Graftgold began as ST Software, which Steve Turner formed in 1983 before being joined by fellow coder Andrew Braybrook. Their debut titles were the arcade-inspired shoot-’em-ups 3D Space Wars, 3D Seiddab Attack and 3D Lunattack, which Steve developed with Andrew on conversion duties.
Steve’s fantasy arcade adventure Avalon followed in 1984, and in 1985 its sequel Dragontorc and spiritual successor Astroclone appeared. 1985 also saw Andrew develop the colourful collect-’em-up Gribbly’s Day Out and his seminal combat droid title Paradroid which received huge acclaim on the Commodore 64. This was also the year that ST Software became Graftgold.
Graftgold impressed gamers and critics alike throughout the Eighties with Andrew’s impossibly slick, high-speed shooter Uridium, combat racer Alleykat, space epic Morpheus and compelling puzzler Intensity. Meanwhile, Steve wowed with his Paradroid-inspired Quazatron, Ranarama and Magnetron, before developing the RPG arcade title Bushido: The Way Of The Warrior.
During this time, Graftgold new hires helped Steve and Andrew convert Flying Shark, Super Off Road and Rainbow Islands, and created the side-scrollers Orion and Soldier Of Fortune.
The early Nineties saw Graftgold embrace 16-bit systems with the 3D shooter Simulcra, the war game Realms, the entertaining platformers Fire & Ice and The Ottifants, and sequels Paradroid 90 and Uridium 2. There were more conversions too.
As the decade passed, Graftgold released the arcade-style Empire Soccer 94 and the sprawling shooter Virocop, before signing off with the off-road motorcycle racer International Moto X for Sony’s popular PlayStation.
Although this was the end of an era for the studio, Graftgold sold its IP to Jester Interactive after closing down. Jester produced the Game Boy Advance titles Uridium Advance and Paradroid in the mid-2000s, but sadly neither was released. However, hope remains that Jester will someday continue Graftgold’s legacy.
DRAGONTORC
VARIOUS • 1985
◼ Steve Turner’s Avalon sequel retains the structure of its predecessor while offering an entirely new adventure and more character interaction. Dragontorc’s exploration and battles are arcade-style experiences, but casting spells is achieved by selecting them from a menu. The game’s multipart object and obstacle-based puzzles require trial and error, although not too much as there are only so many locations to search and characters to trade with.
STEVE’S MEMORIES
“I wanted to give players influence over the characters. I thought I’d make the elves wary at first, but then if you traded with them they would become friendly, and follow you around. They would even fight your enemies. But if you attacked them they would become your enemies.”
GRIBBLY’S DAY OUT
COMMODORE64 • 1985
◼ As with many of the best original games, defies categorisation. It has platforms, but it’s
