Katakis

Copyright infringement

This was the first game by Factor 5, and they were promptly sued by Activision Europe because it was too similar to R-Type. For the right to keep selling the game, they did the Amiga conversion of R-Type, as Activision couldn't find programmers to do it.

Development

The reason for lots of differences in the Amiga version of Katakis is that it is actually not a true port of the C64 original. To reduce the costs of the conversion Rainbow Arts decided to simply modify another R-Type clone called Neutralizer, that was presented to them by three hobby programmers at the time.

End credits ship

In the end credits for Katakis for Amiga, scenes from the game are shown in sepia colours. However, if you look closely, the spaceship does not look exactly like the spaceship you have been controlling for the last hours – instead it is a carbon copy of the original R-Type ship, the R-9! Similarly, the weapons pod in these screens is identical to R-Type's "Force".

Name

The name "Katakis" was retrieved by programmer Manfred Trenz by using a phone book. "Katakis" is a greek family name from someone living in the German town Gütersloh. (Source: Interview with Manfred Trenz in Amiga Joker 1990/7)

Information also contributed by Игги Друге and Zerobrain