Some previous Games I worked on

Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo image
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo image

Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo (1988)

Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo is a video game released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC platforms in 1988, by the now-defunct label Firebird. It is based on the comic book Usagi Yojimbo, which featured the adventures of an anthropomorphic samurai rabbit. The game closely follows some of the themes of the comic.

Released on

  • C64

Features

  • New Sprite Multiplexor

    From memory (it's been decades) this game was the first that used a new sprite technique I licenced to Melbourne House. By using intermediate sprites, containing the half of the sprite above and half of the sprite below, it is possible to change sprite images and position anywhere over the course of around 9 scanlines. This means timers can now be used instead of raster interrupts as the sprite images & position changes were no longer time-critical.

  • Involvement - Sprite Multiplexor

    A while after leaving Melbourne House, I came up with the idea of using duplicate sprites to remove the need for time-critical raster-synced changes. By using extra sprites, that duplicate half of the sprite above and half of the sprite below, the number of lines at which a sprint image change can occur is now many raster lines instead of precisely on one. I licenced the idea for a small amount of money (seemed a lot back then) and a copy of each game produced using it.