THE MAKING OF FIRST SAMURAI

While the 8 and 16-bit games Time Machine and Hammerfist, released in 1990, met with decent reviews, sales were moderate, making it a solid rather than spectacular start for Vivid Image, the games development company founded by Mev Dinc alongside John Twiddy and Hugh Riley in 1989. “I had been working on Time Machine for the ZX Spectrum,” recalls Raffaele Cecco, the legendary ZX Spectrum coder of Exolon and Cybernoid fame. “That was a cleverly designed game, slower-paced and quite different to the litany of blasters I had done before.” Raff admits to Time Machine being a pleasant break; he was presented with the concept and design, and ‘merely’ coded it, “Although no doubt I would have put my own stamp on it here and there,” he adds. With all the right ingredients in place, a hit to put Vivid firmly on the map had to come – fortunately, it would prove to be third time lucky for Vivid Image.

The origins of hark back to the 8-bit smash, , a game equally revered among critics and Commodore 64 fans alike. Mev and his team pondered on. “We became good friends, and spent quite a bit of time together socially too,” says Mev in his book, . “Truly, Raff was not only a great programmer, but a great game designer too. And [we] always seemed to complement each other with our ideas.” Unsurprisingly, the coder has equally fond memories of working with the Vivid Image founder. “Mev was always enthusiastic, encouraging and full of ideas – and had a joke for every occasion!” says Raff. “It helped that he had a technical background, so he understood the challenges and pain points. Of course, we didn’t always agree on everything, but that was part of the fun and part of what made so varied – and rather wacky in places.”