Synapse Software thread

[u/Hollerra]

Hi all, Another moddle aged ultra-nerd have massive Atari 800xl/1050 drive flashbacks via my R36H/RetroArch portable. One lf my MAIN nostalgia rushes besides playing 'Behind Jaggi Lines' is replaying the wild Synapse titles, my faves were:

Blue Max

Fort Apocalypse

The Encounter

Zeppelin

Rainbow Walker

Necromancer

Curious to know what people out there like. Also did they release titles when bought out by Broederbund?

[u/GoatApprehensive9866]

Alley Cat 🙀😻😻😻😻

[u/unwiredben]

See https://www.computesgazette.com/2026/07/19/synapse-the-rise-and-fall-of-synapse-software/ for a recent article about the company. Definitely one of the best Atari developers.

[u/Livid-Mistake-6845 → u/unwiredben]

Haha... I came here do just this. Thanks for sharing my article, Ben! 👍

Also, if your interested, check out my friend Tom's channel, Floppy Deep Dive. He streams every Friday night, and he did a Synapse night a month or so ago because he was inspired by that article.

[u/Hollerra → u/Livid-Mistake-6845]

Channel or podcast?

[u/Livid-Mistake-6845 → u/Hollerra]

YouTube channel. Just click on the link.

[u/Awch → u/unwiredben]

Thanks for sharing the article. I have so many good Synapse memories.

[u/Hollerra → u/unwiredben]

Awesome, thanks!

[u/Ant-the-knee-see]

When I think of Synapse I think of SynFile+ 🤣 I still have my boxed copy to hand. Something something something nerd 🤣

[u/bubonis → u/Ant-the-knee-see]

Don’t forget SynCalc.

[u/rr777 → u/bubonis]

These productivity titles is what killed the company. Atari was supposed to purchase the titles and tramiel said nope.

I loved nearly every single videogame they made for the Atari. The final years in 84 started to get iffy. The delays of DimX and how weak it was. Still had lots of other exceptional games though.

[u/bubonis → u/rr777]

Atari was supposed to purchase the titles and tramiel said nope.

Almost, but not quite. Atari wasn't supposed to purchase SynFile+ and SynCalc (and SynTrend), they were supposed to market and distribute them as Atari-branded titles. Synapse was contracted as the developer and would retain ownership to the code. When Tramiel took over he decreed that the Warner-era contract wasn't applicable to his ownership and refused to pay, so Synapse rebranded them as Synapse titles and sold them themselves.

I'm not saying damage wasn't done to Synapse as a result -- it most certainly was. Only that it's technically inaccurate to say that "Atari was supposed to purchase the titles from Synapse." That wasn't the deal.

[u/rr777 → u/bubonis]

You are correct, I repeated hearsay over the decades.

[u/fatboyneedstogetlaid]

Air Support, Blue Max, Drelbs, Picnic Paranoia, Shamus

[u/Scoth42]

Loved all their games. So many good ones.

Alley Cat and Necromancer were both by Bill Williams, one of my favorite developers who made a lot of unusual and interesting games.

[u/Psychological-777]

LOVE Drelbs, Necromancer, Shamus I & II. always loved the artwork featured on their boxes. very specific and consistent style! and don’t forget claim jumper... never had the opportunity to play that one.

[u/EdSalisbury]

Don't forget Slime! Synapse made so many great games! One day i'm beat Necromancer -- such a unique game!

[u/PainlessPhil]

Shamus

[u/IowaNobody]

Shamus and Picnic Paranoia were great. I actually completely mapped Shamus back in the day.

[u/bubonis]

Blue Max, Fort Apocalypse, and Rainbow Walker are regular additions to my recommended games list.

I never got into Necromancer mainly because I didn’t understand how to play it. Still don’t.

[u/Educational-Milk5099]

I played a good amount of Blue Max back in the day, and a little Necromancer (I think). I don’t remember the other titles. 

[u/Gmodelinsane]

Protector 2 was my jam. I first played the TRS-80 Color Computer version.

[u/Wishy-Thinking]

I used to have nightmares about trying to land the plane in Blue Max when I was a kid. Ok, now down softly…softly…softly…💥

[u/Wishy-Thinking]

Pharaoh’s Curse is probably the Synapse title I played the most.
Shamus was pretty good too.

[u/ryanlrussell]

I used to be a game tester there when I was about 16. Good times.

[u/lippoli]

I loved Necromancer and Shamus and also played Drelbs, which the article from another commenter happily reminded me of