Fusion (video game)

Fusion is a 1988 shoot 'em up video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the Atari ST and Amiga.

Fusion
Amiga cover art
Developer(s)Bullfrog Productions
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Joss Ellis
Programmer(s)Kevin Donkin
Artist(s)Glenn Corpes
Composer(s)David Hanlon
Platform(s)Atari ST, Amiga
Release
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up

Gameplay

It is a multi-directional scrolling shoot 'em up game (with parallax scrolling). The action is viewed from the top. The player controls either a ground-based crawler or a spacecraft. There are thirteen levels.

Development

Fusion was created by Bullfrog Productions, a development studio founded by game designer Peter Molyneux. It was the company's first original product and second game overall, after a port of the shoot 'em up Druid II: Enlightenment.[1][2] As with Druid II and the later Populous, artist Glenn Corpes created most of the graphics and animation for Fusion, while Molyneux handled the majority of its programming and design. The game was coded in assembly language, and the Atari ST version implemented HiSoft Systems' Devpac II assembler. Its soundtrack, available on the double-sided disk release, was composed by David Hanlon.[2] Fusion was released in 1988.[1]

Reception and legacy
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
ACE607 out of 1000 (Amiga)
712 out of 1000 (ST)[3]
Zzap!6487%[4]
The Games Machine62%[5]

Matt Fox, author of The Video Games Guide, summarized Fusion as a "run-of-the-mill shoot 'em up [that] caused few ripples on release".[6] According to Corpes, Fusion was not a commercial success and, together with Druid II, "only brought in a fraction of the money needed to pay the wage bill."[1]

A UK magazine gave the ST version of Fusion a score of 9 out of 10, saying that despite being "yet another vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up" it has "sufficient variation".[7] Bullfrog went on to develop Populous, Magic Carpet and other well-received titles.[6]

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gollark: What project is this <@!261154480433659914>?
gollark: Or, well, about £200, not under.
gollark: But nowadays you can buy 16TB disks for under £200.
gollark: Maybe ones with tiny bad flash chips?

References
  1. Levene, Rebecca; Anderson, Magnus (2012-11-08). Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders: How British Video Games Conquered the World. Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-78131-107-3.
  2. Outterside, Nic (April 1989), "Artistic direction", Atari ST User, 4 (2), pp. 50, 51
  3. "Fusion". ACE. Bath, Somerset: Future Publishing (15): 79. June 1989.
  4. Evans, Matt; Glancey, Paul; Hamza, Kati (December 1988). "Fusion". Zzap!64. Ludlow: Newsfield Publications (44): 202. ISSN 0954-867X. OCLC 470391346.
  5. "A Night on the Tiles". The Games Machine. Ludlow: Newsfield Publications (12): 41. November 1988. ISSN 0954-8092. OCLC 500096266.
  6. Fox, Matt (2013). The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012. 6 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 116. ISBN 978-0786472574.
  7. Waddilove, Roland; Murray, Janice (April 1989), "Action-packed shoot-out", Atari ST User, 4 (2), p. 26
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