Once a notable developer and publisher of computer games, Datasoft has joined other pioneering companies like Epyx and Synapse Software in being mostly forgotten today as it didn't live on to continued success and name recognition like Electronic Arts and Activision.
The company was founded in California in June 1980 by Pat Ketchum and had several in-house game designers and programmers. It created games for several 8-bit and 16-bit formats throughout the '80s, initially on TRS-80 and Atari 800 before expanding to Apple and Commodore machines. Its debut game was Popcorn! in 1981 and was published by Tandy/Radio Shack as a first-party game for its TRS-80 computer.
Early Datasoft action games were often well made but derivative. Popcorn! was a rip-off of Atari's arcade game Avalanche where you moved side to side catching objects before they hit the ground. Shooting Arcade resembled Sega's target blasting game Carnival. Pacific Coast Highway was basically Konami's dodging sim Frogger except with other animals. Clowns and Balloons was a clone of Bally Midway's Clowns. And Genesis was certainly inspired by Atari's shooter Tempest (not a bad thing considering there wasn't an official home Tempest when it came out).
Their adventure games in 1982-1983 had more originality. As many families were buying their first personal computers, The Sands of Egypt was an ideal title to introduce all ages to interactive fiction as it wasn't as complex as Infocom text adventures and had some animated background graphics. Its text input was pretty intuitive and there was a built-in help function.
Datasoft's games were licensed to other companies such as U.S. Gold, Ocean Software, and Mastertronic for release in PAL TV territories, and ports were made for formats like the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Comptiq converted some Datasoft games to Japanese computers like the NEC PC-88 and Sharp X1 giving them exposure in Asia. And Datasoft brought over European games to North America from companies like Personal Software Services and Ocean.
Smart licensing became a major part of Datasoft's business. It had official arcade ports of Namco's Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Dig Dug, Konami's Juno First and Pooyan, Sega's Zaxxon, Universal's Mr. Do!, and Stern's Lost Tomb.
Their renditions of movie and TV properties weren't just cash-ins. They were often innovative takes on existing genres. As far as I know, no one had made an official game based on a soap opera before Dallas Quest!
Conan: Hall of Volta (probably best known by the original Apple II version) was a great little flip-screen platformer. You could throw swords at enemies and they would boomerang back. Collecting keys would unlock doors so you could advance. It may sound simplistic now but the variety of levels and obstacles was quite large in 1984.
Bruce Lee might the most iconic and well liked of Datasoft's games. "Programmed by Ron J. Fortier, Graphic Art by Kelly Day" from the loading screen is burned into my brain forever due to how much I played the game growing up.
Like Conan, it expanded platform games beyond just a few repeating screens and felt more like a continous world. In this game, you're chased by a ninja and green sumo wrestler throughout the levels, while dodging various traps and finding switches to open new paths. A second player can also play as the sumo dude. Games like this are an impressive but sometimes ignored step in the evolution of home games in the genre in between stuff like Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. The last boss of Bruce Lee was set up very similarly to SMB in that you would try to run past to hit a switch to take him down.
On a surface level, Zorro bore resemblance to Bruce Lee since they shared the same artist but this game was more slow paced, required more exact jumping, and was more puzzle oriented with the ability to carry objects to other locations and activate mechanisms. It was frustrating at times but was critically well received.
The Goonies was also a 1985 puzzle platform adventure. Co-op strategizing to beat levels was novel at the time (or you could play solo with character switching). I enjoyed playing it with my cousin back in the day.
Being a huge fan of the movie, I really wanted to get into The Neverending Story (developed by Ocean) when I had it on C64 but it never gripped me the same way. It seems to have its fans, though.
Alternative Reality: The City (1985) and its sequel Alternate Reality: The Dungeon (1987) were first-person RPGs known for their depth and detail at the time such as weather affecting both visuals and gameplay, multiple solutions to problems, and other elements that are taken for granted in the genre today.
