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[RAIDEN1]

Bullfrog may not seem a big developer akin to Konami and Capcom..but Bullfrog's contribution to the Amiga and PC scene are unquestionable..Once upon a time Peter Molyneux (think I spelt his name right) was regarded within the top tier of developers....(the main man behind Bullfrog) this video goes into where it all started and how things fell...

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Bullfrog may not seem a big developer akin to Konami and Capcom..

I think this would ring true for console-only players at the time.

I was on PC during this period and Bullfrog was one of the names I came to trust. While Maxis was deservedly famous and liked for its Sim series, in my mind Bullfrog embodied the fun side of simulation/god games.

I think outside of Hi Octane, the rest of the Bullfrog franchises all had a pretty big hit at least once, if not more.

Oh and I have vague memories of playing the Creation demo which ended with a shark attack on my submarine. Gotta wonder what that game would have turned out to be if it actually got finished and released.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Dungeon Keeper 1 was so good and outside the box that they could release trash every year after and I wouldn't have cared. That game alone is accomplishment enough.

 

[Cravis]

I wasn’t a PC gamer but I loved the heck out of Theme Park and Theme Hospital on the original PlayStation.

 

[AJUMP23]

They made some of my favorite PC games. I don't think they made a game I didn't like at the time. Another great studio EA killed.

 

[Schmick]

Theme Park and Theme Hospital... fantastic and a happy reminder of my childhood especially Theme Park.

 

[AV]

Theme Park and Theme Hospital, but I also have a really fond personal attachment to Theme Park World (Sim Theme Park in the states). I still revisit the PS1 game every so often.

 

[Rat Rage]

Thanks for the heads-up OP! Will watch later. Bullfrog was so sick in the day. Some of their gameplay experiences have STILL not been surpassed.

And to all the Molyneux haters: f%$3 you! The man is a TRUE legend! A hall of fame developer!

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Theme Park and Theme Hospital, but I also have a really fond personal attachment to Theme Park World (Sim Theme Park in the states). I still revisit the PS1 game every so often.

Great game indeed.


AND I WANT A NEW BLACK & WHITE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kokoloko85]

As a kids I loved populous on the Megadrive /Genesis

 

[Kokoloko85]

Great game indeed.


AND I WANT A NEW BLACK & WHITE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I loved black and white

 

[RAIDEN1]

Yes I loved black and white

I've never tried Theme Hospital, probably played a demo of Theme Park, and never played Populous, Powermonger, and Black and White....and you just knew that Magic Carpet was beyond the realms of any Amiga at the time, much less the CD32..

 

[Yabusamaro]

Ahhh, that Syndicate. Impressive when it was released and so influential. Love the game and the background of it. Yeah, Bullfrog was mindblowing

 

[Null Persp]

Legends, they did so many good games.
My fav is Syndicate.

 

[MrS]

Dungeon Keeper one of the GOATs for real

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Bullfrog have the world Syndicate, so they are god tier by definition.

 

[Patrick S.]

Ughh Kim pronounces "thing" as "fin", just like Steve Burke does. Bad Kim, bad!

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Thanks for the heads-up OP! Will watch later. Bullfrog was so sick in the day. Some of their gameplay experiences have STILL not been surpassed.

And to all the Molyneux haters: f%$3 you! The man is a TRUE legend! A hall of fame developer!

Agreed; he deserves to be mentioned alongside Shigeru Miyamoto, Yu Suzuki, Ken Levine, Warren Spector etc. IMHO.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Theme Park and Theme Hospital... fantastic and a happy reminder of my childhood especially Theme Park.

Theme park my God that brings back some good memories. Imagine a modern remake!

 

[Schmick]

Theme park my God that brings back some good memories. Imagine a modern remake!

Haha yea... but I think Planet Coaster has that covered.

 

[Kuranghi]

Everyone already said what I was going to say and I've reacted appropriately, but I will say that I do really miss his interviews/hyping of his games. I played far too much B&W back then, never even completed it, I just liked replaying the first few levels over and over and trying different things.

 

[RAIDEN1]

....Now look where the Syndicate franchise is.....in no man's land..

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Everyone already said what I was going to say and I've reacted appropriately, but I will say that I do really miss his interviews/hyping of his games. I played far too much B&W back then, never even completed it, I just liked replaying the first few levels over and over and trying different things.

You know what's the funny thing? I don't recall reading any of his interviews at the time (so I didn't get hyped up by him, at most it was by reviews). I only remember playing the games/demos thinking they were so charming and fun.

