Over 50 Elan Enterprise Games In Under 30 Minutes
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- Опубліковано 18 лют 2023
- This video features gameplay footage from over 50 games for the 8-bit Elan Enterprise computer in under half an hour.
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#retrogaming #8bit #gameplay - Ігри
![Enterprise 64 - Another Failed British Micro [Part 1]](/img/n.gif)
I had this machine back in the day, waiting to outdo my little brother's C64 before the Amiga hit the market. The Elan Enterprise was a fantastic niche machine!
Oh wow, the still images on that Hobbit game look astounding.
I have never heard of this machine before. it has some REALLY impressive color and resolution capabilities for an 8 bit system that doesn't seem to bog it down much. And the sound is nothing to laugh at either.
I remember seeing this computer in my local computer shop back in the day.. the games seem to be a mix bag of different 8 bit micro computers. Amstrad, speccy and C64 with maybe a bit of Atari ST.
It's worth remembering that because of delays this computer was very late to the game. It was eventually available to buy in serious numbers in early 1985 (so missed Christmas '84), the Atari ST came out in June 85. Hard to find a price but the 64k model was around £200, so the same price as a 464 with a monitor.
you have the zx spectrum version of r-type i remember the stutter that the memory filled machine makes is like no other
Here's a British computer I've never heard of. It could be as good as, or even better than ZX Spectrum or Amstrad CPC with some clones, but, also, it can be truly better than these mentioned ones in the sound department. Some of these games are more recent or homebrew, as I can see... I wonder why it failed. The speed of processing and memory seem to be running amazingly for an 8-bit machine! Here's something I'm going to research.
The most surprising game: "Permolift", a morbid Elevator Action version with Toccata and Fugue by J. S. Bach in the soundtrack!
I think it's a shame so many games are just direct ZX Spectrum ports with all the limitations and graphical nastiness of that platform when the machine was obviously so capable. That and games with 1-colour sprites. Bizarre.
How many graphics modes does it have? It looks like it can mimic the speccy and cpc with some c64 and st for good measure. Curious
It has four, there is more information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_(computer)
I can't help feeling this system was in the wrong market. This is a system which could have fit in the US market for home PCs in-between the C64 and the Amiga or Atari ST. The UK market had the Amstrad to fill this hole. With the Amstrad not being marketed much in the US, there was room in this segment. Look at how well the Apple IIgs did initially. It's not a complete comparison, but there's something there.
Of course, if the Amstrad had been marketed properly in the US is might also have worked in the states. Heck we had an Amstrad at home growing up in the US...an Amstrad CPW Word Processor. Nice machine. Not much for games, but unlike every most other kids in elementary school I didn't have to hand-write my reports.
The USA already had a popular system in this "gap", which outsold everything else that even tried, by far - the Commodore 128.
The main competition was perceived to be the Apple 2c, which is the main reason why the C128 included 80 column mode. In actuality, the Apple 2c wasn't nearly as successful as anticipated.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make about the Apple IIGS - it was more expensive than Atari ST and similar to Amiga by the time it was released. In contrast, a full Commodore 128 system would cost less than an Atari ST system. And if someone already had C64 peripherals, the Apple IIGS cost more than three times a C128.
I know that at the time, the Commodore 128 was considered a bit of a disappointment, but it ultimately sold on the same order as all models of Amiga combined.
@@IsaacKuo The IIgs is technically more like an improved 8-bit computer as opposed to the ST or Amiga, it's not worth thinking about that part though. I may be far off on the comparison because I'm thinking of the technical end. While the IIgs has more graphics capabilities and is technically 16-bits, it maintains compatibility with the Apple II and often operates more like an 8-bit CPU.
I lump the IIc with all the other Apple II machines in my mind, especially the IIe since the IIc was largely a prettier, smaller IIe. Some of these Apple II have far more memory, but none of these change the graphics in the system like the IIgs, whether or not they sold well. Nothing in the IIe graphics hardware was good for games.
Similarly, the biggest issue with the C128 wasn't that it was a failure, it's that it did little to change the gaming capabilities of the C64. The C128 was better for productivity, but not for graphics. Developers were hesitant to write native C128 games software, since there wasn't much to be gained in presentation. Only some of the really major games were given 128 versions.
Nagyon jó kis összeállítás lett, de azért néhány jó játék le maradt. Ep128 emulátorról mentek a játékok? 👍
There are fifty Elan games? 😄
My thoughts exactly! I wasn't expecting this many quality games, that's for sure. I shouldn't be surprised, though, given that most of the Enterprises found their way to Eastern Europe, and as with the case with the C16 and Plus/4, that's been a region where some top quality games have been created.
The enterprise 64/128 was so niche so I'm guessing most of these games are homebrew ports. Also never heard of the system referred to as Elan before but I didn't even know which company made it ngl
Yes, a lot of these games are homebrews.
A really impressive machine. Possible to get timestamps for these?
No probs, I'll add them tomorrow if I get time.
Some of those games look as good as ST/Amiga games in the sound and graphics department. The sound coming out of the thing is really beefy when used properly. Pity it wasnt released when it was originally supposed to be and the company wasn't so badly run, it would have put all the other systems at the time to shame. It was going to be called the flan for a while, which is a bit silly.
That flappy bird clone had some bizarre sound effects. What the heck is it called?
Bizzare sound is not unusual for these games.
The system had excellent sound and graphics hardware for 1985 (or especially for 1983 when it was supposed to hit the market), but you can see a huge variation in the quality of graphics and sound in these games. This is likely because unlike the CPU, the sound and graphics chips in the system are custom "Application Specific Integrated Circuits", or ASICs.
Most systems used standard ICS one or both of these, or at least modified versions of a standard chip, like the TMS9918 graphics chip used in the Colecovision, TI-99/4A, Sega MK1, and modified for the Sega MKIII/Master System. If the chips were less standard like the Commodore SID they were so popular there's a large community.
Because of this system's one-time dump in Hungary, there's a community but it can't possibly have the scope of most other chips. Even in the late 1980's it took developers some effort to figure out how to make this system work right. If you're coming back in the mid 2010's to write a Flappy Bird clone, it could be quite the hurdle.
You have an enterprise? Wow
Unfortunately not
I'm impressed....I remember seeing this game in the stores back in the day, and was fascinated by the built in joystick.....looks like this had some great capabilities hidden inside for so long. Did it have stereo sound capabilities?.....as I am sure I can hear it coming out from left then right side of my laptop speakers in the Rick Danger(something) game atua-cam.com/video/l_aKvf4uyIc/v-deo.html
Never heard of this computer. Guessing these were unofficial ports and this is based on a dual processor setup of a 4mhz z80 and a 3mhz 6502 architecture with midi sounds ay sound chip and blitter, perhaps 256kbps ram? Kinda like an 8 bit Atari ste. Of course I could do my research but I want to see if my intuition is correct
CPU Zilog Z80A
SPEED 4 MHz
CO-PROCESSOR NICK (video), DAVE (sound)
RAM Enterprise 64 : 64 KB (50 KB available)
Enterprise 128 : 128 KB
VRAM 64 KB
ROM 32 KB
TEXT MODES 40 x 24 / 80 x 32-28 / 84 x 64
GRAPHIC MODES Eight graphic modes, max : 672 x 512 (2 col), most used : 256 x 160 (16 col)
COLORS 256 (simultaneously in the mode 180 x 80)
SOUND 3 channels + 1 noise channel, 8 octaves