Rick Dangerous
1989 · Firebird / MicroStyle
Indiana Jones-inspired trap platformer across five exotic levels. Birthed one of gaming’s most beloved death sounds.
Core Design was a British video game developer founded in 1988 in Derby, England by Jeremy Heath-Smith and Chris Shrigley, both former Gremlin Graphics employees. From a small studio in the English Midlands, they built one of the most distinctive action-adventure catalogues of the 8-bit and 16-bit era.
Their first breakthrough came in 1989 with Rick Dangerous - a trap-filled platformer inspired by Indiana Jones, published by Firebird. The game's brutal difficulty, inventive level design, and Simon Phipps’ memorable “Waaaahh” death cry made it an immediate hit across Amiga, Atari ST, C64, and DOS platforms.
Through the early 1990s Core Design built a reputation for technically accomplished, humour-driven games: Chuck Rock (1991), Heimdall (1991), Wolfchild (1992), and Bubba ’n’ Stix (1994). They became a subsidiary of CentreGold, later acquired by Eidos Interactive.
In 1996 Core Design released Tomb Raider - a landmark PlayStation and Saturn adventure featuring Lara Croft, designed by Toby Gard. The game transformed Eidos and produced six sequels. Following the troubled Angel of Darkness (2003), Lara Croft development was transferred to Crystal Dynamics. Core Design continued with minor projects before being closed by Eidos in 2006.