The 1985 classic Mercenary by UK developer Novagen was published in NA by Datasoft. It was incredibly groundbreaking with its wireframe 3d open-world, vehicles you could get in and out of, and non-linear design. I didn't play through it until like 2011 and was quite impressed. There's a freeware PC remake worth checking out that runs smoother than the Atari 8-bit original.
Datasoft never did seem to maintain its sales momentum past the mid 80s and ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1987. Apparently Gilette (yeah, the razor makers) pulled out of investing in Datasoft. Two of Datasoft's execs, Samuel Poole and Ted Hoffman bought the name and assets, rebirthing the company as Intellicreations. It lived on for a few more years.
Aside from analyzing the games themselves, there isn't a lot of insider information on Datasoft's history compared to most game Western companies of that era.
BastichB 64K has an impressive video on Datasoft that covers much more than I did:
www.youtube.com
And mobygames (where many of the screens in this thread are from) has a large list.
www.mobygames.com
Some screens of games published and/or developed by Datasoft (most are multi-format):
Popcorn! (TRS-80)
Shooting Arcade (TRS-80)
Genesis (Apple II)
The Magic Carpet (TRS-80)
The Sands of Egypt (TRS-80)
O'Riley's Mine (Apple II)
Pac-Man (Apple II)
Zaxxon (Atari 8-bit)
Juno First (IBM PC)
The Dallas Quest (Apple II)
Conan: Hall of Volta (Apple II)
Bruce Lee (Atari 8-bit)
Mancopter (Commodore 64)
The Goonies (Atari 8-bit)
Zorro (Atari 8-bit)
The Neverending Story (Commodore 64)
Mercenary (Atari 8-bit)
Alternate Reality: The City (Atari 8-bit)
Force 7 (Commodore 64)
Napoleon in Russia: Borodino 1812 (IBM PC)
Dark Lord (Commodore 64)
What do you think about Datasoft?
The company was founded in California in June 1980 by Pat Ketchum and had several in-house game designers and programmers. It created games for several 8-bit and 16-bit formats throughout the '80s, initially on TRS-80 and Atari 800 before expanding to Apple and Commodore machines. Its debut game was Popcorn! in 1981 and was published by Tandy/Radio Shack as a first-party game for its TRS-80 computer.
Early Datasoft action games were often well made but derivative. Popcorn! was a rip-off of Atari's arcade game Avalanche where you moved side to side catching objects before they hit the ground. Shooting Arcade resembled Sega's target blasting game Carnival. Pacific Coast Highway was basically Konami's dodging sim Frogger except with other animals. Clowns and Balloons was a clone of Bally Midway's Clowns. And Genesis was certainly inspired by Atari's shooter Tempest (not a bad thing considering there wasn't an official home Tempest when it came out).
Their adventure games in 1982-1983 had more originality. As many families were buying their first personal computers, The Sands of Egypt was an ideal title to introduce all ages to interactive fiction as it wasn't as complex as Infocom text adventures and had some animated background graphics. Its text input was pretty intuitive and there was a built-in help function.
Datasoft's games were licensed to other companies such as U.S. Gold, Ocean Software, and Mastertronic for release in PAL TV territories, and ports were made for formats like the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Comptiq converted some Datasoft games to Japanese computers like the NEC PC-88 and Sharp X1 giving them exposure in Asia. And Datasoft brought over European games to North America from companies like Personal Software Services and Ocean.
Smart licensing became a major part of Datasoft's business. It had official arcade ports of Namco's Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Dig Dug, Konami's Juno First and Pooyan, Sega's Zaxxon, Universal's Mr. Do!, and Stern's Lost Tomb.
Their renditions of movie and TV properties weren't just cash-ins. They were often innovative takes on existing genres. As far as I know, no one had made an official game based on a soap opera before Dallas Quest!
Conan: Hall of Volta (probably best known by the original Apple II version) was a great little flip-screen platformer. You could throw swords at enemies and they would boomerang back. Collecting keys would unlock doors so you could advance. It may sound simplistic now but the variety of levels and obstacles was quite large in 1984.
