1991 Cinemaware / Mirrorsoft
Platform: Commodore Amiga and PC
We’d not long been greeted by the wonderful Speedball 2, when Mirrorsoft were keen to release yet another futuristic sports game in the form of Rollerblades in late 1991.
The game had recently been rescued, when Mirrorsoft brought the Cinemaware name and made a deal with Acme Interactive (the company that rose from the ashes of Cinemaware) to continue developing games under the label.
ZERO magazine ran a major feature on the game in October 1991, even featuring the game on its cover. They described the title as a mixture of hockey, wrestling, boxing and a number of other cult sports including Roller Derby.
The core of the game involves controlling the “Rollerbabes”, who must chase after a ball, taking out anyone in your way to score points. Each stadium/arena consists of a series of traps from the opposition team that you must avoid to prevent losing too many points.
There were plans for league play, combat and challenge round options as well as management and statistical options. Commentating the entire game would be a sleezeball character who seems to bear a close resemblance to Jack Nicholson.
The game was due for release on both Amiga and PC (EGA graphics only), when Mirrorsoft collapsed after Robert Maxwell’s disappearance. This put many titles in jeopardy, with a number of them being taken on by other companies. Rollerbabes wasn’t taken on unfortunately, and as a result has been yet to surface in any shape or form.
According to Lost Media Archive, the game was being written by Ken Melville, with graphics by Jeff Godfrey. It is hoped that either Ken or Jeff will soon be able to shed some light on the development and if it can be saved.
With thanks to Karl Kuras for the heads up, Ross Sillifant for extra scans and heads up of the calendar given away with The One magazine (thanks to archive.org for the scans).
Gallery
I remember having a quick go on a PC version of ‘Rollerbabes’ at Mirrorsoft, in late 1991 before we got sucked into administration. It’s only a vague memory, but I was left with the impression that it looked quite good, but there wasn’t too much playability. The only other thing I remember was thinking it was a bit like ‘Speedball’ but with women on rollerskates!
Thanks Richard – did seem quite close to what Speedball was, which was odd considering it was coming from Mirrorsoft.