With its efforts on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration and The Making of Karateka, developer Digital Eclipse is cementing itself as a true pioneer in the interactive documentary space. Truth be told, it’s a niche that the studio completely owns at this point, and though we’re surprised other major players in the video game industry have yet to dive into it themselves, we can’t imagine anybody tackling the form without sneaking a few cheeky glances at Digital Eclipse’s work.
Following on from Karateka, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is the second in the Gold Master Series and takes a deep dive into the career and mind of Jeff Minter (sometimes referred to as ‘Yak’), an English video game designer and programmer who founded Llamasoft. Though well-known within the industry and by veteran players, you could be forgiven for not knowing a great deal about Minter beyond some of his more famous works, including Tempest 2000, Gridrunner, Akka Arrh, and Attack of the Mutant Camels. That’s where Digital Eclipse comes in.
Even if you’re not aware of those aforementioned titles, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story does an exceptional job of bringing you up to speed and laying out the history of what is undoubtedly one of video gaming's most fascinating and creative minds. Starting from Minter’s days in high school sixth-form learning how to code BASIC on a Commodore PET, the documentary takes you through his life as he creates Llamasoft, experiences an explosion of popularity, begins to experiment with light synthesisers, and ultimately grapples with the growing corporatisation of the industry throughout the ‘90s.
This is all brought to life wonderfully through a combination of text, image galleries, archival videos, new interviews (including the likes of Gary Whitta, Harold Goldberg, and Bex Trista), and yes, playable games. In the now-familiar fashion, The Jeff Minter Story’s timeline is separated into four chapters, each of which represents a significant period in the creator’s career. Within each chapter, you can explore the timeline to your heart’s content, with the vast majority of entries containing multiple visual accompaniments or anecdotal quotes. Everything’s been given a lovely personal touch to highlight Minter's interests and quirks, so while the experience isn’t as broad as Atari 50 or as focused as The Making of Karateka, Jeff Minter's is a much more intimate story.
In addition to the main timeline, the package also allows you to view Minter’s complete ‘gameography’ from start to finish, with each entry providing a brief overview of the creator’s game projects along with a handful of in-game images, from 1981’s Deflex to the 2023 revamp of Akka Arrh. 42 of Minter’s games are fully playable, and while these are all found periodically throughout the timeline itself, you can browse the complete collection at your leisure.
You’ve got the aforementioned Tempest 2000 here, of course, but there are also several more niche titles, including the light synthesiser Colourspace, the lawn-mowing game Hover Bovver, and an unofficial version of Centipede.
If that’s not quite niche enough, the collection also includes a demo for Attack of the Mutant Camels ‘89 for the unreleased British console, the Konix Multisystem, with Digital Eclipse utilising Minter’s source code for the game alongside specific technical specs of the Konix to pull off the emulation. Much like the inclusion of titles like Aquaventure and the original Akka Arrh in Atari 50, the addition of Attack of the Mutant Camels ‘89 might not bring unbridled joy to every gamer on the planet, but it’s a win for game preservation and a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into what might have been.
One notable omission from the selection, however, is Defender 2000 for the Atari Jaguar, which is down to the fact that neither Minter nor Atari (who, remember, acquired Digital Eclipse in late 2023) owns the rights to the game. A disappointment, but not the end of the world.
Of course, not every game included here is great, and some, like 1982’s Ratman, are particularly egregious even by Minter’s own admission. And sure, if you go into this collection and just dive straight into the list of playable games without experiencing the crucial context that the timeline itself provides, then you might struggle to find the fun. But learning the background behind each title included allows you to appreciate the thought and intent behind each game; not to mention Minter’s love of llamas and sheep.
Once again, Digital Eclipse has provided an effortlessly slick interactive experience. Everything from the timeline itself to the emulation of the games is pitch-perfect, and the combination of the subtle psychedelic timeline backgrounds with appropriately cool, ambient music provides a wonderfully professional and welcoming wrapper. Of course, if you want something a bit more upbeat, a quick tap into the options menu will let you swap in ‘The Minter Mix’, a selection of electronic tracks that feel perfectly suited to the experience.
