Aackosoft International B.V. or simply Aackosoft, was a short-lived Dutch video game developer and publisher which was founded in 1983. The company mainly developed and published MSX games, though they did publish several titles for the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64. The company became one of the biggest publishers for the MSX. They are most well-known for the infamous MSX game, Oh Shit!.
Overview[]
The company started distributing and developing games around 1984. At this time, the company mainly developed miscellaneous programs for the MSX. Starting around 1985 to 1987, the company would start to release some of their own games as budget titles on cassettes.
A lot of these games were direct ports/clones of preexisting games: Boom! (Galaxian), Hopper (Frogger), MacAttack (BurgerTime), Oh Shit! (Pac-Man), Scentipede (Centipede), Jet Bomber (Zaxxon), Kick It! (Check Man), Moon Rider (Moon Patrol), Space Busters (Space Invaders), Star Wars (Missile Command), Time Curb (Time Pilot), and Robot Wars (Berzerk). Many of these games are infamous for the voice samples used in-game. The company would also publish various (mostly Japanese) MSX games in Europe. Such as games developed by Jaleco, Pony Canyon, and others.
Most of these were released directly under Aackosoft's name or Eaglesoft. But later on, the company would start to release games under the Methodic Solutions, Eurosoft and Premium III Software Distribution brands. These names were only used in later releases and re-releases from around 1987 to 1988.
Due to declining popularity of the MSX, in 1988, Aackosoft would file for bankruptcy. Little is known about what happened to the company after.
Relationship with Al Alamiah[]
Splash Screen
Unlike most of the Al Alamiah's releases, the company seemed to of licensed Aackosoft's games for distribution in Kuwait and Egypt on cartridges. As these releases feature a splash screen reading "Copyright 198x by BYTEBUSTERS All rights reserved. Published by ALALAMIAH". This screen is even seen on games which are credited to Methodic Solutions.
Sometimes, these splash screens corrupt the voice samples by overwriting them. An example of this is Mac Attack, where the "Welcome to Mac Attack" sample is corrupted around the 4th word. Fixes for these issues have been made.
Aacksoft's games would also be featured on their 30-in-1 series of compilations and built into some of Al Alamiah's MSX computers.
Game List[]
| Name | Date | Published | System | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Break In | 1987 | Eaglesoft, MegaCom, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Chopper | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Chopper 2 | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX 2 | ||
| Dawn Patrol | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Drome | 1987 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Exterminator | 1987 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Fuzzball | 1986 | Aackosoft, Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | Port of Q*bert. Later re-released as Quebert by Eurosoft. | |
| Hype | 1987 | Methodic Solutions, Al Alamiah | MSX | Also known as Starbuster. | |
| Ice | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | Port of Pengo. Released as Penguin by Eurosoft. | |
| Jet Bomber | 1986 | Aackosoft, Al Alamiah, MegaCom | MSX | Clone of Zaxxon. Uses the Star Wars theme. | |
| Kick It! | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah, Aackosoft | MSX | Port of Check Man. | |
| Life in the Fast Lane | 1987 | Methodic Solutions, Aackosoft | MSX | ||
| Oh Shit! | 1985 | Aackosoft, Eaglesoft, Eurosoft, Premium III Software Distribution | MSX | Also known as Oh No! and Shit. | |
| Mac Attack | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | Port of BurgerTime. Specifically based off an unofficial C64 port. | |
| Meaning of Life | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Moonrider | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | Port of Moon Patrol. | |
| Mr. Jaws | 1987 | Eaglesoft | MSX | Port of Jawbreaker 2. Logo on the title screen is based off the Jaws logo. | |
| Panel Panic | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | Clone of Amidar. | |
| Panique | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | A clone of Space Panic. The box art depicts a lady with a head of a lizard-like creature, with one of its breasts exposed. | |
| Police Academy | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Red Lights of Amsterdam | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX 2 | ||
| Robot Wars | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | A port of Berzerk. | |
| Sailor's Delight | 1987 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Science Fiction | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Skooter | 1987 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Smack Wacker | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | A port of Jawbreaker with new stages. | |
| Snake | 1987 | Eaglesoft | MSX | Unrelated to Snake It. | |
| Snake It | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah | MSX | ||
| Space Busters | 1985 | Aackosoft, Eaglesoft | MSX | Clone of Space Invaders. | |
| Space Rescue | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Premium III Software Distribution | MSX | Clone of Lunar Lander. | |
| Speedboat Racer | 1987 | Methodic Solutions | MSX | ||
| Sprinter | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Spy Story | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Star Fighter | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Star Wars | 1986 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah, Eurosoft | MSX | Port of Missile Command. Later re-released as Missile Command. | |
| The Apeman Strikes Again | 1985 | Eaglesoft, Al Alamiah, Eurosoft | MSX | Port of Donkey Kong. Re-released as Kong. | |
| The Chess Game | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| The Chess Game 2 | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX | ||
| Thunderball | 1986 | Eaglesoft | MSX 2 |
Trivia[]
- Most of Aackosoft's games were commonly pirated and released on multitapes/multidisks.
- Some of Aackosoft's games are known to not properly work on some MSX machines. This usually happens with any Japanese MSX system, though this can sometimes even happen to all MSX 2 systems.