 ![[Australia]](images/flags/austrlia.gif) Melbourne House
Melbourne House was really two companies, an Australian software
house (Beam Software) and
the British Melbourne House. Beam ran Melbourne House as their
European distributor and source of games written in Europe. In
early 1987, Mastertronic bought
the European part of the business and the Melbourne House name.
Their Tolkien trilogy (Hobbit/LoTR/SoM) is infamous for numerous
bugs.
Melbourne House has a homepage at http://www.melbournehouse.com/.
There are inofficial sites about Melbourne House: They are or have been distributed by Virgin Games and Mindscape, Inc.
For more information, see Addison-Wesley and Mastertronic.
Joystick adventures
These were a combination of traditional text and scrolling
graphics with a minimally animated figure that one moved
around the screen. The parser only recognized the first two
letters of each word.
 Hampstead
Type: Text only
Written 1984 by Trevor Lever and Peter Jones.
Runs on:
Notes: Roger Taylor was also involved in this somehow. Also available
in Spanish.
Comments: You start at the bottom of the social ladder and have to
work your way up to the top to Hampstead (one of the better
areas in London) using any methods (lying, cheating, stealing).
 The Hobbit
Type: Drawn graphics/Graphics
Written 1983 by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler.
Runs on:
Notes: Very good parser, vocabulatory and non-player characters for
the time. Based on the book of the same name by J.R.R.
Tolkien.
For more information, see Addison-Wesley
The Hobbit (Enhanced Version)
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1985.
Runs on:
Notes: This was an improved version of The Hobbit with extra problems,
additional text, larger vocabulatory and enhanced graphics.
 Sherlock
Type: Drawn graphics/Music
Written 1985 by Philip Mitchell.
Runs on:
Comments: This was a rather buggy game.
 Terrormolinos
Type: Graphics
Written 1985 by Peter Jones [game concept and storyline], Trevor Lever [game concept and storyline], Mike Robinson [graphics], Roger Taylor [programming] and James Byrne [programming].
Runs on:
Notes: Originally developed in The Quill, but they had to write their
game driver because The Quill was to weak. This game driver
was later bought by Adventure International. Two-word parser.
Comments: You are going on holiday to Torremolinos, but you have to do
ten totally unusual photographs of the town to prove to your
neighbours that you have been there.
Package blurb: TERRORMOLINOS -- an outrageous holiday spoof set on the Costa
Brava, created by the authors of the cult hit HAMPSTEAD. You
must survive a two week package holiday -- and return home
with ten snapshots to prove it!
Terrormolinos takes you to the world of the saucy seaside
postcard. Every successful snap develops on screen while you
watch. But beware, because every time you make a fatal error,
your embarrassing position is colourfully depicted in
SAUCIVISION -- the unique graphics system patented by the
authors. In TERRORMOLINOS, every holiday disaster can come
true! So why spend a fortune going abroad when you can get
gippy tummy in the privacy of your living room?
 The Lord of the Rings: Game One (The Fellowship of the Ring)
Type: Drawn graphics
Written 1985 by Philip Mitchell et al.
Runs on:
Notes: Pseudo-graphical adventure with a lot of different viewpoint
characters to choose from. As far as I can remember, one had
to change character now and then to solve the game. Very slow.
Includes two cassettes, a large booklet and a paperback copy of
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.
Philip Mitchell built the engine on a unix system and got
the adventure going there in text version only. Seperate teams
of people then ported it to each micro. The Spectrum team was
small, consisting of Steve Taylor
and Doug Palmer. The C64 team was quite large - about 8 people
by the end, as they panicked and brought in some contractors.
Package blurb: Live out your wildest fantasies in the mysterious and
enchanted world of Middle Earth -- a world of boundless
imagination where nothing is certain and anything is
possible.
You and your fearless band of Hobbits may not be blessed with
any super powers or magic, but there are plenty of others who
are. Stay close to them because your quest is daunting and
your adversaries are ominous and evil. But courage,
perseverance and imagination (with a little help from your
friends) are enough to destroy even the evil Sauron's
insidious control over your world.
For more information, see Addison-Wesley
 Shadows of Mordor
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1987 by Philip Mitchell, et al.
Runs on:
Notes: Sequel to The Lord of the Rings: Game One. Based on Frodo and Sam's
part in The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.
 The Tolkien Trilogy
Runs on:
Notes: This is a compilation consisting of The Hobbit, The Lord of
the Rings: Game One (The Fellowship of the Ring), and Shadows
of Mordor.
