Atlantis Software Explained

Atlantis Software
Foundation:	1984
Founder:	Michael Cole, Rodger Coghill
Defunct:	1992
Location City:	London
Location Country:	England
Industry:	Video games
Products:	Computer games

Atlantis Software was a London-based^[1] UK computer games publisher that released a number of games during the 1980s^[2] and early 1990s.^{[3] [4]}

The company was set up by Michael Cole and Rodger Coghill in January 1984 with the first four games released in May of that year.^[5] The philosophy of the company was to sell high volume at low 'pocket-money' prices: initially, all games were £1.99. The Atlantis Gold label was launched the following year at £2.99, but the Gold tag was soon dropped, with games at both prices being released under the Atlantis logo but with the suggested price on the cover.

The company's primary focus remained on the low-cost cassette-based games for 8-bit machines for £1.99^[6] and £2.99^{[7] [8]} (commonly known as "budget" games) that formed a significant part of the UK 8-bit software market during the 1980s.

They later also moved into the 16-bit disk-based market and published games for the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga.

Selected titles

• Master Mariner, 1984 (ZX Spectrum)
• Monster Munch, 1984 (Commodore 64)
• Cops 'n' Robbers, 1985 (VIC-20, C64, Commodore 16, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Atari 8-bit)
• Death Race, 1985 (VIC-20, C64, C16, Atari 8-bit)
• League Challenge, 1986 (Spectrum, C64, C16, Electron, BBC, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST)
• Survivors, 1986 (Spectrum, C64, C16, Electron, BBC, Atari 8-bit, CPC, MSX)
• Panik!, 1986 (C16, Electron, BBC, Atari 8-bit)
• Gunfighter, 1988 (Spectrum, C64, Electron, BBC, Atari 8-bit, CPC)
• Crack-Up!, 1989 (Spectrum, C64, Electron, BBC, Atari 8-bit, CPC)
• Encounter!, 1989 (Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64)
• Cavemania, 1990 (Spectrum, C64, CPC, Amiga, ST)
• Hobgoblin, 1990 (Spectrum, C64, Electron, BBC, CPC)
• Apache Flight, 1992 (Amiga, ST)

Dates shown are for the first version. In many cases, ports to other machines were released over a number of years (e.g. League Challenge wasn't ported to Amiga until 1991).

External links

• Atlantis Software Game Cover Gallery on Retromuseums
• Atlantis Softology on Retromuseums

Notes and References

1. Web site: The World's Finest Atari Database : games, demos, utilities for 2600, 5200, 400, 800, xl, xe, st and falcon . Atarimania.com . 2017-02-23.
2. Web site: Archived copy . www.ysrnry.co.uk . 15 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071019112142/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/progolf.htm . 19 October 2007 . dead.
3. Web site: Archived copy . www.ysrnry.co.uk . 15 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20001102201205/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/atlantisfourpacki.htm . 2 November 2000 . dead.
4. Web site: Atlantis Software Company Information . GameFAQs . 2017-02-17 . 2017-02-23.
5. http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=Crash/Issue10/Pages/Crash1000132.jpg
6. Web site: The World's Finest Atari Database : games, demos, utilities for 2600, 5200, 400, 800, xl, xe, st and falcon . Atarimania.com . 2017-02-23.
7. Web site: The World's Finest Atari Database : games, demos, utilities for 2600, 5200, 400, 800, xl, xe, st and falcon . Atarimania.com . 2017-02-23.
8. Web site: Archived copy . www.ysrnry.co.uk . 15 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080513043541/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/hobgoblin.htm . 13 May 2008 . dead.