I remember being mindblown by the Populous II demo because I'd accidentally wiped an enemy town by planting trees (very low mana cost) everywhere...then unintentionally lighting one of them on fire with lightning (IIRC) and the forest fire spread and consumed them.

The Bullfrog game I played most was Magic Carpet and in a way I'm glad I did. There hasn't been a mainstream "magic carpet simulator" ever since the sequel as far as I know. At least most of the other franchises/genre types had some kind of spiritual sequel.

 

[Kuranghi]

You know what's the funny thing? I don't recall reading any of his interviews at the time (so I didn't get hyped up by him, at most it was by reviews). I only remember playing the games/demos thinking they were so charming and fun.

I remember being mindblown by the Populous II demo because I'd accidentally wiped an enemy town by planting trees (very low mana cost) everywhere...then unintentionally lighting one of them on fire with lightning (IIRC) and the forest fire spread and consumed them.

The Bullfrog game I played most was Magic Carpet and in a way I'm glad I did. There hasn't been a mainstream "magic carpet simulator" ever since the sequel as far as I know. At least most of the other franchises/genre types had some kind of spiritual sequel.

The interviews were later in the 90s definitely, I also got most of the hyping from the reviews/previews (Maybe he had quotes in the previews). I would love to see a modern Magic Carpet, I played that one when I was too young so never understood it and haven't gone back since.

 

[The_Mike]

Bullfrog puts Konami and Capcom to shame.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

The interviews were later in the 90s definitely, I also got most of the hyping from the reviews/previews (Maybe he had quotes in the previews). I would love to see a modern Magic Carpet, I played that one when I was too young so never understood it and haven't gone back since.

One thing about MC was that it had 50 missions and they were all set in the day on land, so even if you did understand it, it might have gotten boring/repetitive by the halfway mark.

MC2 fixed this by offering nighttime and underground environments but I can't remember why I didn't play it as far as I did the first. Might have been the novelty at the time or also because I had become distracted by some other PC game (gosh that was a golden age).

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Legendary developer.

 

[Fuz]

 

[Duchess]

I was never able to understand how to play Powermonger

 

[fermcr]

Yep. Bullfrog made one of the best games ever... Syndicate.

 

[BaneIsPain]

Luckily Theme Hospital has good successor in Two Point Hospital. Miss Bullfrog

 

[Fuz]

I just want a 1:1 port of Dungeon Keeper 1 and Syndicate 1, just with modern graphics and interfaces. And keep the old palettes. Is that asking too much?

 

[amigastar]

Luckily Theme Hospital has good successor in Two Point Hospital. Miss Bullfrog

Yeah, Two Point Hospital was great, i hope this team makes also a Theme Park remake.

 

[nowhat]

I just want a 1:1 port of Dungeon Keeper 1 and Syndicate 1, just with modern graphics and interfaces. And keep the old palettes. Is that asking too much?

Was going to reply that no major studio would do similar isometric style these days, but then I remembered - there is the Xcom reboot*). Which is pretty fantastic IMHO. So yeah. A new (proper, not some FPS shit) Syndicate for me as well.

*) ok, so there was Warcraft 3 Reforged as well, but less said about it the better

 

[Rat Rage]

Agreed; he deserves to be mentioned alongside Shigeru Miyamoto, Yu Suzuki, Ken Levine, Warren Spector etc. IMHO.

100%

....Now look where the Syndicate franchise is.....in no man's land..

Syndicate and especially Syndicate Wars were so ahead of their time. Besides the amazing dystopian cyberpunk athmosphere, artstlye, godlike soundtrack, awesome top down action gameplay, it also featured a semi open world (with cool and interesting missions - way before GTA) and fully destructable environments (which opened up different ways to play the missions) + you could play 2 very different Syndiates (story-wise) in Syndicate Wars.

The PS1 version has improved lighting and transparency effects, which also helped visibility a lot. It also had multiplayer on PS1. In single player you controlled all 4 agents/protagonists at the same time, and in multiplayer the other agents could be friends (up to 4 player CO-OP).

PS1 version has support for the PS1 mouse, too.

It's kinda hard to find good quality footage that also gives a good glimpse of the "feel" of game in action on youtube, but I think I have found two videos (one is even co-op).

