Mire Mare
Encyclopedia
Mire Mare is an unreleased video game by Ultimate Play The Game
.
Underwurlde
, the second game in the Sabreman series of titles from Ultimate (following Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore,) has three separate exits, each naming another game in the series. The first exit names Knight Lore
, which was released at the same time as Underwurlde. The second names Pentagram
, which surfaced in 1986. The third exit names Mire Mare, which was expected, but never published.
On successful completion of the Knight Lore
game, the poem displayed reads:
And on successful completion of Pentagram
, the message displayed is:
The Mire Mare story is largely connected to the partial sale of Ultimate to U.S. Gold
.
The most widely believed story is that Mire Mare was actually coded before Gunfright
(Ultimate's last title before US Gold's partial takeover.) With a view to the popularity of the Sabreman character, it was decided to hold Mire Mare back as Ultimate's 'swan song'.
However, the partial takeover moved a lot quicker than anticipated, and although Ultimate had prior to this released Gunfright, they had not yet released Mire Mare. US Gold seemingly were not interested in releasing new Ultimate material. Instead they were more interested in releasing the Ultimate back catalogue on the £2.99 Kixx label. Naturally, Ultimate were not too pleased about this, and when US Gold asked Ultimate about Mire Mare (and mentioned the fact they would like to release it alongside the Ultimate back catalogue) they were subsequently told that it was not ready, and would not be completed for another 6 months, at which point US Gold decided to cancel the project.
An interview conducted on the Ultimate World website states clearly that the game was completed, and that even the artwork was prepared. An ex-employee even claims to have played it. It had been widely speculated that Mire Mare was to be presented in Ultimate's Filmation
isometric graphic style, either with static screens (as used in Knight Lore
, Alien 8
and Pentagram
), or scrolling (as in Nightshade
and Gunfright
) but Rare (the company that rose from Ultimate's ashes) revealed in the late 1990s that it would actually have been more like the top-down Sabre Wulf
. Rare also explained that although the basic game design was completed Ultimate's hectic schedule meant that the title's actual coding was never completed.
Ultimate Play the Game
Ultimate Play The Game was a critically acclaimed video game developer of the early home computer era. "Ultimate Play The Game" was the trading name of Ashby Computers & Graphics Ltd. , a software company founded in 1982 by two ex-arcade game developers Tim and Chris Stamper...
.
Underwurlde
Underwurlde
Underwurlde is a video game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the second in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf. The format of the game is a 2D side view flip-screen platform game...
, the second game in the Sabreman series of titles from Ultimate (following Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore,) has three separate exits, each naming another game in the series. The first exit names Knight Lore
Knight Lore
Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used Ultimate's filmation engine to achieve a 3D look...
, which was released at the same time as Underwurlde. The second names Pentagram
Pentagram (video game)
Pentagram is a ZX Spectrum and MSX video game released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1986. It is the fourth in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde and Knight Lore. Similarly to Knight Lore it uses the isometric Filmation engine. The game was written by...
, which surfaced in 1986. The third exit names Mire Mare, which was expected, but never published.
On successful completion of the Knight Lore
Knight Lore
Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used Ultimate's filmation engine to achieve a 3D look...
game, the poem displayed reads:
-
- ITS MAGIC STRONG
- ALL EVIL MUST BEWARE
- THE SPELL HAS BROKEN
- YOU ARE FREE
- GO FORTH TO MIREMARE
And on successful completion of Pentagram
Pentagram (video game)
Pentagram is a ZX Spectrum and MSX video game released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1986. It is the fourth in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde and Knight Lore. Similarly to Knight Lore it uses the isometric Filmation engine. The game was written by...
, the message displayed is:
-
- CONGRATULATIONS
- YOU HAVE COMPLETED
- THE PENTAGRAM
- YOUR ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN
- MIRE MARE
The Mire Mare story is largely connected to the partial sale of Ultimate to U.S. Gold
U.S. Gold
U.S. Gold was a British video game publisher and developer from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing numerous titles on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.-History:...
.
The most widely believed story is that Mire Mare was actually coded before Gunfright
Gunfright
Gunfright is a ZX Spectrum video game developed by Ultimate Play The Game for U.S. Gold in 1986. The game makes use of the same scrolling isometric projection engine used previously in Nightshade. The player takes the role of sheriff in the town of Black Rock. Some outlaws are headed into town...
(Ultimate's last title before US Gold's partial takeover.) With a view to the popularity of the Sabreman character, it was decided to hold Mire Mare back as Ultimate's 'swan song'.
However, the partial takeover moved a lot quicker than anticipated, and although Ultimate had prior to this released Gunfright, they had not yet released Mire Mare. US Gold seemingly were not interested in releasing new Ultimate material. Instead they were more interested in releasing the Ultimate back catalogue on the £2.99 Kixx label. Naturally, Ultimate were not too pleased about this, and when US Gold asked Ultimate about Mire Mare (and mentioned the fact they would like to release it alongside the Ultimate back catalogue) they were subsequently told that it was not ready, and would not be completed for another 6 months, at which point US Gold decided to cancel the project.
An interview conducted on the Ultimate World website states clearly that the game was completed, and that even the artwork was prepared. An ex-employee even claims to have played it. It had been widely speculated that Mire Mare was to be presented in Ultimate's Filmation
Filmation engine
Filmation is the trademark name of the isometric graphics engine employed in a series of games developed by Ultimate Play The Game during the 1980s, primarily on the 8-bit ZX Spectrum platform, but various titles also appeared on the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, MSX and Commodore 64 platforms.The...
isometric graphic style, either with static screens (as used in Knight Lore
Knight Lore
Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used Ultimate's filmation engine to achieve a 3D look...
, Alien 8
Alien 8
Alien 8 is a ZX Spectrum video game. It was written by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper of Ultimate Play The Game, and was released by the company in 1985. The game was also ported to the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and MSX platforms. It is the follow-up to Ultimate's Knight Lore, which had been released...
and Pentagram
Pentagram (video game)
Pentagram is a ZX Spectrum and MSX video game released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1986. It is the fourth in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde and Knight Lore. Similarly to Knight Lore it uses the isometric Filmation engine. The game was written by...
), or scrolling (as in Nightshade
Nightshade (video game)
Nightshade is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1985. Building upon the earlier titles Knight Lore and Alien 8 using the flip-screen, isometric gameplay branded Filmation, Nightshade introduces a scrolling isometric environment branded Filmation II.-...
and Gunfright
Gunfright
Gunfright is a ZX Spectrum video game developed by Ultimate Play The Game for U.S. Gold in 1986. The game makes use of the same scrolling isometric projection engine used previously in Nightshade. The player takes the role of sheriff in the town of Black Rock. Some outlaws are headed into town...
) but Rare (the company that rose from Ultimate's ashes) revealed in the late 1990s that it would actually have been more like the top-down Sabre Wulf
Sabre Wulf
Sabre Wulf is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the first in the Sabreman series. It was written originally by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper, and later ported to many other computer platforms...
. Rare also explained that although the basic game design was completed Ultimate's hectic schedule meant that the title's actual coding was never completed.