The Outrageous Chronicle

This is a collection of blogs & articles, YouTube & Twitch videos and any other documentation about OUTRAGE.

We try to keep it as comprehensive as possible.

In case your article or any other contribution is missing please feel free to contact me!

Awards

Winner - Best Games 2020

Very nice personal Top 5 of C64 game releases in 2020 by YouTuber Kite666G with OUTRAGE rated number 1.

“I know there were many exellent games this year but this game really took me back to the golden years of the Commodore when I was a kid. Thank you for making this gem of a game.”
Kite666G

Silver Medal - RVG Game of the Year

Retro Video Gamer nominated 10 finalists for Commodore 64 and for ZX Spectrum for its annual Game of the Year 2020 Award. The list has been curated by RVG, RGN, Planeta Sinclair, Reset64, Hayesmaker64, and many more.

OUTRAGE achieved the fantastic silver medal with 28.31% very close behind the winner Millie & Molly from Carleton Handley / Bitmap Soft & Bobr.Games with 28.92%. MW Ultra from Protovision & Psytronik took 3rd place with 20.48%.

Nominations

RGN Gamers' Choice Award

These 20 finalists of Retro Gamer Nation’s C64 Gamers’ Choice Award of 2020 have been curated by RGN and the results were determined by popular vote.

OUTRAGE made it into the TOP 10! With 63 votes it scored a remarkable 6th place within the strong competitor field. The honorable winners are:

place – Zeta Wing (144 votes)
place – Fix-it-Felix Jr (101 votes)
place – Millie & Molly (90 votes)

IRN - C64 Game Awards 2020

Indie Retro News nominated the “cracking AAA beating games with amazing physical releases in 2020 and stunning artwork. These will be remembered along with the very best games ever made for the C64.”

OUTRAGE was placed within the Game of the Year category together with Millie & Molly, MW Ultra and Hired Sword 2. We solute the category winners:

Game of the year: MW Ultra (Protovision & Psytronik)
Budget Game of the year: Zeta Wing (Sarah Jane Avory)
Genius of the year award: Fix it Felix Jr. (Steve Day)

TOP 10 - Best Games 2021

Personal TOP 10 of Commodore 64 games that have been released in 2021 (including December 2020) by YouTuber BastichB from 64K.

Besides OUTRAGE the video features Nixy the Glade Sprite, Ninja Carnage, Battle Kingdom, Bad Moon Rising, Plekthora, Lost Realms of Murkasada, Arcade Daze, Briley Witch Chronicles, Soulless 2, Night Knight, Monstro Giganto, Soul Force, Gates of the Ancients and Runn ’n’ Gunn.

TOP 20 after C64 Releases

Personal TOP 20 of Commodore 64 games that got released after C64 ceased production by YouTuber Old Style Gaming.

Being among this exquisite choice of digital greatness is a true honor. It features awesome titles like Sam’s Journey, Sonic the Hedgedog, Super Mario Bros C64 and many others. Note that OUTRAGE is the only production that started BEFORE the decline of the C64 and was released almost 3 decades after it. Thanks Paul!

Videos, Gameplays and Playthroughs

Biggest German retro fanzine RETURN featured an extensive publisher special about Protovision and a video interview with OUTRAGE developer Bernd Buchegger in their RETURN TV Episode #9. Moderators Frank and Alex revealed the answer to the question if there is more to be expected from Cosmos Designs in the future.

Check out their YouTube channel for more stuff!

Honestly that was exactly the review I was hoping for. A comparison between my great inspiration – the classic C64 Thalamus game Hawkeye – and OUTRAGE. Fantasticly edited and commented by BastichB 64K .

Thanks mate, that really meant a big honor to me!

Best comment by Jeroen Tel (famous Hawkeye sound composer) telling that he was in the age of 15 (!) when doing it – WTF, this C64 legend is MY AGE!

First full playthrough without trainers mastered by Old Style Gaming.

“This one was just the right level of difficulty/strategy to be enjoyable as some games become a real chore on the really hard levels. You got everything right on this game mate and every C64 fan should defo play it!”
Old Style Gaming

OUTRAGE first play and review by Markus “Atroxis” Holler and Dennis “Hurrican” Pauler from Virtual Dimension (German).

“I found it better than Hawkeye.”

Thanks Dennis – that was the best compliment ever!

OUTRAGE hammer review by OldMetalheadGaming

I literally shed tears of joy – that vid was hilarious!

He obviously shed sweat and blood to fight his way through.

