Katakis

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Katakis
Studio Rainbow Arts
Publisher Rainbow Arts
Senior Developer Manfred Trenz
composer Chris Huelsbeck
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1988
platform Commodore 64 , Amiga , iOS
genre Shoot 'em up
Game mode Single player , two player
medium diskette
language English

Katakis is a shoot-'em-up - computer game of the Gütersloh developer Rainbow Arts , which in 1988 for the Commodore 64 was released and a year later for the Amiga ported was.

action

Scientists from the planet Katakis once invented machines to make life easier for the people of Katakis. The technical marvels developed a life of their own, turned against their creators and devastated the planet. The player is the pilot of a space glider that is supposed to penetrate the center of the machine army and eliminate the mechanical enemies.

Game principle and technology

It's a 2D space shooter in which a spaceship and an indestructible satellite have to fight their way through twelve different levels. The spaceship can move on the screen, while the background with the landscapes moves from right to left ("scrolls", see scrolling ). The game on the C64 became a cult classic, as it exhausted the device both in terms of programming and graphics. Characteristic of the game were screen-sized bosses who had to be defeated at the end of each level. It could be played alone or by two players at the same time (spaceship and satellite) or alternately in two-player mode.

Production notes

The game was programmed by Manfred Trenz , who also created the graphics with Andreas Escher . The C64 version was released in 1987 on a double-sided 5.25- inch - disc , each with 170 KB of memory, the Amiga version on a 3.5- inch floppy disk with 880 KB. The technical and graphical similarity of Katakis to Irem's flagship shooter R-Type led shortly after the release of the C64 version to a legendary agreement between Rainbow Arts and R-Type publisher Activision, who wanted to avoid a legal dispute. It was agreed that the Katakis programming team would also handle the implementation of R-Type - the game was ready within 6½ weeks. The game was then marketed abroad as Denaris from 1989 for legal reasons . A new edition in the low-price segment from Rainbow Arts later appeared in Germany under this new name.

The name Katakis comes from the Düsseldorf telephone directory and was a Greek restaurant. A similar procedure was followed when naming Turrican . Turrican II also contains a Katakis level, in which the words “Katakis Lives” ( “Katakis lives” ) pass as a banner.

Sequels

In 1992 an unofficial sequel to Katakis was released under the name Enforcer exclusively for the C64.

The computer game developer Factor 5 released the Amiga version of Katakis years later as freeware for non-commercial use.

In 1999 Crush (C64) appeared for the C64. The gameplay and the graphics are very reminiscent of Katakis or R-Type. The game was released by Smash Designs . In the credits it says "´CRUSH´ - (KATAKIS II?)". Graphics, code, game design, sound effects come from André Bürger , end music from Tammo Hinrichs , intro and game music (ingame) from Chris Hülsbeck and Tufan Uysal . In the credits, Manfred Trenz, Andreas Escher and Chris Hülsbeck, among others, are greeted.

A prototype named Katakis 3D for the Game Boy Color comes from 2001.

The official successor to Katakis 2 was announced for 2011 . A game trailer has been released for this. Accordingly, the game should be a development by Denaris Entertainment Software and VIS Visual Imagination Software . Concept and game design are by Manfred Trenz , game design, game code and graphics by Andre Bürger , music and sound effects by Markus Siebold . On the website denarisoftware.de of the game developer Manfred Trenz it was said in 2012 "Katakis 2 is a leisure project. Due to the large number of commercial projects, the development was put on hold, because unfortunately there was no more time to work on it. When the development again can be included is not yet certain. "

The game Crush (2016) by VIS-Games and SilentFuture was released on June 9, 2016 . Apparently graphics from the Katakis 2 project were used in it. According to its name, this is a continuation of the game Crush from 1999 for the C64. Programming and graphics are by André Bürger (as with Crush from 1999), the music by Markus Siebold (as with Enforcer). Special thanks go to Manfred Trenz.

music

The music was composed by Chris Hülsbeck . The music of the C-64 version contains numerous covers and samples. Track 5 is based on the song Humanoid Invasion by Laserdance (1986), Track 7 on Alisand by Hugh Bullen (1985), Track 9 on My Dream by Shamall (1986), Track 9 on The Delta Force Main Theme by Alan Silvestri (1986) .

In 2015, Chris Hülsbeck and Patrick Nevian released a Katakis Medley played on piano on the album The Piano Collection .

reception

reviews
publication Rating
64'er 14/15
ASM 10/12
Power play 7.5 / 10

Andrew Draheim saw clear parallels in the magazine 64'er with the Shoot 'em up IO by the British publisher Firebird , which appeared in the same year, but praised the two-player mode, the graphics, the sound and the clean scrolling of Katakis .

For current PCs exist Freeware - Remake called Takatis.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interview with Manfred Trenz ( Memento from March 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Classics for Free on Factor5.de (English)
  3. ↑ http://www.datistics.de/enforcer-crush-inoffizielle-katakis-nachhaben-c64/
  4. ↑ https://www.unseen64.net/2012/02/10/katakis-3d-gbc-unreleased/
  5. ↑ http://www.4players.de/4players.php/spielinfo/PC-CDROM/6776/Katakis_2.html
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08VCnvq8VlU
  7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120516043455/http://www.denarisoftware.de/HTML/Katakis2.html
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCIzXTnJLpQ
  9. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/c64turrican/posts/10157508361634386
  10. ↑ a b 64'er 5/1989, p. 129
  11. ^ Ottfried Schmidt: Germans in Space! . In: ASM . September 1988.
  12. ^ Heinrich Lenhardt : Katakis . In: Power Play . June 1988, p. 30.
  13. ↑ Takatis