Bizarre Creations

Logo descriptions, captures, and editions by CuriousGeorge60

Video captures courtesy of Filburtlogos60, oafear79, EnormousRat, and others

Background: Bizarre Creations was a game developer based in the North-West of England, that was originally founded in 1988 by Martyn Chudley as "Raising Hell Software". Developing titles initially for the 8-bit and 16-bit computer market, including The Killing Game Show for the Amiga and Atari ST and was later released for the Sega Megadrive (known as "Genesis" in the US) as Fatal Rewind. At the time, Sega pressured them over the use of "Hell", so the company went nameless for a while. During that time, the company developed Wiz 'n Liz for the Sega Megadrive ("Genesis" in the US) and later for the Amiga. In 1994, a submission from Psygnosis suggested the company to change its name. The founder initially put "Weird Concepts" on a submission documentation. Then a staff member used Microsoft Word's thesaurus and as a result, it was renamed into its then-current name. The company's first title under its then-current name was Formula 1 for PlayStation, which was the top-selling game in Europe. On September 26, 2007, it was acquired by Activision. It was best known for the Project Gotham Racing series (the spiritual successor to Metropolis Street Racer for Dreamcast), Fur Fighters (and it's PS2 remake, Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge), Geometry Wars (which was first seen as a hidden game in PGR2), Blur, and recently, James Bond 007: Blood Stone. In November 2010, Activision regards the future of the studio to be bought by another company. On January 20, 2011, since Activision couldn't find another publisher to buy the company, it announced that it would be closing the studio and was confirmed on February 18, 2011.

Raising Hell Software

(1990)

Logo: We see "RAiSiNG HELL" in some kind of stylish-font with two "i"'s having a dot above them. It has the bright blue outline and has a emboss-like texture on it. Above and below the logo are the words, "A" and "PRODUCTION" respectively which, also has the emboss-like texture on them as well.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: Only appears on The Killing Game Show for Amiga and Atari ST. It doesn't appear on the Genesis version as Fatal Rewind.

Editor's Note: None.

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Bizarre Creations

1st Logo

(September 1, 1996-2002)

Nicknames: "The Flying Pumpkin Man II", "CGI Flying Pumpkin Man", "The Tilting Text", "Bizarre Pumpkin Man II", "CGI Bizarre Pumpkin Man"

Logo: On the purple starfield background, we see the CGI pink planet (which looks like Mars, but in a pink tone), rotating with "BIZARRe" and "• CREATIONS •" in their same styled respective fonts from before, over the planet with the "TM" symbol intact. Then the flying pumpkin man from the first logo (This time, his eyes doesn't glow purple and are plain black and his shoes are yellow instead of brown), appears from the top-right flapping his wings, looking at the logo. Then he flies to the left looking in front of the logo and he goes to the top-left area. As he reaches there, he flaps his wings faster making him land and stepping on the "BIZARRe" text. Then the text moves down tilting that causes him to be wobbly for a second. Then the "BIZARRe" text stops tilting and he stands still Then he turns to the right at the text, itching his head. Then he turns back to us and forgets about it. Then he jumps off the text causing it to tilt again while he dives off the text and down through the bottom-right. Two seconds later, he flies through the screen making the transition into a black screen.

Trivia: This is actually a 3D variant of the later variant of the first logo. The logo was modeled, animated, rendered and composited in Softimage by Jeff Powell, who was also the lead animator on Fur Fighters.

Variants:

On Project Gotham Racing 2, the background is plain black and the Mars texture is different and is a bit brighter. Plus, when the pumpkin man flies through the screen at the end, he makes a transition wipe into a 3rd logo (see below).

On the Game Boy Advance version of Disney's Treasure Planet, there is a still version of the logo where it shows him in the forgetting about pose and he's already standing on "BIZARRe". Plus, the "TM" symbol is gone.

FX/SFX: The CGI animation of the pumpkin man flying, the text tilting and the planet rotating.

Music/Sounds: A low windy sound with the sounds of flapping and tilting, which were done by the people at the company. On the still variant, it's silent.

Availability: Appears on Disney's Treasure Planet for PS2. The black background variant (along with the 3rd logo) appears on Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox. The still variant appears on Disney's Treasure Planet for Game Boy Advance.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo

(November 17, 2003-2009)

Nicknames: "The Pumpkin Head", "Bizarre Pumpkin Head"

Logo: On a black background, we see a white abstract picture of the pumpkin head, on a black square with a white outline. Under it is "BIZARRE CREATIONS" stacked in the Arial Bold font.

Variants:

The later years of this logo since 2006, has the glass button effect on the black square shape and the pumpkin head. Plus, the "TM" symbol was added next to the top-right of the logo.

On Project Gotham Racing 3, it's on the ground with some cars driving through it during the game's intro. Plus, it looks grungy.

Sometimes, it appears on a white background. On Project Gotham Racing 4, a red Ford GT drives through the logo on the ground during the game's intro.

On The Club, the words, "A" and "PRODUCTION" are above and below the logo respectively.

On Geometry Wars Retro Evolved, the logo is in a green tone and has the TV-like effect. Plus, "BIZARRE CREATIONS" is in the future-styled font and are not stacked. Under the logo is an ESRB Notice.

On Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, the logo is once again, in a green tone tone and has the TV-like effect like in the GWRE variant. This time, it also has the green glow effect as well. Plus, "BIZARRE CREATIONS" are in stacked words like in the standard variant and in the similar font as the GWRE variant. Like before, the ESRB Notice is under the logo. Also, the logo appears from the stretch warp effect. On the trailer for the said game, the ESRB Notice is not there.

FX/SFX: Depends on the game, but usually none.

Music/Sounds: Silent or the opening theme of the game. On Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, it's the the sound effect that plays when you start a new game in the Geometry Wars games.

Availability: First appeared on Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox at the end of the 2nd logo (see above). It also appears on other Bizarre games such as Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4 for Xbox 360, The Club for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 1 and 2 for Xbox Live Arcade.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo

(2009-May 25, 2010)

Nicknames: "The Pumpkin Head II", "Bizarre Pumpkin Head II", "The Line-Drawn Logo"

Logo: On a black background, a light brown line and a green line fly in from the left and right sides of the screen respectively and start drawing the previous logo (the green line draws the pumpkin head and the light brown line draws the square outline). Once the lines finish drawing the logo, a "TM" symbol appears next to the top-right of the logo, the logo turns white, and the words "BIZARRE CREATIONS", in the same font as the 3rd logo, appear below.

FX/SFX: The lines flying in and drawing the logo, the logo turning white, and the appearance of the trademark symbol and company name.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Was seen on trailers for Blur and in the game itself.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo

(2010)

Nicknames: "The Pumpkin Head III", "Bizarre Pumpkin Head III", "The Line-Drawn Logo II", "The Swirly Line-Drawn Logo", "The James Bond Logo"

Logo: Against a black background with a red spotlight, we see eight metal swirly lines, drawing in, drawing the pumpkin head in the similar style from before and then the red blood color fills inside the pumpkin head. Then the white color along with the square wipes in and fills the pumpkin head as the red spotlight fades out. Then the glass button effect from the 3rd logo, wipes in on the logo and two white lines appear through the blur-like wipe from the left and right respectively and wipes down to reveal the words, "BIZARRE CREATIONS" in the similar font from the 3rd and 4th logos and the "TM" symbol appears next to the top-right of the logo.

FX/SFX: The lines flying in via swirling and the drawing of the logo from before, the text appearing.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on James Bond 007: Blood Stone for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Editor's Note: None.