Crack of Doom
Type: Graphics
Written 1989 by Philip Mitchell et al.
Runs on:
Notes: Based on Frodo and Sam's part in The Return of the King by
J.R.R. Tolkien.
Demon's Tomb: The Awakening
Written 1990.
 Classic Adventure
Type: Text only
Written 1983 by John Jones-Steele.
Runs on:
Notes: A remake of the original adventure.
Package blurb: CLASSIC ADVENTURE was the first major computer game and now
it's become a classic in its own time. This exciting new
release of Classic Adventure for the Commodore 64 will enable
you to slay dragons, find hidden treasures and bribe trolls:
and as your skill increases through more and more victories
and discoveries you too can become a master adventurer.
 Mordon's Quest
Type: Text only
Written 1985 by Peter Moreland [design], Peter Donne [design] and John Jones-Steele [programming].
Runs on:
Notes: 150 locations, 500 words. The Commodore 64 version was buggy, so
that if you tried to solve the game you'd suddenly have all sorts
of strange objects, leaving the game unsolvable. This bug can be
eliminated by resetting the computer after loading the game and
then restarting it by typing 'SYS 4828'.
Comments: Viciously hard game.
Castle of Terror
Type: Drawn graphics/Music/DG/MUSIC/animation
Written 1984 by Grahame Willis.
Runs on:
Notes: Divided into two parts (the second one loaded automatically when
you entered the castle; there was no turning back then). Had
graphics for all rooms, but I don't think they were necessary in
more than a few places. Infamous game (to my knowledge, no one
has _ever_ managed to save the princess _and_ kill the count -
but the discussion has gone on for years!) Parser capable of
commands such as: "GET AXE AND LAMP AND PUT THEM IN SACK".
Comments: You volunteer to save a maiden in distress from the castle of a
vampire count.
Where Hobbits Dare
Type: Graphics
Notes: This was planned as a sequel to The Hobbit, but was never released.
 Dodgy Geezers
Written 1986 by Peter Jones [storyline], Trevor Lever [storyline], Valerie Saunders [graphic ideas] and Consult Computer Systems [graphic design] in The Quill.
Runs on:
Notes: It had a song track on the reverse side of the tape.
Package blurb: Fresh out of gaol after serving a three year stretch for your
part in the Long Ditton Spaghetti Caper, you're itching for
that one massive caper which will allow you to live on the
Costa Brava for the rest of your life.
But what is the caper, and who can you trust to be in your
gang? And by the way, who IS that geezer in the white Gucci
shoes?
DODGY GEEZERS is the latest "real life adventure" from Trevor
Lever and Peter Jones, authors of HAMPSTEAD and
TERRORMOLINOS, and writers and performers of the diabolical
DODGY GEEZERS song on the flip side of this tape. At least
the lyrics may give you some useful tips...
Merry Christmas
Type: Bitmap graphics/Music/BG/MUSIC/animations
Written 1984 by Grahame Willis.
Runs on:
Notes: Sent out around christmas 1984 to all of Melbourne House's
business partners (I think). Fairly small game, but very
cute, nonetheless.
Comments: Help Santa deliver the christmas presents.
 Redhawk
Written 1986.
Runs on:
Package blurb: Ordinary Kevin Oliver shouts "KWAH" and becomes REDHAWK,
superhero extraordinaire, in this original comic strip
adventure.
Alternating between the characters of REDHAWK and KEVIN you
must use all your superhuman skills to battle against the
arch-villains and criminals who pose threats to your city. At
the same time you must keep a careful check on your
popularity rating, your energy level and have enough money to
get you around!
But remember -- time is of the essence, and unless you cope
with the challenging problems posed in this unique graphic
adventure, the whole city will go up in a big bang!
 Kwah?
Type: Bitmap graphics/Point-n-Click/Text input
Written 1986 by Simon Price and Mike Lewis.
Runs on:
Notes: Sequel to "Redhawk" (about the comic book hero). Comic strip
graphics has the player following Redhawk as he tries to break
into a huge mansion.
Dennis Through the Drinking Glass
Runs on:
 Asterix and the Magic Cauldron
Type: Moving character graphics
Written 1986.
Runs on:
Notes: A prettily presented but buggy and frustrating game.
Package blurb: Gaul is divided into three parts... No, four, for one small
Gaulish village in Armorica still holds out against the
invaders. Fortified by their magic potion, they still
successfully resist the Romans. However, the magic cauldron
the potion is brewed in has been accidentally shattered into
seven pieces which our heroes Asterix and Obelix must
recover...
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