Burkhard Rathesier

If in your younger years or, for the more committed nerdy types, recently you have been into playing online computer games then no doubt you have come across a multitude of platform games. They can range in their appearance from the squeaky clean Red Beard game, in which the main character resembles a Special K Challenge version of Oblix, to the more pixelated and ultimately lovable Save the Sheriff, in which a pig, for reasons unknown, risks life and limb in the desert to ‘save the sheriff’ as the title suggests.

Well, in a simpler time, the screen didn’t scroll like it does it most current platform games, that is to say there was a single screen which the character had to navigate before moving onto the next level. For instance the original Donkey Kong was one of these ‘single screen era’ games. Due to the simple graphics and programming skills required to create such games lots of individuals, most of whom probably weren’t too accustomed to seeing the light of day all that often, could create such simple platform games from the comfort of their own home. Without the need for all the fancy, epileptic fit inducing imaging and all that jazz the platform game was born.

In my opinion the king of such pixelated masterpieces is Burkhard Rathesier, who begun programming games at the tender age of 15 during the 80’s when platform games were ruling the world of online gaming. In the past Rathesier has brought us such classics as Nobby Nuss, in which a squirrel has to avoid peril, in the form of huge insects and honey in order to collect a few measly nuts only to face yet more deadly challenges. I am not ashamed to say, I have never managed to complete, despite the many hours I have spent , or ‘wasted’ as the majority seem to think, playing the game.

Ratheiser has also brought us other classics such as Tony’s Teddy, another platform game – with the twist that you can create the platforms yourself (or just spend hours constructing a masterpiece out of cloud squares), Super Kid, a shooting platform game, and Fill-It.

All this magic was made without working for any major company and without a massive team of producers and supposedly creative designers (who in reality can often just be pricks in architects’ glasses).

Yet, we never hear about these self-taught games programmers in day to day life, they aren’t ever celebrated on TV (apart from possibly in Charlie Brooker’s epic Gameswipe) or known anyone who doesn’t actively search them out – and most that do are labelled as geeks with more free time than they can deal with.

So I strongly suggest you check out Ratheiser’s games at this site:
http://www.students.uni-mainz.de/rathb000/

Have a great week guys.
E. Twitcher