It is not all that often that I come across a classic game that did not see release on a home console at some point, or at least once in a series. From the Monkey Island games to the King’s Quest series or even Doom and Quake there have been home console ports released eventually. Shamus was originally released in the early 80s only for computers. The original developer, Cathryn Mataga, released versions of the first Shamus for Game Boy Color and iOS, Apple devices got the sequel as well. Now, thanks to nanochess, fans of Shamus, or Berzerk style gaming, can rejoice as they are working on a port to the ColecoVision console.
Fans Doing What Companies Won’t
I don’t really blame Mataga on this one, they are an individual and not a corporation pumping out game after game. Still, no company has stepped up to license Shamus for release on a home console. Nanochess, member of the AtariAge forums is stepping up making their own clone of Shamus. I do not want to imply this is a licensed port, at no point has that been implied by either nonchess or Mataga.
Shamus for the ColecoVision is an interesting release. CVBasic is the programming language being used to make magic happen.
Personally, I have never heard of Shamus, I just assumed over the years that there were no Berzerk clones for whatever reason. It is great to see I was wrong.
Demos and Work in Progress Releases Are Available
I try to focus on games that have a demo or some other release available so that you can check them out. I am proud to say that there are multiple builds of Shamus available for download on the AtariAge forums. Grab them, play Shamus and let the developer know what you think.