The full background story got shaped out like a precision-driller. At the end he rated with his personal beer scale and OUTRAGE got full-metal 10 out of 10 beers – cheers, mate!

“I do not really see this video as a review but a love declaration to the genre in general and to OUTRAGE in particular.”

Gamejam / Klujam 2022 Interview

I had the chance to give an interview and talk about OUTRAGE at the Spring Gamejam / Klujam 2022 in Klagenfurt. I used this opportunity tell about our Guinness Book of Records experience and ask for help as I am still searching for the right supporting institution. The Klujam is organized by the game studies institute at the University of Klagenfurt – so hopefully they can become a promoter of our journey.

Reviews and Articles

These international retrogaming platforms have been reviewing OUTRAGE in their blog articles:

OUTRAGE – The game with the longest development time written by Sascha Böhme of (G)Net
- (G)Net is publishing news and reviews of current retro games in their blog in German language.
- In 2021 Sascha Böhme wrote a blog article about the Top 10 games with the longest development time – not having been aware of the OUTRAGE story at that time.
- I contacted Sascha and he instantly wrote a new blog entry the next day to erradicate this failure – Thanks mate!
Persistence. Or how we kept at a 30 years project written by Arnold Blueml of Cosmos Designs
- A very personal article from my Cosmos Designs brother and long-time fellow Arnold about the success factors behind this game development project.
- It all comes down to this simple formula: Success = Purpose + People + Persistence
- For me the “People” factor has been the most decisive – without the wonderful team we would not have reached the finishing line in that impressing manner!
Revenge! Finally. Outrage Review and Interview written by Georg Fuchs of LOTEK64
- “The praise Outrage received in many Commodore 64 forums and publications is well deserved. If you are looking for a challenging game which offers more than non-stop shooting action, this is for you.”
- This very comprehensive article includes an extensive game review that covers many different aspects of the game and its genesis, lots of screenshots and an exclusive interview with the OUTRAGE creator Bernd Buchegger.
- The article is in German. The english translation has been published in the vandalism.news market.
Outrage Review by Markus Karp of GGGames
- “Outrage is “likely [Cosmos Designs’] last release”, so it’s a C64-treasure like few others in the category of games that almost were forever lost.”
- “It looks really, really good. Hawkeye-good, if you will…! (And in some ways even better…)”
- “Getting such a well-made C64-game as Outrage in 2020 must be considered a luxury for anyone who enjoyed these types of classics back in the days.”
Italian review Outrage – Recensione C64 from Paolo Besser of The Games Machine
- First to mention Duke Nukem Forever and Cyberpunk 2077 as both games having been significantly long in development but nothing compared to the 30 years of OUTRAGE.
- Rates Outrage a rock-solid 7.6 Score for suberb graphics and sound.
Fabulous floppy disk-based magazine Vandalism News features OUTRAGE in Vandalism News #71
Indie Retro News writes Outrage – After 30 years a fabulous ‘Hawkeye’ style game is coming to the C64!
RetroGamerNation announces upcoming Protovision C64 games – Planet X2.1 & Outrage
Norwegian Article Etter 30 år er C64-spillet Outrage endelig lansert by Joachim Froholt from spillhistorie.no
French article Outrage ne fait pas offense au Commodore 64 from Guillaume Verdin of Le Mag MO5

Podcasts

These podcasts covered OUTRAGE and Cosmos Designs’ history:

German Retrokompott features a quiz with Bernd Buchegger in their Podcast #155.
- With a short interview as introduction and warm-up for the quiz.
- Check it out – would you have been able to answer the questions?
Retrokompott Podcast Issue #159 includes a full length Retro Talk interview with Bernd Buchegger
- With many historical facts about the genesis of Cosmos Designs.
- Including lots of personal stuff including the background of my nickname “Panther”.
- Shoutout to Patrick Becher for all the good questions and bringing back so many good memories!

