After more than 40 years lost to time, Stairway to the Stars (the third game in Mike Taylor’s Magic Mirror Commodore VIC-20 adventure series) has finally been saved! And it’s been a long journey…
Back in 2009, Mike found a tape of his lost works and passed it over to Games That Weren’t in the hope it could all be recovered. Two of the games were saved (thanks to combined efforts of Mat Allen, Luigi Di Fraia and Bo Goeran Kvamme), but Stairway to the Stars was sadly thought to be unrecoverable due to severe tape degradation. After several attempts, it was eventually passed to Tom Roger Skauen around 2020 — whose initial recovery efforts also hit a brick wall.
But after a few years’ break and one last shot, the impossible has finally happened. This long-lost title has now been rescued thanks to the phenomenal work of both Tommi Lempinen and Tom Roger Skauen.
Mike himself hasn’t seen the game since the early ’80s (intended for release by Terminal Software) – and now, for the first time in over four decades, it’s playable again. We hope to hear more from Mike soon, once he’s had time to become reacquainted with his lost creation.
Read the full detailed story about the lost Magic Mirror series — and download all the games (now including Stairway to the Stars) here:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2020/10/the-magic-mirror-series-games-3-5/
A huge thank you to Tommi Lempinen and Tom Roger Skauen for bringing this adventure back to life. The Magic Mirror series is finally complete!
