Odin, based in Liverpool, had previously published games under the name Thor.
When the decision was made to write games in-house, a new name was decided upon, Odin Computer Graphics.
Their first release was Nodes Of Yesod, an instant classic on Spectrum and Commodore 64, it more than gives a few nods towards the Ultimate Play The Game title Underwurlde, and this was not unintentional, even the large black box that it came in was identical to the ones the Ashby giants were using at the time, this was mirrored in the advertising for this and future games, which used a similar style, for a couple of years these two companies would produce some of the cream of the 8 bit software crop.
A Sabre Wulf-like game Robin Of The Wood followed, and was another very accomplished title, this time including all the mystic the story of the Sherwood outlaw could muster.
The sequel to Nodes was next, but was really far too similar, much like the accusations levelled at Knight Lore and Alien 8.
Oddly the Thor name was resurrected for the next release, I.C.U.P.S. was a bit of a let down, a very boring shoot 'em up level, followed by a so so platform romp.
The C64 exclusive Mission A.D. wowed the Commodore world with it's stunning graphics, as did the charming side on adventure, Heartland, which also was released to great acclaim on the Spectrum and Amstrad, a future sports title Hypaball, very good on C64, but poor on Spectrum rounded off Odin's time as an independent games company.
Telecomsoft offered Odin a six figure sum to allow them to publish ten games on their Firebird label, a move designed to give Odin the freedom to remain a separate entity under Telecoms umbrella, but with financial stability.
It was not a match made in heaven, Odin had lost some staff to nearby Denton Designs, and a series of technically good, but flawed games appeared, the first title to come from the new union was On the Tiles, for the C64, a slick, but insanely tough platformer, which offered a glimpse of what perils your cat faces at night, a side scrolling shooter Sidewize followed, for Spectrum and C64, which was just a bit dull, despite looking rather nice, The Plot, about the Gunpowder plot was released, but on Firebird's budget label for the Spectrum and Amstrad.
Scary Monsters on the C64 again looked and sounded very good, but was extremely difficult to control, Crosswize was the final game released by Firebird, Odin had produced the ten games required of them, but several were never released as Firebird did not consider them good enough, and Odin closed their doors in 1987.
Odin was revived in 2005 to bring it's games to the mobile platforms, by Paul McKenna who had helped found the original company, so far only a new version of Nodes Of Yesod has appeared.
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