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Roller Coaster was a truly unique video game when it launched on the ZX Spectrum back in 1985.
Effectively a 2D platformer, the game took place in an amusement park modelled on the real-world Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK, and was such a hit with players that it scored an impressive 94% in Crash magazine.
For years, people have tried to track down the sole developer of the game, S. Brocklehurst. There's practically nothing online about this elusive coder, even though they also produced the equally excellent Animator 1 (1986), Tarantula (1987), and Merlin (1988), all for Clive Sinclair's 8-bit home micro.
However, in the latest issue of Retro Gamer magazine, "S. Brocklehurst" is interviewed – and makes the revelation that the name provided in the game's credits isn't actually 100% accurate:
"That was actually my wife's name. Lots of people write under pen names for various reasons. I didn't want to lose my anonymity. I didn't want people hanging around when I was trying to program."
Sadly, the still-unnamed developer's wife passed away during the COVID pandemic, which makes the Roller Coaster's credit all the more poignant. "That Roller Coaster pen name has become so important to me since she passed," he says. "It feels like I've left something behind for her, forever."
Roller Coaster, despite its amazing reviews, apparently sold quite poorly, but publisher Elite Systems resurrected it in 1991 on the Game Boy, complete with a Dragon Lair's makeover.
Dragon's Lair: The Legend retrofits Roller Coaster's gameplay with fantasy-style visuals, explained away by the fact that protagonist Dirk The Daring had been stranded in a medieval theme park. Amazingly, the creator of Roller Coaster wasn't consulted on this port, nor did they receive any remuneration.
"I didn't find out until years later," he says. "There is some confusion here as I had a three-year licence with Elite for Roller Coaster; it wasn't in perpetuity. But I never got any money for that Nintendo game. Like I said, I didn't even know about it until recently."
Elite is still making money off the game today; it has recently teamed up with Incube8 to re-release it in physical form.