Unreal (1990 video game)

Unreal
Cover art by Tim White
Developer(s)	Ordilogic Systems
Publisher(s)	Ubi Soft
Programmer(s)	Yann Robert Yves Grolet
Artist(s)	Franck Sauer Marc Albinet
Composer(s)	Maniacs of Noise
Platform(s)	Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
Release	1990: Amiga 1991: MS-DOS, ST
Genre(s)	Rail shooter, platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Unreal is a video game released by Ubi Soft for the Amiga in 1990. The game, divided in 8 chapters, combined two different genres: In five levels, the player controls a pterodactyl-like creature in a pseudo-3D rail shooter environment. Three levels are side-scrolling platform games where the player controls a barbarian fighting monsters and solving puzzles. Ports for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and Atari ST were released in 1991.

The backstory, as well as an extensive mythology of the fictional world (also called "Unreal") is given in the game manual.

A creator being called Sleeper, sent his servant Fragor to Unreal to create life with some life-giving eggs. Fragor was hit by a comet and fell on Unreal releasing chaotic forces on the planet. While the elements were separated or mixed in uncontrollable ways, the eggs formed life on the planet. Forces of evil dominated the elements while the evil Polymorphe, who has the form of a floating flaming head, became absolute master. Unknown to him the civilization of the Barbares was created out of a single egg which fell in a secluded valley.

Two Barbares, Artaban and Isolde, befriend a dragon named Dracus who came from the sky. When Dracus did not show up for some time, Isolde was caught by Polymorphe's servants while calling for him. Imprisoned in a dungeon, she was ordered to marry him, or Polymorphe would kill all life in the valley. Dracus and Artaban prepare to go to her rescue, and a mysterious wizard equips Artaban with an ancient sword forged from Fragor's comet.

The objective of the game is to guide Artaban (either on foot or riding Dracus on his back) to the Burning Sea where Polymorphe's Flying Castle is found.

The game combined two different gameplay genres. Both Galaxy Force and Rastan Saga were inspirations for the game.

In five of the chapters, the player (as Artaban) guides Dracus as they fly over a natural landscape (forests, river canyons, glaciers or seas of lava). The gameplay of those levels are of a 3d scrolling shooters, the view being from behind Dracus. The player must avoid obstacles (like trees or spires of rock) and adversaries that come from the distance. Dracus fires fireballs that can destroy some of the monsters or parts of the scenery.

Dracus can fire more and stronger fireballs, when the player collects power-ups that appear on the ground. The player can attain 12 levels of firepower, but whenever the player crashes on the scenery, Dracus loses a level. Other bonuses include restoration of health and some limited invincibility.

The other parts of the game are of the platform arcade-adventure genre. The player guides Artaban on foot traversing forests, swamps and castles. He encounters adversaries which can be killed with the sword. The sword gives some limited interaction with the environment: and can be "charged" by touching fire found at some points of the levels; there are also some kinds of spells that give Artaban the power to hurl water or fireballs with the sword. The sword also is used for some puzzles.

The player has 100 health points. In the beginning of each level, the player is awarded 50 lost health points. There is also the option to save the game in 3 available slots.

The cover artwork, as well as the title screen, is a reproduction of the cover of the 1979 book Lord of The Spiders by Michael Moorcock.^[1]

The original artwork is designed by Tim White.^[2]

Allen L. Greenberg reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Overall, the effect is that the game lacks polish. Potential players, therefore, may be unwilling to invest their time and money in searching for the game's "gems" which lie scattered in the raw."^[3]

The January 1991 issue of Amiga Joker named Unreal the second Best Action Game of 1990.^[4]

The game was also nominated for the Gen D'or award for best art.^{[citation needed]}

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.^[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".^[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.^[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.^[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.^[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.^[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.^[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.^[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.^[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.^[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).^[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,^[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.^[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.^[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.^[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.^[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.^[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.^[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.^[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.^[18]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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• Unreal at Atari Mania

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