Protector (1999)

The Jaguar version of Protector, also known as Datastorm.

After having made Globulus for the Amiga and having been involved in a couple of console games Danish coder Jørgen Bech was hired by Bethesda Softworks in the US. His job was to make the Jaguar conversion of the MegaDrive game Protector, which was a never released conversion of the Amiga game Datastorm. Both of these games were made by Danish coder Søren Grønbech of Sword Of Sodan fame.

However the Jaguar version of Protector turned out to be very different from the original Datastorm. Almost all the graphics and sound were replaced and the gameplay was altered too. The idea was to make a game closer to the original arcade game Defender, which Datastorm was heavily inspired from.

In spring 1995 Protector was as good as complete, but the same thing could be said of the Jaguar console. Bethesda Softworks at last decided to not `release` the game - also influenced by the fact that Jeff Minter were to make an official Defender 2000 for the console - and that could have been the end of the story.

But as things turned out, Jørgen Bech came in contact with the private publisher Songbird Productions, specialising in publishing new games for the Jaguar and Lynx, in 1998. Together they managed to obtain the rights to the game and Carl Forhan took over the project. Protector was finished and officially published by Songbird Productions. Recently a Special Edition of the game with more contents have been released.

Read more about http://home1.inet.tele.dk/jbech/protector.htm">Jørgen Bech's experiences with the development of Protector (in Danish) and about http://songbird-productions.com">Songbird Productions, where the game can be bought for $75.