A TRIBUTE TO
PSYSNOSIS
INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE FOR ITS STYLISH COVERS AND IN-GAME ART, PSYGNOSIS PUBLISHED HITS LIKE SHADOW OF THE BEAST AND LEMMINGS BEFORE MAKING GAMING COOL WITH WIPEOUT. FORMER PSYGNOSIS ART MANAGER JEFF BRAMFITT LOOKS BACK AT THE ILLUSTRIOUS STUDIO
WORDS BY RORY MILNE
After forming in the mid-Eighties from the ashes of Imagine Software, Psygnosis announced its arrival with
Brataccas
– a 16-bit reworking of Imagine’s socalled ‘megagame’
Bandersnatch
.
In 1987, the firm found success with the in-house developed Terrorpods and Barbarian, and in 1989 it did well with the externally developed shooter Blood Money. It also scored its first major hit in 1989 when it published the stylish arcade adventure Shadow Of The Beast, and two years later it released Lemmings, a cute strategy game that eclipsed the sales of many of its previous titles.