Print Coverage

This is the collected print coverage featuring articles about OUTRAGE with free excerpts from the mags to download:
1993 – 64’er Magazin Issue#7
- This is the original including the C64 competition announcement
- Download → 64erMagazin_1993_07-BoederCompetition_Announcement (pdf, pages 15-17, German)
1993 – 64’er Magazin Issue#12
- The 64’er Magazin is declaring the C64 competition winners OUTRAGE, Cosmox and Genloc
- Download → 64erMagazin_1993_12-BoederCompetition_Winners (pdf, page 102, German)
2005 – CEVI Aktuell Issue#7
- Including an Interview with Protovision by Boris Kretzinger
- Download → CEVI-Aktuell_2005-07 (pdf, page 3, German)
2009 – CEVI Aktuell Issue#3
- With a Protovision cover story by Milo Mundt, Jakob Voos, Stefan Gutsch and Jan Böttcher
- Download → CEVI-Aktuell_2009-03 (pdf, page 9, German, 7MB!)
2021 – ZZAP!64 Micro Issue #1
- Published a cover story about Cosmos Designs in their ZZAP! 64 Micro Issue #1
- Including a full OUTRAGE review scoring a fantastic overall rating of 79%
- With a timeline of all our games including IMPEROID – that was never a game release but a coding tutorial!
- Check the mag review video by BastichB / 64K and please support ZZAP! 64 on Patreon
- Download → ZZAP! 64 Micro Issue#1 (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher)
2021 – Retro Format / Eight Bit Magazine Retro Annual 2020
- Retro Format published a full OUTRAGE game review in the Eight Bit Magazine Retro Annual 2020
- OUTRAGE scored the unbelievable MAXIMUM rating of 10, beating Soul Force and Zeta Wing both rated 9.5!
- Available from the Eight Bit Magazine online store – grap your copy now!
- Download → Retro Annual 2020 OUTRAGE Review (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher)
2021 – Komoda & Amiga plus Issue#18
- Retro computing magazine K&A plus from Poland featured an OUTRAGE review and an extensive developer interview with mastermind Bernd Buchegger
- Outrage scored a fabulous 9 / 9 / 9 rating in all ranking categories!
- Check out issue #18 on the official K&A plus website and order your subscription to support these great guys!
- Download → K&A plus Issue #18 OUTRAGE Review & Dev Interview (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher)
2021 – Lotek64 Issue #62
- Lotek64 is a free Austrian mag for game consoles and home computers with emphasis on the Commodore 64.
- Issue #62 features an OUTRAGE review and a comprehensive developer interview with Bernd Buchegger.
- You download Lotek64 as free PDF or order the printed annual edition from Books on Demand (BoD)
- My old school mate Georg Fuchs is running this non-commercial project with his team since 2002.
- Download → Lotek64 Issue #62 OUTRAGE Review & Interview (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher)
2021 – ZZAP!64 Annual 2022
- ZZAP!64 / ZZAP! Amiga Magazine picked up the entire history and gamography of Cosmos Designs including OUTRAGE and a Lions of the Universe review – our legendary space sidescroller shmup.
- Many thanks to Chris Wilkins & the ZZAP! team for this wonderful end-of-year highlight!
- You can get your copy at Fusion retro books.
2021 – RETURN Issue #46
- Biggest German retro gaming magazine RETURN features a fabulous OUTRAGE review and developer interview in their issue #46.
- RETURN officially acknowledges in their article that OUTRAGE even surpasses UnReal World in terms of time from start to release date (often referred to as “Development Limbo“).
- Also check out the hilarious Cosmos Designs photos from a copy party in Budapest – what a flashback!
- RETURN is exclusively published as paper mag – order your copy here!
- Please do also visit their YouTube Channel and watch their ReturnTV episodes – Issue #9 had a great Protovision special and includes an exclusive video interview with OUTRAGE mastermind Bernd Buchegger – Big shoutout to Frank & Alex!
- Download → RETURN-46_excerpt_OUTRAGE (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher, 6 MB)

2022 Reset64 Issue #14
- C64 magazine Reset64 focused heavily on the whole Run ‘n Gun genre in their issue #14.
- Reset dedicated an article to the legacy of Hawkeye – a true masterpiece of graphics, sound and gameplay from Boys Without Brains that was released by Thalamus in the year 1988.
- Hawkeye was inspiration to many spin-offs like Bamboo, Tales of Boon, Rubicon, Greystorm, Flimbo’s Quest and last but not least our beloved OUTRAGE!
- The very anticipated sequel Hawkeye II so far failed to get completed. Scene group Onslaught put out a preview at the X’2010 party and efforts have been restarted. Let’s hope David and his team can make it happen!
- It also included an OUTRAGE review which turned out to be quite critical compared to prior ratings. But hey, not everybody is a fan of the rock-hard difficulty levels of the 90s.
- Reset64 Issue #14 can be downloaded for free but please donate – these guys put their lifeblood into it.
- Download → Reset64 Issue #14 OUTRAGE excerpt (pdf, with friendly permission from publisher, 778 KB)