We only came across one significant flaw throughout our time with The Jeff Minter Story, and it’s when the audio during video segments would occasionally fall out of sync with the visuals. This didn’t happen often, and a quick tap of 'L' to slightly rewind the segment solves the Switch-specific issue. Thankfully, Digital Eclipse flagged the problem and intends to fix it shortly with a post-launch patch.
Conclusion
Like Atari 50 and The Making of Karateka before it, Digital Eclipse's latest interactive documentary is a wonderful glimpse into the mind of one of gaming's most fascinating figures. Even if you've got no prior knowledge of Minter or his games, the selection of videos, image galleries, quotes, and playable games included here will provide you with a newfound respect for this niche yet immensely important segment of gaming history. Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is another triumph for Digital Eclipse, and we can't wait to see what the studio tackles next with its Gold Master Series.
Comments 28
How many of his games would you say are worth playing. (Trying to gauge whether this is priced correctly).
I know Tempest 2000 is awesome and Aka Arr got a remake
Been playing this on Xbox and it’s good but not only Defender 2000 but all newer Minter games in the 2000s were skipped. Wish the collection could have been more comprehensive in that respect. I guess it’s all due to rights.
Great review, can't wait to play and watch this on my Deck and laptop. Last night I got Moose Life and was utterly transfixed at how hypnotic, beautiful, and fun it is! It was running at 144fps on my laptop, and I swear no game has looked better on my laptop's screen. Amazing stuff.
I like what Atari is doing so far with these making of game collections. So much history in one collection. Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, and Sega really need to do something like this with their history of game collections too. How bout a Shigeru Miyamoto Legacy collection Nintendo or a Yuji Naka Portfolio collection Sega, I would love to see what companies do with those.
Can't wait. I've always loved his stuff.
Had to check elsewhere, but apparently my personal Jeff Minter game, Llamatron, is included. Good news
@Antraxx777 Ne is my favourite developer of all time. The majority of these are absolutely worth playing and as they work out at round about 55p each then all of them are.
So far this hasn't dropped on Steam or eshop. I'm sure it will within hours, I was just hoping for midnight gameplay.
Just got all the rest of the Llamasoft stuff on Steam and it's awesome. Had a hard time with one on Deck (almost none are certified), but otherwise they play and look great. Moose Life just makes me smile and laugh while playing it. It looks awesome at 90fps on Deck, but on laptop it astounds me. Really seems to be a perfect match for my motion blurry 144hz laptop screen!
Minter is a legend and grrat that they made is bevause of the interesting stories and getting back to that 90s feeling… so i’ll buy it (sooner or later)… is space giraffe there?
@Antraxx777 depnds on if you like arcade games.
Most of the, are a trippy version of classics.. all still fun.. and the documentary aspect is worth something too ofcourse..
I never really knew anything about its backstory, but for some reason Llamatron was included in one of the freeware / shareware CD-ROMs I had around the house when I was growing up. So I might actually get this collection just to see Llamatron again lol.
I also really liked Atari 50, so having another "gaming history museum" release like this is definitely a cool thing.
Antraxx777
If ANCPITAL is part off the collection, I Can really recommend this title. It Can be a litteratur ofputting to start, but if you come to around 1/3 in the game, you Will find it’s having a really well done tactical element, where you Can plan your rute - and it’s fun to plan. It’s a game with a 10*10 grid - where you Can take “any” route you like. You Can open each Wall between Two Roms - bur only from one site. Each time you are opening a Wall you get some energy back. Some Rooms is a “walk in a park” others are “killing zones”. In some rooms your score is boosted - others give you nearly nothing (and it isn’t depending on difficulty). So which room do you leave with 3 unopen Walls to come back to, to restere your energy? Witch rooms do you open enough doors to continuing. There are also some “Keys” you need to collect, to open to new areal. It’s one off the best tactical games I have ever tried/completed. An it is a shot-Them-up.
Great review definitely getting this, and the mention of the Konix multi system. A system that would of changed gaming forever. Its about time someone brought out something similar now.
