In the early days of the video games industry it seemed like all game development was being done out of bedrooms across the UK and Europe. The North Americans were also pumping out games from their hive in Sunnyvale. It is a little known fact that Australia also made major contributions to game development in those early days. Australian pioneers like Alfred Milgrom (co-founder of Melbourne House and Beam Software) were designing and producing games like Hungry Horace and The Hobbit. Melbourne House‘s other major release, Way Of The Exploding Fist, went on to become a massive hit on every 8-bit micro back in the mid 1980s. After Australia II won the America’s Cup in 1983, Armchair Entertainment cashed in on the craze by creating the sailing sim, Arnie’s America’s Cup Challenge. The game was bundled in the Commodore 64 Family Pack that was released to coincide with the 1987 America’s Cup event in Fremantle.
But what of the 8 and 16-bit consoles you know and love, like the NES, SNES and the Mega Drive? Did Australia produce any games on these world dominant systems? Of course they did. Australian talent continued to churn out classic games that went on to become major hits on their respective platforms.
In this maiden Made In Australia voyage, we will reflect on the games that Australians produced for Nintendo‘s world beating 8-bit console, the NES! I bet you will be surprised.
720° (1989)
Bad Street Brawler (1989)
Defender of the Crown (1989)
Airwolf (1989)
Road Runner (1989)
The Last Ninja (1990)
RoadBlasters (1990)
Smash TV (1990)
Aussie Rules Footy (1991)
Star Wars (1991)
But wait, there were more Aussie made NES games, like: Back to the Future (1989), The Three Stooges (1989), Battle Chess (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Back to the Future Part II & III (1990), Bigfoot (1990), Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum (1990), Fisher-Price: Perfect Fit (1990), Fisher-Price: I Can Remember (1990), The Punisher (1990), Rocket Ranger (1990), Bo Jackson Baseball (1991), Family Feud (1991), George Foreman’s K.O. Boxing (1992), International Cricket (1992), Nightshade (1992), Power Punch 2 (1992), Mickey’s Safari in Letter Land (1993) and Mickey’s Adventures in Number Land (1994).
In the next Made In Australia feature, we will reflect on the Mega Drive games that were Aussie made! You will be surprised to learn the number of hit games that Aussies had their hand in! Till next time, game on!
image sources: Moby Games, Tomorrow’s Heroes, GameFAQs, retro gaming australia