1995-1996 Infogrames
Platform: PC
While Igor: Objetivo Uikokahonia is best known for its 1994 Spanish release and a later English version published in the US by Optik Software – Pendulo Studios had once begun work on a far more ambitious follow-up version of the game for French publisher Infogrames. This project was ultimately cancelled, but its technology would go on to form the foundations of Hollywood Monsters.
The existence of this unreleased Infogrames version was confirmed in an extensive interview with Pendulo founders Rafael Latiegui, Ramón Hernáez and Felipe Gómez, originally published by Macedonia Magazine and now preserved via the Internet Archive. Reflecting on the period following Igor’s release, Latiegui explained:
“It’s true that there were many meetings with Infogrames, and in fact, an agreement was reached for its distribution. However, due to their internal problems, they ultimately had to abandon several projects, including Igor.”
Rather than a simple localisation, Pendulo had begun developing an entirely new version of Igor using a significantly enhanced engine. Hernáez described this technology in detail:
“We developed a very powerful one in protected mode and at 320×200 resolution. It required four megabytes of RAM, which allowed for multidirectional scrolling on large screens, as well as huge, smooth, cartoon-style animations, voices, and so on.”
Under this new engine, Pendulo started developing the Igor that Infogrames wanted to release, but the project was halted before completion. Hernáez noted that the engine itself was never released, as the rapid technical evolution of the market soon rendered it obsolete:
“At that time, the market advanced significantly technologically, and we had to start from scratch with another engine that could run at high resolution — the one ultimately used in Hollywood Monsters.”
Screenshots included with the original interview show a dramatically reworked version of Igor, visually far removed from the 1994 release and closer in style to Pendulo’s later work. Its cancellation appears to have been driven not by creative issues, but by Infogrames’ internal restructuring, which reportedly led to several projects being dropped.
It’s also worth noting that while there has long been a rumour of an English CD-Talkie version of Igor predating this Infogrames work, no hard evidence has ever surfaced. Former Optik Software staff have reportedly been unaware of such a release and no physical or archival material has yet emerged to confirm it.
And also, ironically there was meant to be a CD-talkie version of Hollywood Monsters released in English, but it was never released by Pendulo. Thankfully with that one, a few game reviewers received a copy, and it can be found here:
https://archive.org/details/hollywood-monsters-english-beta-cd_202302
But for Pendulo’s cancelled Infogrames Igor – it currently stands as a fascinating “what if” — a lost transitional project whose technology and ambition lived on at least through Hollywood Monsters. Hopefully some day we can find something of this earlier version.
With thanks to The Abandoned Castle for flagging up and for all the information and screenshots.
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