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33 Games is a new boutique publisher which aims to create physical collector's editions of classic games – and it has already announced its first project, a re-release of Zool on the Mega Drive / Genesis.
We can now exclusively reveal the company's next project – and it's another cult classic from legendary UK studio Gremlin.
Originally released on 16-bit home computers in 1991, Utopia: The Creation Of A Nation has been described as "SimCity in space" and would come to the SNES in 1993. It is that version which is getting a new physical release via 33 Games.
"Zool has been received so warmly, and that has really given us confidence that people understand what we’re trying to do with the 33 Games retro releases," explains 33 Games CEO Steven Charles.
"It’s not just about putting an old game in a nice box for the sake of it. It is genuinely a preservation effort. For me, the phrase ‘Archive Edition’ has to mean something. It means doing the work, going back to the original people where we can, speaking to the artists, the creators and the composers, and asking how we can build something that feels meaningful now."
Utopia is very much a hidden gem within the SNES library, and it's fair to say that many people might not have heard of it previously – it certainly doesn't have the same degree of fame as Zool, for example.
However, Charles sees this as a golden opportunity. "With Utopia, we have a chance to build on what people responded to with Zool, but in a way that is completely specific to this game: its history, its tone, its ideas and the people behind it," he tells Time Extension. "I want fans who remember Utopia to feel like we’ve done it justice, but I also want new players and collectors to pick it up and understand why it mattered in the first place."
Daley Eve Johnson, a veteran of Rare and Playtonic who is now 33 Games' Marketing & Creative Strategy Lead, is equally excited about giving the game a new lease of life. "Re-releasing Utopia was a bit of a no-brainer for us," she says. "It calls back to an era where system-based strategy games were finding their footing in the gaming landscape. Game developers were exploring all sorts of conceptual amalgamations, and Utopia is a very loud example of that. Also, the graphics are gorgeous, and the soundtrack is stellar."
Given its origins as a home computer title on the Atari ST and Amiga, it should come as no surprise to learn that its console port was compatible with the SNES Mouse – and 33 Games is aiming to give fans the ideal interface out of the box.
"We will be packing it with a SNES-compatible mouse and some other really unique items," reveals Charles. "We are treating this as a total preservation project, involving the game's original cover artist, Danny Flynn, to recreate and reimagine the iconic cover art and create more art for the project, and we are working closely with the game's original creators on several ideas that will really explore the game's historical significance and lore. I think we are going to really take our design and attention to detail to the next level with this project and create something really high-end and significant."
We'll keep you updated on any more news relating to this re-release as it happens, but in the meantime, let us know if this is something you'd be interested in supporting by posting a comment below.