Chip’s Challenge has always been one of my favorite games since I first played it with my dad, grandpa, and uncle on the Atari Lynx. Chuck Sommerville made a sequel, but due to issues beyond his control, he wasn’t able to release it. Twenty-five years later, Chip’s Challenge 2 has finally been released.
It was released alongside Chip’s Challenge 1 on Steam and can be purchased in a $5 bundle that contains both games and the CC2 level editor.
It’s a tile-based puzzle game tasking you with helping Chip collect keys, unlock doors, avoid deadly traps, and plan how to retrieve important items that allow you to get past obstacles. Chip’s Challenge 2 appears very similar but adds a variety of a new game elements.
It’s probably too early for me to talk about it too in-depth as I’m only eight levels into the game. However, I’m having a lot of fun, and it’s almost unbelievable that I’m finally playing this gem of a game. It came at a time when I’m about to be extremely busy for the next week, but I’ll see if I can squeeze in a few levels while at my conference next week!
Congratulations, Chuck, on finally getting Chip’s Challenge 2 released! Go Bit Buster!
Chip’s Challenge being released on Steam would be big enough news, but the bigger news is that Chip’s Challenge 2 is releasing as well. Shortly after finishing Chip’s Challenge, Chuck Sommerville created the sequel. Unfortunately, the copyright holder wanted him to front the money for publishing, so it was never released. CC2 has been simply a legend, a myth to fans. It’s really exciting to know that we’re going to be playing it soon!
I’ll have to get used to the graphics. It seems like most fans played Chip’s Challenge on Windows, but I played it on the Lynx, which features different graphics. I’m sure I’ll learn to love the new graphics as well.
My autographed copy of Chip’s Challenge is the highlight of my game collection. Yeah, I’m definitely excited.
You can read the full press release below:
25 years later Chip’s Challenge 1 & 2 come to Steam in May
Twenty-five years have passed since Chip’s Challenge 1 was released on the Atari Lynx & Windows 3.1, a game fondly enjoyed by millions. However what’s not commonly known is a sequel was also created by Chuck Sommerville shortly after, but never released.
Chuck created Chip’s Challenge 1 in just ten weeks, he then spent two years designing Chip’s Challenge 2. However disaster struck, on finishing the development, Chuck found the trademark had been sold and the new owners wanted him to fund the publishing. Having just spent two years working onChip’s Challenge 2, Chuck couldn’t afford this, so with colossal personal sadnessChip’s Challenge 2 was shelved.
“When I couldn’t release Chip’s Challenge 2, it hit me really hard. Not only had I spent two years perfecting it, I also felt I’d let down the fans too.” Chuck Sommerville said. “I generally thought the only way Chip’s Challenge 2 was ever going to see the light of day was by having my wife leak it on the internet on my death.”
However two decades later, with fans continually pleading with Chuck to release Chip’s Challenge 2 and nearly five years of negotiation with the trademark owners, Chip’s Challenge 2 can now finally be released in all its original glory with every unseen levels and game elements on Steam, along with Chip’s Challenge 1.
“I’m so excited about getting to finally release Chip’s Challenge 1 & 2 on Steam, it’s defiantly one off the bucket list.” Chuck Sommerville said. “We are now just adding some additional Steam features such as Trading Cards & Steam Workshop to the original code. Oh and the ability to save your game progress, rather than using the old code system.”
Chip’s Challenge 1 & Chip’s Challenge 2 will be available on Steam on 29thMay:
About Chip’s Challenge
Before Chip can join the Bit Busters computer club and hang out with the girl of his dreams, Melinda the Mental Marvel, he must solve all 144 challenging puzzles.
Your bird’s-eye view can help Chip rush through the puzzles and mazes before he’s deleted by monsters, traps and the passage of time. Show Chip how to use blocks of soil to overcome water traps and cherry bombs, find keys, and pick up the computer chips which Chip needs to solve some puzzles.
Can you help Chip win the cold heart of his one true love and become an official Bit Buster? If you can’t, no one can!
Niffler Ltd.
Niffler is an independent games studio founded by Chuck Sommerville and friends, which believes video games should not simply be a passive experience. Their aim is to create games that are fun for the player to both play & make, with the make component being as easy to use as playing the game themselves.
There’s an eBay auction currently in progress for an unreleased prototype of Chip’s Challenge for NES. I didn’t even realize that existed. At $1091.77 with 47 bids, it’s a little out of my price range. Interesting nevertheless. Thanks to Retro Treasures for posting about it!
The NVIDIA SHIELD is NVIDIA’s entry into the game console market. I had forgot about this, but the launch details were just announced yesterday. SHIELD is an Android console running Jelly Bean on a Tegra 4 chip. It looks a lot like a 360 controller with a flip up screen. It looks bulky and ugly, but I think it could be interesting. It’s most interesting feature is likely its ability, launching as a beta feature, to stream select Steam games from a PC using a GeForce GTX desktop GPU. Sadly, it’s 650 or higher, which mine is not. Presumably, streaming only works locally. It’s an interesting feature, but would I use it? I think I’d rather play my PC games on my PC unless I could actually stream it over the Internet.
Chuck’s Challenge has been optimized for the SHIELD as well. It’s developed by Niffler with creator Chuck Sommerville. He’s the amazing talent behind Chip’s Challenge and of course the Chuck’s Challenge for iOS. I backed the 3D port of Chuck’s Challenge on Kickstarter, and from the beta, I can say that it’s very cool.
There are also two Double Fine games being optimized for the SHIELD. There will likely be more announcements in the future as well.
Polygons and Pixels 