''Loopz'' is a puzzle video game designed and programmed by Ian Upton for the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

in 1989. He previously worked as head game designer for

Audiogenic Audiogenic Software was a British video game development company. It was established in 1985 following an earlier Audiogenic company that had been founded in the late 1970s. It published its last new title in 1997, after the core of the developme ...

, who acquired exclusive rights to the game, then in 1990 arranged for Mindscape to publish it for computers in North America and consoles worldwide. The

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

version (programmed by

Bits Studios Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the g ...

) and the Game Boy version (programmed by Argonaut Software) were released in 1990. Audiogenic published versions of the original game for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC,

Commodore 64 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 ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

, and

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in 1990 and 1991.

Gameplay

The main focus is on the playing board where random pieces of different shapes are presented to the player. A shape is either a single square containing a straight line or 90° corner or a combination of multiple such squares. The player must then try to make loops out of them. Once a loop is completed, all pieces involved will disappear. (You cannot make any line overlapping the edge, in other words, it cannot be placed in this way) There exist three different play modes, two of which can be played with two players. The third mode of play starts with a loop already created and then takes away random pieces of it, so the player has to put them back in after they show up.

Reception

Richard Leadbetter of ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' gave the game 79% for its Amiga version describing its gameplay as simplistic but decent, while noted that graphics looked dated. The Atari ST version received the same score. Steve Cooke of ''ACE'' magazine rated the Atari ST version 795/1000 noting its difficulty and longer learning curve compared to its peers. Stephan Englhart of ''Video Games'' gave the game's Game Boy version 69% and noted that it didn't stand out among its peers. Martin Gaksch gave the NES version 69% as well calling the idea innovative, but not well executed.

Legacy

A port was done for the Atari Lynx, also for Audiogenic by

Hand Made Software A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...

but lay unreleased until picked up by Songbird Productions in 2004. An agreement was reached between Audiogenic Software and the defunct Atari Classics Programmer's Club in 1995 for development of an

Atari 8-bit family 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, ...

version of the game. This version remained incomplete by the time it was abandoned in October 1998. A sequel, ''

Super Loopz Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butto ...

'', was published for the Super NES by Imagineer and for the Amiga CD32 by Audiogenic. Audiogenic licensed the ''Loopz'' concept to Capcom who developed a prototype coin-op, but it was never released. Similarly Audiogenic developed an SWP (skill-with-prizes) version on behalf of Barcrest, a leading UK manufacturer of pub games, and this too remains unreleased.

References

External links

* *
''Loopz''
at the Amiga Hall of Light 1990 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari Jaguar games Atari Lynx games Atari ST games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games DOS games Game Boy games Hand Made Software games Nintendo Entertainment System games Puzzle video games Songbird Productions games X68000 games Video games scored by David Whittaker Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games Mindscape games Argonaut Games games Single-player video games Bits Studios games {{puzzle-videogame-stub