{{Infobox company , name = Blue Ribbon Software , logo = , caption = , type = , genre =

Video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

, fate = , predecessor = , successor = , foundation = 1985 , founder = , defunct = 1991 , location_city =

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

, location_country = UK , location = , locations = , area_served = , key_people = , industry = , products = , services = , revenue = , operating_income = , net_income = , aum = , assets = , equity = , owner = , num_employees = , parent = , divisions = , subsid = , homepage = , footnotes = , intl = Blue Ribbon was the budget computer software publishing label of

CDS Micro Systems CDS Software (also known as CDS Micro Systems for its earlier titles) was an independent publisher and developer of computer game software based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK. History The company was founded by Ian Williams, a computer pro ...

. The label launched in 1985 mostly made up of games from the MRM Software back catalogue. MRM had been a label producing games for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an empha ...

and

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a p ...

. Blue Ribbon reissued these and also converted them to other platforms including

Atari 8-bit The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

and

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

Plus/4 The Commodore Plus/4 is a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphing); it was billed as "the produc ...

. By the late 80s, Blue Ribbon were also releasing games for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

and Commodore 64 including reissues of games for publishers including

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Window ...

, Bubble Bus and

Artic Artic or ARTIC may refer to: Places *Artic, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Artic, Washington, an unincorporated community Transportation * Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, a transit hub in Anaheim, California * Articu ...

as well as games originally published at full price by CDS. This included the first stand alone releases for games previously only available on compilations (e.g. '' Syncron'' and ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

'' from Superior and ''Video Card Arcade'' and ''Dominoes'' from CDS). The Superior games were released as joint Superior/Blue Ribbon releases and carried advertisements for current Superior full price games. Although a small number of compilations were released on disk, all individual releases were on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

between £1.99 and £2.99. The label's final releases were in 1991 and CDS never used the Blue Ribbon label for 16-bit releases.

Releases

Original releases

*''Astro Plumber'' (

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...

CPC CPC may refer to: Organizations Companies * Canada Post Corporation, the primary postal operator in Canada * Caspian Pipeline Consortium, consortium and a pipeline to transport Caspian oil to Russia's Black Sea coast * Consolidated Pastoral Co ...

, C16,

) *''Bar Billiards'' (BBC, Electron) *''Condition Red'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Diamond Mine II'' (BBC, Electron, CPC, C16/

, MSX) *''Joey'' (BBC, Electron, C16) *''Ravage'' (BBC, Electron) *''M-Droid'' (MSX) *''Trapper'' (BBC, Electron) *''Return of R2'' (BBC, Electron) *''Mango'' (BBC, Electron) *'' 3D Dotty'' (BBC, Electron) *''Spooksville'' (BBC, Electron) *''System 8: The Pools Predictor'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC, C16,

C64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness Wo ...

, ZX, MSX) *''Turf-Form: Beat the Bookie'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC, C16, C64, ZX, MSX) *''Hi-Q-Quiz'' (BBC, Electron, CPC, C64, ZX) *''Syntax'' (CPC, C64, ZX) *''Wulfpack'' (CPC, C64, ZX) *''Balloon Buster'' (BBC, Electron, CPC)

Reissues and ports

MRM Software

*''3D Munchy'' / ''Hangman'' (BBC) *''Banana Man'' / ''Secret Sam 1'' (BBC) *''Guy In The Hat'' / ''Secret Sam 2'' (BBC) *''Castle Assault'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC) *''Darts'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC, C64, ZX, MSX) *''

Diamond Mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC, C16) *''Q Man'' (BBC) *''Q Man's Brother'' (BBC) *''Screwball'' (BBC, Atari, CPC) *''Artist (aka Artmaster)'' (BBC, CPC) *''Nightmare Maze'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC)

CDS Software

*''Caterpillar'' / ''Leapfrog'' (ZX) *''Gobble a Ghost'' / ''3D Painter'' (ZX) *''

Spectrum Safari ''Spectrum Safari'' is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and self-released by A.J. Rushton in 1983. The game was soon signed by CDS Micro Systems who reissued it in early 1984 with a new cover and loading screen. Its cassette inlay simply read: ...

'' / ''

Winged Warlords ''Winged Warlords'' is a ZX Spectrum game which was published by CDS Microsystems in 1983. It is a clone of '' Joust'' in terms of level design and gameplay. The graphics are different, with the ostrich mounts being replaced with winged horses. ...

