Alligata
Encyclopedia
Alligata Software Ltd. was a computer games developer and publisher based in Sheffield
in the UK
in the 1980s.
The company was founded by Mike Mahoney and Dave Palmer around 1982. They produced games for a number of home computer
s including the Commodore 64
, BBC Micro
, Acorn Electron
, ZX Spectrum
and Dragon 32
. They also published budget priced software under the Budgie label.
Dave Palmer left in October 1986 to set up the budget label Alternative Software. Mike Mahoney also left in 1988 with the company effectively closing. The name and back catalogue were sold to Superior Software
. Two titles were released under the joint Superior/Alligata label for ports of Superior's BBC/Electron games to other systems. Superior also included some old Alligata games on their Play It Again Sam compilations.
, already selling games at that level. Almost all titles were original rather than re-issues of Alligata games. Probably the most well known game is space shoot 'em up Video's Revenge (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron) with others including Convoy (ZX Spectrum), Super Sam (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC), Raskel (C64) and Shuffle (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron).
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1980s.
The company was founded by Mike Mahoney and Dave Palmer around 1982. They produced games for a number of home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s including the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and Dragon 32
Dragon 32/64
The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer , and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., in Port Talbot, Wales, and for the US market by Tano of New Orleans, Louisiana...
. They also published budget priced software under the Budgie label.
Dave Palmer left in October 1986 to set up the budget label Alternative Software. Mike Mahoney also left in 1988 with the company effectively closing. The name and back catalogue were sold to Superior Software
Superior Software
Superior Software is a video game publisher. It was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson, two graduates of the University of Leeds, England...
. Two titles were released under the joint Superior/Alligata label for ports of Superior's BBC/Electron games to other systems. Superior also included some old Alligata games on their Play It Again Sam compilations.
Notable games
- 1983 Aztec Tomb (C64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
) - 1983 Here Comes The Sun (ZX SpectrumZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
) - 1983 Bug Blaster (C64, BBC MicroBBC MicroThe BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, Acorn ElectronAcorn ElectronThe Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
) - 1983 Lunar RescueLunar RescueLunar Rescue is an arcade game released by Taito in 1979. It contains elements that resemble both Taito's own Space Invaders as well as Atari's Lunar Lander released that same year....
(BBC Micro, Acorn Electron) - 1983 BlaggerBlaggerBlagger is a platform game created by Antony Crowther and released by Alligata for the Commodore 64 and BBC Micro computers in 1983, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC and MSX in 1984 and Commodore 16/Commodore Plus/4 in 1985. In some countries this game was released under the name Gangster. The gameplay...
(C64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, MSXMSXMSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Commodore 16Commodore 16The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...
) A version was also released through AmsoftAmsoftAmsoft was a wholly owned subsidiary of Amstrad, PLC, founded in 1984 and re-integrated with its parent company in 1989. Its purpose was to provide an initial infrastructure of software and services for users of Amstrad's range of home computers, the Amstrad CPC and, from 1986, the Sinclair ZX...
for the Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPCThe Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... - 1983 Guardian (C64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron)
- 1984 LocoLoco (computer game)Loco is a 1984 computer game developed by Antony Crowther and released by Alligata for the Commodore 64. In 1986 it was converted for the ZX Spectrum and Atari 8-bit family....
(C64, ZX Spectrum, Atari 8-bitAtari 8-bit familyThe Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
) - 1984 Son of BlaggerSon of BlaggerSon of Blagger, the sequel to Blagger, is a scrolling platform game created by Tony Crowther and released by Alligata for the Commodore 64 computer in 1983. A ZX Spectrum port by Elliot Gay and a BBC Micro port were released in 1984....
(C64, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro) - 1985 Who Dares Wins (C64)
- 1985 Jack Charlton's Match Fishing (C64, ZX Spectrum)
- 1985 Blagger Goes to Hollywood (C64)
- 1986 Who Dares Wins II (C64, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, MSX, Amstrad CPC)
- 1986 Night World (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron)
- 1987 Livingstone, I Presume (C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC) UK release of Spanish Opera SoftOpera SoftOpera Soft was one the most prolific Spanish computer game developers of the so-called Golden Era of Spanish Software of the 1980s. It released many games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and similar computers in the mid-1980s, but its games were not as popular on the PC...
game Livingstone, Supongo - 1987 Addicta Ball (C64, MSX, AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari STAtari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
) An unreleased version was developed for the ZX Spectrum - 1988 By Fair Means or FoulBy Fair Means or FoulBy Fair Means or Foul is a boxing video game first published for a range of 8-bit home computers in 1988 by Superior Software. It was later reissued with the new title by Codemasters who also published conversions for 16-bit computers. The game offers a variety of boxing moves including fouls...
(C64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC) A Superior/Alligata release - 1989 Repton Mania (ZX Spectrum) Ports of the first 2 ReptonRepton (computer game)Repton is a computer game originally developed by 15-year-old Briton Tim Tyler for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and released by Superior Software in 1985. The game spawned a series of follow up games which were released throughout the 1980s. The series sold around 125,000 copies between 1985...
games - A Superior/Alligata release
Budgie label
Alligata published budget games under the Budgie label from 1985. When a typical Alligata game would cost around £6.95, Budgie games sold for only £1.99 in order to compete with the likes of budget software pioneer MastertronicMastertronic
Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was the dominant software publisher in the UK, a position achieved by selling cassette-based software at the £1.99...
, already selling games at that level. Almost all titles were original rather than re-issues of Alligata games. Probably the most well known game is space shoot 'em up Video's Revenge (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron) with others including Convoy (ZX Spectrum), Super Sam (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC), Raskel (C64) and Shuffle (BBC Micro, Acorn Electron).