Although released in 1987, the game it seems was originally due for release from Kele Line directly before Durell published it. Thanks to ‘Anonymous’ for flagging up.
SOFT magazine in 1986 showed a very odd loading screen, with the title of “МБЛГДЩВОН”, and mentioned that the game had hit some issues regarding names.
Was there some earlier edition of the game which was different to the final version we all got to see?
According to JazzGhostrider via the Lemon64 forums, Maz H. Spork – the guy behind Chain Reaction on the ZX Spectrum worked at Kele Line in 1986, but was headhunted to join Durell in September/October 1986. It’s possible that he took the game with him, and as Kele Line weren’t supporters of the platform – they may have sold the rights to Durell.
However, a Zzap interview with Kele Line revealed that the project was abandoned at the PCW Show, as Kele Line had failed to meet delivery deadlines. As Nick Wilson took over development of the game, it means that there is a different development that was underway.
If you know more, please do get in touch.
Contributions: Anonymous, JazzGhostrider, Andrew Partis