Difference between revisions of "Stormlord"

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==History==
 
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[[File:RaffaeleCecco Stormlordart.png|thumb|left|160px|British programmer and ''Stormlord'' creator [[Raffaele Cecco]].]]
 
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Created by bedroom programmer and later [[Hewson Consultants]] employee [[Raffaele Cecco]], ''Stormlord'' was first conceived in early 1988{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}}, and was eventually developed into a puzzle platform game with minor action elements. One of Cecco's more notable design choices was the inclusion of nude faeries in certain areas of the game, which garnered ''Stormlord'' a significant amount of both press coverage and controversy.{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}} Consequently, it was sometimes marketed as an "adult" title, despite the remainder of the game having no adult content whatsoever.{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}}
 
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After about a year of development, the game was released in 1988 for the [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], [[Amstrad CPC]], [[Commodore 64]], [[ZX Spectrum]], and [[IBM PC|IBM]] personal computers.{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}} Receiving mixed critical reception, ''Stormlord'' caught the eye of American video game publisher [[RazorSoft]]{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}}, who was looking to capitalize on the freedom granted by publishing on a non-[[Nintendo]] console (and therefore having to adhere to less strict content standards) by releasing more mature titles. ''Stormlord'' would be the first game published by the company, with programming responsibilities falling mainly on [[Punk Development]] employee [[Kevin Seghetti]].{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}}
 
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===Lawsuit===
 
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[[File:Stormlord US cartridge alt.png|thumb|320px|The unique cartridge used for the game's United States release.]]
 
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In 1991, disagreements between [[RazorSoft]] and [[Sega]] over the cost and order size of Sega's proprietary [[Sega Mega Drive]] cartridges{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}} led to ''Stormlord'' being released in a smaller run of self-manufactured cartridges (as opposed to purchasing them directly from [[Sega]], as contractually-obliged.){{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Punk_Development}} While the company still paid full royalties to [[Sega]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}}, their developer license was revoked in June 1991, and Sega refused to publish any of their future games. RazorSoft then sued for breach of the Sherman Antitrust Act on July 22, 1991, with [[Sega]] then counter-suing both [[RazorSoft]] and [[Punk Development]] in August for copyright infringement and breach of contract.{{fileref|PhoenixtheFallandRiseofVideoGames Book US 3rd.pdf|page=153}}{{magref|gamepro|28|142}}{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Punk_Development}}
 
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The final outcome was settled out of court, with RazorSoft agreeing to purchase future cartridges from Sega, having their developer license restored, and Sega dropping the lawsuit.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}
 
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The game's developer, [[Kevin Seghetti]], elaborated on the details of the lawsuit in a November 2008 interview{{ref|https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/01/the-history-of-stormlord/}} with [http://gdri.smspower.org GDRI]:
 
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{{quote|RazorSoft didn't like how much Sega charged to make cartridges. The minimum order was 30,000 units, and IIRC, they cost $17 each. So publishers had to pony up about a half million dollars, and the risk was all theirs if the product didn't sell. I never saw the contract between Sega and RazorSoft, but apparently it specified a royalty rate for cartridges (I don't know if that $17 per cart included the royalty or not).
 
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So RazorSoft decided to manufacture their own cartridges for Stormlord instead of paying Sega to do it because they could do a smaller run, it was cheaper, and they could turn them around faster. They paid all of the royalties to Sega, just didn't have Sega make them (if you get your hand on a Stormlord cartridge, you will see they are shaped differently than Sega cartridges were).
 
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Sega was annoyed because they obviously make a profit on making the cartridges and also like to maintain tight control over what gets made when.
 
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IIRC, the final outcome was they settled out of court, RazorSoft agreed to buy carts from Sega in the future, and Sega dropped the suit.|ref={{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}|''Stormlord programmer [[Kevin Seghetti]]''}}
 
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===Nude fairies===
 
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[[File:Stormlord MD Breasts.png|thumb|left|320px|The final version's censored fairies.]]
 
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The original 1989 [[Commodore Amiga]] release of the game features nude fairies in certain areas. When developer [[Punk Development]] initially ported the game to the [[Sega Mega Drive]], the fairies were also ported over as nude. However, RazorSoft quickly called for their censorship, and programmer [[Kevin Seghetti]]'s wife [[Melanie Seghetti]] later created the graphics for the fairies' bras.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}} However, preview builds of the uncensored version of the game had already been seen at [[Winter CES 1991]] and sent to the gaming press, and the nude graphics were soon exposed to the general public. Game magazine [[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] even apologized for the publishing of nudity in its May 1991 issue.{{magref|egm|22|12}}
 