'' (ZX) *'' Timebomb'' / ''

Magic Meanies ''Magic Meanies'' is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by CDS Micro Systems in 1983. ''Magic Meanies'' is a clone of Universal's ''Mr. Do!'' arcade game. Gameplay The player, Meltec the Wizard, digs tunnels to collect lumps of l ...

'' (ZX) *''Pool'' (CPC, ZX) *''Video Card Arcade'' (BBC, Electron, CPC, C64, ZX) - previously only available as part of ''The Complete Home Entertainment Centre'' *''Golf'' (BBC, Electron) - reissue of ''Birdie Barrage'' *''Steve Davis Snooker'' (BBC, Electron, Atari, CPC, C16, C64, ZX, MSX) *''Dominoes'' (BBC, Electron, CPC, ZX) - previously only available as part of ''The Complete Home Entertainment Centre''

Bubble Bus Software

*''The Ice Temple'' (CPC, C64, ZX) *''Wizard's Lair'' (CPC, C64, ZX, MSX) *'' Moonlight Madness'' (ZX) *''Cave Fighter'' (C16, C64)

Artic Computing

*''Rugby'' (ZX) - reissue of ''International Rugby''

Artworx Artworx was a Naples, Florida software company that produced and supported a line of computer games (primarily specializing in poker and other card games) from 1981 to 2020. It is named after the founder's given name. At first the company publish ...

*''Ice Hockey'' (C64) - reissue of ''International Hockey'' *''Strip Poker'' (C64)

Superior Software

*''

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''Karate Combat'' (BBC, Electron) *''Percy Penguin'' (BBC, Electron) *''Mr Wiz'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Stryker's Run ''Stryker's Run'' is a video game designed by Chris Roberts and Philip Meller for the BBC Micro and BBC Master which was published by Superior Software in 1986. It was also later converted to the Acorn Electron. It is a 2D side-scrolling action g ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' DeathStar'' (BBC, Electron) *''Smash and Grab'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Repton 2'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can al ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Ravenskull'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Galaforce ''Galaforce'' is a fixed shooter video game for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, written by Kevin Edwards and published by Superior Software in 1986. It spawned a sequel, ''Galaforce 2'' (1988), and later, ''Galaforce Worlds'' (2003). Gamepla ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''Codename: Droid'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Crazee Rider'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Syncron'' (BBC, Electron) - previously only available on a ''Superior Collection'' compilation *'' Repton Around The World'' (BBC, Electron) - reissue of ''Around the World in 40 Screens'' *''

Palace of Magic ''Palace of Magic'' is a platform game released on 1 November 1987 for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro by Superior Software. Combining platform elements with problem solving, it similar gameplay to the earlier ''Citadel''. Both are early example ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Elixir ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' The Life of Repton'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Spellbinder'' (BBC, Electron) *''Quest'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Spycat'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Repton Thru Time'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Pipeline Pipeline may refer to: Electronics, computers and computing * Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on ** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Repton 3 ''Repton'' is a video game originally developed by 16-year-old Briton Tim Tyler for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and released by Superior Software in 1985. The game spawned a series of follow up games which were released throughout the 1980s. ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Bonecruncher'' (BBC, Electron) *''Bug Blaster'' (BBC, Electron) - originally an

Alligata Alligata Software Ltd. was a computer games developer and publisher based in Sheffield in the UK in the 1980s. The company was founded by brothers Mike and Tim Mahony and their father J.R. Mahony in 1983. They produced games for a number of hom ...

game that had featured on a Superior compilation *''

'' (BBC, Electron) - previously only available on a ''Play It Again Sam'' compilation *'' Galaforce 2'' (BBC, Electron) - previously only available on a ''Play It Again Sam'' compilation *'' Barbarian II'' (BBC, Electron) *''

The Last Ninja ''The Last Ninja'' is an action-adventure game originally developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It was converted to the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, BBC Micro, and Acorn Electron in 1988, the Apple II in 1989, the Amiga, and ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Ballistix ''Ballistix'' is a video game created by Martin Edmondson for the Amiga and Atari ST and published by Psyclapse in 1989. It was also converted to a number of other home computers in the same year and the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console in 1991 ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''Superior Soccer'' (BBC, Electron)

Releases

Original releases

Reissues and ports

MRM Software

CDS Software

Bubble Bus Software

Artic Computing

Artworx Artworx was a Naples, Florida software company that produced and supported a line of computer games (primarily specializing in poker and other card games) from 1981 to 2020. It is named after the founder's given name. At first the company publish ...

Superior Software

External links