Syndicate Wars PS1 Co-op 2Player


Syndicate Wars PS1 1Player (4 agents)




Syndicate/Syndicate Wars is still one of the best Cyberpunk (dystopian Cyberpunk a la Blade Runner) games TO DATE.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

100%



Syndicate and especially Syndicate Wars were so ahead of their time. Besides the amazing dystopian cyberpunk athmosphere, artstlye, godlike soundtrack, awesome top down action gameplay, it also featured a semi open world (with cool and interesting missions - way before GTA) and fully destructable environments (which opened up different ways to play the missions) + you could play 2 very different Syndiates (story-wise) in Syndicate Wars.

The PS1 version has improved lighting and transparency effects, which also helped visibility a lot. It also had multiplayer on PS1. In single player you controlled all 4 agents/protagonists at the same time, and in multiplayer the other agents could be friends (up to 4 player CO-OP).

PS1 version has support for the PS1 mouse, too.

It's kinda hard to find good quality footage that also gives a good glimpse of the "feel" of game in action on youtube, but I think I have found two videos (one is even co-op).

Syndicate Wars PS1 Co-op 2Player


Syndicate Wars PS1 1Player (4 agents)




Syndicate/Syndicate Wars is still one of the best Cyberpunk (dystopian Cyberpunk a la Blade Runner) games TO DATE.

Is that an action game or rpg?

 

[Sentenza]

Syndicate Wars was trash.

Bullfrog used to be one of these studios on which you could almost blindly bet they would come up with something great regardless of what genre they tackled. Not as reliable as Westwood but close enough.
Too bad it turned out that this was in spite of Peter Molyneaux's contribution to the development cycle and definitely not because of it.

What a fraud. The closest thing to a conman we had for a CEO of an established studio before Randy Pitchford became a name.

 

[Rat Rage]

Is that an action game or rpg?

It's a mix of both. It's an isometric real-time tactical/strategy game, where you have to complete missions for your Syndicate, earn money, with which you can/need to buy tons of different (futuristic and non futuristic) weapons/high-tech equipment/lots of cyborg parts to upgrade your cyborg agents, etc. You don't earn points like in RPGs, but you have to upgrade your cyborg agents and their equipment. There are different ways (also high-risk illegal ones like robbing a bank and stuff) to get extra cash and stuff.

 

[Soulblighter31]

I think this would ring true for console-only players at the time.

I was on PC during this period and Bullfrog was one of the names I came to trust. While Maxis was deservedly famous and liked for its Sim series, in my mind Bullfrog embodied the fun side of simulation/god games.

I think outside of Hi Octane, the rest of the Bullfrog franchises all had a pretty big hit at least once, if not more.

Oh and I have vague memories of playing the Creation demo which ended with a shark attack on my submarine. Gotta wonder what that game would have turned out to be if it actually got finished and released.

Whenever a PC game comes up on reera or here, its either silence or people played the vastly inferior, years later released console port. Its amazing how purely consolized this forum can be. Usually you get gamers from every walks of life in a forum. Here, its like sony gave birth to everyone. Almost every mention of bullfrogs catalogue in this topic comes from the hilariously inferior and gimped console ports of the original PC games that came out years later. What a shame really, to be interested in gaming in the 80s and 90s and not use a computer. Where most of the genres we play today were formed and imprinted new dirrections to the whole industry. Instead playing shitty console games that were trying to copy the best that PC had to offer

 

[RAIDEN1]

I was thinking of checking out ThemePark, turns out the GOG version has crashing problems.....

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Whenever a PC game comes up on reera or here, its either silence or people played the vastly inferior, years later released console port. Its amazing how purely consolized this forum can be. Usually you get gamers from every walks of life in a forum. Here, its like sony gave birth to everyone. Almost every mention of bullfrogs catalogue in this topic comes from the hilariously inferior and gimped console ports of the original PC games that came out years later. What a shame really, to be interested in gaming in the 80s and 90s and not use a computer. Where most of the genres we play today were formed and imprinted new dirrections to the whole industry. Instead playing shitty console games that were trying to copy the best that PC had to offer

Yea, I did notice quite a few of the replies in here were Bullfrog games on PS1, which was a foreign concept to me at the time (I didn't even know what a PS1 was); for me Bullfrog was, and still is, synonymous with PC.

I don't want to write a long post, so I'll sum up my thoughts by saying I believe videogames are shaped by their platform's native controls and limitations.

It's partly why I grew to admire Nintendo's attempts at shipping and supporting their "gimmicky" controls with each iterative platform they release; when these controls are standard, the creators can design their games around them.