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{{quote|When we did the port, Razorsoft specified they needed the Faeries covered up, for the American market. That was always the plan. So it wasn’t added later, my wife added in the bra graphics early on.|ref={{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}|''Stormlord programmer [[Kevin Seghetti]]''}}
 
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Due to a lack of information over [[RazorSoft]]'s lawsuit with [[Sega]] over the cost of their proprietary cartridges, it was rumored that the lawsuit was instead a result of the company refusing to censor the nude fairies. While easily debunked in hindsight, as a small piece of art would not be worth the loss of a developer license, Stormlord developer [[Kevin Seghetti]] definitively verified the rumor as false when clarifying the details of RazorSoft's lawsuit:
 
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{{quote|The Wikipedia and SegaRetro pages on Stormlord do not match my recollection on this point.|ref={{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210608052404/http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kevin_Seghetti}}|''Stormlord programmer [[Kevin Seghetti]], referring to a previous version of this article''}}
 
  
 
==Magazine articles==
 
==Magazine articles==

Revision as of 08:47, 12 June 2022

n/a

Stormlord title.png

Stormlord
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: RazorSoft (US), Micro World (Japan)
Developer:
Developer(s) of original games: Hewson Consultants
Sound driver: RazorSoft sound driver
Genre: Action[2][3]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥6,8006,800 T-49113
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$59.9559.95[5] 56026
Non-Sega versions

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Stormlord (ストームロード) is a Sega Mega Drive puzzle platform game developed by Punk Development[1]. A port of the titular 1989 Hewson Consultants title Stormlord, it was first published in the United States by RazorSoft[1] in July 1991[4], and was later brought to Japan by Micro World[1] in March 1992[3]. The game is most notable for its poor reception, frustrating design, and the subsequent lawsuit which followed its release.[1]

Gameplay

A side-scrolling platform game with puzzle and action elements, Stormlord is fairly typical of early 1990s Amiga games. Players control a slow-moving protagonist across ten different levels, with a general puzzle emphasis on determining what action is needed to proceed.

Stormlord is notorious for its numerous pitfalls from which the player cannot escape. Either purposefully or due to numerous oversights, the game contains a number of areas which, once entered, cannot be exited (usually due to the adjacent platforms being placed too high), or will permanently lock the protagonist in place due to collision issues. In virtually all of these cases, the player is forced to reset the game.

Levels

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Level 1

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Level 2

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Level 3

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Level 4

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Level 5

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Level 6

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Level 7

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Level 8

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Level 9

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Level 10

Magazine articles

Main article: Stormlord/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Stormlord/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[6]
ACE (UK)
63
[7]
Ação Games (BR)
67
[8]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
67
[9]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
58
[10]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
92
[11]
Games-X (UK)
70
[12]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
60
[13]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
80
[14]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-U
82
[15]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC
75
[16]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
60
[17]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
45
[18]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC
57
[19]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
57
[20]
Power Play (DE)
43
[21]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC
75
[22]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U
79
[23]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC
77
[24]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
46
[25]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
63
[26]
Sega Mega Drive
 65
Based on
21 reviews

Stormlord

Mega Drive, JP
Stormlord MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Stormlord MD JP CartTop.jpg
Stormlord MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Stormlord MD JP manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US
Stormlord MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Stormlord md us cart.jpg
Cart
StormLord MD US Manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 39ab50a5
MD5 73070170122193915b7f8af945ef426c
SHA-1 1bf4b58d50fdc0fdc173ce3dcadcc5d9b58f0723
512kB 1990-09 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 0b440fed
MD5 689634797f5da35d026593fb240f5fe0
SHA-1 fe06ea2d7fcccecce337a535ae683c31aae4a637
512kB Cartridge (JP)

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Punk_Development
  2. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1992" (JP; 1992-01-08), page 24
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video/c/gp92-ELuaus/m/6ESzll-rMn4J
  5. ↑ VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "July 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 39
  6. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 223
  7. ↑ ACE, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-08), page 72
  8. ↑ Ação Games, "Maio 1991" (BR; 1991-05-21), page 45
  9. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "November 1991" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 146
  10. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1992" (JP; 1992-01-08), page 36
  11. ↑ GamePro, "April 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 42
  12. ↑ Games-X, "15th-21st August 1991" (UK; 1991-08-15), page 39
  13. ↑ Hippon Super, "March 1992" (JP; 1992-02-04), page 82
  14. ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-17), page 42
  15. ↑ Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 166
  16. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 94
  17. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "June 1992" (JP; 1992-05-08), page 83
  18. ↑ Mega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-17), page 63
  19. ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 80
  20. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
  21. ↑ Power Play, "10/91" (DE; 1991-09-xx), page 159
  22. ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
  23. ↑ Sega Power, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-04), page 27
  24. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
  25. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  26. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 179


Stormlord

Stormlord title.png

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