Developer: Digital Eclipse
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
Genre: Action
Publisher: Digital Eclipse
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story catalogues the numerous games Jeff Minter has created over the years. It provides insight from Jeff Minter himself on his approach to gaming and his unique outlook on gaming and the games Jeff built.
Included games
Sinclair ZX81
3D3D
Centipede
Commodore VIC-20
Abductor
Andes Attack
Deflex V
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Laser Zone
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Ratman
Commodore 64
Ancipital
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Batalyx
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Hover Bovver
Iridis Alpha
Laser Zone
Mama Llama
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Psychedelia
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Revenge of the Mutant Camels II
Rox 64
Sheep In Space
Voidrunner
Sinclair Spectrum
City Bomb
Headbangers Heaven
Rox III
Superdeflex
Atari 8-bit
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Colourspace
Gridrunner
Hover Bovver
Turboflex
Konix Multi-System
Attack of the Mutant Camels ’89
Atari ST
Llamatron: 2112
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Super Gridrunner
Atari Jaguar
Tempest 2000
Reimagined
Gridrunner Remastered
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is a film and multimedia presentation of Jeff’s games, including a whole host of them, and the evolution of his game-making prowess over the years. I liked this mixed-media approach to telling his story; they have pictures and advertisements of the games released over the years. This virtual museum experience showcases 42 classic games on eight different platforms and gives some insider insights into the game from Jeff himself. The museum is split into four chronological sections, and the timeline allows easy navigation. This use of timeline helps highlight the evolution of his game-making and how the industry has changed.
Many people from the gaming industry talk about Jeff’s impact on the gaming industry and his unique approach to gaming.The list of games is big, but I plan to pick out a few that I enjoy the most, with some notable random mentions.
Ratman is a game in which you use a hammer to bash rats. It’s an old-school, simple but effective, and straight-to-the-point game. The sound effects are reminiscent of the 1980s, with clunky thuds and high-pitched sounds.
Psychedelia and Colourspace weren’t traditional games but more light- shows that you could create for music. There are deep retro vibes with some trippy visuals in both. I have always loved Tempest 2000; it’s a tube shooter game where you control a craft as you navigate around this tube; the graphics are superb and give that deep retro game vibes.
There is a vast emphasis on shooters and the love Jeff had for shooter games such as Andes Attack, VoidRunner, GridRunner and Attack of Mutant Camels, which were chaotic and had their take on the genre. If you like any old-school shooters, there are tons in this collection!
Using a virtual museum with part documentary elements intermingled with retro classic games and an archive of materials helps to bring the many classic games to life. The sheer number of classic games to play is vast, and I haven’t played many of them before, so it was great to play these games, which range from your standard to a bizarre llama shooter. It is wild but lots of fun. I loved this trip down memory lane and revisiting old console games I haven’t played in years. It had some great storytelling, and Jeff gave fantastic insights into his work.
Overall: 8/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
