Synapse Software

Here's another thread on an old developer/publisher that has faded into obscurity. If you had an 8-bit computer back in the early-mid '80s then chances are you played some Synapse Software(AKA Synsoft) games. They made some great ones in their day.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...napsetitle.png

Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant founded the company in 1980. They soon hired others to develop games.

Protector
Author: Mike Potter
Year: 1981
Formats: Atari 8-bit

Most likely inspired by Defender this shooter had you rescuing people and navigating through passageways.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../protector.png

Chicken
Author: Mike Potter
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit

This was a "catch the falling item" game like Avalanche and Kaboom!.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...er/chicken.gif

Fort Apocalypse(1982)
Author: Steve Hales
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

It looked similar to Broderbund's Choplifter released the same year but this game is about shooting through various caverns.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../fortatari.gif

Slime
Author: Steve Hales
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ater/slime.gif

Nautilus
Author: Mike Potter
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit

Shadow World
Author: Mike Potter
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit

Another quality shooter by Potter.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ter/shadow.gif

Picnic Paranoia
Author: Russ Segal
Year: 1982/1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, TI99/4A(port by Atarisoft), Apple II(not sure if this came out)

Swat the bugs.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ParanoiaTI.png

Claim Jumper
Author: Gray Chang
Year: 1982
Formats: Atari 8-bit

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ater/claim.gif

Necromancer
Author: Bill Williams
Year: 1982/1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

This one's kind of hard to explain. The first level had you shooting enemies while magically planting trees. The next level shifted to a side view and you casted a walking spell on trees to move them cracks where roots will grow and the trees will crush the spider eggs. It's cool once you learn how to play.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...omancerc64.gif

Protector II
Author: Mike Potter
Year: 1982/1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TRS-80

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ectoriic64.gif

Shamus
Author: William Mataga
Year: 1982/1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Vic 20, Commodore 64, TI99/4A(published by Atarisoft), PC(published by IBM), TRS-80(published by Tandy)

My guess is that is was Synapse's best selling game. Shamus was originally being developed as a clone of Berzerk but it ended up as its own game. I'm disappointed my C64 cassette of it doesn't work anymore.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ter/shamus.png

Shamus was remade in 1999 for Game Boy Color by Cathryn Mataga(that's William Mataga after a sex change) at Junglevision.

Pharaoh's Curse
Author: Steve Coleman
Year: 1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

I was playing this again recently and I'm surprised it has aged so well. It was a platform/adventure where you had to find all the pieces of treasure. Once you beat it, it gave you a password for a harder mode. The structure was like a simpler version of what would later be referred to as [b]Metroid[b]-style design, i.e. it's non-linear and has interconnected areas.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...haraohsc64.gif

Encounter
Author: Novagen Software/Paul Woakes
Year: 1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, later remade for Amiga as Amiga Encounter

Survivor
Author: Richard Carr
Year: 1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

Rainbow Walker
Author: Steve Coleman
Year: 1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

This was kind of like Q*bert in that you hopped onto to different squares to change their colours.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...nbowwalker.png

Alley Cat
Author: Bill Williams
Year: 1983
Formats: Atari 8-bit, PC(published by IBM)

This was an action game where you played as a cat. The levels were quite varied. For example, one involves catching mice on a clothesline, another has you stealing milk from dogs. The simple fast paced gameplay has held up pretty well.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...eycatatari.png

Blue Max
Author: Bob Polin
Year: 1983/1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Spectrum(by U.S. Gold)

I read this shooter was banned in Germany. I thought it was neat when I first got my C64 but I accidentally erased the game soon afterwards since I was new to the system and messing around.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...er/bluemax.png

Blue Max 2001
Author: Bob Polin
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

Countdown
Author: Ken Rose
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../countdown.gif

Shamus: Case II
Author: William Mataga
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64

This was quite a bit different from the original as it has side-scrolling and Breakout-ish shooter parts.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...er/shamus2.jpg

Electrician
Author: David Bunch
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit

In this game you needed to connect wires to various sockets while avoiding creatures. I liked how the power would turn on in each room. I recommend it to fans of old platform games.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...lectrician.png

Air Support
Author: Richard Carr
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

Doughboy
Author:
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64

Drelbs
Author: Kelly Jones
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

I didn't play this one until last year but I still liked it a lot. It was sort of an action/puzzle game where you flipped the lines to create rectangles while keeping away from enemies.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ter/drelbs.png

Quasimodo
Author: John Atak
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

I thought this platform/action game was quite good. I loved chucking rocks at the guys on the ladders.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../quasimodo.gif

Slamball
Author:
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64

It's a little basic today but the physics were impressive for a video pinball game.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...r/slamball.gif

Zeppelin
Author: William Mataga
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

A multi-scrolling shooter.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pelinatari.png

The Warriors of Zypar
Author: Joe Vierra
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64

I haven't played this one yet but I like the look of it.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...rriorzypar.gif

N.Y.C. The Big Apple/New York City
Author: Russ Segal
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...deater/nyc.gif

Sentinel
Author:
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...r/sentinel.gif

Dimension X
Author: Steve Hales
Year: 1984
Formats: Atari 8-bit

Smooth and super quick 3d shooter.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...dimensionx.gif

Zaxxon
Author: Peter Adams
Year: 1984
Formats: Commodore 64

This was a great port of the Sega arcade game.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../zaxxonc64.gif

In 1984 the company was sold to Broderbund and shifted its focus to text adventures. Mindwheel, Brimstone, Essex and Breakers were all released under the "Electronic Novel" label. The games weren't very successful and Broderbund shut down Synapse in 1986.

What are your thoughts on Synapse Software/Synsoft? If you haven't played any of their games I would say check out Pharaoh's Curse and Shamus first.

Synapse was a great company. Shamus had great music and style; it was much more than a simple Berzerk clone. Necromancer is one of the most clever games to come out of the Atari 8-bit/C64 era. Those walking trees were creepy as hell. And Claim Jumper was pretty cool, too, even though I can't remember how to play it.

i had blue max for the c64... and i remember playing alley cat on a BBS in the early 90s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sleeveboy

And Claim Jumper was pretty cool, too, even though I can't remember how to play it.

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Is this game two-player only? I briefly played it on emulator a while back but I don't remember there being an option to play against the computer. It seemed potentially good.

I have Quasimodo and Blue Max on my C-64. Both titles were excellent for thier time.

thnx for the writeup. I'm gonna check out their last 4 text adventures.

I don't remember their text adventures being as good as Infocom stuff but I should give them another try since I barely remember them. I haven't played Breakers yet. It's supposed to play in real-time although I'm not sure what they mean by that.

ouch, found some retro reviews, apparently they stink. Count me out. ;)

Kemco published a Famicom version of Doughboy which IINM was released in Japan only.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Shamus was remade in 1999 for Game Boy Color by Cathryn Mataga(that's William Mataga after a sex change) at Junglevision.

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It kinda bothers me every time I hear about another person who programmed fairly popular games in the 80s and wound up getting a sex change. It seems like there's at least a few of them.

Junglevision's website is a fun time, though. They're looking for talent to help out on their "Game Boy DS & Advanced" proejcts.