Archer McLean, the British developer best known for Dropzone and International Karate, has died at the age of 60. The news of his passing came at Christmas time, and many former colleagues and friends paid tribute to him and his body of work on social media. [His debut game, "Dropzone," was inspired by "Defender," but was super smooth and had enough twists on the shim-up formula that it was critically acclaimed and ported to multiple platforms (McLean would later go on to create "Super" for the SNES). Dropzone, a sequel that was excellent). An even bigger hit was the fighting game "International Karate," which at the time felt like an improvement on the free-form fighting system of "Karate Champ" (the makers of "International Karate" were so convinced that one developer could not have an entire sport (The makers of "International Karate" unsuccessfully argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals that one developer could not monopolize an entire sport.)

"International Karate+" would be preceded by Jimmy White's "Whirlwind Snooker" (a shocking game at the time in 1991). Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker was the core game of the Amiga, and no less an authority than PC Gamer magazine ranked it as the 37th best computer game of all time (1994). The game became a very well-known title on the British scene, and there is a video of former snooker pro John Parrott challenging the game on GamesMaster.

McLean went on to produce several more snooker games in this vein throughout the 1990s, and this was the first time his name began to appear on boxes as a selling point. His subsequent work included Archer MacLean's Mercury, an excellent PSP launch title, and his last release was the Wii game Wheelspin in 2009.

In recent years, MacLean has stepped back from front-line development, but has maintained some connection to the industry. He contributed a regular column to PCG's stablemate Retro Gamer, which published an obituary: "I am terribly saddened to hear of Archer Maclean's passing; from IK+ to Archer Maclean's Pool, he created some truly sensational games. From IK+ to Archer Maclean's Pool, he created some truly sensational games and wrote a wonderful column for the magazine. Our thoughts are with all of his friends and family.

"The world has truly lost an extraordinary man," wrote Kim Parker Adcock (opens in new tab).

"Archer McClain was my friend, a very dear friend with a million hilarious memories, and the most delightful companion in the world. We lost touch in 2016 shortly after he met Dave at Develop, where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award and was still waging a legal battle with his former publisher. It was shocking to see someone with such talent shrugged off. I hope they are ashamed, but I doubt it.

" [...] He came to stay with my sons and me. If you look at Jimmy White's pool of characters, you will find Sidespin Kim. Rest in peace forever.

Many developers and industry people have paid tribute to McClain.

It is hard to overstate what the name "Archer McClain" once meant on a game box. He was a designer who flourished in an era when replayability was important, and his most memorable titles not only offered frontal sophistication and spectacle, they continued to offer it time and time again.

They were also games with charm and personality and a chic heart behind them. For example, in Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, if you take your time with the shot, something extraordinary happens: the ball grows arms and a face and sticks its tongue out at you. The ball grows arms and faces and sticks its tongue out at you.

Did this make sense in a serious simulation with Snooker's Golden Boy on the box? But Jimmy White never made a face like that, or made you laugh, or made you want to show this off to your father or your buddies: it was always Archer McClain.

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