» Jon Ritman lef t the games industr y
some time ago, but remains fond of
his isometric adventures.J
on Ritman created his chart-topping
Match Day based on requests from
publishers at a computer show,
but before this happened, Ultimate
had completed its groundbreaking isometric
adventure Knight Lore, which it subsequently held
back for the best part of a year. An earlier release
of Knight Lore might have changed Jon’s plans,
however, as the developer is quick to point out. “If
I had seen Knight Lore before I went to that show, I
would probably never have asked publishers what
they were interested in, so Match Day might never
have happened. I would have done something
isometric whether I had the Batman licence or
not, because as soon as I looked at Knight Lore I
thought: ‘Oh god, I want to do that!’”
But although Jon knew that he had to develop
his own take on the Ultimate game-changer, he
realised that he would need the help of someone
who could match Tim Stamper’s Knight Lore
visuals, and so he recruited an artistic friend.
“Knight Lore had little influence on my graphics
directly,” Bernie Drummond notes. “I had been
asking Jon why computer game graphics were not
professionally cartoon-like, and Jon explained the
limitations of the memory – until he saw Knight
Lore. He then showed me it and asked: ‘Can you
do that? ’ And I said: ‘Yes, and better.’”
Looking for a hero to rival Knight Lore’s
Sabreman, Jon and Bernie considered various
options, and although Knight Lore’s medieval
setting didn’t inspire a medieval protagonist, its
alternating characters gave Jon an idea that he
stored away for later. “I was tossing ideas around,
for instance – Norse gods, Thor,” Jon remembers,
“but I didn’t think about medieval themes at all.
I did like the idea of Sabreman changing into a
werewolf; that whole concept was clever. Although
I didn’t think it was really exploited. Myfirst thought was: ‘Well, surely he’s going to have
different abilities when he changes? ’ But actually,
they were pretty much the same.”
Putting this on the backburner, Jon focused on
finding a solo character, and after discussion with
Bernie he opted for Batman. “Originally Jon was
nervous of using an established character,” Bernie
reflects, “only after discussing it with Ocean did
he relax. There was no storyline in Batman. I just
produced cute graphics, and Jon crunched it all
together as to appear seamless.”
The combination of Bernie’s beautiful, strange
visuals and Jon’s fiendish puzzles backed by a
popular hero ensured that Batman was a hit, and
its collectible power-ups and save game pick-ups
stood out as advances on Knight Lore. So why
didn’t the duo put DC’s Dark Knight in a sequel?
“The Batman films came out, and suddenly the
games were tied into being like Batman, and I
didn’t want that tie,” Jon reasons. “I didn’t want to
be withheld by someone else’s set of rules. When
we did Batman, we had creative freedom to do
whatever we wanted, and that was cool.”
If anything, the creative freedom enjoyed by
Jon and Bernie on Batman increased as they
started their second isometric adventure, although
their publisher required some convincing. “Jon
encouraged Ocean to have faith in Head Over
Heels as an expression of my bizarre imagination
and artwork,” Bernie recollects, “thankfully I didn’t
let him down. Head Over Heels – originally called
Foot And Mouth – was much easier for me, as
confidence from doing Batman had ‘released the
kraken’, so to speak.”
While Bernie was taking confidence from
Batman, Jon was expanding on Knight Lore’s dual
hero mechanic. As with Batman, Jon gave his new
characters abilities, including a weapon, unlike
the Caped Crusader, who had done without his
Batarang. “I wanted two characters for Head Over» [Amstrad CPC] Unlike Sabreman in
Kinght Lore, Batman has to collect
items in order to gain abilities.» [Amstrad CPC] Some of Knight Lore’s puzzles bet ter suit the Wulf, as it can guide blocks on balls more easily.RETRO GAMER | 37THE EVOLUTION OF: HEAD OVER HEALS