Top Five Psygnosis Arts

I have many happy memories of the various computer and/or game magazines I grew up reading but one of a handful of memories that stands out the most are those of the truly wonderful Psygnosis advertisements that adorned said magazines. They were most prevalent from the late 80s to early 90s and they were so eye-catching that to this day I still remember most of them while knowing little about the actual games they were advertising! This is mainly because most of them were for the Amiga and Atari ST which I didn't have, but I will remedy this in a series of posts in near (ish) future. In the meantime, here's a pick of some of the finest examples of their adverts from those glorious days. A gallery of them all will follow.

5. Barbarian (1987)

No, not that violent Barbarian game with Wolf and Maria Whittaker in the advert, although that was also memorable for different reasons (chortle!). The artwork for this Barbarian was, like many Psygnosis games, the work of talented British artist Roger Dean and, slightly oddly, places the warrior of the title only in the title logo thingy rather than in the actual scenario depicted in the art. The only creature there is a red dinosaur-type beastie which, as far as I know, doesn't feature in the game at any stage, but it's certainly a distinctive piece all the same. The game itself is a stabby platform adventure which casts the player in the expected role, but it has aged much less favourably than its lovely artwork thanks to some slow, sluggish gameplay that isn't helped by a 'unique', somewhat cumbersome control method. Look but don't touch!

4. Ork (1991)

This one is a good example of what I was talking about - I remember the advert, a fantastic painting by Richard Clifton-Dey, but I've never had any idea what the actual game was like. It turns out that it was (and probably still is) a platform-shooter through which you play as some peculiar red hoppy alien creature and it looks pretty good actually - definitely one to review at some point - although, again, the contents of the artwork do not appear to feature in the game. I'm not even sure what it is - some sort of nightmare creature, or a large (very large judging by the size of the spaceship flying past it) rock formation with highly coincidental erosion? Who knows but it certainly looks cool - so much so that Blue Öyster Cult used it for one of their album covers too!

3. Blood Money (1989)

Unlike some of the other games featured here, this is one where I actually had knowledge of the game itself. I even played it a few times! It was this splendid advert/cover design by Peter Andrew Jones that I saw first though. I think it was the ace font/logo that stood out for me as much as the actual artwork but it's a great piece all round. I always used to think the game would be some sort of run 'n' gun type affair, I'm not sure why, maybe because of the guy on the advert holding a gun, but it's actually that rarest of beasts - an original shmup for the 16-bit home micros! Well, and the C64 later, but you know what I mean. It's a pretty good one too, as it happens - rather slow but featuring lovely crisp graphics, decent music, and nicely varied gameplay. Time to give this one a proper going over!

2. Cytron (1992)

This isn't one I remember as keenly from the magazines as most of the other Psygnosis arts but it's definitely one that has grown on me over the years, perhaps because the spacey scenario it depicts reminds me of the Terran Trade Authority Handbooks my dad passed down to me which so captivated me during my formative years. I'm not totally sure what the contraption that dominates the image actually is though, if I'm honest. Is it some sort of space tank, elevated above its tracks? It looks very cool to any sci-fi nerd like me in any case. We're back on familiar ground with regards to my knowledge of the game, however, which was virtually nil until this post. As it turns out, it's a kind of sci-fi-themed Gauntlet clone which wouldn't have been my first guess, but I usually like games like that so it's another one to look into.

1. Agony (1992)

Slightly predictable, perhaps, but the Agony advert/cover is more than just a good piece of artwork - it quickly become an iconic image of the 16-bit home micro era generally, and that's despite not providing any clues about the game itself! I've always assumed the rocky skull with scary lightning crackling around it to be the dwelling of some sort of dangerous, wholly malevolent entity; perhaps an evil sorcerer or even a spooky undead abomination with despicable plans for any unfortunate mortals that may share its domain. And that was all before I played it! Of course, it also turned out to be a reasonably spooky game, and a rather good one too. I've even reviewed it so check it out here for more info.