Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge
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| Koala Lumpur: Journey To The Edge | |
|---|---|
 European cover art | |
| Developers | Media Concrete Colossal Pictures |
| Publisher | Broderbund |
| Producer | Pola Ayllon |
| Programmers | Bob Arient Dan Kelmenson |
| Artist | James S. Baker |
| Composer | Greg Hale Jones |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | 7 February 1997 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Koala Lumpur: Journey To The Edge is a 1997 video game developed by Media Concrete, published by Broderbund, and co-produced by Colossal Pictures for Microsoft Windows. It is a comedic adventure video game.
The objective of the game is to assist the protagonist Koala Lumpur to locate and read several scrolls.[1] Players control a fly using the mouse cursor to navigate, and point and click at objects of interest to prompt Koala Lumpur to interact with items.[1][2] Levels are set across scrolling backgrounds, with many repeating in 360 degrees.[2] The game features a range of puzzle types, including those requiring players to locate and use items from their inventory, applying knowledge from books found throughout the game, and navigating mazes.[2]
Plot
The game centres around a Zen Master koala named Koala Lumpur (Phil Robinson) and his friend, a dingo named Dr. Dingo Tu-Far (John Stevenson) in their quest to prevent the apocalypse caused by Koala Lumpur's mistaken utterance of a mystic incantation. To perform this feat, Koala and Dr. Dingo must collect pieces of the lost scroll of cartoon prophesies spread out over four stages: Search for Dr. Dingo, Land of Lost Things, Stream of Consciousness, and Eye in the Sky.
Development
Koala Lumpur was developed by the interactive division of Colossal Pictures and multimedia design company Media Concrete, and published by Broderbund.[3][4][5][6] Developers Media Concrete, led by directors Stuart Cudlitz, George Consagra and Anne Ashbey, were former members of Colossal's New Media Division.[3] It was announced in 1996 as a comedic adventure game,[6][5] accompanying seven announced titles to be published by Broderbund in 1997 including The Last Express.[7] This announcement was viewed by publications as reflecting a return to adventure titles and games for adults for Broderbund after a period of publishing only edutainment games.[1][8][5][9]
The concept for Koala Lumpur was created by director James Baker,[10][3][11] originally conceived as a pitch for an animated series.[12][1] Baker stated that the publisher had located materials he had unsuccessfully pitched to television network executives and successfully received support from Broderbund to turn the concept and characters into a video game.[10][2] Colossal Pictures provided the artwork and character design for the game,[1] which were hand-drawn on paper and partially completed at StarToons Studio in Chicago.[11][10] Broderbund handled the programming, game design and sound.[1][10] Creation of Koala Lumpur experienced disruption as Colossal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy mid-development, leading Broderbund to take over the project entirely;[3][10] without the collaboration between the two studios to finalise the game, Baker considered the quality of the end product was impacted.[10]