Ocean Software Ltd

Ocean Software Ltd The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s & was based in Manchester. Jones.

https://ko-fi.com/markrjones1970

My name is Mark R. I worked at Ocean on and off between January 1987 and 1991. I was employed as a computer graphic designer and worked on ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, Atari ST & Commodore Amiga titles. I maintain this page. Most of the comments here will be from me. I saved everything I had collected from my days at Ocean and, for some reason, people are now very interested in that material and the recollections of me and all the people I worked with back then. None of us had any idea back then that we'd still be talking about it all 25 years later. That's great. While to some people it was just a job they did years ago I & most of my old workmates love talking about what went on back then. It was one of the most exciting and interesting jobs I've ever had. I worked on various games including the Spectrum conversions of 'Wizball', 'Gryzor & 'Dragonninja'. I worked on the Spectrum & Amstrad loading screens for 'Mag Max' and had my hand in 'Mutants' 'Tai Pan', 'Arkanoid I' & 'II' & the Spectrrum 'Vindicator'. Later I worked on the Spectrum, ST & Amiga licence for 'Total Recall' and the ST & Amiga 'Rambo III'. After that I went freelance and worked on various bits for Probe including 'Last Battle' for Elite, 'Alien 3' & 'Back To The Future 3'. I then co-designed the mad 'Flood II' for Bullfrog in 1992 before it was cancelled and I decided to go and find a 'normal' job. More recently in 2011 I was responsible for everything bar the programming on the Spectrum version of an old Ashby Computer & Graphics arcade game from 1983 called 'Dingo'. That was great fun and it was very well received. Since then I have been making the odd Spectrum loading screens for classic games, like Avalon, Dragontorc, both by Hewson, and Tir Na Nog by Gargoyle Games that didn't have one or had one I thought I could improve on, just for fun. I plan to have all my saved goodies up here over the next year or so (yes I have that much!) If you saw all the Ocean & Imagine items on display at the ''Videogame Nation' exhibition at the Urbis in Manchester a few years ago you know what to expect as all of those items were from my personal collection. New stuff is always popping up on the world wide web too. As long as I'm here so will be the site. Please feel free to upload anything nice you may have and to participate on any threads that may arise.

13/06/2026

2026, Marks 5 Years of Nottingham Video Games Expo! showcasing the Midlands communities and beyond to celebrate all things gaming and more!

"This week we’re joined by veteran programmer Colin Porch, whose career took him through some of the biggest names in Br...
13/06/2026

"This week we’re joined by veteran programmer Colin Porch, whose career took him through some of the biggest names in British gaming history, including Imagine, Software Projects and Ocean Software. Colin shares stories of Imagine’s dramatic collapse, converting arcade hits like Dragon’s Lair, Operation Wolf and Gryzor to home micros, the infamous lost Parasol Stars C64 port, and the technical wizardry behind bringing Head Over Heels to the Commodore 64, Atari ST and Amiga. Plus, we hear the incredible story of Return to Blacktooth, the Head Over Heels sequel Colin began in 1989 and has finally completed 37 years later."

The story of Head Over Heels 2: Return To Blacktooth

Bill Harbison's new video:"Behind the Scenes of Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge"
12/06/2026

Bill Harbison's new video:
"Behind the Scenes of Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge"

In this behind-the-scenes look at the making of Daley Thompson's Ol...

Making Batman (1989): Rare Ocean Software Behind-The-Scenes Interview
12/06/2026

Making Batman (1989): Rare Ocean Software Behind-The-Scenes Interview

Travel back to Manchester in the summer of 1989 for a rare, behind-...

See 'Head Over Heels 2' in action:
31/05/2026

See 'Head Over Heels 2' in action:

Computer programmer finally finishes game sequel... 37 years later - Head Over Heels 2
27/05/2026

Computer programmer finally finishes game sequel... 37 years later - Head Over Heels 2

Watch the latest from ITV News - Colin Porch began making a sequel for an Atari game called 'Head Over Heels' in 1989 but it was shelved by his then-employers, Ocean Software.

News article about Ocean Software from the Manchester Evening News, 28th April 1986. I had not seen that photo of Paul O...
21/05/2026

News article about Ocean Software from the Manchester Evening News, 28th April 1986.

I had not seen that photo of Paul Owens, Jon Woods & David Ward down in the dungeons before!

Thanks to Kevin Edwards for digging this up.

Address

Manchester
M25NS

Telephone

01618326633

Website

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