Acclaim Studios Manchester (formerly Software Creations) was a British video game developer based in Manchester, England. The company was established in 1985 by Richard Kay. They were primarily known for their video games based on movie and comic licences like Marvel Comics, Cutthroat Island, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the original titles Plok!, Solstice, and its sequel Equinox.
History According to Richard Kay, Software Creations began in 1986 when Steve Ruddy responded to an advertisement he had placed in the Manchester Evening News:
Most of these early games were ports of budget titles to other platforms such as the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, NES and the Game Boy. The company's breakthrough game was the Commodore 64 version of the arcade hit Bubble Bobble, a conversion which won critical acclaim and commercial success, and led to Software Creations being asked to do many more ports of popular arcade games. By this time the company had grown to include brothers Mike, Tim, and Geoff Follin, and artist Mark Wilson.
An early demo of Solstice won Software Creations a contract with Nintendo, leading to some high-profile NES and Super NES games.
During the mid-1990s, Software Creations was responsible for the development of sound tools used in the creation of music for the Nintendo 64 and its development systems, which was first created in 1995 for inclusion on Nintendo's development kit, and ended up being the standard sound driver used on most Nintendo 64 games.Gaming Gossip. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Issue 69. Pg.52. April 1995.
In 1994, the company was sold to Bristol Coin Equipment, which was later renamed to Rage Software, and sold again in 1997 to Sweeplink Ltd.
On 1 May 2002 Acclaim announced that they had acquired Software Creations, which was renamed Acclaim Studios Manchester. At the time, Software Creations had approximately 70 employees. Acclaim Studios Manchester was closed as part of Acclaim Studios and all of its development facilities on 27 August 2004.
Rod Cousens and Barry Jafrato, who were chief executive officer and head of publishing for Acclaim, respectively, announced in September 2004 that they were planning to create Exclaim as a new video game publisher with the help of Europlay Capital Advisers. Exclaim was set to acquire and reinstantiate Acclaim's two UK studios, namely Manchester and Cheltenham, and re-employ their roughly 160 previous members. Exclaim's opening was expected on 11 October, however, Cousen's ownership over the two studios was challenged by Acclaim's liquidator, Allan Mendelsohn, leaving the UK staff in a state of limbo. A successor to Acclaim Studios Manchester, SilverBack Studios, was founded by Jon Oldham in April 2005 and employed 15 former Acclaim Studios Manchester staff.
Games + As Software Creations Year Title Platforms 1988 Aigina's Prophecy Commodore 64 Bionic Commando Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1989 Ghouls 'n Ghosts Plotting Amiga, Atari ST World Games NES Sky Shark 1990 Magic Johnson's Fast Break Target: Renegade Solstice Pictionary Silver Surfer 1991 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The NewZealand Story Wolverine Tom and Jerry (and Tuffy) Altered Space Game Boy Gauntlet III: The Final Quest Amiga, Atari ST Treasure Master NES 1992 Terminator 2: Judgment Day Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge Super NES, Genesis, Game Gear Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game Genesis 1993 Blaster Master 2 Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast Plok! Genesis (cancelled), Super NES The Incredible Crash Dummies NES, Game Boy Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends NES (cancelled), Super NES Equinox (Solstice 2) Super NES 1994 Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage Genesis, Super NES The Tick Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball Super NES The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk Game Boy Tin Star Super NES 1995 Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety Genesis, Super NES Foreman for Real Super NES Mortal Kombat 3 Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System 1996 Cutthroat Island Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear 1997 Hexen: Beyond Heretic Nintendo 64 Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 Nintendo 64, PlayStation 1998 The Rugrats Movie Game Boy, Game Boy Color 1999 Carmageddon 64 Nintendo 64 NASCAR 2000 Game Boy Color Boarder Zone Rugrats: Time Travelers Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest 2000 Nicktoons Racing Windows, PlayStation, Arcade NASCAR Racers Windows Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Game Boy Color 2001 The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase Game Boy Advance Rugrats: Castle Capers 2023 Moto-X Super NES Barbie: Vacation Adventure Super NES, Genesis Spiral Saga PlayStation
+ As Creations Year Title Platforms 2002 The Ripping Friends Game Boy Advance All-Star Baseball 2003 2002 FIFA World Cup GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox Stuart Little 2 Game Boy Advance Super Monkey Ball Jr.
+ As Acclaim Studios Manchester Year Title Platforms 2003 Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox All-Star Baseball 2004 Game Boy Advance Interview with a Made Man PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox ATV Quad Power Racing 3 PlayStation 2, Xbox
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