Bruce Lee might the most iconic and well liked of Datasoft's games. "Programmed by Ron J. Fortier, Graphic Art by Kelly Day" from the loading screen is burned into my brain forever due to how much I played the game growing up.
Like Conan, it expanded platform games beyond just a few repeating screens and felt more like a continous world. In this game, you're chased by a ninja and green sumo wrestler throughout the levels, while dodging various traps and finding switches to open new paths. A second player can also play as the sumo dude. Games like this are an impressive but sometimes ignored step in the evolution of home games in the genre in between stuff like Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. The last boss of Bruce Lee was set up very similarly to SMB in that you would try to run past to hit a switch to take him down.
On a surface level, Zorro bore resemblance to Bruce Lee since they shared the same artist but this game was more slow paced, required more exact jumping, and was more puzzle oriented with the ability to carry objects to other locations and activate mechanisms. It was frustrating at times but was critically well received.
The Goonies was also a 1985 puzzle platform adventure. Co-op strategizing to beat levels was novel at the time (or you could play solo with character switching). I enjoyed playing it with my cousin back in the day.
Being a huge fan of the movie, I really wanted to get into The Neverending Story (developed by Ocean) when I had it on C64 but it never gripped me the same way. It seems to have its fans, though.
Alternative Reality: The City (1985) and its sequel Alternate Reality: The Dungeon (1987) were first-person RPGs known for their depth and detail at the time such as weather affecting both visuals and gameplay, multiple solutions to problems, and other elements that are taken for granted in the genre today.
The 1985 classic Mercenary by UK developer Novagen was published in NA by Datasoft. It was incredibly groundbreaking with its wireframe 3d open-world, vehicles you could get in and out of, and non-linear design. I didn't play through it until like 2011 and was quite impressed. There's a freeware PC remake worth checking out that runs smoother than the Atari 8-bit original.
Datasoft never did seem to maintain its sales momentum past the mid 80s and ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1987. Apparently Gilette (yeah, the razor makers) pulled out of investing in Datasoft. Two of Datasoft's execs, Samuel Poole and Ted Hoffman bought the name and assets, rebirthing the company as Intellicreations. It lived on for a few more years.
Aside from analyzing the games themselves, there isn't a lot of insider information on Datasoft's history compared to most game Western companies of that era.
BastichB 64K has an impressive video on Datasoft that covers much more than I did:
Datasoft (1980-1989) Documentary
Here's my Documentary for Datasoft. The software company who put out many classic games such as Bruce Lee , The Dallas Quest , The Goonies and Alternate Real...
www.youtube.com
And mobygames (where many of the screens in this thread are from) has a large list.
Datasoft, Inc. - MobyGames
Datasoft was founded by Pat Ketchum in 1980. This company was based out of Chatsworth, California. When the company first started, there were about 15 in-house programmers. Ketchum was in his late 20's at the time. Ketchum acquired as many trademark...
www.mobygames.com
Some screens of games published and/or developed by Datasoft (most are multi-format):
Popcorn! (TRS-80)
Shooting Arcade (TRS-80)
Genesis (Apple II)
The Magic Carpet (TRS-80)
The Sands of Egypt (TRS-80)
O'Riley's Mine (Apple II)
Pac-Man (Apple II)
Zaxxon (Atari 8-bit)
Juno First (IBM PC)
The Dallas Quest (Apple II)
Conan: Hall of Volta (Apple II)
Bruce Lee (Atari 8-bit)
Mancopter (Commodore 64)
The Goonies (Atari 8-bit)
Zorro (Atari 8-bit)
The Neverending Story (Commodore 64)
Mercenary (Atari 8-bit)
Alternate Reality: The City (Atari 8-bit)
Force 7 (Commodore 64)
Napoleon in Russia: Borodino 1812 (IBM PC)
Dark Lord (Commodore 64)
What do you think about Datasoft?
