Flair Software Ltd.
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJune 5, 1990 (1990-06-05)
DefunctJanuary 22, 2002 (2002-01-22)
FateDissolved
HeadquartersNewcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Key people
Colin Courtney
ProductsElvira: The Arcade Game
Oscar
Dangerous Streets
Realm
Brands

Casual Arts, formerly known as Flair Software, is a British video game developer and publisher of the 1990s that developed and published games for the Amiga, Amiga CD32, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn and SNES. It was set up by Colin Courtney in 1990 after his previous company, Tynesoft, went bankrupt.[1] It retained Tynesoft's MicroValue brand and published Elvira: The Arcade Game which had originally been scheduled for publication by Tynesoft.[1]

The company is mainly associated with popular and colorful Amiga games such as Trolls, Oscar, and Whizz. In 1993 platformer Oscar was bundled with Millennium's Diggers as a launch bundle for the Amiga CD32 and it was considered one of the mascot games for the system.[2] Flair Software's 1994 fighting game Dangerous Streets (that was a pack-in game for the CD32 later in its lifespan) is generally considered one of the worst games of all time.

The games Trolls and Oscar were remade and re-released in 2010 as Nintendo DSiWare by Virtual Playground (part of the MicroValue group of companies[3]) under the new titles Oscar in Toyland (since the Trolls license couldn't be used anymore [4]) and Oscar in Movieland. In 2011 Virtual Playground also released two new original Oscar games (Oscar in Toyland 2 and Oscar's World Tour) for DSiWare.

The company currently operates under the name Casual Arts and releases games for PC, Mac, Nintendo DS/3DS, iOS, Android, and Kindle.[5]

The company dissolved on 22nd January 2002.[6]

Selected Games

  • Turn n' Burn (1990, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS)
  • Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1991, Commodore 64) (publisher)
  • Elvira: The Arcade Game (1991, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS)
  • Euro Soccer (1992, Amiga, DOS)
  • Trolls (1992, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Commodore 64, DOS)
  • Oscar (1993, Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS, SNES)
  • Surf Ninjas (1993, Amiga CD32)
  • Dangerous Streets (1994, Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS)
  • Summer Olympix (1994, Amiga CD32)
  • Whizz (1994, Amiga, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, SNES)
  • Rally Championships (1994, Amiga, DOS)
  • Soccer Superstars (1995, Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS)
  • Realm (1996, SNES)
  • Time Paradox (1996, DOS)
  • MegaMorph (1997, DOS)
  • Double Agent (1998, Windows, Amiga)
  • Jungle Legend (1999, Windows)

References

  1. 1 2 "From the Archives: Tynesoft". Retro Gamer. No. 75. Imagine. 31 March 2010. p. 82-87.
  2. ↑ "Oscar". Retro Gamer. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  3. ↑ "Virtual Playground Games". IGN. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  4. ↑ "European Nintendo downloads: Oscar in Troll-land". Joystiq.com. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  5. ↑ "FAQ". Retrieved 15 March 2023..
  6. ↑ "Flair Software Ltd". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
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