Blake Stone Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Ramgang ad computer game review jan 1995

RamGang advertisement from January 1995 issue of Computer Game Review magazine

The RamGang Collector Series was a series of shareware DOS games released on 3.5" HD/DD diskettes by Megaware Corporation Pty Ltd. This series included many popular shareware titles, most notably those developed by Apogee Software, id Software, and Epic MegaGames. The series was distributed in Australia, the United States, and Canada. The Australian versions of these releases have OFLC ratings printed on the covers, while versions from North America contain no age ratings at all.

Cards[]

Some of the games included bonus collector cards, which focused solely on id and Apogee titles. The cards featured a game's official cover or manual artwork on the front, and a summary of the game's story on the back. A total of 9 regular collector cards were made. There was also a contest where a set of foil-stamped collector cards was given away, although it is currently unknown if these foil-stamped versions exist. The card series was produced by Dynamic Marketing.

Card number 7 of 9 was Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold.

List of cards[]

  1. DOOM
  2. Monster Bash
  3. Hocus Pocus
  4. Raptor
  5. Wolfenstein 3D
  6. Bio Menace
  7. Blake Stone
  8. Duke Nukem II
  9. Halloween Harry

Games[]

Following is an alphabetical list of known shareware games that were released in the RamGang Collector Series, along with each game's official date of classification in Australia, where known. This list may be incomplete.

  • Bio Menace (13 July 1994)[1]
  • Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (13 July 1994)[2]
  • Brix (13 July 1994)[3]
  • Cannon Fodder (12 January 1995)[4]
  • Commander Keen in "Goodbye, Galaxy!" (13 July 1994)[5]
  • Depth Dwellers (13 July 1994)[6]
  • DOOM (23 June 1994)[7]
  • Duke Nukem (13 July 1994)[8]
  • Duke Nukem II (13 July 1994)[9]
  • Electro Man (13 July 1994)[10]
  • Entombed (04 July 1994)[11]
  • Epic Pinball (13 July 1994)[12]
  • Halloween Harry (13 July 1994)[13]
  • Hocus Pocus (13 July 1994)[14]
  • In Search of Dr. Riptide (31 August 1994)[15]
  • Lemmings [citation needed]
  • Major Stryker (13 July 1994)[16]
  • Monster Bash (13 July 1994)[17]
  • Mystic Towers (12 January 1995)[18]
  • One Must Fall: 2097 (21 November 1994)[19]
  • OverKill (13 July 1994)[20]
  • Jazz Jackrabbit (15 September 1994)[21]
  • Raptor: Call of the Shadows (13 July 1994)[22]
  • Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins (12 February 1996)[23]
  • Sango Fighter (13 July 1994)[24]
  • Silverball (12 January 1995)[25]
  • SimCity [citation needed]
  • Wacky Wheels (21 December 1994)[26]
  • Wolfenstein 3D (13 July 1994)[27]
  • Xargon (13 July 1994)[28]
  • Zone 66 (13 July 1994)[29]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • With the exception of id Software's self-published title Doom, all of the games featured on the collector cards were published by Apogee Software.
  • RamGang was one of many shareware distributors that existed. RamGang releases often used the games' official artwork, whereas some other distributors made their own custom artwork instead.
  • RamGang releases are notable for their very high quality packaging and "professional" presentation compared to some other shareware distributors (such as Wiz Technology). The games were released in collector-friendly plastic calendar cases which store the floppies and glossy cover inserts.
  • The cases come in two sizes: A standard size which holds a single disk, and a slightly thicker size which holds two disks. Games that came on three disks (like Rise of the Triad) consist of two cases; a larger one containing two of the disks, and a smaller one containing the remaining disk.
  • RamGang shareware is extremely rare. Despite their relatively high quality format, copies of these releases, and the collector cards, are rarely listed for sale. In particular, it is difficult to find a complete set of cards.
  • The disk colors appear to be different depending on the region they are from. Black disks are from Australia, while off-white disks are from North America.
  • The disk labels went through a number of revisions. Some labels contain only text and may be in black and white or have color logos, while others are in full color and feature the game's cover art.

References[]

  1. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/biomenace
  2. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/blake-stone-aliens-gold
  3. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/brix-2
  4. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/cannon-fodder-1
  5. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/commander-keen-goodbye-galaxy
  6. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/depth-dwellers
  7. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/doom-2
  8. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/duke-nukem
  9. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/duke-nukem-ii
  10. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/electro-man-0
  11. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/entombed
  12. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/epic-pinball
  13. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/halloween-harry
  14. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/hocus-pocus-4
  15. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/search-dr-riptide
  16. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/major-stryker
  17. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/monster-bash-0
  18. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/mystic-towers
  19. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/one-must-fall-2097
  20. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/overkill-0
  21. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/jazz-jackrabbit-1
  22. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/raptor-call-shadows
  23. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/rise-triad
  24. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/sango-fighter-0
  25. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/silverball-fantasy-table
  26. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/wacky-wheels
  27. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/wolfenstein-3d-3
  28. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/xargon-beyond-reality
  29. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/zone-66
Advertisement