, thats why nintendo didn't clock it so quickly.
if you like shoot em up's try katakis , x out , enforcer , denaris by them on 64
Is the Amstrad version available? Wonder if it's back portable?
Some of it probably is, but unfortunately the most important bits - the scrolling and sprite routines would have to be rewritten under all circumstances - so I'm not sure it's worth it.
Is the Amstrad version available? Wonder if it's back portable?
Yes, you can find it on the web.
I suppose it shares about 70% or so of common code with lost Spectrum version.
Still as Sokurah says graphics would have to be redrawn, and graphic routines adjusted for Speccy.
And then you would probably discover that you are unable to make it move and scroll fast. Fast Spectrum scrolling games like Zynaps,Cobra or Stormlord have very special organisation of level data which would be here probably impossible to apply.
Still I must confess now that the idea of reverse engineering of Giana is somehow tempting to me. Maybe one day... :)
Some of it probably is, but unfortunately the most important bits - the scrolling and sprite routines would have to be rewritten under all circumstances - so I'm not sure it's worth it.
Lots of things were ported between the Spectrum and Amstrad "back in the day", yes some recoding would be required (as you say, the biggest job would be the display routines) but you'd have the level data there and a bunch of the game logic etc... It'd be a pretty cool game to add to the Spectrum library I reckon.
I suppose it shares about 70% or so of common code with lost Spectrum version.
Still as Sokurah says graphics would have to be redrawn, and graphic routines adjusted for Speccy.
And then you would probably discover that you are unable to make it move and scroll fast. Fast Spectrum scrolling games like Zynaps,Cobra or Stormlord have very special organisation of level data which would be here probably impossible to apply.
Still I must confess now that the idea of reverse engineering of Giana is somehow tempting to me. Maybe one day... :)
Let's say that this is real and it is released into the wild and it turns out to be unplayable utter crap. Will it be hacked apart, rewritten and given go-faster stripes or just left to fester?
The Great Giana Sisters legend (on the Spectrum) will be no-more.
Let's say that this is real and it is released into the wild and it turns out to be unplayable utter crap. Will it be hacked apart, rewritten and given go-faster stripes or just left to fester?
The Great Giana Sisters legend (on the Spectrum) will be no-more.
None of the versions I've played have been much cop compared to its inspiration, it's a rough approximation of a Mario game but it feels off, the controls and jumping and stuff are a bit shonky. So it looks similar, but doesn't play half as well.
If it hadn't been for the court order and withdrawal from shelves, we'd probably not be that interested in it at all, like all the other ropey games in the archive.
I can't bring myself to be excited about it's reappearance for anything other than historical archiving, it's not a game I'd want to play.
None of the versions I've played have been much cop compared to its inspiration, it's a rough approximation of a Mario game but it feels off, the controls and jumping and stuff are a bit shonky. So it looks similar, but doesn't play half as well.
If it hadn't been for the court order and withdrawal from shelves, we'd probably not be that interested in it at all, like all the other ropey games in the archive.
I can't bring myself to be excited about it's reappearance for anything other than historical archiving, it's not a game I'd want to play.
I'm afraid I agree. I think much of the intrigue around Great Giana Sisters came from the fact the screenshots seemed to promise that this could be a version of Super Mario Bros for the Spectrum; but looking at the video of the Amstrad version, all the playability has been stripped away. There's no inertia, and the jumping is all wrong.
Better off with the real thing! :smile:
(It's for a Pentagon. You're advised to switch off the background graphics to get it to run well at 3.5MHz. Plays great!)
Comments
Come on guys, I don't use Facebook but certainly many of you do. What's the problem to explain it?
page
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Precisely what I was thinking...
Yep...
It's the poster that's fake :razz:
"Gianna Sisters", I did Spectrum and Amstrad versions of this.
Unfortunately, Speccy one was never even mastered, Nintendo had it cancelled
two days before duplication. And I dont have a copy. So I think it's gone
for ever, unless there's a copy in a cupboard somewhere at Ocean in
Manchester.
So as FrankT said, it's possible it's survived.
Magenta icon
I thought it had been established a few years back that the "reviews" were all based on having seen the C64 version and a few mock screens. It wasn't exactly uncommon back in the day.
If that was the case, why did they all mention that it scrolled too slowly. I reckon that unfinished code that was reviewed.
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/99/handy.htm
Wasn't the C64 version first to be finished and on the shelves... Think it was only two weeks before Nintendo waded in with lawyers, so i'd imagine the other versions were shelved as soon as the 64 version was withdrawn...
Of course, I could be wrong...
*Edit: Oh, and the 64 version was excellent...
wow that really does look slow. needs to be about 150% faster - which could be done in an emulator of course.
c64 version was made timewarp and published by rainbow arts in germany, us gold etc. only got to license it in the UK. remember they are the same crew behind the banned katakis and of course turrican also :)
much like say erbe would license UK games for spain, thats why nintendo didn't clock it so quickly.
if you like shoot em up's try katakis , x out , enforcer , denaris by them on 64
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Yes, you can find it on the web.
I suppose it shares about 70% or so of common code with lost Spectrum version.
Still as Sokurah says graphics would have to be redrawn, and graphic routines adjusted for Speccy.
And then you would probably discover that you are unable to make it move and scroll fast. Fast Spectrum scrolling games like Zynaps,Cobra or Stormlord have very special organisation of level data which would be here probably impossible to apply.
Still I must confess now that the idea of reverse engineering of Giana is somehow tempting to me. Maybe one day... :)
Lots of things were ported between the Spectrum and Amstrad "back in the day", yes some recoding would be required (as you say, the biggest job would be the display routines) but you'd have the level data there and a bunch of the game logic etc... It'd be a pretty cool game to add to the Spectrum library I reckon.
Do it do it do it!!!
I'll do the graphics :)
Let's see how the current situation solves. Maybe the Facebook guy actually has the lost game :lol:
The Great Giana Sisters legend (on the Spectrum) will be no-more.
Download the latest version of Bomb Munchies Ver2210 4th July 2020
None of the versions I've played have been much cop compared to its inspiration, it's a rough approximation of a Mario game but it feels off, the controls and jumping and stuff are a bit shonky. So it looks similar, but doesn't play half as well.
If it hadn't been for the court order and withdrawal from shelves, we'd probably not be that interested in it at all, like all the other ropey games in the archive.
I can't bring myself to be excited about it's reappearance for anything other than historical archiving, it's not a game I'd want to play.
I'm afraid I agree. I think much of the intrigue around Great Giana Sisters came from the fact the screenshots seemed to promise that this could be a version of Super Mario Bros for the Spectrum; but looking at the video of the Amstrad version, all the playability has been stripped away. There's no inertia, and the jumping is all wrong.
Better off with the real thing! :smile:
(It's for a Pentagon. You're advised to switch off the background graphics to get it to run well at 3.5MHz. Plays great!)