Getting this today, been looking forward to it for ages. It's a shame newer games like Space Giraffe and TxK are not included, but still an incredible collection. I would really hope that those later games could be added as DLC later on, but very doubtful given the licensing issues.
@romanista Unfortunately, no.
Looking forward to learning more about Minter and his accomplishments thanks to this when I end up getting it!
Yet another reason to hate David Zaslov (Defender is owned by Warner Bros)
I would like to play Camels duology, lol.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Kit & Krysta Llamasoft video uploaded on Youtube today, documenting what goes on behind the scenes at the studio before a big release. It was surprisingly insightful & fun.
It reminded me I must pick up a physical copy of Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection, as that is one awesome time machine, clearly made by people with a huge passion for that era of gaming.
Is something slightly off with the controls compared to original hardware? I need to tap very fast trying to move one square in grid runner and other games.
@Antraxx777 This is very difficult to answer. Do you enjoy very old games that run at low frame rates? If so you might like many of these 42 or whatever games.
I haven't played every game yet, but I can quickly tell that I love Tempest 4000, TxK (the awesome Vita game that is the best version of Tempest ever), Moose Life, and Polybius more than anything in this compilation. I love this release, and am very glad I got it on Steam Deck (I'm sure it's great on Switch too), but it is like a very cool digital videogame museum/documentary. Also, I LOVE Colourspace, which is an 8 bit Atari light synthesizer included on this release. Ancipital is crazy and I like it. Llamatron: 2112 is a great Robotron type game that I'll probably play quite a bit. I just played Hover Bovver and I'd say you've got to like old Commodore 64 type games for this release to really be good "value". Most gamers would not be interested in about 37 of the games here. And I hate saying that because I really love this release!
I don't know. I'd say give it a try!
@Gimli thanks for posting this. I just tried Ancipital for the first time about 30 minutes ago and holy cow was I confused. I loved the craziness, but didn't know what to do.
@Antraxx777 I guess I can try to simply answer your question! For me, I'd say about 20 are worth playing. But also, for me, just colourspace and Llamatron make it worth it!
A HUGE thank you to Damien McFerrin and the time capsule website or whatever it's called that is a sister site to this one. The wipeout phantom edition article popped up on my phone a few days ago and today I finally followed the steps and holy crap I can't believe how magical wipEout looks and plays on my oled deck! I was smiling and laughing in awe at how awesome it is. Locked at 90fps, classic gameplay and graphics, yet improved controls and wall scraping (if you want it instead of the old thunk and being stopped), it is astonishing. Now I can't wait to see if it goes up to 180fps on my monitor.
What an absolutely INCREDIBLE piece of emulation though! If whoever created that does the same with wipeout xl, Wipeout 3, and Wipeout 64, well, I don't know what else I'll do besides play those games every day. So amazing.
#120frames-please
I know - the game is outputting at first. My advise is:
1) get to know the controls (it should take aroun 15-20 minuts at most).
2) shoot at the Apples? In the first room and shoot enough to make the Walls shiver at the right, and in the bottum. Thats the sign you Can jump through them.
3) Try to advance to some of the first rooms. (Jump through the Walls - stand on the oposing Wall, and jump through the shivering Wall). Try examine how the enemies react to you shooting at them, and find out how you Can make the walls shiver.
4) Make through the first 4*4 rooms and find the camel/key to open the next section.
5) continiue through the next 4*4 sektion - the same Way.
6) begin to find out which room of the first 32 you would like to awoid most, which room you Will get the highest score in - and therefore would use as Long time in you can. And where can you let som walls unopen, so you can go back and fill up your energy.
Don’t give up. ANCIPITAL is among my favorite shoot-em-up off all time. There is a tactical beauty whitin this beast.
@120frames-please
Hi - look at my answer in the above answer
That's the kind of release I like the most lately. Give it the available-to-anyone-not-limited physical treatment, after all Digital Eclipse has released most of its collections physically, and I'm in.
@Gimli very nice! Thank you
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