{{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 status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, 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 prog ...

. 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 BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

and

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

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

Atari 8-bit The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

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 ZX Spec ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by 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, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

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. It was part of the Commodore 264 series, which also included the Commodore 16 and Commodore 116 models. The Plus/4 was marketed as "the productivity computer wit ...

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

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 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 ...

including reissues of games for publishers including

Superior Software Superior Interactive (formerly known as Superior Software Ltd) 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, and occasionally published software to the C ...

, Bubble Bus and Artic 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 legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with 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 ...

'' 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 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

, CPC, 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 Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

, 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 Wor ...

, 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'' / '' Winged Warlords'' (ZX) *'' Timebomb'' / '' Magic Meanies'' (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 video games ( specializing in poker and other card games) from 1981 to 2015. It is named after the founder's given name A given name (also known as a fore ...

*''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 ...

'' (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 ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Citadel A citadel is the most 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. ...

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

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Ravenskull'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Galaforce'' (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, its gameplay is similar to the earlier ''Citadel''. Both are early ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Elixir An elixir is a sweet liquid used for medical purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's illness. When used as a dosage form, pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orall ...

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

Pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Repton 3'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Bonecruncher ''Bone Cruncher'' is a puzzle video game for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64 first published by Superior Software in 1987. It uses the "rocks and diamonds" mechanics of ''Boulder Dash (video game), Boulder Dash''. An Amiga version ...

'' (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 home ...

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 developed and published by System 3 (company), 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 Amig ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

'' (BBC, Electron) *'' Ballistix'' (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 video games ( specializing in poker and other card games) from 1981 to 2015. It is named after the founder's given name A given name (also known as a fore ...

Superior Software

External links