Almost 30 years after its initial release, and nine years after its rerelease, Apogee Entertainment has revealed the surprise release of Super Agent HD, a remaster of the 90s puzzle-platformer game that was originally released on a floppy disk, with brand new content. With support from Emberheart Games, Apogee Entertainment was able to bring the game to a new generation of potential fans. It also recently announced a new sci-fi survival platformer with OrangePixel.
Some gamers may not be familiar with the name Apogee, but it is a legendary publisher in the gaming industry. Seen as one of the original indie publishers, it is the company behind the original creation of heavy-hitting games like Wolfenstein 3D, Max Payne, Duke Nukem and the original Prey. The publisher went from Apogee Software to 3D Realms to the new Apogee Entertainment, but with founder Scott Miller and Terry Nagy at the lead. In its previous incarnations, it introduced the world to id Software and Remedy Entertainment, the latter of which is currently working on three new games.
Now on Steam and GOG.com, the Secret Agent HD game includes new features, a level editor with support for Steam Workshop, and a new episode that has 16 brand new missions. In the game, players are Agent 006, a spy always striving to save the world. In this 2D puzzle arcade game, 006 has to prevent a global catastrophe by parachuting into a high-security island to retrieve top-secret plans from the Diabolical Villain Society. Originally when it was released, the game had three episodes for players to purchase and play. Now, all of the original episodes and the new fourth one are included. As with most remasters, the visuals in the game are updated as well. They're put on display in a new trailer courtesy of Apogee. It's heartening to see a classic game get the remaster it deserves.
In addition to the new content and episode added, which are exclusive to the remaster, players can challenge their friends with the level-editor using custom maps, claim retro street cred, hear a new soundtrack, fight new enemies and more. “The new Apogee Entertainment is focused on helping today’s developers reach new audiences with their unbelievable talent, but we’re fans of the classics too. The ‘90s will never die—we’ve got new missions 30 years in the making to prove it!” said Scott Miller. Nostalgia is a great way to appeal to old fans and new potential fans, and spy games and motifs are still popular in newer video games.
The gaming industry has moved so far from games on floppy disks and pixeled graphics, but there is something about it that continually pulls gamers back. Because of where the industry is now, games can be HD, run better and have new stories but still echo the style of nostalgic or retro games. At E3, more than one game was announced that had pixelated graphics and mechanics similar to Secret Agent HD while carving their own path in their respective genres.
It is clear that Apogee Entertainment's impact on the industry is still felt and that games are still inspired by the games it produced, which makes its return and the release of Secret Agent HD perfect timing. Hopefully nostalgic fans will enjoy the chance to relive this slice of gaming history. If they do, perhaps more retro revivals will follow.
Secret Agent HD is available on Steam and GOG.com today, June 30, for PC and Linux systems.
Source: Apogee/YouTube
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